Welcome to Fourth Grade!
We are looking forward to a great year with your child. The following contains standards and long-range plans for the year. We have also included some information you might find helpful during the year. Please consult the Hollis Academy Student Handbook for additional information not included here. These were given out at the beginning of the year but can also be located on Hollis Academy's Website.
The weekly newsletter (Fourth Grade Features) is sent home on Tuesday. The newsletter contains the spelling list, curriculum information, dates to remember, and teacher contact information.
These will be sent home at the end of each quarter.
These are required during the first nine weeks to go over standardized testing results. Additional parent conferences may be held if the student is not meeting expectations or as Special Education IEPs dictate.
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
F: 59 and below
Students are given a variety of grades throughout the quarter. Math, Reading, Social Studies, and Science averages include minor grades which count 60% and major tests which count 40% of the final average. ELA scores have minor grades which count 60%, spelling grades which count 10%, and major grades which count 30% of the final average.
The lowest minor grade will be dropped each quarter in each subject.
Hollis follows the attendance policies mandated by The School District of Greenville County and the State Department of Education. Students are dismissed to their homeroom at 7:30. We start our day at 7:45. If a student has an excused absence, he/she has 5 days to make up the missed work. Please limit early dismissals and try to schedule appointments after school. Greenville County Schools has the option of declaring eLearning days when weather or road conditions threaten safety. This allows instruction to continue remotely, even though students and teachers are not physically present in our schools.
Homework will be assigned on a limited basis. Homework is given as enrichment and review of skills learned in class. Students should study their spelling words and practice math skills as needed. Students should also study for major tests. Study guides will be given at least two days in advance of major tests.
Hollis Academy follows Conscious Discipline practices. Conscious Discipline provides an array of behavior management strategies and classroom structures that we can use to turn everyday situations into learning opportunities. We also use a tiered behavior system that offers logical consequences to students who are having trouble following school and classroom rules. Students will receive a Minor Offense Sheet for each minor offense. You will be required to sign the Minor Offense Sheet and return it the following day. You will also be contacted by phone for these minor offenses, for example, your child is being especially disruptive.
Please make sure your student comes prepared to school with the necessary materials to ensure maximum academic progress.
Essential Items to be brought in at the beginning of the school year:
● Wood Ticonderoga #2 Pencils (24 count)
● Expo Black Dry Erase Markers (4 count)
● Elmer’s All Purpose Glue Sticks (12)
● Crayola Color Pencils: 12 Count
● Kleenex (2 boxes)
● 1 pack of loose leaf notebook paper
● 4 Marble Composition books (red, blue, green, black)
● Binder (1” slant ring heavy duty Avery)
● Pencil Pouch
● Headphones
1st Quarter: Narrative Writing/Memoirs/Informational Writing
2nd Quarter: Informational Writing/Narrative Writing
3rd Quarter: Opinion Writing/Writing About Reading
4th Quarter: Testing as a Genre/Fantasy Writing
1st Quarter: Plot, Setting & Characters, Figurative Language, Themes and Ideas of Fiction Texts and Central and Key Ideas, Text features and Inquiry of Nonfiction Texts
2nd Quarter: Point of View, Language, Structure, Themes and Ideas of Fiction Texts and Nonfiction Biographies
3rd Quarter: Primary and Secondary Sources of Nonfiction Texts, and Author’s Craft, Thematic Development of Historical Fiction
4th Quarter: Testing as a Genre, Fantasy
Standards may be viewed here.
Science in grade four focuses on providing students with the opportunity to learn concepts and skills in the life, earth, and physical sciences and to acquire scientific attitudes and habits of mind. The students’ study of science includes observing, measuring, recording, questioning, analyzing, identifying, and drawing conclusions. Through their explorations, students develop an understanding of and an ability to apply the components of the scientific method. Specifically, fourth graders explore the sciences within the framework of the following topics: “Energy Resources”, “Changes in the Geosphere”, “Waves in Action”, “Energy of Motion and Collision” , and “Senses and Survival.”
1st Quarter:
Unit: Energy Resources
Unit Concepts: sound, light, heat, electric currents, electrical circuits, natural resources
Unit: Changes in the Geosphere
Unit Concepts: Changes and Patterns in Earth’s Features and Rock Layers, Solutions for Natural Hazards
2nd Quarter:
Unit: Waves in Action
Unit Concepts: Water Disturbances, Sound Waves, Light Waves, Amplitude, Wavelength, Frequency, Motion of Objects
3rd Quarter:
Unit: Energy of Motion and Collision
Unit Concepts: changes in energy, energy transfer, speed, matter
4th Quarter:
Unit: Senses and Survival
Unit Concepts: plant and animal survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction, adaptations
Review of Standards Taught/Standardized Testing
United States History:
First Settlements to Reconstruction
Standards may be viewed here.
1st Quarter:
Unit Topic: Settlement of the United States
Unit Topic: Colonies Unite
2nd Quarter:
Conclusion of Unit: Colonies Unite
Unit Topic: A Nation Emerges
Unit Topic: Motivations to Expand
3rd Quarter:
Conclusion of Unit: Motivations to Expand
Unit Topic: Effects of Expansion
Unit Topic: A Nation Divided
4th Quarter:
Conclusion of Unit: A Nation Divided
Unit Topic: Rebuilding a Nation
Standards may be viewed here.
1st Quarter:
Applying Place Value Concepts in Addition and Subtraction
Exploring Factors and Multiples
Using Multiplication and Division Strategies
2nd Quarter:
Composing and Decomposing Fractions for Addition and Subtraction
Recognizing and Analyzing Attributes of 2-D Shapes
Understanding Fraction Equivalency and Comparisons
3rd Quarter:
Angle Measurement
Introduction to Measurement Conversions
Solving Problems Using Multiplicative Comparisons
Solving Measurement Problems Using Operations
4th Quarter:
Solving Addition and Subtraction Problems with Fractions
Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers
Comparing Decimals and Fractions
Problem Solving with Whole Numbers