Fourth Grade

Religion

In fourth grade we focus on developing our relationships with God through communal prayer, Eucharistic adoration, reconciliation, and celebration of the Eucharist.Throughout the year our activities and classroom décor reflect the liturgical seasons.We pay special attention to the Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and examine the Beatitudes through the lives of Saints.We learn how to rely on the Ten Commandments to instruct our choices and behavior.We identify our responsibility as Catholics to help the needy and work for social justice.

Our textbook is Spirit of Truth: Jesus Teaches Us How to Live (Sophia Institute Press, 2017.)

Mathematics

The goal of the Grade 4 Diocesan mathematics standards is to strengthen and deepen students’ knowledge and application of skills and concepts in the following areas:

• Developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; gaining familiarity with factors and multiples; understanding prime and composite numbers; finding quotients with remainders
• Multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators
• Understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties; measuring angles
• Solving problems involving measurement; representing and interpreting data; determining area and perimeter of figures

Using correct mathematical vocabulary consistent with these areas is stressed.The students record new vocabulary, examples, and practice problems in a Math Notebook.

In addition to our primary math textbook, Go Math! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015), the fourth grade students also use Simple Solutions (Bright Ideas Press, 2014), a supplemental math program that employs a spiral approach to skills practice, regularly reviewing and building upon prior knowledge.

Please note that multiplication is the foundation of many fourth grade concepts and skills.Fluency with these facts is an expectation.

Language Arts

Reading and Writing Workshop—In fourth grade we work on building a community of learners in an environment that supports creativity and risk taking.The Reading and Writing Workshop takes students from guided practice to independence as they increase their capacity for reading and writing.

In Reading Workshop, mini-lessons and mentor texts are used to teach genre, vocabulary, word analysis, comprehension skills, story structure, and the writer's craft. Students learn how to self-select and stick with "just right" books. They learn that reading is more than just reading words.Reading is thinking.During the daily Read Aloud, students share their observations, pose questions, and learn to cite evidence from the text to support their ideas.Our discussions help students develop deeper thinking and strengthen our learning community.Students become more aware of themselves as readers, discover their individual reading interests, and stretch their abilities to read and respond in writing.

Writing Workshop takes students through the writing process as they develop narrative, expository, and persuasive essays, as well as poetry and free verse. They learn to look at their writing critically, give and receive peer feedback, and revise and edit to produce a final draft or piece to be published. As in Reading Workshop, mini lessons and mentor texts are used to teach writing conventions and elements of the writer's craft, and to inspire the students' writing. Writing Journals are used to collect ideas, "grow seeds", and explore potential pieces.

Text materials published by Houghton Mifflin, novel studies, and nonfiction texts are used in Reading and Writing Workshop.Our grammar and writing work is supplemented with exercises from Voyages in English (Loyola Press, 2011.)Spelling and word work follows the strategies of Words Their Way (Pearson, 2015.)

Science

Throughout fourth grade, students study the following areas of science:

• Life science-life cycles and sensory input,
• Earth science-geology, and
• Physical science-energy and sound/light waves.

We experience the beauty of science by building models, observing experiments, and understanding the different properties found in God's universe.

A tech-book and online resources from Discovery Education™ are used.

Social Studies

In Social Studies, students hone their map skills as they learn about the United States relative to the rest of the world.They describe landforms and bodies of water using geographic terms.Students research the history of U.S. immigration and the westward settlement of the country.The geography, history, culture, and economy of the five regions of the United States are explored.Students learn about the organization and functions of the U.S. government and the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.Weekly oral presentations that focus on current events and other topics are popular among students in the fourth grade. Harcourt’s States and Regions textbook, as well as Internet resources and iPad™ applications help make social studies topics interesting and fun.