Fourth Grade

Curriculum

FOURTH GRADE CURRICULUM

AT A GLANCE

WASL Preparation:

We will be preparing for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) throughout the year. It is a performance-based test evaluating students' learnings in the area of reading, writing and mathematics. Many of the questions in Math and Reading require written responses with thorough answers and complete sentences. The written section is usually a narrative story and an expository essay. Throughout the year in Literature, Math and Writing, we will be giving the students example questions and prompts on “WASL Wednesdays.” In early April we will prepare in more depth so that your children will be ready for this new kind of test. It will be administered April 24 th through the 28 th .

 

Religion:

Christian values are integrated throughout the day.

Blest are We and Steps to Respect are the text used in fourth grade focusing on:

•  The Goodness of God

•  Jesus is the Son of God

•  The Holy Spirit

•  The Church & Its Sacraments

•  Social Justice

•  The Beatitudes

•  The Rosary & a Variety of Prayer Experiences

•  Conflict and Resolution, Socialization Skills

•  Anti-Bullying Program

•  Mass

•  Scripture Study

•  Community Services

 

Religion is also integrated throughout our day, with morning prayers, scripture readings, intentions, meal blessings, closing prayers, as well as it is integrated within other subject areas. An example of this is in Science during September we are observing the tiniest of God's Creation with our jeweler's loupes and are in awe of the magnitude of God's Power.

 

Spelling:

The Zaner-Bloser program is used. We teach phonetic and pattern strategies to spelling using the Slingerland Method.

 

Handwriting:

The Slingerland Method is used. Cursive is used in all work.

Literature:

The fourth graders use Literature books that provide a rich exposure to language that will help influence their writing ability. In Reading , the focus is to read with comprehension, read and following direction, discriminate from fact and opinion, recognize story elements such as character, plot, and setting, and evaluate the author's purpose and point of view. Students will also be able to make predictions and inferences as well as, use logical sequencing to retell stories.

Three times during the year all students will be reading the same chapter book and going through guided instruction.

The rest of the time students choose a book from a selection of three and then meet on a daily basis in small groups to discuss the assigned reading. The following are a list of themes chosen for fourth grade literature.

Fantasy:

•  Chocolate Fever

•  Chocolate Touch

•  Bunnicula

•  The Cricket in Times Square

•  Mr. Popper's Penguins

•  The Castle in the Attic

•  Battle for the Castle

 

Families and Friendship:

•  Stone Fox

•  The Whipping Boy

•  The Hundred Dresses

•  Sarah, Plain and Tall

•  On My Honor

•  The War with Grandpa

•  Shiloh

•  Dear Mr. Henshaw

•  Bridge to Terabithia

•  Bud, Not Buddy

•  Wringer

•  Esperanza Rising

•  Pinballs

•  House of Dires Drear


These books offer a variety for all reading levels.

I have talked with the children about choosing books that are at their level for comprehension. Picking books that are too easy will not challenge students to become a better reader and picking books that are too difficult will hinder the comprehension of that book. The five Finger rule will always apply when choosing a book. We may or may not get through all these books

 

Other Reading Assessment tools include Running Records, Accelerated Reading Program, monthly book reports, taped readings and book talks.

Book Reports:

Each month, students will be required to complete a book report. The first report is an oral report, followed by a written report, then a project. They will be due toward the end of the month, allowing plenty of time for reading and preparation.

The first report is an oral report (Book Talk)and the starting date for sharing will be Friday, September 28th.

Grammar:

We use the Sliver Burdett text book to learn how to use a thesaurus, dictionary, encyclopedia and other non-fiction books for research purposes. Students will also learn in depth about nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prefixes, suffixes, homonyms, homographs and figures of speech.

 

Writing:

The Six Traits of Writing and the Four Square pre-writing method are modeled and used throughout the year. Students will also learn about comparing and contrasting, character sketches, descriptive stories using conversation, position papers, poetry, outlines and research papers, friendly letters and business letters.

 

Writing will be taught in accordance with the Grammar program. Final drafts will be written in pen or word processed. As writing assignments are due, we will let you know.

 

Social Studies:

We begin the year by reviewing mapping skills and then covering the 50 states and the regions they are located in. From there we'll study Lewis and Clark, pioneers and the Westward Movement. We'll finish the year learning a bit about Washington State .

Assumption is having a school-wide, Art fair this year so we'll be studying the styles of various artists.

 

Math:

The Text used is from Silver Burdett Ginn Mathematics: The Path to Math Success

It is essential that students know their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts with accuracy and speed. Please assist them with this at home. This will help as we build our knowledge base in Math.

 

The following will be covered this year:

 

There will be a math homework assignment assigned each night, Monday through Thursday. On Friday, students will have a math quiz covering the math concepts that were in their homework from that week. There will be a Math test after each completed chapter or unit.

 

Math Homework:

Students will sometimes correct their math homework themselves as Mrs. VonFeldt will be reading and writing the answers. There will be a time to discuss the concepts and any mistakes. Students will then turn in their assignment. Mrs. VonFeldt will look through all homework and give up to 5 points. The points will be distinguished by the following:

•  Is the heading correct?

•  Is it neat?

•  Is it complete and turned in on time?

•  Is it corrected correctly?

•  Have you reworked your mistakes?

 

Problem Solving:

Many fourth grade students are frustrated when they encounter problem solving in math. To help move through this frustration, Miss Walterskirchen has all students use the “Five-Step Procedure.”

•  What is the Question they are looking for?

•  What is the Plan ? (I.e. add, subtract, multiply, etc.)

•  Solve using numbers, pictures and words.

•  Answer the question from number 1 in a complete sentence.

•  Check or look back to see if you've answered the question from number 1.

You will be seeing this procedure used for most problem solving problems.

 

Science

Foss Kits and a Scott Foresman Text are used in science for fourth grade. There will be much hands-on for the students to learn the objectives for fourth grade. The units that are covered are:

•  Scientific Method
•  Inventors and Inventions
•  Animals and Plants
•  Water
•  Salmon
•  Energy, Work, Friction
•  Earth Science: Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, Earthquakes

 

**Music, Physical Education, Library Media Center, and Spanish are taught by specialists.