Fourth graders add a new marker to the Calendar Grid for each day of the month. Students delve into important mathematics as they identify patterns that emerge in the markers over time. Each month also features a collection of data that students gather by taking repeated measurements, conducting surveys, and performing experiments. The patterns on the Calendar Grid and the growing collection of data provide starting points for discussions, problem solving, and short written exercises.

Every month, fourth graders have multiple opportunities to develop their problem-solving skills while tackling challenging story problems. Students also have regular opportunities to play games and do exercises, often related to an open number line, that develop their facility with single- and multi-digit computation, fractions, equations, place value, or order of operations. A few days each month, students solve a problem string (a carefully arranged sequence of related problems designed to elicit specific computation strategies and insights about number relationships).

Content Outline

August / September

  • Ancient Egyptian Numerals
  • Six Inches a Day
  • The Number Line & Splat!
  • Multiplication Models
  • One-Step Multiplication Problems

October

  • Fractions & Decimals
  • Race to the Millions
  • The Number Line & Put It on the Line, Part 1
  • Ratio Tables
  • Multi-Step Multiplication Problems

November

  • Night & Day
  • A Cup a Day
  • The Number Line & Roll & Compare
  • Multi-Digit Addition Strategies
  • Place Value, Rounding & Comparing

 December

  • Pentominoes
  • Up & Down to Two Thousand
  • The Number Line & The Mystery Grid Game
  • Multi-Digit Subtraction Strategies
  • Lines & Symmetry

January

  • Similar Figures
  • Three Quarters a Day
  • Division Capture
  • Division Strategies
  • Multi-Step Division Problems

February

  • Constructing Angles & Polygons
  • Spin, Add & Measure
  • The Number Line & Put It on the Line, Part 2
  • Adding & Subtracting Fractions with Like & Unlike Denominators
  • Multi-Step Problems & Equations

March

  • The Function Machine
  • The Great Fraction Race
  • Don't Break 3.00
  • Generating Equivalent Fractions
  • Multiplying Fractions & Whole Numbers Story Problems

April

  • Perimeter Puzzles
  • A Decimeter a Day
  • Color Ten
  • More Division Strategies
  • Line Plots

May

  • Quilt Block Symmetries
  • Water Evaporation Experiment
  • Decimal Draw
  • Multiplying Fractions & Whole Numbers
  • Measurement Conversions