Already into week 6! Time does fly and the end of the quarter is only a few weeks away. Now that students are used to fourth grade, it is up to them to make the adjustments necessary to truly thrive. Such adjustments might include studying more thoroughly, spending more time on homework, catching up on missed work or notes or simply taking better notes. Regardless the students are doing an excellent job getting acclimated to the testing year that is fourth grade.
Chores and Academic Success:
Research shows a strong connection between children taking responsibility at home and their growth in both character and academics. When children complete chores, they practice perseverance, responsibility, and self-discipline—virtues that carry over into the classroom. A child who learns to follow through on daily tasks, contribute to family life, and take initiative often develops stronger work habits and greater resilience when facing schoolwork. These life lessons learned at home—such as sticking with a task even when it’s not fun or working with care—mirror the skills needed for academic success. Parents can think of chores not just as “helping out” but as meaningful opportunities to train children in responsibility and virtue.
At around ten years old, children are capable of more complex household responsibilities that build independence and confidence. Appropriate chores may include: making their bed daily, keeping their bedroom clean, setting and clearing the table, loading and unloading the dishwasher, helping prepare simple meals, taking out the trash, folding laundry, vacuuming, dusting, feeding pets, and helping with yard work such as raking leaves. It's important for parents to give feedback about the both the effort and the accuracy of the chore completion so a child knows how they are doing and how to improve. When students practice these regularly, they build trust, consistency, and accountability—virtues that translate directly into better time management, stronger focus, and greater ownership of their school learning. Systems and feedback help build the brain structures (neural pathways) that lead to future success in many areas.
NEWS:
Green Science Spirals are collected twice per quarter for a classwork grade. Scholars are instructed to keep their notes complete across all subjects, ensuring every lesson is recorded—not just the day an assignment is due. If notes are missed, students must use Lyceum or attend before- or after-school driveline to catch up using the teacher's master notes, which are always available. We hold 4th graders accountable for legible, complete spiral notebooks now to build the foundational organizational habits and study skills necessary for middle school and beyond.
-All scholars need the next Literature book, "The Princess and the Goblin" in class this Monday, September 14. They may keep "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" at home.
-First Kingdoms Meeting, Wednesday, 9/16.
-Fall of Rome History Comprehension Check on Monday, 9/21.
-Poetry Recitation of Ozymandias is due on 9/25.
-The last day of the Quarter is on 10/2. It is a half day.
- Fall break is from 10/5- 10/9.
-Parent Teacher Conferences are on 10/12 and 10/13. Please do not schedule vacation during this time.
CURRICULUM:
ELA:
We have a new poem for POETRY RECITATION. Students will be memorizing the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy B. Shelley and will recite it in front of the class Friday, September 25th.
LITERATURE start a new book, Princess and the Goblin, so please ensure your student has their copy at school. This story is an engaging one that we will use to explore the genre of fantasy and analyze some virtuous behavior.
We continue our COMPOSITION program, which will spend time learning about hooks, general sentences, topic sentences and 3-point sentences to better prepare for Intro paragraphs in essay writing.
In GRAMMAR, we continue in our chapter of our WOL book: adjectives. We learn the definition, ways to recognize, and way to diagram this part of speech to better understand their role within sentences. Scholars will take an open note/WOL book quiz on Thursday over analyzing and diagraming adjectives.
In LATIN AND GREEK ROOTS, we will be learning our next three roots; re, and syn/sym. With them we will learn the definition and spelling of the following: resubmit, revive, refund, review, reimburse, synchronize, synonym, symphony, sympathy, and symmetry.
For PHILOSOPHY, we discuss the concepts of money and happiness and how the two concepts may compliment or contrast with each other.
Math:
In math, we continue on Multiplication and Division, focusing on key concepts and practicing the operation of multiplication. Such concepts include multiples, common multiples, composite numbers, and prime numbers. Furthermore, we will practice multiplication by tens, hundreds, thousands, and general two digit multiplication. It is key that students are practicing their math facts for this unit.
History:
In history, we continue with Chapters 3-4 in our Medieval Europe History books. Scholars will need to explain what events led the the Fall of Rome and beginning of the Dark Ages in a Comprehension Check on Monday, 9/21.
The Two Churches of Eastern and Western Rome
Science:
This week, scholars will explore magnetism and electricity. We’ll investigate how magnets attract and repel, observe invisible magnetic fields, and learn about magnetic forces in the real world. We’ll then connect these ideas to electricity and circuits, exploring conductors, insulators, batteries, and how electricity flows through a closed circuit. Scholars will reinforce their learning through hands-on investigations, demonstrations, guided notes, and discussion.
**Green Spiral notes are collected for a classwork grade twice per quarter before each Comprehension Check or Unit Project.
Remember, the blog is updated weekly. Be sure to come back frequently to see any upcoming events or changes in fourth grade.