Elementary School (K-4) » 4th Grade

4th Grade

Welcome to 4th grade at Green Woods Charter School!

Literacy

Green Woods uses American Reading Company (ARC) Core as our ELA curriculum resource. ARC Core is a framework that provides teachers with a structure to promote inquiry through apprenticeship. The resource provides a scope and sequence aligned to the Common Core Stateread Standards (CCSS), high interest text for teacher modeling, and varying levels of text for student independent work. Along with the framework, ARC provides an Independent Reading Level Assessment that guides teachers through setting individual reading goals for students. read
The ARC resources support students as developing readers by providing them with strategies they need to be able to read complex text on their own. Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, and Language skills are embedded throughout each unit as students study themes connected to Science, Social Studies, and Literature.
There are 4 units of study throughout the school year.  In Fourth Grade these units consist of Literacy Lab, Animal Adaptations, Mystery and Forensic Science, and Countries of the World.
In conjunction with ARC, Green Woods also uses the Collins Writing Program. Collins Writing program is a 5 step approach to writing. Students will focus on different skills through each stage of writing, from your typical “rough draft” (Stage 1) all the way through editing and publishing (Stage 5). The framework used in Collins Writing gives clear expectations for students throughout the entire writing process. It incorporates specific focus areas that are mastered before moving forward. Since the method is used in all grades at GWCS, it allows for common language and skills to be developed from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Math

Green Woods uses the Into Math curriculum built for instruction on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This curriculum is an intentional and comprehensive mathematics program that centers on student growth. Growth is maximized when instruction, assessment, and mindset are coordinated and aligned. Throughout the year, students build their conceptual understandings, improve their procedural fluency, and apply their knowledge in meaningful contexts and real-world applications. With more focused learning, every student can achieve at their highest levels.
In Fourth Grade the Into Math Program focuses on place value and whole number operations, multiplication and division problems, extend and apply multiplication, fractions and decimals, operations and fractions, two-dimensional figures and symmetry, measurement, data, and time.
 

Science

Students in the fourth grade will use Bring Science Alive! Exploring Science Practices, to understand the relationship between the structures of plants and animals and how they function; ways energy is used and transferred, what causes the changes to the Earth’s surface and how waves move and travel in patterns that can be observed. They will use science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to figure out the science content through active investigations. 


Year at a Glance

 

Trimester #1

Trimester #2

Trimester #3

Unit Title

Energy

Waves and Information

Plant and Animal Structures

Lesson Essential Questions

  1. How are energy and motion related?
  2. How is energy transferred by colliding objects?
  3. How is energy transferred by sound, light, and heat?
  4. How is energy transferred by electric current?
  5. How is energy stored and used?
  6. How do people choose energy resources?




  1. What are some examples of waves?
  2. What are some properties of waves?
  3. How do waves affect objects?
  4. Which waves travel through Earth?
  5. How can sound waves be used to send messages?
  6. How can patterns be used to send messages?
  1. What plant structures are used for support and growth?
  2. What plant structures are used for protection?
  3. What plant structures are used for reproduction
  4. How do plants respond to their environment?
  5. What animal structures are used for digestion and circulation?
  6. What animal structures are used for support, movement and protection?
  7. What animal structures are used for reproduction?
  8. What animal structures are used for sensing the environment?
  9. How do animals respond to their environment?

Earth’s Changing Surface

  1. What are some clues that Earth’s surface changes?
  2. How does water change Earth’s surface?
  3. How does wind change Earth’s surface?
  4. How do living things change Earth’s surface?
  5. How do fossils form and what do they show?
  6. Where on Earth are earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains found?
  7. What can people do about natural hazards?