Grade 4 Curriculum

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (September - October)

In this unit, students will: 

• Fluently multiply and divide within 100 
• Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide
• Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities 
• Find the area of a rectangle

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (October - November)

In this unit, students will: 

• Use place value relationships to multiply by 10, 100, and 1,000
• Multiply 2-digit numbers 
• Represent multiplication with arrays and ratio tables
• Divide with and without remainders 
• Solve multiplication and division word problems

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (November - December)

In this unit, students will: 

• Compare fractions with like and unlike denominators 
• Locate fractions on a number line
• Add and subtract fractions with like denominators
• Identify equivalent fractions and decimals 
• Compare decimal numbers 
• Add and subtract fractions with denominators of 10 and 100

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (January - February)

In this unit, students will: 

• Compare multidigit numbers and identify the value of the digits 
• Use the standard algorithms for addition and subtraction 
• Solve word problems involving length, distance, liquid volume, time, mass, and weight 
• Convert measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit within the same system of measurement (for example, kilometers to meters but not meters to inches)

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (February - March)

In this unit, students will: 

• Determine angles of rotation 
• Measure angles with protractors 
• Identify types of lines and angles 
• Sort and classify shapes based on the number and kinds of sides and angles they have 
• Calculate the area and perimeter of rectangles

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (March - May)

In this unit, students will: 

• Multiply multidigit numbers 
• Divide multidigit numbers by a 1-digit number 
• Solve problems about the area and perimeter of rectangles
• Display data on a line plot and use it to solve problems

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (May - June)

In this unit, students will: 

• Compare fractions 
• Recognize and generate equivalent fractions 
• Represent and compare decimal numbers
• Multiply 2-digit numbers using the standard algorithm and other strategies

Unit Pacing - Taught in STEM

In this unit, students will: 

• Learn about simple machines such as pendulums, levers, inclined planes, and wheels
• Research and evaluate considerations for playground features and safety through reading, online research, and student surveys 
• Design and build model playgrounds to meet specific criteria and constraints 
• Work with scaled drawings and dimensions 
• Research project costs to determine an appropriate budget proposal 
• Practice math skills developed earlier this year, especially those involving measurement, money, and geometry

September - The workouts in September focus on place value with greater whole numbers, exploring multiplication, developing conversion skills, and laying the groundwork for algebraic thinking.

October - The focus shifts to place value up to millions, multidigit multiplication strategies, and the relationship between fractions and decimals.

November - Key learning focuses on elapsed time and measurement conversions (cups, quarts, gallons), along with continued place value and rounding work.

December - The emphasis is on the Function Machine (patterns/rules), area/factors/multiples, division strategies, and multiplying fractions by whole numbers.

January - A heavy focus is placed on division strategies (number line, arrays, ratio tables), fractions and decimals in the context of money, and geometry (similar figures/scaling).

February - This month concentrates on angles and geometric classification, decimals on the number line, and adding and subtracting fractions.

March - Major themes include equivalent fractions and the relationship between fractions and decimals, as well as complex geometry (pentominoes, line symmetry, parallel/perpendicular lines).

April - This month integrates measurement conversion (metric units) and data analysis (line plots) with fraction computation and area/perimeter.

May - The final month focuses on consolidating knowledge through advanced problems in geometry (symmetry, transformations), decimal/fraction computation, and metric conversions.

Unit 1 - 18 Days (September)

This unit examines the genre of personal narratives, which consists of nonfiction works written by a first-person narrator who was involved in the events being described. Students read five personal narratives and identify the elements of the genre. These elements include events proceeding in a logical sequence, dialogue that shows character, vivid descriptive language, characters with defining traits, sensory details, figurative language, and strong introductions and conclusions. 

Writing Focus

After students examine the genre of personal narratives through reading and writing, they then plan, draft, edit, revise, and publish their own multi-paragraph personal narrative. Additionally, students generate sentences with cause and effect relationships and convert interrogative sentences (questions) into declarative sentences (statements).

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Identify features of the personal narrative genre 
• Identify literary devices in personal narratives, including similes, metaphors, dialogue, transition words, sensory details, and point of view 
• Demonstrate understanding of cause and effect 
• Revise and publish a narrative using rubrics, checklists, and peer feedback 
• Identify and apply punctuation to dialogue 
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
   

Unit 2 - 18 Days (October)

This unit covers the history of the Middle Ages in Europe. It is primarily concerned with events in western Europe and the relationship between the Christian Church and the rulers of the region. Students continue to develop grammar skills as they describe the functions of and relationship between nouns and adjectives as well as adverbs and verbs. They form and use prepositional phrases, identify parts of speech, correctly use subjects and predicates, and correct sentence fragments and run-on sentences. Students also practice using the progressive verb tense. Finally, they work with the prefixes un–, non–, and en–, the root words arch and graph, and the suffix –y. 

Writing Focus

Students practice taking notes on informational texts, paraphrase information, and write an informative, comparative paragraph. They also combine and expand sentences using conjunctions and appositives, and they generate cause and effect sentences.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Write an informative paragraph using details from a text 
• Determine the importance of details in a text through note-taking 
• Use evidence from a text to support one’s ideas 
• Use paraphrasing to craft an informative, comparative paragraph
   

Unit 3 - 18 Days (October - November)

This unit provides students with tools and strategies for approaching poetry, trains them in the methods and devices poets use, and equips them to read and interpret both formal and free verse poems. Students also have opportunities to apply what they have learned by creating their own poems. Students read poems that represent a variety of time periods, ranging from Walt Whitman’s reflections on nineteenth-century American society to the work of living contemporary writer Harryette Mullen. The poets in this unit come from a diverse range of cultural heritages within the U.S., including Black, Hispanic, and Native American. The structures of the poems themselves are diverse as well—some employ precise meter and rhyme schemes, whereas others use free verse. 

Writing Focus

With opportunities to write their own poems embedded throughout the unit, students practice using the poetic devices they learn about by composing rhymes; creating similes and metaphors; using repetition and alliteration; and planning, drafting, and revising their original poems. Students also generate sentences, such as one-sentence summaries, and expand sentences using conjunctions and appositives.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Read texts with the purpose of identifying details and supporting evidence 
• Explore imaginative possibilities for figurative language 
• Identify and develop an understanding of poetic devices, including rhyme, repetition, alliteration, meter, and tone 
• Explore and identify extended metaphors in texts 
• Recite poems orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression 
• Write original poems using rich language and poetic devices

Unit 4 - 18 Days (December)

In Eureka! Student Inventor, students are introduced to various inventors and inventions, as well as the process of creation. Students are immersed in close reading adventures, where they engage with complex literary and informational texts, and demonstrate their ability to find and use evidence effectively. Students also learn to analyze objects and situations in the world around them, identify problems, develop evidence-based solutions, and, ultimately, become inventors themselves, as they research, build, and present inventions of their own. 

Writing Focus

By routinely writing in opinion, informative, and narrative styles, students practice the skills of research, observation, communication, and persuasion. Students also generate and expand declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative sentences using general academic and domain-specific words and phrases.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Read complex literary and informational texts 
• Find evidence and use it appropriately 
• Write in opinion, informational, and narrative forms, and adjust style for task and audience 
• Develop proficiency in research, observation, communication, and persuasion 
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

Unit 5 - 18 Days (January)

This unit focuses on the composition of Earth and the forces that change its surface. Students learn about the theory of plate tectonics and how it explains the presence of volcanoes, mountains, underwater trenches, ridges, and other geological features. They also study geological processes like rock formation, weathering, and erosion to understand how Earth changes over time and why it looks the way it does. Students practice using the suffix –ly and the root word -rupt, sequencing adjectives, and using commas and quotation marks correctly. 

Writing Focus

Students review the stages of the writing process as they draft an informational pamphlet about tsunamis, write a Wikipedia entry on a specific volcano, and craft an informative paragraph about a type of rock or an item in the rock cycle. Throughout these activities, students practice writing one-sentence summaries and combining sentences using conjunctions, appositives, and specific details.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Identify evidence that describes the effects of geological changes in a text 
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Examine and explain similes 
• Draft an informational pamphlet, write a Wikipedia entry, and craft an informative paragraph 
• Arrange adjectives within a sentence in the correct order

Unit 6  - 18 Days (February)

This unit centers around the big idea that disagreements about principles of government led colonists in North America to seek independence from Great Britain. By learning about the causes, major figures, and consequences of the American Revolution, students gain an understanding of what caused the thirteen original colonies to break away and become an independent nation, as well as the ideas and values at the heart of the conflict. 

Writing Focus

Throughout this unit, students review the stages of the writing process and record key information about the causes of the American Revolution as they develop a five-paragraph cause and effect essay. They also write one-sentence summaries and generate and expand cause and effect sentences. Students learn the prefixes im– and in–, the suffixes –ible and –able, and the root word port. In addition, they study “to be” verbs and modal auxiliary verbs. They continue developing their use of commas and quotation marks, and practice employing correct subject-verb agreement.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Develop proficiency in subject-verb agreement with both regular and irregular verbs 
• Deepen knowledge and understanding of prefixes and suffixes when added to root words 
• Write a five-paragraph cause and effect essay

Unit 7 - 18 Days (March)

In this unit, students continue their exploration of novel study by reading The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon. This is a coming-of-age story about Caleb, a ten-year-old boy living in a small town near Indianapolis. The novel explores themes of friendship, trust, family relationships, and freedom. As students progress throughout the unit, they learn to closely analyze themes, characters, relationships, conflicts, and motivations during teacher Read-Alouds, partner reading, and independent reading. They examine descriptive language, sensory details, figurative language, and other literary techniques, and make inferences about characters’ perspectives and relationships using textual evidence. Finally, students interpret the author's message based on the themes identified in the novel. 

Writing Focus

This unit provides multiple opportunities for students to apply their narrative writing skills, including the use of descriptive language, sensory details, dialogue, and figurative language. In the second half of the unit, students brainstorm, plan, draft, revise, edit, publish, and present a culminating narrative of their own. Specifically, they craft a scene in first-person point of view using the characters from The Season of Styx Malone. Students also expand sentences by incorporating dependent clauses and using conjunctions, and they generate one-sentence summaries in response to prompts about the reading.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Differentiate between first- and third-person points of view 
• Infer characters’ motivations, conflicts, perspectives, and traits using textual evidence
• Analyze character relationships and explain how and why they change throughout a text 
• Compare and contrast the experiences and perspectives of characters in a text 
• Identify and analyze the meaning of figurative language, including similes, metaphors, imagery, hyperbole, and idioms
• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Determine the meaning of unknown words using context from the text 
• Identify themes and determine the message of a novel 
• Write a narrative using first-person point of view, dialogue, descriptive language, figurative language, and sensory details 
• Plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a narrative writing piece using rubrics, checklists, and peer feedback
   

Unit 8 - 18 Days (April - May)

In this unit, students deepen their understanding of the elements of fictional narratives, including dialogue, narration, theme, characters, and plot structure. They summarize texts, explain the impact of figurative language, and compare and contrast themes. Students also study how authors use ambiguity and build suspense to engage their readers. Similarly, they explore and practice a variety of oral storytelling techniques used to captivate audiences. 

Writing Focus

The lessons in this unit guide students through various writing experiences focused on a range of purposes. Specifically, students craft a series of literary analyses before reimagining, writing, and telling their own version of a traditional story. At the end of the unit, students present their stories during a Storytelling Open Mic, which allows them to integrate and apply their new oral storytelling skills. Students incorporate dependent clauses and appositives to expand sentences, and collaboratively generate one-sentence summaries about the texts they are reading.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Summarize stories 
• Identify and discuss emerging themes in a text 
• Describe character traits, reputations, and motivations 
• Determine the meaning of unknown words 
• Draw evidence from texts to support analysis 
• Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes in traditional stories 
• Analyze the meaning of figurative language 
• Analyze how authors build suspense 
• Write a fictional narrative

Unit 9 - 18 Days (May - June)

This unit explores several important yet lesser-known innovators from American history. As students embark on a journey to understand the stories and impact of these American innovators, they build their knowledge of patents, prototypes, and the cycle of innovation. The lessons foster critical thinking skills through student engagement with informational texts about the innovators, their inventions, and their lasting contributions. Throughout the unit, students analyze nonfiction texts, identify key ideas, and recognize supporting details. 

Writing Focus

This unit includes a research component in which students select an innovator, develop a research question, conduct research, and undertake a research writing project. This project deepens students’ knowledge and provides opportunities for teachers to tailor the assignment to specific interests or themes.

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Identify main ideas and supporting details in informational texts 
• Compare and contrast inventors and innovators 
• Ask and answer relevant questions 
• Make text-based inferences 
• Generate questions based on prior knowledge and gathered information 
• Synthesize details across texts to demonstrate comprehension 
• Demonstrate understanding of themes within a text 
• Identify and cite primary and secondary sources 
• Research and gather information from relevant sources 
• Draft, revise, and publish an informational research paper 
• Present research findings using diverse formats