Fourth Grade News
January 2024
Upcoming Dates
January 3: School Resumes
January 11: End of 2nd Quarter
January 12: No School-Teacher Work
Day
January 15: No School-Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
Reminders
-DRESS FOR THE WEATHER: Please
make sure your child is dressed for
the weather! Thanks!
-Assignment Notebooks: Please make
sure you are checking students’
assignment notebooks weekly as we
write in these on Fridays.
Spelling
Week 14 Spelling Test - January 11
Week 15 Spelling Test - January 19
Week 16 Spelling Test - January 26
“If you are always trying to be
normal, You will never know
how AMAZING
you can be!”-
~Maya Angelou
A Peek at our Month
Reading
This month we will work on making inferences to understand a
fiction story. We will also continue to use questioning and text
structure to make sense of the same story. We will practice
comprehension by talking with partners using the prompt: “I
heard you say ____. Did I get that right?” You could practice
this prompt when giving directions at home. We will also use
visualizing to make sense of poetry along with learning how to use
double-entry journal writing to record our thinking.
Math
In math this month we will start Unit 5-Large Numbers and
Landmarks: Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System. Our
focus is on addition, and the different strategies to use, including
the traditional algorithm. In January ask your child to solve this
problem in at least two ways:
496 + 675 = ___. We will then work on reading, writing, and
saying bigger numbers. We will also use place value understanding
to round numbers.
Science
In science students will start our Earth’s Features unit. They will
investigate how a dinosaur fossil found in the fictional Desert
Rocks National Park formed, which serves as the anchor
phenomenon for the unit. Students will make inferences about the
history of the park based on the fossil itself and the rock layers in
which it is embedded. Investigating how the fossil formed leads
students to learn about sedimentary rock formation.
Writing
In writing we will continue working on opinion writing. We are
working on stating our opinion and giving reasons to support our
opinion. It is fun and interesting to hear the students' opinions! We
will then practice for a performance assessment focusing on
opinion writing. We will read 2 articles, take notes and answer
some research questions to help us form our opinion.
Social Studies
This month we will be learning about American Indian chiefs Black
Elk, Red Cloud, and Sitting Bull. Students will learn about pioneer
schools and the ways the Pledge of Allegiance, rules, and
academics have changed since the 1800s. On TourSD students
will travel to Scotland, SD to learn about pioneer life and the
many decisions and hardships families faced.