Math
The textbook the year is Progress in Mathematics. We will spend the first two
weeks reviewing the basics with numeration, money, addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division and identifying fractions. I need to see where the
children are and to make sure they have a good base before introducing new
skills. The rest of the year we will be working on the same concepts only
looking deeper and being able to solve more complicated problems.
Reading
Reading consists of many different areas for the Fourth Grade students. We
will have SSR (Silent Sustained Reading). This will be a time for the children
to read alone in a book of their choice for about 15 minutes everyday. They
will present a book to the class, each trimester. If I find the book is too
difficult or easy, I might suggest a new one. We will be reading five books
this year as a class: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Island of the Blue
Dolphins, Jar of Dreams, Patty Reed's Doll and By the Great Horn Spoon. We use
a textbook from the Houghton Mifflin, Storytown, reading program.
Spelling/Vocabulary
Spelling will be taught through the Storytown reading program and Vocabulary
will be taught through Sadlier-Oxford, Vocabulary Workshop. In spelling, the
students will have a pre-test every Monday and a test on Friday. In vocabulary
there will be a test every other week.
Writing
Daily grammar and punctuation practice with DOL (Daily Oral Language) and
Handwriting Practice for penmenship. In September, we will begin Writers’
Workshop. During this time students learn about the steps of writing
(brainstorming, draft, revise, edit and publishing). They will also learn
about voice, idea, conventions, organization, word choice and sentence
fluency. The students will be doing a lot of writing.
Social Studies
Oh, California is the textbook for Social Studies this year. Fourth grade is
the year to learn about the History of California. We will start with
Geography, map skills, regions---Where in the World is California. We will
study the Missions, the Gold Rush, and State Hood.
Science
We will study three units this year: Water, Structures of Life, Ideas and
Inventions, and Physics of Sound. Science will be a hands on class with
experiments as well as class work to gain knowledge on what the experiments
taught us. Students will build personal Science project that will be displayed
in the Spring.
Religion
Walking by Faith and Growing in Love are the textbooks for Religion this year.
We will also spend time preparing to hear the weekly Gospel messages.