4th Grade

Fourth Grade Newsletter 2025-2026!

Summary of Module 7 Tricksters and Tall Tales: In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that present them with information about traditional tales. There is a genre focus on traditional stories that provides students with  opportunities to identify central ideas, figurative language, and media techniques in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter an informational text to build knowledge across genres.

As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn that traditional stories can teach many lessons about life and the world around us.

 

Reading: Over the course of Module 7 we will read texts that will help us answer the following

Essential Question: What lessons can we learn from characters in traditional tales? We will develop and work on the following reading skills and strategies: central ideas, figurative language, retelling, theme, describing characters, text and graphic features, literary elements and media techniques in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. 

  

Home Connections

Discuss the Topic: Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about the topic: 

• Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week.
• Ask about the texts your child is reading and what he or she has learned from them. 
• Share with your child your own questions about the topic, and work together to find the answers.

Explore the Genre:The genre focus in this module is traditional stories. Discuss with your child the characteristics of traditional stories, such as they often teach a lesson and include characters that are animals or have exaggerated abilities.

 

Build Vocabulary: Use these ideas to help your child build a rich vocabulary. The Big Idea reinforces the topic words trickster, shrewd, exaggeration, and legendary in everyday conversations with your child. 

Using prompts like these: 

• Name some characters that are tricksters. 
• Describe something that is legendary.

What Does It Mean? Have your child keep a growing list of the Critical Vocabulary words. Quiz each other on their meanings.

Word Hunt Look for words with the suffixes –ion, –ity, –ty and prefixes mis–, pre–, dis– in books and online texts.

Reinforce Reading Skills

Your child’s IXL account is linked with this Module and all skills that are taught weekly from this module. Please have your child use the IXL platform daily to reinforce these skills and other teacher recommended skills. 

The use of iReady at home is also another  good app to use to reinforce reading skills at home. You can access it through Teachhub and go through Clever.

Writing:

Module 7: Literary Essays

In this unit, students will focus on responding to reading by writing literary essays. Using our focal text, The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating, along with literature from our reading unit on tall tales and additional mini text sets, students will share their understanding and analysis of both fiction and nonfiction texts through writing.

Students will write about texts using prompts that focus on characters, conflict, resolution, and theme. They will work on clearly expressing their ideas by making inferences—using what they already know along with information from the text. Students will practice supporting their ideas with reasons and evidence from what they read. They will also continue learning how to paraphrase and cite evidence from texts to strengthen their writing.

Throughout the unit, students will combine what they have learned about short written responses and essay writing to create a longer piece of writing called a literary essay. In their essays, students will write an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion to show their understanding and analysis of the texts. They will also practice discussing and writing about similarities and differences between texts.

Ways you can support learning at home:

• Talk about what your child is reading.
• Ask your child to explain their thinking.
• Encourage short, written responses.

Summary of Module 9 Global Guardians:  In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that present them with information about conservation. There is a genre focus on persuasive texts that provide students with opportunities to identify ideas and support, text and graphic features, and author’s craft in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter a graphic novel, realistic fiction, and a biography to build knowledge across genres. As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn that it is up to all of us to work together to preserve our planet and its natural resources.

 

Reading: Over the course of Module 9 we will read texts that will help us answer the following

Essential Question: What can people do to care for our planet? We will develop and work on the following reading skills and strategies: author’s ideas and support,  making inferences, text and graphic features, theme, figurative language, retelling, summarizing, text structure, author‘s craft, and literary elements

  

Home Connections

Discuss the Topic: Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about the topic: 

• Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week. 
• Ask about the texts your child is reading and what he or she has learned.

Explore the Genre:The genre focus in this module is persuasive text. Discuss with your child how to analyze the reasons given in a persuasive text to decide if they are convincing. Ask your child to read to you each day and make time to read together.

Look for texts that:  • spark your child’s curiosity • tie to the module topic • use descriptive language

• have engaging photographs or illustrations

 

Build Vocabulary: Use these ideas to help your child build a rich vocabulary. The Big Idea reinforces the topic words ecology, recycle, conservation, and sanctuary in everyday conversations with your child. 

Using prompts like these: 

• What items can we recycle?. 
• How could we help the conservation movement?
• What Does It Mean?
• Have your child keep a growing list of the Critical Vocabulary words.

 

What Does It Mean? Have your child keep a growing list of the Critical Vocabulary words. Quiz each other on their meanings.

 

Word Hunt Look for words with the suffixes –able, –ible, –ful, -ous, -less, -en, ic in books, magazines, and online texts.

Reinforce Reading Skills

Your child’s IXL account is linked with this Module and all skills that are taught weekly from this module. Please have your child use the IXL platform daily to reinforce these skills and other teacher recommended skills. 

The use of iReady at home is also another  good app to use to reinforce reading skills at home. You can access it through Teachhub and go through Clever.

Writing: 

Module 7: Research Report

In this unit, the goal for students is to write a research report about an endangered plant or animal. Students will conduct research, take notes, provide facts and details, and explain why the plant or animal should be protected.

Students will build their understanding of the topic through our focal text, The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery. They will set a goal for themselves as informational writers and choose a topic to research. Using credible primary and secondary sources, students will gather information about their chosen plant or animal. They will then use the writing process—prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing—to develop and complete their research reports.

Families can support students at home by encouraging them to talk about their chosen topic and share interesting facts they have learned. Students may also benefit from reading books or articles about animals, plants, or conservation together, practicing note-taking skills, and discussing why protecting endangered species is important. Helping students organize their notes, review drafts, and check for clear sentences and correct spelling can also support their success during this unit.

 

Math Curriculum: 

 

Topic 11 - Represent and Interpret Data on Line Plots 

 

This unit we are learning ways to analyze data using line plots.  Learning to read and create line plots will help your child analyze mathematical relationships that can be used to solve problems.  The line plot below shows how many hours each day a student spent doing homework over a 2-week period.

  

Home Connections:

Materials: paper or graph paper, pencil

Step 1 Have your child record how much time he or she spends on an activity each day 

for one week.

Step 2 Help your child make a line plot of the data. Include a title and label.

Step 3 Ask your child to summarize the patterns in the line plot. Have your child ask you 

questions that can be answered using the line plot.

Topic 15 - Geometric Measurement: Understand Concepts of Angles and Angle Measurement

In Unit 15 we will learn about geometry. He or she is learning common geometric terms, 

such as point, line, ray, and line segment. Your child is also learning about angles, including 

classifying angles and measuring angles. He or she is determining the measure of an angle 

using known angle measures, as well as using an appropriate tool, such as a protractor. Your 

child is also learning how to add and subtract angle measures.

 

Home Connections:

Materials: poster board, 21 index cards, tape, pencil

Step 1 On the poster board, draw 3 vertical lines so that the board is divided into 3 columns. 

Label one section Acute Angles, another section Right Angles, and the last section Obtuse Angles.

Step 2 Work with your child to draw various angles on the index cards. Shuffle the index cards  and place them face down.

Step 3 Players take turns choosing a card. Determine which geometric term on the poster board 

best describes the angle on the card. Using the tape, place the index card in the appropriate  column on the poster board.

Science: 

We are finishing up our Waves, Energy and Information unit at the end of March and will begin our Earth’s Features unit!

Earth’s Features

In this  unit, students will play the role of geologists, and will investigate how a dinosaur fossil found in the fictional Desert Rocks National Park formed. 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. Students use books, hands-on investigations, and the Earth’s Features Simulation to figure out how fossils and sedimentary rock form and how different sediments build up in different environments, forming different rock in those environments. This helps them learn how to tell the environmental history of a place by observing the rock layers present. Finally, in an effort to explain a new anchor phenomenon, why two different canyons in the fictional Desert Rocks National Park have different amounts of exposed rock, students figure out that rock can be broken down and layers can become exposed by things in the environment, such as water.

 

Chapter 1: Students figure out how the mystery fossil formed inside the rocky outcrop at Desert Rocks National Park. 

Chapter 2: Students investigate more about what the environment of Desert Rocks National Park used to be like in the past.

Chapter 3: Students are challenged to use evidence from rock layers to consider the order of the past environments of Desert Rocks National Park.

Chapter 4: Students explore why more rock layers got exposed in Desert Rocks Canyon in comparison to another canyon in the same park.

 

Social Studies 

Passport to Social Studies: The Geography of New York State

In Social Studies, fourth graders will be studying The Geography of New York State. In this unit, students will explore the physical features and regions of New York State, including mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys. They will learn how these geographic features have influenced where people live, work, and travel throughout the state. Students will also practice using maps, globes, and other geographic tools to locate important places and identify the different regions of New York. As they study New York’s geography, students will begin to understand how the environment shapes communities and daily life.

Fourth graders will also be starting and working on their Civics For All Service Learning Project. Stay tuned for how they will be global citizens and working towards making their community a better place!

At home connections: 

• You can support learning at home by looking at a map of New York State, talking about places you may have visited in the state, or discussing how geography affects the communities where people live. 
• You can also discuss community issues, and how we as citizens can help our community and those that live in it a better place.

Music: Students in fourth grade unit will be beginning a unit on musical fables, to tie to their current HMH unit on Fables and Fairy Tales. The students will be learning the musical version of the fable “Stone Soup.” The students will be performing this for families on May 21st at 8:30am. More information about this performance will be released to families soon. 

In addition, students are learning how to play the Soprano Recorder in music class, and utilizing this instrument to read the notes of the treble staff. 

SPARK New Victory Theater: Students are completing a fifteen workshop residency with teaching artists from New Victory Theater. The students learned previously about clowning and characters, which ties to their story reading in HMH. The students also learned about the fundamentals of acting and will be applying this knowledge to their upcoming performance of “Stone Soup” Currently the students are learning about juggling and acrobatics. The students will be culminating this knowledge in a circus that will be performed for their peers.

 

Art 🎨

4th grade artists have been busy channeling the vibrant energy of contemporary Australian artist Pete Cromer to create stunning animal collages. By exploring Cromer’s signature style of bold colors and geometric paper cutouts, students learned how to simplify complex wildlife into playful, layered shapes and creating a colorful animal collage.

  

Student Voice

Alexander (402) - In math, I have enjoyed completing the “This” Or “That” problems to show what I know about the lesson. Also, this gives me a chance to choose which problem I want to answer before moving on to independent work.  

 

Analiesse  (402) - I liked multiplying fractions because I am good at multiplying so it was a little more easier for me.