THANK YOU!

We sincerely appreciate the feedback and praise from all the parents who attended Back to School Night.

LITERACY

In October students will continue to focus on reading selections from the historical fiction genre. They will also continue to interact with non- fiction texts weekly. Students will build their reading skills in many different ways. Some of these skills will include:

  • comparing information of firsthand and secondhand accounts
  • identifying main ideas
  • making inferences
  • using cause/effect to describe concepts
  • describing events using chronological text structure
  • determining word meanings by relating them to their opposites

The Montgomery County reading curriculum requires that fourth graders read a minimum of 25 chapter books during the school year. Please remind your child to read a minimum of 20 minutes per night.

WRITING

Students are writing a historical fiction narrative this month. They will use facts and information to compose aspects of their story. Also, they will

determine a theme based on the problem and solution that their characters will face. As students revise and polish their work, they will focus on proper capitalization, punctuation, and word choice.

MATH

Students are continuing their unit on Number and Operations in Base 10. During October, students will focus on addition and subtraction using the traditional algorithm. They will add multiple addends and subtract numbers across a middle zero. Also, they will apply place value understandings to estimate and reason about sums. Towards the end of the month, students will solve word problems and equations based on addition and subtraction algorithms.

SCIENCE

We are continuing to work actively with our ecosystems. Aquariums and terrariums have

been constructed as homes for our mosquito fish and plants. Students are making predictions, writing observations, and labeling diagrams in their science journals. This study will culminate with students describing the interactions and contributions of plants and animals living in an ecosystem.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Students are continuing research into Native American

cultures. They will be researching information about tribes in Maryland, as well as these specific tribal regions:

  • Great Plains
  • Southwest Desert
  • Eastern Woodlands
  • Pacific Northwest

An ongoing task will have students compare ways that these Native American societies used the natural environment to meet their needs before the establishment of the thirteen British colonies.

CONFERENCES

A letter to all parents regarding conferences will be sent home at the end of the month. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress.

Have a wonderful October!

Sincerely,

The Fourth Grade Team