4th Grade
TransdisciplinaryThemes / Who we are
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.
Government
August 16 to September 23 / How we organize ourselves
An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
Migration/Economics
September 26 to November 11 / How we express ourselves
An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs, and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity, our appreciation of the aesthetic.
Mythology, Solar System
November 14 to December 20 / Where we are in place and time
An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnected- ness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.
Modern Colorado/U.S.
January 5 to February 17 / How the world works
An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment
Energy resources
February 21 to April 14 / Sharing the Planet
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
Animals/Habitat
April 17 to May 25
Central
Idea / Rights and responsibilities vary in different settings. / Change created by one affects another. / Beliefs, feelings, discoveries, and ideas are shared through different expressions. / Patterns throughout time cause the world to change. / Innovation impacts societal advancement. / Relationships and adaptation are necessary for survival.
Lines of Inquiry / An inquiry into…
●how systems are created, structured, maintained, and changed.
●how rights and responsibilities of citizens both individually and collectively influence systems.
●how systems balance the rights of individuals with the common good.
●how maps and globes reflect politics and economics. / An inquiry into…
●how migration is influenced by geography and economic opportunities.
●how where a person lives influences how a person lives.
● why change, progress, and growth can be viewed from a variety of perspectives
●how to determine if benefits outweigh the risks. / An inquiry into…
●how representations of similar concepts illustrate the belief systems and customs of the cultures that create them.
●how stories, the aesthetic, and science fill the need to explain the world around us.
●how scientific truths are linked to the aesthetic. / An inquiry into…
●how patterns help us understand the world.
●how a repeated pattern can cause change.
●how and when patterns should be broken. / An inquiry into…
●how inventions and innovations evolve based on the needs of society.
●how the same resources be used in different ways to solve problems.
●how we ensureinnovation always lead to something better. / An inquiry into…
●how we can know what happened in the past.
●how adaptation promotes survival in the moment or throughout the test of time.
●how connectedness and relationships affect the ability to get needs and wants met.
●how deeper understanding of adaptations, relationships, and changes over time can help inform us
Essential Questions / How are systems created, structured, maintained, and changed?
How do the rights and responsibilities of citizens both individually and collectively influence systems?
How do systems balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
How do maps and globes reflect politics and economics? / How is migration influenced by geography and economic opportunities?
How does where a person lives influence how a person lives?
In what ways can change, progress, and growth be viewed as both positive and negative?
Do the benefits outweigh the risks? / How do representations of similar concepts illustrate the belief systems and customs of the cultures that create them?
How do stories, the aesthetic, and science fill the need to explain the world around us?
How are scientific truths linked to the aesthetic? / How do patterns help us understand the world?
How can a repeated pattern cause change?
How and when should we break a pattern? / How do inventions and innovations evolve based on the needs of society?
How can the same resources be used in different ways to solve problems?
How do we ensureinnovation always lead to something better? / How do we know for certain what happened in the past?
How does adaptation promote survival in the moment or throughout the test of time?
How do connectedness and relationships affect the ability to get needs and wants met?
How can a deeper understanding of adaptations, relationships, and changes over time help us predict the future?
Key
Concepts / Responsibility
Form
Function / Causation
Change
Perspective / Connection
Perspective
Reflection / Causation
Change
Perspective / Form
Function
Responsibility / Function
Connection
Reflection
Learner
Profile
attributes / Principled
Open-Minded
Risk Taker / Open-Minded
Inquirer
Knowledgeable / Balanced
Reflective
Caring / Communicator
Reflective
Thinker
Principled / Risk-Taker
Thinker
Inquirer / Inquirer
Knowledgeable
Caring
Communicators
Attitudes / Integrity
Independence
Respect
Cooperation / Curiosity
Tolerance
Empathy / Appreciation
Creativity
Enthusiasm / Commitment
Confidence
Empathy
Integrity / Creativity
Confidence
Curiosity / Cooperation
Appreciation
Commitment
Transdisciplinary
Skills
(Approaches to Learning) / Social Skills
Self-Management Skills
Thinking Skills / Research Skills
Communication Skills
Thinking Skills / Communication Skills
Social Skills
Research Skills / Self-Management Skills
Research Skills
Communication Skills / Thinking Skills
Research Skills
Communication Skills / Social Skills
Communication Skills
Self-management Skills
Action
Component / -Students are independent in decision-making / -Rendezvous
-Considering more perspectives, being tolerant of one another / -Living a more balanced life, balanced choice-making
-Showing appreciation for more types of art, music, stories / Living Museum
-Finding ways to break negative patterns in the future / Students creating own inventions
-Being more “world-conscious”, carbon footprint / Stories for Kindergartners
-Being more “world-conscious”, carbon footprint
Summatives / Students in groups are given a country and need to create their own government. Students present to the class and everybody votes on which country they would want to live in. Panel of adults (school board members?) who could ask appropriate questions and critique their structure. / Students will create a “Choose Your Own Adventure” interactive game from the main perspective of either:
1. Gold Rush
2. Homesteader/Pioneer
3. Spanish Mission
4. Native American / Given a country, students will choose 3 different artworks from that country and write myths based on that art work.
Ideas could include:
· sculptures, paintings, landscapes, architecture, artifacts, portraits, photographs, etc.
· depictions of natural phenomenon, scientific observations, valued character traits
· small non-fiction summary of the country to serve as a grounding-point for the myth / Night at the Museum presentation to must include:
1)Colorado Historical, US Historical, or Current Event
2)How will you change the pattern? / Invention Convention: Students will think of a problem they will solve and make up something to solve it. This could be an invention or an app or anything else. Students will write an essay to accompany their invention. / Students will write a book for a kindergarten partner:
●animal fable based on an interview with the kindergartner
●non-fiction paired passage using the same animal.
Novels / Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky
Long Walk to Water
The Breadwinner / Birchbark House
Hard Gold
Esperanza Rising
Lemonade War / Lightning Thief
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Chasing Vermeer??
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil T. Frankweiler / Out of the Dust
Watsons Go to Birmingham
Little Prince
Hope Chest / City of Ember
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh / Hatchet
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Incredible Journey
Literature Circles / Me Oh Maya
US Capital Commotion
Minstrel in the Tower
Les Miserables
Gulliver’s Travels
The Time Machine
Who Was Abraham Lincoln?
Who Was John F Kennedy?
Who Was Barack Obama?
Who Was Ronald Regan?
Who Was Paul Revere?
Who Was Harriet Tubman?
What Was the Boston Tea Party?
What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?
Who Was Benjamin Franklin?
Who Conducted the Underground Railroad?
Who Was Sojourner Truth?
Who Was George Washington Carver?
I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg
The Whipping Boy
What Was the First Thanksgiving?
Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
Who Was George Washington?
Who Was Julius Cesar?
What is the White House?
Who Was Susan B Anthony?
Who Was Frederick Douglas?
What is the Great Wall of China?
What Was the Underground Railroad?
I Survived September 11
Who Was Woodrow Wilson?
Who Was Nelson Mandela?
What Was the Declaration of Independence?
What are the Twin Towers?
Where is Mt Rushmore?
Jane Eyre / Cesar Chavez
Molly’s Pilgrim
Little Women
Robin Hood
Treasure Island
Next Spring an Oriole
Last of the Mohicans
Pioneer Cat
Shadow of the Wolf
Who Was Annie Oakley
Who Was Sacagawea
Who Was Daniel Boone
Who Was Marco Polo
What Was the Gold Rush
Who Was Sitting Bull
What Was Ellis Island
Night of the Full Moon
Time Warp Trio: The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy / See You Later Gladiator
Knights of the Kitchen Table
Curse of King Tut
I Survived the Eruption of Pompeii
Haunted Castle and All Hallows Eve
The Little Mermaid and other stories
Dragons of Blue Land
The Pied Piper
Beauty and the Beast and other stories
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The Magic Finger
Punished
What were the Salem Witch Trials?
What are the Great Pyramids?
Who was King Tut?
What was Pompeii?
What is the Parthenon?
Who was Galileo?
Chocolate Touch
Chocolate Fever
The Hundred Dresses / I Survived Pearl Harbor
I Survived The Hindenburg Disaster
Who Was Anne Frank?
Who Was Franklin D. Roosevelt?
The Time Machine
I Survived the Chicago Fires
I Survived the Titanic
Nazi Invasion
Who Was Jesse Owens?
Who Was George Washington Carver?
What was Pearl Harbor?
Hanna’s Suitcase
Who Was Rosa Parks?
Who Was Martin Luther King?
Who Was Amelia Earhart?
Titanic Sinks
Let’s Dream Martin Luther King
Who Was Maria Tallchief?
What Was the March on Washington?
Who was Neil Armstrong?
Who was Sally Ride?
Who was Henry Ford?
What was the Great Depression?
What was the Hindenburg Disaster?
What are the Summer Olympics?
What was D-Day?
You Want to Vote, Lizzy Caddy Station
Honey Cake
Who Was Roberto Clemente?
Who Was Jackie Robison? / Who Was Steve Jobs?
Who Was Bill Gates?
I Survived the Joplin Tornado
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami
I Survived Hurricane Katrina
Who Was Marie Curie?
Who Was Albert Einstein?
Who Was Isaac Newton?
Who Was Thomas Edison?
Who Was Alexander Graham Bell?
Masters of Disasters
Anne of Green Gables
Secret Garden
I Survived San Francisco Earthquake / Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Ready Freddy Save the Earth
What is Mt. Everest
Who Was Steve Irwin
Who Was Jane Goodall
Who Was Johnny Appleseed
How to Eat Fried Worms
Eve of the Emperor Penguin
I Survived Shark Attacks
Finding T-Rex
Who Was Charles Darwin
Five True Dog Stories
Who Was Rachel Carson
Aesop’s Fables
Esio Trot
Call it Courage
Stone Fox
Jungle Book
Nim’s Island
Tornado
Bunnicula
Comprehension Books / Woodsrunner
Freedom Train
Poppy
Frindle
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Me and My Little Brain
Room One: A Mystery or Two
Doll Bones
Among the Hidden / Chains
Walk Two Moons
Billy Creekmore
Sign of the Beaver
Bear Dance
Bear Stone
Little House in the Big Woods
The Thief Lord
Ruby Holler
Heat
Holes
Sing Down the Moon
Tale of Desperaux / Kokopelli’s Flute
Cryptid Hunters
The BFG
Castle in the Attic
The Magician’s Nephew
Shakespeare Stealer
The Colossus Rises
Alice in Wonderland
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Tuck Everlasting
Floors
Wizard of Oz
The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
Bridge to Terabithia / Someone Named Eva
Number the Stars
Bud, Not Buddy
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Elly
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Ten True Stories of Children in the Holocaust
Ten True Tales of the Titanic
Ten True Tales of Civil Rights Heroes
When You Reach Me
Maniac Magee
Escaping the Holocaust
Pay It Forward / The Cay
Three Times Lucky
The Best School Year Ever
The Phantom Tollbooth
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle / Wolf
Old Yeller
Shiloh
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Runaway Ralph
Worth
Wolf Storm
Sounder
Me and Jack
Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little
Jennifer Murdley’s Toad
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Brian’s Winter
Wolf Stalker
Hoot
Babe: Pig in the City
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Causation, Change, Connection, Perspective, Responsibility, Reflection
Learner Profile Attributes: Knowledgeable, Principled, Communicator, Balanced, Caring, Thinker, Open-Minded, Risk-Taker, Inquirer, Reflective
Attitudes:Cooperation, Integrity, Enthusiasm, Empathy, Curiosity, Confidence, Independence, Appreciation, Respect, Tolerance, Creativity, Commitment
Transdisciplinary Skills (Approaches to Learning):Social Skills, Communication Skills, Research Skills, Thinking Skills, Self-Management Skills
Action Cycle: Choose → Act → Reflect