Curriculum Overview:
4th grade is a rigorous step up from 3rd grade. Here are some of the main topics covered throughout the year:

Reading	Curriculum: Benchmark Advance, 10 readers throughout the year Skills/Strategies: Main idea, compare/contrast, text structure, inferencing, summarizing, answering text-dependent questions Non-fiction Topics: government, national parks, green technology, westward expansion, CA history, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis) Fiction topics: Folktales, Greek Mythology, novel excerpts  Various novel studies throughout the year Response to literature
Math	Place Value and rounding through 1,000,000 Addition and subtraction through 1,000,000 Relationship between multiplication and division Multi-digit multiplication (4-digit x 1-digit, 2-digit x 2-digit) Long division (Up to 4-digit divided by 1-digit) Comparing and ordering fractions of unlike denominators Simplifying fractions and mixed numbers Adding and subtracting fractions  Multiplying fractions by whole numbers Relating fractions and decimals (through hundredths) Comparing decimals Representing multi-step problems with variables and solving Problems with measurement: length, weight, mass, volume (metric and customary) Lines, angles,, polygons Classifying triangles, quadrilaterals, and polygons
Writing	3 genres: Narrative: Students are expected to write compete multi-paragraph personal and imaginative narratives.  Opinion: Students are expected to write organized multi-paragraph opinion essays that use text evidence to support a specific argument.  Informative: Students are expected to write compete multi-paragraph informational essays based on multiple texts they have read. Students will be completing a few different research projects,focusing o research skills, paraphrasing, and citing sources. Students will also have the opportunity to do more informal creative writing throughout the year.
Social Studies	Fourth Grade is all about California History! Some of the main topics we'll explore: CA Geography Native Tribes of CA European Exploration Spanish Colonization: Missions & Presidios Gold Rush CA Statehood Current Local and State Government CA National Parks
Science	Electricity Earth science - plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes Energy
Music	Students will get the opportunity to learn both clarinet and trumpet this year.