December

Math


Reminder to encourage your child to practice their multiplication & division facts at home!

The next math units focuses on decimals. In this unit, students extend their understandings of fractions and place value to begin developing an understanding of decimal numbers. Students use models to compare and order decimals and find decimal and fraction equivalents. Students apply their understandings of whole number addition and subtraction to adding and subtracting decimal numbers. They continue to use estimation and properties of operations to improve their computational efficiency. Students apply all these skills to solve various types of multistep practical problems involving addition and subtraction.



Reading

  • Readers incorporate their background knowledge with the story elements (characters, setting, and events) in order to build their understanding of the historical time period.

  • • Readers synthesize multiple ideas in order to develop a complex theory.

  • • Readers are flexible in their thinking, using discussion to uncover layers of meaning.

Writing

This unit we will be working on historical fiction.

The unit goals are:

Writers develop the conflict by placing true-to-life characters into a historical context.

Writers use elaboration techniques (dialogue, character, and setting description) to reveal the historical time period.

Writers bring out personal or historical conflicts to reveal recurring themes.

Social Studies

The next unit in Social Studies focuses on understanding the role of slavery on the growth of the colonial economy and the daily life of Native People, Europeans, and Africans. Students will additionally explore colonial economics. The ideas and actions of people have consequences and can shape events.

  • People produce and consume goods and services to satisfy wants and needs (interdependence).

  • People explore, move, and migrate for many reasons. Moving to new places can change the people, land and culture.

  • People are dependent on, adapt to, or change their environment to meet basic needs.


Science

Students look at how plants and animals survive and depend upon each other within an ecosystem as well as interact with nonliving components in the ecosystem. The unit investigates the weather conditions and phenomena that affect the ecosystem and can be predicted. In fourth grade there are opportunities to directly connect science content with social studies content. In this unit, students look at how the natural resources were used by Native Peoples of Virginia as well as people living in Virginia today. Additionally, the regions of Virginia connect specifically to the natural resources present in that area.

Students are encouraged to use school account on www.Jason.org to extend their learning.

Interdisciplinary

The 4th grade team is collaboratively planning using the FCPS interdisciplinary guides. Unit 6 is called Systems in Nature & Society: A look at How Systems shape Nature and Our Country. This unit will integrate our language arts, science, and social studies curriculum through the concept of systems. In each subject, we will consider the elements of a system, inputs and outputs, the interactions, and boundaries. We will also consider multiple perspectives within systems.

Advanced Math

We are starting Unit 4: Decimal Computation Part 1. In this unit, fraction and decimal number sense concepts are reinforced and applied to computation and problem solving. Students add and subtract decimal numbers and solve practical problems with decimals that involve both single and multiple steps. We will also be discussing