Unit 6: Measurement 

The student applies mathematical process standards to select appropriate customary and metric units, strategies, and tools to solve problems involving measurement. The student will understand the context of the problem first to then determine what decisions need to be made regarding the type of measurement. The student will identify the properties of area and perimeter of rectangles, including solving for dimensions for sides with an unknown length. 

Learning Targets

• I will solve problems related to perimeter and area of rectangles where dimensions are whole numbers. 4.5D 

• I will use models to determine the formulas for the perimeter of a rectangle (including the special form for perimeter of a square). 4.5C 

• I will use models to determine the formulas for the area of a rectangle. 4.5C

Some questions you can ask your child to support their thinking:

• What are real world examples of a perimeter? When would it be useful to calculate the perimeter?

• What are real world examples of an area? When would it be useful to calculate the area?

• What is perimeter? What does it represent? (The formula is not the answer.)

• What is area? What does it represent? (The formula is not the answer.)

• How would using a different tool affect your ability to measure _______? (Example: measuring a football field with a rule or a 30’ measuring tape.)

*Please make sure your child is practicing their basic multiplication facts and fact fluency each night for 15 minutes. This is a major skill that 4th graders are expected to have mastered by the end of the year.

Unit 7: Analyzing Across Genres

In this unit, students will inquire about a variety of topics through the study of informational texts. Students will apply their learning of informational texts to their own informational composition and correspondence. 

Novel Study: Winnie's Great War by Lindsay Maltick

While engaging in a class novel study, students will: 

• Students will use their inquiry skills and take ownership over their own learning. 

• Students will analyze and comprehend informational texts.

• Analyze and comprehend literary nonfiction, as a type of informational text.

Essential Questions: 

• How does text structure contribute to the author’s purpose?

• How do main ideas and key details in an informational text support the author’s purpose?

• How can the reader use main ideas and key details to summarize informational text? 

• How can comparing across genres help the reader create a deeper understanding of the world?

Unit 3: Response Writing

In this unit, students will practice creating constructed responses in order to respond to a text. They will be using the R.A.C.E. strategy to respond to both short answer and extended answers. 

• R- Restate the question

• A- answer the question

• C- cite evidence from the text

• Explain your evidence. 

Students will: 

• Set Personal Writing Goals

• Generate ideas that include character, setting, theme

• Draft a Narrative Piece

• Edit/ Revise

• Publish a Written work. 

Unit 7: Weather Patterns and Water Cycle

In this unit, students will collect and analyze data to identify sequences and predict patterns of change in shadows, tides, seasons, and the observable appearance of the Moon over time 

Big Ideas: 

• Describe and illustrate the continuous movement of water above and on the surface of Earth.

• Explain how the sun is a major source of energy in the water cycle.

Essential Questions

• How does water renew itself?

• How can we observe and predict weather patterns?

• What would happen to the water cycle if the sun was removed?

Learning Targets: 

• I will describe and illustrate the water cycle.

• I will write to explain the role of the sun in the water cycle.

• I will identify the tools and their functions used in measuring weather.

• I will measure, record, and predict changes in weather patterns.

Unit 5: Empresario System and Colonization

Identify the role that Texas played in the Mexican War of Independence and how it impacted the development of Texas. Explain the accomplishments of significant empresarios, and the political, economic, and social systems of colonists who left Mexico and founded Texas. 

Big Ideas: 

• Identify Texas' role in the Mexican War of Independence and the war's impact on the development of Texas.

• Identify the accomplishments and explain the economic motivations and impact of significant empresarios, including Stephen F. Austin and Martín de León, on the settlement of Texas.

Essential Questions:

• How did the Spanish colonial and Mexican governments influence inhabitants of Texas?

• What were the causes and effects of the colonization of Texas?

• How did the colonization in Texas contribute to the Mexican War of Independence? 

• How did the settlement of towns in Texas affect the economic activities in the past and present?

Learning Targets: 

• I will identify Texas' role in the Mexican War of Independence.

• I will explain the war's impact on the development of Texas. (writing)

• I will identify the accomplishments and motivations of empresarios.

• I will explain the impact of significant empresarios.