Q3W3

Our team hopes your families are enjoying the holiday weekend remembering the truth of what freedom stands for in our nation.

"So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reminder:

-Make sure students are studying regularly throughout the quarter: review History chapters read in class, review Science spiral notes, study Roots definitions flash cards, study multiplication flash cards on missed problems from Rocket Math tests, and reading 6-8, 150 page or more books with journal entries.

NEWS:

There is no school on Monday, January 19th in observation of Martin Luther King, Jr./Civil Rights remembrance. School resumes as normal on 1/20/26. This is not an R&R weekend and homework is due on Tuesday.

The Chapter 6 Math test is on Tuesday, January 20th.

The Fourth Grade will be taking the Galileo #3 this Wednesday, January 21, 2026. Please send scholars to school well slept and fed and on time. Please refrain from taking scholars out of school during this time. Our team thanks you in advance!

CURRICULUM:

ELA:

POETRY "Paul Revere's Ride" stanza 3 is due this Friday, January 23rd. This poem spans 13 weeks (into Q4) and culminates in a grade-wide reciting of the poem in entirety for the parents.

Scholars were given a copy of the Q3 poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" before break. The poem will be performed week by week, but also collectively upon completion. So, there is a weekly and a cumulative response to memorizing the poem. The most challenging portions for scholars are sections/stanzas 6-8. As there are no "at-home projects" in 4th grade, our team considers the weekly memorization of the poem a 13-week family endeavor. While your child should manage and monitor their progress, they will certainly need some intervention and parental accountability to stay on track. In April, the entire grade will perform all 13 stanzas for the parents in the MPR.

Helpful Practices for Memorization:

-Listen to the poem in it's entirety, daily

-Scholars should write out the stanza memorization for the week (hang it or write it out in whiteboard marker on the bathroom mirror)

-Illustrate or act out the stanza

-Look up unfamiliar words or phrases to understand the meaning

-Re-write that section in your own words (modern language)

-Perform a word while another person says every other word until scholar can say it independently

-Practice reciting in the mirror

-Make up body or hand motions to certain lines and phraes

-Write the stanza out on a whiteboard and erase a word or phrase

-Tell yourself everyday, "I can memorize this, and so did the Fourth Graders before me!"

LITERATURE In Q3, we'll spend the first weeks using our Literature time on our Poetry unit. This week we will cover the poetic elements of imagery, message and sense of identity & narrative Poetry. As a class we will build a quatrain poem practicing rhyming scheme.

**In Q3W5, the fourth grade will begin the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, "Prince Caspian". If your child has never read the prior, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", please ensure they read it before we begin the next book. Reading Groups will also resume, so please sign up!

In the COMPOSITION program for the week we will work on identifying the poetic elements in poems. This is a short week in composition due to Monday's day off.

In GRAMMAR, we continue prepositions and prepositional phrases in WOL. We will distribute the "2B" Well Ordered Language books to students and they will complete lesson 'A' and 'B'. A preposition is a word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object. For example in the sentence, "The horse jumped over the fence" "over the fence" is the prepositional phrase with "over" being the preposition. Analyzing and diagramming prepositional phrases is a key concept to master in fourth and fifth grade grammar understanding.

In LATIN AND GREEK ROOTS our roots this week are lithos and petros (both meaning rock, stone). Their derivatives are: lithograph, lithosphere, monolith, lithology, lithic, petrified, petroleum, petroglyph, petrous, Petrography.

Math:

In Math, we will conclude Chapter 6 concepts with chapter review and the test. The Chapter 6 Test is scheduled for Tuesday 1/20 after several days of chapter review. Students should make corrections in the blue workbook in order to prepare.

History:

In History in W3, we will continue our unit on Early Islamic Civilizations and African Kingdoms. We will read chapter 4 about the Islamic cultural influence, and we will analyze and identify Islamic architectural sites.

Rise and Fall of the Islamic Empire

Taj Mahal

Dome of the Rock

Islamic Design

Science:

Quarter 3, Week 3: Processes That Shape the Earth

Next week, fourth graders will begin an exciting exploration of the powerful natural processes that shape Earth, focusing on tsunamis and erosion. Due to Galileo Testing on Wednesday, there will be no science that day.

On Thursday, students will study Lesson 10: Tsunamis (Chapter 4). They will learn what causes tsunamis, how they move across the ocean, and why they become more dangerous near land. Students will examine real footage, diagrams, and text to understand the connection between seismic activity, earthquakes, and tsunamis, while also learning that tsunamis are often mistakenly called “tidal waves.” On Friday, students will move into Lesson: Erosion (Chapter 6), where they will learn how wind and water slowly reshape Earth’s surface by moving sediment and forming landforms such as river deltas.

Throughout the week, students will read from their Science Readers, discuss real-world examples, complete guided practice, and use visuals and videos to deepen understanding. They will also begin thinking like scientists by examining variables such as slope and speed and using evidence to explain how erosion changes the land over time.