Language Arts The fourth grade language arts program focuses on the broad areas of oral language, reading, writing, and word study. Students will be introduced to a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction literature which will serve as a basis for instruction and practice in phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and writing.
English/Writing
Recognize the 4 kinds of sentences
Identify simple and complete subjects and predicates
Recognize compound subjects, predicates, and sentences
Know how to fix run-on sentences
Learn about end punctuation, commas, apostrophes, abbreviations, and quotation marks
Know when to use capitalization correctly
Understand different types of nouns including common, proper, singular, plural, possessive, and collective
Use principal parts of verbs, irregular verbs, and linking verbs properly
Recognize and use subject, object, and possessive pronouns and their antecedents correctly
Use descriptive adjectives, proper adjectives,demonstrative adjectives, and comparison of adjectives properly
Know how to use articles correctly
Use adverbs of time, place, manner, and comparison of adverbs properly
Write various paragraphs
Engage in creative writing throughout the year
Plan, draft, revise, proofread, edit, and rewrite paragraphs
Write and share a personal narrative
Participate in an essay contest
Write addresses correctly
Indent paragraphs
Use strong verbs and colorful adjectives in writing
Present work to classmates
Write legibly in cursive
Use illustrations for visual aids
Practice listening skills during student presentations
Communicate ideas verbally and in writing
Reading
Read and comprehend grade level text with fluency and comprehension including but not limited to fairy tales, folktales, fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fables, fantasies, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, and chapter books.
Identify literary genre
Read fluently using appropriate rate, accuracy, expression, and phrasing
Use a variety of reading comprehension strategies (i.e. predicting, inferring, making connections, drawing conclusions, reread, read ahead, question, paraphrase, using prior knowledge)
Monitor and self correct errors while reading
Use different strategies before, during, and after reading to set a purpose, make predictions, question, and make connections
Determine usefulness of information and ideas
Choose appropriate level books and regularly read independently to increase vocabulary, concepts, and stamina
Read for a variety of purposes (such as information, pleasure, problem-solving)
Respond to literature orally and in writing.
Identify elements of fiction and nonfiction to determine author's purpose, plot, conflict, sequence, problem/solution, main idea, supporting details, cause and effect, fact and opinion, mood, author's use of figurative language, and point of view
Focus on detail to locate specific information and clarify meaning
Identify and generate antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, idioms, metaphors, and similes
Identify story elements by recalling facts and details from the text
Compare and connect information across informational text
Identify first person and third person points of view
Summarize and record information from the story using characters, setting, sequence of events, problem/solution, plot, and author's purpose while relating the story to life experiences
Compare and contrast two works (i.e. by different authors, the same author, and/or illustrator, genre, theme)
Word Study
Apply meaning of roots, prefixes and suffixes to read unfamiliar words
Use reference materials for spelling , reading, and decoding (such as dictionary, thesaurus, glossary)
Demonstrates knowledge of parts of speech
Identifies, applies, and analyzes grade level vocabulary
Written and Oral Communication
Decoding words with specific orthographic patterns and rules, including regular and irregular plurals
Decoding multisyllabic words
Decoding words using knowledge of prefixes
Decoding words using knowledge of suffixes, including how they can change base words such as dropping e, changing y to i, and doubling final consonants
Identifying and reading high-frequency words from a research-based list
Use print or digital resources to determine meaning, syllabication, and pronunciation
Use context within and beyond a sentence to determine the relevant meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple-meaning words
Determine the meaning of and use words with affixes such as mis-, sub-, -ment, and -ity/ty and roots such as auto, graph, and meter
Identify, use and explain the meaning of homophones such as reign/rain
MATH Numbers and Operations
Read write, compare, and order whole numbers through the hundred millions place
Read, write, compare, and order decimals involving tenths and hundredths
Use equivalent representations for the same number and generate them by decomposing and composing numbers
Solve problems using addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals out to hundredths, including money
Recall and apply basic multiplication and division facts through 12 x 12
Multiply to solve problems involving two-digit numbers
Model factors and products using arrays and area models
Solve problems involving division with three-digit dividends and one-digit divisors and interpret the remainder
Use inverse relationships of addition and subtraction, and multiplication and division to solve problems
Round numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand
Estimate a sum, difference, product, or quotient
Use properties such, as identity, commutative, associative, and order of operations for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
Read, write, compare, order, and model fractions
Identify prime and composite numbers
Find factors of numbers
Generate equivalent fractions
Demonstrate knowledge of the GCF (greatest common factor)
Add and subtract fractions with like denominators
Relate decimals to fractions that name tenths and hundredths using pictorial models and concrete objects
Algebra
Describe and use patterns to multiply by 10 and 100
Analyze and describe the relationship between two sets of related data such as ordered pairs in a table
Represent and analyze patterns using words, tables, and graphs
Use and interpret variables, mathematical symbols, and properties to write and simplify mathematical expressions and sentences
Geometry
Identify and draw points, intersecting, parallel, and perpendicular lines, rays, line segments, and right, acute, and obtuse angles
Describe, compare, and classify two-dimensional and three dimensional figures based on their attributes
Identify and describe transformations, including translations, reflections, and rotations
Find the distance between points along horizontal and vertical lines of a coordinate system
Measurement
Estimate and use measurement tools to determine length using both customary and metric units
Develop strategies for estimating the perimeters, areas, and volumes of irregular shapes
Solve problems involving perimeter and areas of rectangles.
Estimate and determine the volume of rectangular prisms in cubic units
Perform simple conversions between different units of capacity within the customary measurement system and within the metric system
Calculate elapsed time
Data Analysis and Probability
Interpret bar graphs
Identify the median, minimum, maximum, mode, and range of a data set
Calculate the mean for a given set of data
Relate the concepts of impossible (0) and certain (1)
Investigate experimental probability and express the probability as a fraction
Explore combinations
SCIENCE The 4th grade science objectives are the same as the NGSS for 4th grade. These standards emphasize performance expectations in which the students formulate answers to questions through hands on activities and models. Students are expected to demonstrate grade appropriate proficiency in asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data and making conclusions. Students are expected to use these practice and demonstrate understanding of the following core ideas:
Energy
Use evidence to construct an explanation relating speed of an object to the energy of that object;
Make observation to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric current;
Ask and predict outcomes about changes in energy when objects collide;
Design and test a device that converts energy from 1 form to another
Waves and Information Transfer
Develop a model of waves in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move;
Develop a model to describe light reflecting from object, entering the eye, allowing objects to be seen;
Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information
From Molecules to Organisms - Structure and Processes
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth; behavior, and reproduction;
Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways
Earth’s Place in the Universe
Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time
Earth’s System
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by ice, wind or vegetation;
Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features
SOCIAL STUDIES In fourth grade, students will explore the history of the regions of Texas from the Ice-Age to present time. Students will study the reasons why different Indians tribes settled in different regions, the influence of Mexico on the state’s development, and why early settlers wanted to make Texas their home. They will become aware of how the geography of each region varies and its impact on each region’s economy and population. The course of study will track Texas’s path from being part of Mexico to becoming a Republic to a state and then its involvement in the Civil war.
Culture
Explore and describe similarities and differences among various groups in early Texas
Identify the customs. Celebrations and traditions of various groups in early Texas
Describe how the contributions of people in various groups helped in the development of Texas
History
Identify the American Indian groups in Texas before European exploration
Describe the regions in which American Indians lived and identify American Indian groups that remain in Texas
Compare the ways of life of America Indians in Texas before European explorations
Summarize the motivations for European explorations and settlement of Texas
Identify the accomplishments and explain the significant explorers on the settlement of TExas
Explain when, where and why teh Spanish established settlements and Catholic missions in Texas
Identify the role of Texas 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 on the settlement of Texas
Analyze the cause and effect of the Texas Revolution
Know the contributions of the various leaders of the founding of Teas as both a republic and a state
Describe the successes problems, and organization of the Republic of Texas
Explain the events that led to the annexation of Texas to the US
Describe the changes that occurred in Texas during the Civil War and then Reconstruction
Describe the impact on the growth of the cattle industry and railroads in Texas
Geography
Apply geographic tools to construct and interpret maps
Translate geographic data, population and natural resources into a variety of formats
Describe and be able to locate the main regions of Texas
Describe and explain the various towns in Texas, both past and present
Government
Compare how the different American Indian groups governed themselves
Identify and compare characterizations of governments on inhabitants of Texas
Identify and explain the basic functions of the 3 branches of government
Citizenship
Be able to recite and explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas flag
Explain the meaning of various patriotic symbols and landmarks of Texas
Map Skills
Students will be able to construct and interpret maps to include: