4th Grade

What should my child be working on?

Reading

• Choose books they can read independently for a sustained period of time (TEKS 4.5A)
• Read with the intention of sharing with a partner (TEKS 4.6A & 4.6G)

Fiction

• Study details to see characters beyond the surface and outgrow initial ideas, paying attention to how they change and they act in different situations (TEKS 4.8B)
• Making thoughtful predictions that are grounded in text evidence (TEKS 4.6C)
• Retell and synthesize stories to cement comprehension (TEKS 4.7D)
• Use envisionment to see and hear inside the text (TEKS 4.6C)
• Notice important details in the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution(TEKS 4.8C)
• Understand author’s craft and find meaning in recurring details, images, and objects (TEKS 4.10C & 4.10D)
• Debate ideas about the text’s message and ground evidence back in the text (TEKS 4.10A)

Nonfiction

• Notice details and ask questions while reading (TEKS 4.6G & 4.6B)
• Synthesize what is being read to prepare to teach about a topic (TEKS 4.6H)
• Use text features and other clues to determine main ideas (TEKS 4.10C & 4.9Di)
• Study the information presented to make inferences (TEKS 4.6F)
• Analyze the author’s perspective (TEKS 4.10A)

Writing

Narrative (TEKS 4.12A)

• Think, plan, and write using drama to bring to life characters with real wants and troubles that matter (TEKS 4.11A & 4.11B)
• Revise using a variety of strategies such as telling important parts, bit by bit (TEKS 4.11C)
• Use mentor texts to draft several endings to choose from (TEKS 4.11C)

Information (TEKS 4.12B)

• Write with the purpose of teaching, adding details (TEKS 4.11A & 4.11B)
• Revise by reading their own writing through the eyes of a stranger (TEKS 4.11C)
• Organize ideas into chapters while balancing facts with thinking (TEKS 4.11B)
• Review editing strategies they already know and learn new ones (TEKS 4.11D)

Essays (TEKS 4.12C)

• Generate ideas and use elaboration prompts to grow them (TEKS 4.11A)
• Organize ideas and build a cohesive draft (TEKS 4.11B)
• Revise their work with clear goals in mind (TEKS 4.11C)
• Connect evidence, reason, and thesis while moving from personal to persuasive essays (TEKS 4.11B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child (Reading and Writing)?

• What do you love about [specific book]?
• What goal are you currently working towards reading and writing at school?

Fiction

• Based on what we just read, what do you think might happen next?
• Why do you think [character] did that? How do you know?
• Tell me about [character] journey? How and why did they change?

Nonfiction

• What is most important here? How do you know?
• What is something new you learned while reading [book]?
• What can you teach me about [topic]?
• Why do you think the author chose to write about it?

How can I help my child learn at home?

• Help your child build time in their routine for daily reading.
• Visit the public library to allow your child to access a variety of books based on their interests.

Fiction

• Read stories together and engage in deep conversations about a character’s journey and the author’s intentions. Create theories and test them against new text evidence.

Nonfiction

• Inquire about what they have learned through reading nonfiction texts. Encourage your child to dig deeper into the topics of interest and use what they have learned to create theories and discuss them.

What should my child be working on?

Place Value

• Represent the value of whole numbers and decimals using expanded notation (TEKS 4.2B)
• Explain that when you move to the right on the place value chart, the values are getting ten times smaller; when you move to the left on a place value chart, the values are getting ten times larger. (TEKS 4.2A)
• Represent decimals using objects or a picture. (TEKS 4.2E)
• Locate a decimal on a number line (TEKS 4.2H)
• Compare and order whole numbers up to a billion and decimals to the hundredths using >, <, or = (TEKS 4.2C)
• Compare and order decimals using a model. (TEKS 4.2F)
• Relate decimals to fractions.  (TEKS 4.2G)
• Locate a fraction or decimal on a number line. (TEKS 4.3G)

Addition & Subtraction

• Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, or 1,000 to estimate solutions to math problems (TEKS 4.4G)
• Use compatible numbers to estimate solutions to math problems (TEKS 4.4G)
• Add and subtract decimals and whole numbers (TEKS 4.4A)
• Represent multi-step problems with strip diagrams and equations (TEKS 4.5A)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Place Value

• Will a digit 0 effect the value of a number? When?
• It what situations would being able to compare decimals be helpful outside of the math classroom?

Addition & Subtraction

• How does the context of the problem affect the operation you chose? The representation?
• How can estimation help you determine if your answer is reasonable?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Place Value

• Use sale ads from various stores to compare the prices of items or have your child compare the prices of two comparable items at the store to determine what is a better deal.

Addition & Subtraction

• Have your child create a “wish-list” of items they would want to purchase. Have them find the total cost of the items. Then, propose situations for paying for the items and ask your child how much change they would receive.
  • For example, if your child wants to purchase items totaling $32.51 ask them how much change they would receive if they paid with $40.

What should my child be working on?

Matter

• Measure, compare and contrast the physical properties of matter (temperature, mass, volume, states of matter including solid, liquid, and gas,  magnetism, and the ability to sink or float (4.5A)
• Compare and  contrast a variety of mixtures, including solution (4.6B)

Energy

• Differentiate among forms of energy, including mechanical, sound, electrical, light, and thermal (4.6A)
• Differentiate between conductors and insulators of thermal energy (4.6B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Matter

• What properties can we use to describe objects? 
• What is a mixture?
• What is a solution?

Energy

• What kind of material can be used as a conductor/an insulator?
• How do electrical conductors and insulators help us?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Matter

• Encourage your child to describe objects (matter) by their physical properties

Energy

• Work with your child to understand the different forms of energy and how the difference between insulators and conductors.

What should my child be working on?

Geography

• Understand the four geographic regions of Texas (TEKS 4.6A, 4.6B)
• Understand why people settle where they do; why settlements were begun in certain locations and what helped caused them to grow; what was the impact of that settlement and growth (TEKS 4.7A, 4.7B, 4.8A, 4.8B)

Economics

• Identify how the characteristics of the different regions influence the economics (TEKS 4.11A, 4.11B)

Government

• Identify the importance of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (Celebrate Freedom Week) (TEKS 4.13C)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Geography

• What are the four regions of Texas? In which region do we live?
• How have the geographic regions of Texas influenced settlement and way of life?
• How have humans adapted to and modified their environments?

Economics

• What are some of the ways people along the coast of Texas earn a living?

Government

• What is the importance of The Constitution?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Geography

• Make a list of plants and animals that are common and rare for your region. Using the web, look for images of these plants and animals. What plants or animals on that list has your student observed?

Government

• Learn more about The Constitution together.

Overview

Digital citizenship in the elementary grades focuses on building on the basic concepts of media balance & well-being, privacy & security when online, digital footprint & identity, and relationships & communication online introduced in the primary grades.

Media Balance & Well-Being

Lessons on media balance & well-being in elementary focus on helping students take responsibility for their actions online and how they can make healthy media choices. Students learn to monitor their technology usage to determine what they are using when they are using it, and how they can determine how much is too much. Students begin to understand that balanced media usage keeps them healthy, just like eating a balanced diet.

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

TEKS: 126.7 (5) (E-F)

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

How can I help my child learn at home?

Share with your child how you choose and manage your passwords. How do you choose a password that is secure? How do you keep up with all of your passwords? Your child will soon be asked to create and manage many passwords, and understanding how passwords can help keep them safe when on the Internet is important for him or her to understand.

Resources

• 3-5 Media Balance Family Guide
• K-5 Media Balance Family Tip Sheet

Overview

Public schools in Texas may be different from schools in other countries. If this is the first time your child attends a Texas school, the first nine weeks will be the time your child becomes accustomed to the new environment as they learn.

How does the school know that my child is an English learner?

When you register your child in school for the first time, you are asked to fill out a home language survey that asks two specific questions: (1) What language is spoken in the child’s home most of the time? and (2) What language does the child speak most of the time? If the survey indicates that your child speaks a language other than English, he/she will then be tested at the Multilingual Department’s Welcome Center. If the assessment indicates that your child is not yet proficient in English, the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) will make a program recommendation for your child.

How will my child learn English?

Dual Language programs are designed to make grade-level academic content accessible to English learners through the development of literacy and academic skills in the child’s primary language and English. English as a Second Language program (ESL) targets English language development, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, through academic content instruction that is linguistically and culturally responsive.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What was one interesting thing you did at school today?
• Who did you sit with during lunchtime?
• Who did you talk to the most today?
• What is your homework for today?

What can I do?

• Encourage your child to use a bilingual dictionary.
• Encourage your child to read daily in his /her home language and/or English. In the primary grades, read to/with your child.
• Schedule time every day for your child to do homework.

Resources

• Parent guide
• U.S. Department of Education - English Learner Tool Kit
• U.S. Department of Education - Especially for Parents

The intermediate years of elementary school are a time of personal and social growth. With this age group, children are becoming better at working in groups, solving problems, and making decisions for themselves. At this age, children should be able to identify their emotions and triggers of behaviors. They also should be able to identify strengths and weaknesses. This is self-awareness. Being self-aware helps your child recognize how others see them. While children’s temperaments vary widely, your child may be able to accurately identify their feelings or may have difficulty with it. Both are considered normal, but if you have concerns about your child’s development, it’s best to share your concerns with your pediatrician.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What are you most excited about this school year?
• What are you looking forward to the least?
• What goals would you like to set for yourself?
• How can I help you be successful this year?
• How do you respond when you are challenged?
• What do you need your teacher to know about you?
• What are your strengths in the classroom? with friends?
• Is there anything you need help with at school? at home?

What can I do?

• Enrich your child’s emotional vocabulary by using a variety of words to describe your emotions.
• Model self-awareness by sharing the reasons behind your feelings.
• Use a stem to help your child articulate how they are feeling: “I feel __________when you ________because ________. I would like for you to _________.
• Encourage your child to get involved in activities at school which builds self-awareness, for example, a play, musical, or book clubs.
• Use books, TV, and movies to point out emotions, specifically the complex emotions.
• Encourage your child to keep a journal to reflect on their day and the emotions they felt.

Resources

• Understood - Shaping the world for difference

What should my child be working on?

Reading

• Choose books they can read independently for a sustained period of time (TEKS 4.5A)
• Read with the intention of sharing with a partner (TEKS 4.6A & 4.6G)

Fiction

• Study details to see characters beyond the surface and outgrow initial ideas, paying attention to how they change and they act in different situations (TEKS 4.8B)
• Making thoughtful predictions that are grounded in text evidence (TEKS 4.6C)
• Retell and synthesize stories to cement comprehension (TEKS 4.7D)
• Use envisionment to see and hear inside the text (TEKS 4.6C)
• Notice important details in the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution(TEKS 4.8C)
• Understand author’s craft and find meaning in recurring details, images, and objects (TEKS 4.10C & 4.10D)
• Debate ideas about the text’s message and ground evidence back in the text (TEKS 4.10A)

Nonfiction

• Notice details and ask questions while reading (TEKS 4.6G & 4.6B)
• Synthesize what is being read to prepare to teach about a topic (TEKS 4.6H)
• Use text features and other clues to determine main ideas (TEKS 4.10C & 4.9Di)
• Study the information presented to make inferences (TEKS 4.6F)
• Analyze the author’s perspective (TEKS 4.10A)

Writing

Narrative (TEKS 4.12A)

• Think, plan, and write using drama to bring to life characters with real wants and troubles that matter (TEKS 4.11A & 4.11B)
• Revise using a variety of strategies such as telling important parts, bit by bit (TEKS 4.11C)
• Use mentor texts to draft several endings to choose from (TEKS 4.11C)

Information (TEKS 4.12B)

• Write with the purpose of teaching, adding details (TEKS 4.11A & 4.11B)
• Revise by reading their own writing through the eyes of a stranger (TEKS 4.11C)
• Organize ideas into chapters while balancing facts with thinking (TEKS 4.11B)
• Review editing strategies they already know and learn new ones (TEKS 4.11D)

Essays (TEKS 4.12C)

• Generate ideas and use elaboration prompts to grow them (TEKS 4.11A)
• Organize ideas and build a cohesive draft (TEKS 4.11B)
• Revise their work with clear goals in mind (TEKS 4.11C)
• Connect evidence, reason, and thesis while moving from personal to persuasive essays (TEKS 4.11B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child (Reading and Writing)?

• What do you love about [specific book]?
• What goal are you currently working towards?

Fiction

• Based on what we just read, what do you think might happen next?
• Why do you think [character] did that? How do you know?
• Tell me about [character] journey? How and why did they change?

Nonfiction

• What is most important here? How do you know?
• What is something new you learned while reading [book]?
• What can you teach me about [topic]?
• Why do you think the author chose to write about it?

How can I help my child learn at home?

• Help your child build time in their routine for daily reading.
• Visit the public library to allow your child to access a variety of books based on their interests.

Fiction

• Read stories together and engage in deep conversations about a character’s journey and the author’s intentions. Create theories and test them against new text evidence.

Nonfiction

• Inquire about what they have learned through reading nonfiction texts. Encourage your child to dig deeper into the topics of interest and use what they have learned to create theories and discuss them.

What should my child be working on?

Multiplication & Division

• Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, or 1,000 to estimate solutions to math problems. (TEKS 4.4G)
• Use compatible numbers to estimate solutions to math problems (TEKS 4.4G)
• Solve real-world multiplication problems. (TEKS 4.4H)
• Multiply a number by 10 or 100 using place value understanding. (TEKS 4.4B)
• Represent multiplication of two, 2-digit numbers. (TEKS 4.4C)
• Multiply a four-digit number by a one-digit number and a two-digit number by a two-digit number (TEKS 4.4D)
• Solve real-world division problems (TEKS 4.4H)
• Interpret what to do with the remainder of a division problem. (TEKS 4.4H)
• Represent the quotient of up to a four-digit number divided by a one-digit number. (TEKS 4.4E)
• Divide a four-digit number by a one-digit number (TEKS 4.4F)
• Represent multi-step problems with a strip diagram and an equation (TEKS 4.5A)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Multiplication & Division

• Why do we sometimes have remainders in division problems? Why is the remainder important?
• When might one estimation strategy (rounding or compatible numbers) be more beneficial than another?
• Which strategy is your favorite for solving multiplication/division problems? Why?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Multiplication & Division

• Have your child estimate the grocery bill for different hypothetical scenarios (use whole numbers only). For example, what would the grocery bill be for a family twice the size of ours?
• Have your child practice reasoning through what to do with a remainder in real-world scenarios. For example, if baking cookies how many would each family member get? What would you do with the extra cookies and why?

What should my child be working on?

Energy

• Differentiate among forms of energy, including mechanical, sound, electrical, light, and thermal ( TEKS 4.6B)
• Differentiate between conductors and insulators of thermal energy (TEKS 4.6C)

Force & Motion

• Design and conduct a descriptive investigation to explore the effect of force on an object such as a push or pull, gravity, friction, or magnetism (TEKS 4.6D)

Earth (4.7A,B,C)

• Explore the properties of soils, including color and texture, capacity to retain water and ability to support the growth of plants (TEKS 4.7A)
• Observe and identify slow changes to the Earth's surface caused by weathering, erosion, and deposition from water, wind, and ice (TEKS 4.7B)
• Identify and classify Earth's renewable resources, including air, plants, water, and animals; and nonrenewable resources including coal, oil, natural gas, and the importance of conservation (TEKS 4.7C)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Energy

• What kind of material can be used as a conductor/an insulator?
• How do electrical conductors and insulators help us?

Force & Motion

• How can I explore the effects of forces on an object?
• How can I design an investigation to answer questions I have about forces?

Earth

• What are some observable properties of soil?
• What are the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition on the Earth’s surface?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Energy

• Work with your child to understand the different forms of energy and how the difference between insulators and conductors.

Force & Motion

• Design an investigation with your child to explore how forces affect objects.

Earth

• Investigate and explain how landforms are forms

What should my child be working on?

History

• Understand the reasons and results of people exploring and settling in Texas (TEKS 4.2A, 4.2B)

Geography

• Understand what influences where people choose to live (landforms, climate) in the past and present (TEKS 4.7A)
• Understand how people adapt to and modify their environment (TEKS 4.8A, 4.8B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

History

• What motivated exploration and colonization of Texas?
• What drove the Spanish to build missions in Texas 100 years after their exploration?
• What motivated the empresarios to create settlements in Texas?

Geography

• How did geography and local resources affect the Native American groups in Texas?

How can I help my child learn at home?

• Share with your student your family’s history and how they ended up in Houston, Texas.

Going Further with landforms and erosion!

How do the Geosphere and the Hydrosphere interact with each other?

The geosphere is the solid Earth and the hydrosphere is all the water on top of the geosphere layer.  Investigate these two spheres with your student to learn how they interact with each other to cause erosion and weathering.

Start by watching this video.

After watching the video, brainstorm examples of the geosphere and hydrosphere on Earth.

List examples of mechanical and chemical weathering.  What would be some similar examples in this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Privacy & Security

Intermediate aged students are beginning to use media more, and as they have new experiences, they deepen their understanding of how they can protect their privacy and security when they go online. Students are given opportunities to deepen earlier learning by exploring password creation, taking care of their personal information, and ways that media producers entice users to pick their media.

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

TEKS: 126.7 (5) (C, F-G)

How can I help my child learn at home?

Share with your student how you choose and manage your passwords. How do you choose a password that is secure? How do you keep up with all of your passwords? Our students will soon be asked to create and manage many passwords, and understanding how passwords can help keep them safe when on the Internet is an important concept.

Overview

Your child is becoming comfortable with Texas schools. The focus is now developing his/her English and supporting him/her to learn the core content.

How will my child learn English?

During this time, your child’s teacher is providing strategies in the classroom in order to help with Second Language Acquisition. Teachers report the strategies and linguistic accommodations they provide for the students in order to help the students be successful in acquiring the English language.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What did you learn in your_____ class?
• How did you ask for help?
• Who did you talk to the most in your classes?
• What is your homework for today?

What can I do?

• Check out books including audiobooks in English or in their home language from public libraries.
• Encourage your child to read and/or listen to audiobooks daily.
• Be sure to attend parent-teacher conferences scheduled by your child’s school.
• Schedule time every day for your child to do homework.

Resources

• The 50 Best ESL Resources for Kids
• Colorín Colorado (bilingual website)
• PBS Kids
• Parent guide
• Unite for Literacy

The intermediate years are a unique time socially and emotionally. Not only are children in this age group learning more about themselves emotionally, but they are also acquiring skills to navigate peer pressure and relationships with friends. Your child should be getting better at making decisions and solving problems. They are becoming more aware of the world around them in their school and home communities. Children in this age group are understanding the importance of listening to others, respecting a variety of perspectives, and positively resolving conflicts. These are all skills they need in order to interact meaningfully with others and maintain healthy relationships with diverse groups of people. Children in this age group can also be very critical of themselves when they make a mistake.

There is an increased interest in peer relationships and acceptance. They care more about what their friends think and how they are perceived. While peer relationships are a positive part of growing up, it can also be a time where children have a negative experience. At this age, children are usually loyal and dedicated to their friends and when conflicts arise, they may need support in navigating the differences.

If you believe your child is being bullied, gather as much information about the incidents in question and request a meeting with the school.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What was the best part of your day? worse part?
• Who did you sit with at lunch?
• What did you play at recess? with who?
• Have you ever sat alone at lunch?
• What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
• Did anyone do anything nice for you?
• What was the nicest thing you did for someone else?

What can I do?

• Be a good example. Children often mimic the behaviors of the parents or primary caregivers. When your child sees you being kind, empathetic to others, honest, and patient, it gives them a guide for their friendships. 
• Take time to talk with your child about his or her day.
• Role-play with your child. Create scenarios with friendship conflicts and share steps to resolve the conflict.
• Celebrate your child’s achievements.
• Encourage your child to feel good about himself or herself.
• Practice active listening with your child.
• Share your family values.

Resources

• Stop Bullying
• Family Doctor

• 6 ways to help your child deal with peer pressure

What should my child be working on?

Reading

Poetry

• Discuss the theme of a poem and support their inference with text evidence (TEKS 4.8A)
• Explore how authors use text structure, print, and graphic features to support the message (TEKS 4.10A & 4.10B & 4.10C)
• Think about how authors use language and imagery to achieve specific purposes (TEKS 4.9B & 4.10D)

Historical Fiction

• Notice dates in their books to fit history and characters together (TEKS 4.8D)
• Study how ordinary objects can symbolize big ideas and note different ideas that fit under the same theme (TEKS 4.6H & 4.8A)
• Pay attention to tone, mood, and minor characters to make inferences (TEKS 4.6F)
• Add background information to deepen understanding (TEKS 4.6E)

Informational & Research

• Understand how print and graphic features help accentuate what matters on the text (TEKS 4.10C)
• Tackle the challenges of hybrid texts (more than one genre in one) (TEKS 4.9F)
• Summarize texts to self-assess learning and engage in collaborative conversations (TEKS 4.7D)
• Synthesize contradictory information across texts (TEKS 4.6H)
• Read and think about two topics to compare and contrast (TEKS 4.9F)
• Ask questions to push thinking and write to capture it (TEKS 4.6B & 4.13B)
• Consider authors’ point of view when evaluating sources (TEKS 4.13C & 4.13D)

Writing

Poetry (TEKS 4.12A)

• Write meaningful poems that contain content they care about (TEKS 4.11B)
• Use meaningful figurative language and small details to craft poems that strike the reader with emotion (TEKS 4.11B)
• Use revision strategies learned in other units to revise their poems (TEKS 4.11C)

Opinion (TEKS 4.12C)

• Shift their judging into writing and elaborate on their opinions (TEKS 4.11B)
• Persuade and hook the reader with convincing reasons for reviews (TEKS 4.11B)
• Study mentor texts to revise writing in bold ways (TEKS 4.11C)

Literary Essay (TEKS 4.12C)

• Read closely to generate ideas about a text (TEKS 4.11A)
• Find and test a thesis using stories as evidence (TEKS 4.11A)
• Drafting while keeping in mind beginnings and endings (TEKS 4.11B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child (Reading and Writing)?

Poetry

• What is the author trying to say? How do you know?
• What do you see/imagine when you read this part?

Historical Fiction

• How was [setting] at the time of this story different from today?
• How would the outcome of this story be different if it took place in the present time?
• Could the story have ended any other way?
• What message does this story teach about life?

Research

• What have you learned so far about [topic]?
• Which texts were most helpful? Why?
• What is the author trying to say? How do you know?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Poetry

• Read together a variety of poems. Discuss the structural features you notice and how the author uses them to evoke feelings and create meaning.

Historical Fiction

• Analyze how the historical environment helps the story move forward.  Discuss the possible reasons behind the author’s decision to have that specific time and place as the setting.

Research

• Allow your child to teach you about the topic being researched. Help them practice using the new vocabulary and think about the key points they need to hit to ensure effective communication.

Resources:

• Every campus has access to different software that can be used at home. Reach out to your child’s teacher for the programs their campus utilizes and for their log-in information.

What should my child be working on?

Patterns

• Relate problems using an input and output table (all operations) (TEKS 4.5B)

Fractions

• Determine if two fractions are equivalent. (TEKS 4.3C)
• Compare two fractions using >, <, or = (TEKS 4.3D)
• Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators using objects and pictures(TEKS 4.3E)
• Use objects or pictures to represent a fractional value as the sum of fractions with like denominators (TEKS 4.3A, 4.3B)
• Use benchmark fractions to help determine if an answer is reasonable (TEKS 4.3F)

Geometry

• Classify two-dimensional shapes based on parallel or perpendicular lines or size of angles (TEKS 4.6D)
• Identify points, lines, line segments, rays, angles, and perpendicular and parallel lines for two-dimensional shapes (TEKS 4.6A)
• Identify and draw lines of symmetry for two-dimensional shapes (TEKS 4.6B)
• Identify acute, right, and obtuse triangles (TEKS 4.6C)
• Use a protractor to find the measurement of an angle or to draw an angle (TEKS 4.7C, 4.7D)
• Find the measurement of unknown angles using information about adjacent angles (TEKS 4.7E)
• Show how an angle is part of a circle by cutting two-line segments to the center of the circle(TEKS 4.7A)
• Use degrees to show the measurement of the angles in a circle (TEKS 4.7B)

What questions should I ask my child?

Patterns

• What pattern do you notice? How do you know whether to add or multiply?

Fractions

• What strategy did you use to compare fractions?
• How do we determine the names of fractional parts?
• How are fractions and decimals similar? Different?

Geometry

• How are angles classified?
• (given a set of two-dimensional shapes) How would you classify these shapes? Could they be classified in a different way?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Patterns

• Have your child look for additive or multiplicative patterns in the real world and create tables that match. For example, 1 chair has 4 legs; 2 chairs have 8 legs.

Fractions

• While cooking, have your child compare quantities. For example, if a recipe calls for ¾  cup water and ⅝ cup tomato sauce are you using more water or tomato sauce? Ask them to explain how they know.

Geometry

• Have your child find angles in the real-world and name them as acute, right, or obtuse.
• Give your child pictures of different two-dimensional shapes. Ask them to sort them into groups and explain their reasoning. Ask them if there is a different way they could group the shapes.

What should my child be working on?

Earth

• Identify and classify Earth's renewable resources, including air, plants, water, and animals; and nonrenewable resources including coal, oil, natural gas, and the importance of conservation (4.7C)

Atmosphere & Space

• Use collected data to identify sequences and predict patterns in seasons, shadows, and the observable appearance of the Moon. (4.8C)
• Measure, record, and predict changes in the weather (4.8A)
• Explain and illustrate the water cycle and the role the Sun plays as the source of energy for the process. (4.8B)

Organism & Environments

• Illustrate and compare life cycles in living organisms such as beetles, crickets, radishes, or lima beans. (4.10C)
•  Investigate that most producers need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food, while consumers are dependent on other organisms for food. (4.9A)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Earth

• How can I classify Earth’s resources?

Atmosphere & Space

• How do shadows change during the day?
• What is the sequence of the Moon’s appearance each month? What pattern do you notice?
• What tools are useful in collecting weather data and how should we record it?
• What is the major source of energy that powers the water cycle and how does it move water through the water cycle?

Organisms & Environments

• What discoveries can we make about the life cycles of various organisms?
• What are producers and how they obtain their food?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Earth

• Have your child classify various Earth’s resources as renewable and nonrenewable.

Atmosphere & Space

• Record the appearance of the Moon and make predictions about its appearance
• Have your child record daily weather data and make predictions about the weather
• Explain and illustrate the water cycle and how the Sun plays a role in the process

Organisms & Environments

• Have your child draw and compare the life cycles of various organisms
• Have your child explain how producers use sunlight to make their own food and how they are a food source for other organisms.

What should my child be working on?

History

• Understand the causes and effects of the Texas Revolution (TEKS 4.3A, 4.3B)
• Understand how Texas became a republic and then a state. (TEKS 4.3C, 4.3D, 4.3E)
• Understand the impact of the Civil War on Texas (TEKS 4.4.A)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

History

• How did the war affect the relationship between Mexico and Texas?
• What was the most significant event of the Texas Revolution? Why?
• Why is the Battle of the Alamo still significant today?
• How was Texas affected by the Civil War?

How can I help my child learn at home?

• Consider some nonfiction reading on Texans from the past.
• If possible, visit places of historical significance in Texas’ history.

Digital Footprint and Identity

In the intermediate grades, digital footprint lessons focus on helping students understand that the digital footprint they build today will still be their digital footprint tomorrow. Students are asked to explore who they are offline and online, how they leave tracks online, and how their experience online can be affected by who they are offline. These lessons seek to prepare students to understand how they can be good consumers of social media when the time comes.

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

TEK: 126.7 (5) (D)

How can I help my child learn at home?

• Share examples, both good and bad, of how you see yourself and others building their digital footprint. Posting online can be fun and also can be helpful to others, likewise, there are times that posting online can be a negative experience. Before students have access to social media, having concrete examples will help them build their knowledge base.

How will I know when my child has learned academic English?

Every year, your child will take an assessment called the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) to assess his/her English proficiency level in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. When your child meets the criteria for reclassification, he/she will be reclassified and will not need to take the TELPAS any more.  However, the school will continue to monitor your child’s progress to make sure he/she is successful at school.

What questions should I ask my child?

•  What book are you reading at school?
•  What did you do in your math class?
•  Did you ask for help when you didn’t understand?
• What is your homework for today?

How can I help my child learn at home?

• TELPAS Parent Tips (English)
• TELPAS Parent Tips (Spanish)

Resources

• Colorín Colorado (bilingual website)
• Parent guide
• Reading activities in English and Spanish
• Unite for Literacy

Responsible decision making is a skill that is learned over time. Allowing your child to make mistakes and learn from them is a way to support independence and responsible decision making. It is a very important time to learn these skills ahead of the teenage years when problems and decisions can have more of a negative impact. Your child’s ability to recognize, identify, and manage emotions will all play a part in his/her ability to make responsible decisions. At this age, your child should be able to understand and share the importance of following the rules at home, school, and community.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What choices did you make today that was challenging? easy?
• Did you make any choices that hurt someone today? Make someone happy?
• What are the consequences of your actions?
• What can you do to show kindness to others?
• What can you do to get better at ____?
• Who did you sit with at lunch? Why?
• How do you think it went?
• Is there something you would do differently next time?
• What do you think went well?

What can I do?

• Show your child that they will always have your love and support. We all make bad choices at times, and supporting your child when poor decisions are made will show your child that your love is unconditional.
• Teach your child how to save money. Helping your child set financial goals for things they really want, teaches responsible decision making.
• Acknowledge when your child makes good decisions. Look for ways to highlight the positive choices your child makes.
• Problem-solve together when conflicts arise at home or at school. Talking with a trusted adult about problems allow students the confidence they need to make responsible decisions.
• Complete a community service project together, allowing your child to make most of the decisions.

Resources

• Teach Your Kids How to Make Their Own Decisions

What should my child be working on?

Reading

Poetry

• Discuss the theme of a poem and support their inference with text evidence (TEKS 4.8A)
• Explore how authors use text structure, print, and graphic features to support the message (TEKS 4.10A & 4.10B & 4.10C)
• Think about how authors use language and imagery to achieve specific purposes (TEKS 4.9B & 4.10D)

Historical Fiction

• Notice dates in their books to fit history and characters together (TEKS 4.8D)
• Study how ordinary objects can symbolize big ideas and note different ideas that fit under the same theme (TEKS 4.6H & 4.8A)
• Pay attention to tone, mood, and minor characters to make inferences (TEKS 4.6F)
• Add background information to deepen understanding (TEKS 4.6E)

Informational & Research

• Understand how print and graphic features help accentuate what matters on the text (TEKS 4.10C)
• Tackle the challenges of hybrid texts (more than one genre in one reading selection) (TEKS 4.9F)
• Summarize texts to self-assess learning and engage in collaborative conversations (TEKS 4.7D)
• Synthesize contradictory information across texts (TEKS 4.6H)
• Read and think about two topics to compare and contrast (TEKS 4.9F)
• Ask questions to push thinking and write to capture it (TEKS 4.6B & 4.13B)
• Consider the authors’ point of view when evaluating sources (TEKS 4.13C & 4.13D)

Writing 

Poetry (TEKS 4.12A)

• Write meaningful poems that contain content they care about (TEKS 4.11B)
• Use meaningful figurative language and small details to craft poems that strike the reader with emotion (TEKS 4.11B)
• Use revision strategies learned in other units to revise their poems (TEKS 4.11C)

Opinion (TEKS 4.12C)

• Shift their judging into writing and elaborate on their opinions (TEKS 4.11B)
• Persuade and hook the reader with convincing reasons for reviews (TEKS 4.11B)
• Study mentor texts to revise writing in bold ways (TEKS 4.11C)

Literary Essay (TEKS 4.12C)

• Read closely to generate ideas about a text (TEKS 4.11A)
• Find and test a thesis using stories as evidence (TEKS 4.11A)
• Drafting while keeping in mind beginnings and endings (TEKS 4.11B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child (Reading and Writing)?

Poetry

• What is the author trying to say? How do you know?
• What do you see/imagine when you read this part?

Historical Fiction

• How was [setting] at the time of this story different from today?
• How would the outcome of this story be different if it took place in the present time?
• Could the story have ended any other way?
• What message does this story teach about life?

Research

• What have you learned so far about [topic]?
• Which texts were most helpful? Why?
• What is the author trying to say? How do you know?
• How can I help my child learn at home?

Poetry

• Read together a variety of poems. Discuss the structural features you notice and how the author uses them to evoke feelings and create meaning.

Historical Fiction

• Analyze how the historical environment helps the story move forward. Discuss the possible reasons behind the author’s decision to have that specific time and place as the setting.

Research

• Allow your child to teach you about the topic being researched. Help them practice using the new vocabulary and think about the key points they need to hit to ensure effective communication.

What should my child be working on?

Measurement

• Solve perimeter problems. (TEKS 4.5D)
• Solve area problems.  (TEKS 4.5D)
• Use objects or pictures to figure out the formula for area and perimeter.  (TEKS 4.5C)
• Solve measurement problems dealing with length, time, liquid volume, mass, and money.  (TEKS 4.8C)
• Identify real-world examples of measurement units.  (TEKS 4.8A)
• Use a table to convert measurement units.  (TEKS 4.8B)

Data Analysis

• Represent data on a frequency table.  (TEKS 4.9A)
• Represent data on a dot plot. (TEKS 4.9A)
• Represent data on a stem-and-leaf plot. (TEKS 4.9A)
• Solve problems using data from a frequency table, dot plot, or stem-and-leaf plot. (TEKS 4.9B)

Personal Financial Literacy

• Explain the difference between fixed and variable expenses. (TEKS 4.10A)
• Explain the purpose of a bank. (TEKS 4.10E)
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the different options for saving money (TEKS 4.10C)
• Explain how to use weekly allowance money to include saving money (TEKS 4.10D)
• Calculate profit (TEKS 4.10B)

What questions should I ask my child (Reading and Writing)?

Measurement

• When might someone need to convert from one unit of measurement to another?
• What strategies can be used to find perimeter? Area?

Data Analysis

• What is the purpose of organizing data in a visual format and how does this help us to better understand data solve problems?

Personal Financial Literacy

• What is the difference between a fixed expense and a variable expense?
• How could you use your weekly allowance to save money?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Measurement

• Have your child practice finding the area and perimeter of square/rectangular things around the house.
  • For example, finding the area and perimeter of a rectangular tabletop.

Data Analysis

• Have your child conduct a survey on a topic that interests them. Then have your child represent the results of the survey using a frequency table, dot plot, or stem-and-leaf-plot.

Personal Financial Literacy

• Have your child create a plan for using their weekly allowance that includes saving.

What should my child be working on?

Organism & Environments (4.9A,B & 4.10A,B,C)

• Investigate how producers use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food, and how consumers depend upon other organisms for food. (4.9A)
• Explain how energy flows through a food web including the Sun as the beginning, and demonstrate how changes inside an ecosystem affect the food web. (4.9B)
• Investigate how the structures and functions of organisms aid in their survival in their habitat. (4.10A)
• Explain the difference between inherited traits and learning behavior, and provided examples. (4.10B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

Organism & Environments

• What is the difference between producers and consumers?
• How do external structures and functions help organisms survive in their environments?
• Which characteristics do organisms inherit from their parents and which are learned?

How can I help my child learn at home?

Organisms & Environments

• Have your child investigate how producers create their own food and how consumers rely on other organisms as their food.
• Explain how energy flows in a food web and starts with the Sun, and describe how changes in the ecosystem can impact the food web
• Have your child investigate how the structures and functions of an organism aid in their survival in an ecosystem.
• Explain the difference between inherited traits and learned behaviors. (inherited - hair color, learned - learning to walk)

What should my child be working on?

History

• Identify the various impacts of Reconstruction on Texas (TEKS 4.4A)
• Understand how the growth of industries, such as cattle and railroads, had a significant effect on the Texas economy and population (TEKS 4.4B, 4.4C)
• Understand the impact of important issues, events, and individuals of the 20th century in Texas(TEKS 4.5A, 4.5B)

Economics

• Understand the economic terms such as free enterprise system, supply, demand, and choice  (TEKS 4.10A, 4.10B)

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

What questions should I ask my child?

History

• What initiated the cattle drives and what put an end to them?
• How did the landscape and settlement change with the railroad?
• How did the Native American way of life change with more and more settlements?

Economics

• What was life like before the discovery of oil in Texas?
• Which industries provided new jobs for Texans during the 1900s?
• How did the economy change after the discovery of oil at Spindletop?
• How did the invention of the automobile help the oil industry?
• Why was the oil boom important to Texas?
• Why is the free enterprise system important?

How can I help my child learn at home?

History

• Ask your child to bring home their Studies Weekly newspaper so that you can read some of the articles together and discuss them.

Economics

• Engage your child in discussions about the free enterprise system. Help them review concepts taught in previous years concerning goods, services, wants, needs, producers, consumers, and scarcity.

Going further with using data!

Interpreting and thinking critically about information

It is important for students to think critically and be able to analyze information to determine if it is accurate and not biased.  One of the most prevalent forms of information we view every day in the real world is through visual forms of data such as graphs.  To begin, ask your student to list as many types of graphs as they can.  Some examples may include pictograph, bar graph, pie graph, line graph.

Use a search engine to find examples of the graphs you listed.  Then, check out this link to view several types of misleading graphs and how data is manipulated to make the viewer think a certain way.

Misleading Graphs: Figures Not Drawn to Scale

Now, create your own graph that is intentionally misleading.  Make sure to consider your title, number increments, and format (bar, line, pie, etc.).  Show the graph to someone who did not help with this lesson and ask them what they believe the graph to be telling them, then point out how the graph is misleading and how to think critically about what you see!

Relationships and Communication

Chances are high that many of our intermediate students have already had an experience online playing a game with others or sharing a learning experience. Intermediate lessons are focused on helping students learn how to communicate effectively with others online, and how to keep their online interactions fun and safe.

What are the state standards for what my child should know and be able to do in this subject and grade level?

TEKS: 126.7 (5) (A, D-F)

How can I help my child learn at home?

Tie playing games and sports offline to playing games online. Help students make parallels between good sportsmanship and good digital citizenship. Just like negativity on the field can get a player benched, negativity online can get a player removed from the game. When students play online, help them to explore using kindness and compassion.

When your child has met the reclassification criteria, they will no longer receive English language development support (although they will continue to learn English with other students). Teachers will continue to monitor your child’s progress. Please continue to ask the teacher how your child is doing. If your child did not meet the reclassification criteria, he/she will continue to receive English language development support.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What book are you reading at school?
• What did you do in your _____ class?
• Did you ask for help when you didn’t understand? Who helped you?
• What is your homework for today?

What can I do?

• Schedule an individual meeting with your child’s teacher to learn how you can continue to help your child succeed.
• Encourage your child to read and/or listen to audiobooks daily.

Resources

• Parent guide
• Colorín Colorado (bilingual website)
• Reading activities in English and Spanish
• Unite for Literacy

Empathy is putting yourself in another person’s shoes and understanding how they are feeling. It is also the perspective of others. It is the foundation of a child’s ability to be kind and show compassion to others. During the intermediate years of elementary school, children are strengthening their sense of empathy through practice. It still may be challenging for your child to view every situation with empathy, but with adult support, they can learn from each interaction. When you understand your child’s emotions, you help them build empathy.

What questions should I ask my child?

• What’s something kind you did today?
• What’s something nice you did for someone today?
• How would you like to serve someone at school? in our family? on the ____team?
• Listen to your sister/brother’s voice, how do you think he/she is feeling?
• How would you feel if ____?
• How can we show our ___ that we care about them?
• When I put myself in your shoes, I can see how you feel ____.

What can I do?

• Show your child empathy. Listen carefully and acknowledge when your child speaks to you. Ask questions about how they feel and think.
• Teach your child to be empathetic. Encourage your child to reach out to a friend, sibling, or family member when they see them upset or hurt.
• Share stories and/or videos of families and children with fewer resources than your family. Share the similarities and differences between your families with the lens of empathy.
• Participate in a community service project to benefit others.
• Be on the lookout for caring moments.
• Validate your child’s feelings.
• Praise your child’s character. For example, “Thank you for help me carry the groceries, you are so considerate when you help me.”

Resources

• 3 simple ways to teach kids to have empathy for others
• For Families: 5 Tips for Cultivating Empathy