Bridges by Grade Level: 4

The first two units focus on multiplication and multiplicative thinking. Unit 1 reviews and extends multiplication work from third grade and examines factors and products, as well as prime and composite numbers. Unit 2 delves deeper as students explore and extend strategies, concepts, and models related to multi-digit multiplication. Unit 3 utilizes a variety of tools to model, read, write, compare, order, compose and decompose fractions and decimals.

Units 4, 6 and 7 focus on fractions, decimals, division, and more multiplication. Various models help students understand more about operations with fractions and fraction equivalence, as well as the relationship between fractions and decimals. Students also discover the relationships between multiplication and division as they see that many multiplication strategies also apply to division problems. They solve division problems with and without remainders and begin exploring multiplication and division of simple fractions.

Unit 5 focuses on geometry and extends students’ understandings of area, volume, and symmetry. Students investigate, draw, and build two-dimensional shapes and the properties of those shapes to classify and analyze them. They also learn to use protractors to measure and construct angles.

Unit 8 integrates many key skills and concepts in the context of science and engineering by giving students the opportunity to design playgrounds. In the process, they generate and analyze data, and use a line plot to represent that data.