Ashanti Village Course Outline

This year Timbuktu will continue using the Common Core State Standards; these standards define a staircase to
college and career readiness. Below is an overview of some of the fundamental concepts and content your child
will learn in Fourth grade English Language Arts/Literacy, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

English Language Arts & Literacy

Students will read a number of chapter books and short stories covering various genres of fantasy, historical non-
fiction and fiction, mystery, science fiction and real world text. The various genres will keep he or she actively
engaged in reading, as they read aloud to continue build reading fluency and comprehension skills. In addition to
having them being actively engaged in reading, they will be able to connect to characters, analyze and discuss
character behaviors, explain their thinking about characters, make predictions, cite evidence from the text, and
enhance their knowledge of both fiction and nonfiction text structure. They will learn additional strategies to
effectively express themselves in both written and spoken language. Students will write short stories or essays
using Step Up to Writing and 6 + 1 Writing Traits model; devoting significant time and effort to producing
numerous written pieces over short and extended timeframes throughout the year. This will provide them with
opportunities to gain control over many conventions of grammar, grammar usage, and punctuation. They will
continue to learn and practice strategies to differentiate fact and opinion, the author's viewpoint, making inferences,
predicting outcomes, and summarizing. In addition, they will expand and further develop their personal
vocabularies through a variety of reading, writing, and listening activities. Their vocabulary development will
involve using context clues, word analysis, multiple-meaning words, and word analogies.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS STUDENT WILL EMPLOY

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Write opinions that offer reasoned arguments and provide facts and examples that are logically grouped to
support the writers point of view

Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time
lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes
to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an
understandable pace
Mathematics
Students will improve their mathematical operational and problem solving skills from previous grades using place
value understanding to perform multi-digit arithmetic. This will provide the opportunity to gain fluency in adding,
subtracting, multiplying, and dividing within 1,000,000. In addition, they will focus on developing understanding
and fluency with multi-digit multiplication and division. Students will further develop their understanding of
fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators and multiplication of fractions by
whole numbers. Furthermore, gain knowledge that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their
properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS STUDENT WILL EMPLOY

Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it
represents in the place to its right. For example, recognize that 700 70 = 10 by applying concepts of
place value and division.

Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit
numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain
the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors,
using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between
multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays,
and/or area models.

Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n a)/(n b) by using visual fraction models,
with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves
are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.

Find all factor pairs for a whole number in the range 1-100. Recognize that a whole number is a
multiple of each of its factors. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1-100 is a
multiple of a given one-digit number. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1-100 is
prime or composite.

Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb,
oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit
in terms of a smaller unit. Measure angles in whole-number degrees using a protractor. Sketch angles
of specified measure.

Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real world and mathematical problems. For
example, find the width of a rectangular room given the area of the flooring and the length, by viewing
the area formula as a multiplication equation with an unknown factor.

Use a protractor and compass to draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties
of their lines and angles.
Social Studies
Students will be introduced to the geographic, economic, governmental concepts of the United States. They will
learn about the physical geography of the United States as well as the cultural characteristics of regions of the
country. Students will analyze human systems in the United States by exploring the interaction between the people
and their natural environments, the movement of people, products, and ideas, and the distinguishing features of
various regions within our country. They will learn fundamental economic concepts and apply these to their own
lives; by focusing on the characteristics of the U.S. economy. In addition, students will study the economic ties
between the United States and other places, discovering how their country is an interdependent part of the global
economy. Students will also be introduced to the purposes, structure, and function of our federal government. They
will examine the relationship between the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democratic republic. Students
will have opportunities to examine current issues facing the United States and practice making and expressing
informed decisions as citizens.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS STUDENT WILL EMPLOY

Examine the four disciplines that are the focus of social studies: history, geography, government, and
economics. Exploring the questions studied by these different social scientists about people and places.

Use a variety of geographic tools such as maps, globes, and satellite images to answer questions about the
geographical development of the United States; while exploring ways in which the United States can be
divided into regions. Comparing the region to which Michigan belongs with other regions in the United
States using special purpose maps. In doing so, students will examine geographic features such as
elevation, climate, and patterns of population density in the United States.

Examine the purposes of government and ways in which the government of our country works by
investigating the concept of representative government and distinguishing the roles of the three branches of
the United States government.

Investigate how the powers of government are separated among the branches and explore a variety of
public issues in the local community, identifying various points of view, and applying core democratic
values as a citizen of the United States

Explore the characteristics of market economies and the types of questions economists ask. Using a circular
flow model, students examine how households and businesses interact in a market economy. They expand
their understanding of economic decision making by applying the concepts of price, competition, and
incentives. Using the automobile industry as a context, students consider how businesses become
interdependent through the use of specialization and division of labor. They then explore how these factors
influence productivity in various industries.

Use literature and primary sources, to study push and pull factors of migration and the influence of
migration on culture within the United States. Through both historical and current examples students will
explore ways people have used, adapted to, and modified various environments in the U.S. deepening their
understanding of human-environment interactions while assessing positive and negative effects of human
activities on the physical environment.
Science
Students will deepen their inquiry skills by practicing using evidence to formulate explanations about life, physical,
and earth and space sciences. In life science they will learn about natural relationships within the environment and
how this order can be interrupted or changed by environmental conditions. They will explore plants and animals
through the study of patterns of interdependence, food chains, and food webs. Students will use information about
fossils to compare organisms that exist today to those of the past. In physical science they will examine the
properties of heat, electricity, and magnetism and how energy can change or transfer while examining and
exploring the conditions that lead to energy transfer. They will observe changes in states of matter and learn to
measure these changes and/or interactions. In earth and space science students will explore the role of gravity and
develop an understanding that motion of objects in the sky move in predictable cycles and expound on the concepts
of day and year. Finally, they will make the connection that all life on earth is dependent on the sun for light and
heat energy.
BASIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS STUDENT WILL EMPLOY

Develop an understanding that there are many forms of energy (such as heat, light, sound, and electrical)
and that energy is transferable by convection, conduction, or radiation. Understand energy can be in
motion, called kinetic; or it can be stored, called potential.

Develop an understanding that as temperature increases, more energy is added to a system. Understand
nuclear reactions in the sun produce light and heat for the Earth.

Develop an understanding that all matter has observable attributes with physical and chemical properties
that are described, measured, and compared. Understand that states of matter exist as solid, liquid, or gas;
and have physical and chemical properties. Understand all matter is composed of combinations of elements,
which are organized by common attributes and characteristics on the Periodic Table. Understand that
substances can be classified as mixtures or compounds and according to their physical and chemical
properties.

Build knowledge about plants and animals (including humans) basic requirements for maintaining life
which include the need for air, water and a source of energy. Developing an understanding that all life
forms can be classified as producers, consumers, or decomposers.

Build knowledge about the sun being the central and largest body in the solar system and that Earth and
other objects in the sky move in a regular and predictable motion around the sun. Understand that those
motions explain the day, year, moon phases, eclipses and the appearance of motion of objects across the
sky. Understand that gravity is the force that keeps the planets in orbit around the sun and governs motion
in the solar system.

Develop an understanding that fossils and layers of Earth provide evidence of the history of Earths
lifeforms, changes over long periods of time, and theories regarding Earths history and continental drift.

Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which
they lived long ago comparing this information to todays organisms and their environments.
 Fourth Grade Supply List
All students should have their personal supplies by Monday, September 19, 2017

Please do not put names on the village/community supplies, as they are shared by the entire
class throughout the year and helps us practice the principle of Ujaama (Cooperative
Economics)!

Personal/Individual Supplies: Village/Community Supplies:

4 Composition Notebooks 60 #2 Pencils (Please No Mechanical)

5 Packs wide ruled loose leaf paper

1 Journal or an additional Composition
Notebook 4 Glue sticks
1 Pack colored pencils and/or Crayons
4 Large boxes of facial tissue
2 Packs blue or black ink pens
(Preferably Erasable) 3 Bottles of Hand soap or Sanitizer

3 Containers of disinfectant wipes

2 Pocket folders
(Homework and Writing)

1 Twelve Inch Ruler

1 Protractor and Compass Set

4 Large Pinky erasers

(Please No Pencil Cap Style)

4 Highlighters (different colors)

Classroom Wish List

Parent Volunteers who will assist in the classroom is always a plus; please check with
the front office for the correct procedures.

Recess outdoor and indoor items (board games, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, etc.)