Fourth Grade

1. Fourth Grade • Sherri Gartman: gartman@sjc.pvt.k12.il.us • Ann Linehan: linehan@sjc.pvt.k12.il.us • Sarah Kline: kline@sjc.pvt.k21.il.us

2. Religion • The Faith and Word Edition of “Blest Are We” that we use is based on four pillars in every unit: • What Catholics Believe • How Catholics Worship • How Catholics Live • How Catholics Pray • The Sacred Scripture provides a solid foundation for learning about our Catholic faith. • The five units that focus on the four pillars, scripture stores, and prayer/song celebrations are: • Unit 1: The Goodness of God • Unit 2: Jesus Is the Son of God • Unit 3: The Holy Spirit • Unit 4: The Church • Unit 5: Social Justice

3. Family Life • The RCL Benziger Family Life Series provides a comprehensive moral catechesis developed around five themes of Catholic family living: • God’s Gift of Family • God’s Gift of Self • God’s Gift of Life • God’s Gift of Love • God’s Gift of Community • Also included in the fourth grade Religion curriculum is “Steps to Respect” A Bullying Prevention Program developed by Committee for Children. It promotes a whole-school approach to bullying by addressing facts at the school, staff, peer-group, individual child, and family levels.

4. Everyday Math • We use the Everyday Math Program developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. • A comprehensive Math program for grades K – 6 • Standards Based • Cross Curricular • Collaborative Program • Encourages Higher level thinking skills

5. Everyday Math Elements • Each new unit includes a family letter that goes home with the last Study Link of the previous unit . This letter explains what your child will be learning next. It also gives the vocabulary for the new unit and some “Anytime Activities” that will help your child as he or she is learning the concepts of the unit. • In class, we use many different techniques like starting with a Math Message to warm up our brains. • There are partner activities, whole class activities, manipulatives for those who need to be doing something with their hands in order to understand, and in some instances a literature connection. • We also play Math games to reinforce the Math concepts. • The Student Reference Book or S.R.B. as we fondly refer to it as, will become your best friend. It shows all the different methods your child is learning.

6. Math Differentiation • The program is geared to reach all learners, so there are different methods taught to accomplish a same goal. For example, we teach the trade first method of subtraction as well as the partial differences method of subtraction. The end result will be the same, but the problems are visually laid out differently, so one way will make more sense to one child than another, but both will learn. • Each lesson has Readiness activities and Enrichment activities, so that the needs of all children can be met. A readiness activity is for a child who needs some extra practice in and area and an enrichment activity is for that child who is ready to take the lesson to the next level. • We have Core three times a week in Math. Our Core teacher is Mrs. Ginny Grecco. Somedays there are Math stations so that three different activities are going on and the children are up and moving while learning.

7. Language Arts • The program used in fourth grade is called Treasures by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. The series is composed of the following skills and concepts: phonics, word study, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and writing. Many different genres and instruction will be used this year. • This program is taught in units. Each unit is six weeks. This program is taught in a spiral manner. Students are not expected to master concepts the first time they are taught. The same concepts are repeated throughout the year.

8. Reading • Day 1: Introduction of vocabulary and comprehension skill using a short story. Students take a spelling pretest and receive their spelling homework for the week. • Day 2: Teacher instructs the whole class with the “main story.” This is where most comprehension instruction takes place. • Day 3: Teacher finishes the “main story” and comprehension instruction. • Day 4: Students participate in small reading groups and independent practice. • Day 5: Students take assessments for spelling and reading. • There are added lessons throughout the week in phonics, vocabulary, and fluency as time allows.

9. Writing • Writing begins everyday with a grammar lesson. The students practice the grammar skill with a workbook page. • The grammar lesson is followed by teacher modeling, student discussion, and student practice about a writing technique. • Every student has a writer’s notebook where they practice writing everyday. • Students will be learning the 6 +1 traits of writing which include ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions, and presentation

10. Differentiation • Mrs. Judy Kunkel will be our core teacher in fourth grade. • Day 4 of reading instruction is small reading groups. We use short stories which incorporate reading skills from the week. There are three different levels in order to differentiate our teaching. These groups are based on aimsweb results, teacher observation, and reading assessments. While small reading groups take place, the rest of the class complete independent practice. • Periodically, the teacher meets with students for short over the shoulder writing conferences to discuss their writing. These conferences help to drive whole group instruction and determine needs of each student.

11. Social Studies • Our text is titled Our Country’s Regions. It covers the eight strands of social studies: economics, citizenship, geography, government, history, culture, technology and social studies skills to better understand the world around us. The students will also be participating in the Regional Fair, which will be on April 1 this year. • Students take notes on “foldables” while reading each lesson. • There will be cumulative States and Capitals tests throughout the year.

12. Science • We use the Scott Foresman Science series which is a research based curriculum. • Our year long curriculum will be: • Earth Science • Physical Science • Life Science • The students have a Science Lab every Friday. They learn note taking in class, practice in workbook pages, and simple classroom demonstrations.

13. Earth Science • Water Cycle and Weather • Hurricane and Tornadoes • Minerals and Rocks • Changes to the Earth’s Surface (i.e. weathering, erosion, earthquakes, landslides) • Using Natural Resources

14. Physical Science • Simple Machines • Objects in Motion • Properties of Matter

15. Life Science • Classifying Plants and Animals • Energy from Plants • Ecosystems • Changes in Ecosystems • Systems of the Body