Mrs. Boersma's Blog

Click on the link to read the 4th grade brochure created by Jan Mullenix, our district curriculum secretary.

4th Grade

Social Studies 
Fourth graders will study fundamental concepts in geography, civics and government, and economics through the lens of the United States. Activities and experiences will be used to deepen their understanding of public issues and the importance of citizen action in a democratic republic.

Science
Students will be involved in many hands-on experiments throughout the year based on the Scientific Method. The Scientific Method starts with a problem or question. The children will make an educated guess or hypothesis to try to answer the question followed by collection of materials needed for experimentation. They will conduct the experiments, collect and organize data and draw conclusions. This method is a great way for children to work through a problem. Our curriculum studies ecosystems, systems in the sky, and physical science including heat, electricity and magnetism.

Math
This year we are using Math Expressions. This program was piloted last year by some teachers throughout the district. Math Expressions provides differentiated instruction in order to meet the needs of each individual learner.
Basic facts are part of the foundation of math instruction. We will ask each child to be proficient in their multiplication facts. Your help at home is crucial in this endeavor.

Reading is a tool which unlocks the door to many opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to read silently each day at school. We ask that they also read a minimum of thirty minutes each day at home. Book after book has been written on the subject. How do we improve? Read! Read! Read!

Our main goal in fourth grade is developing comprehension. Our focus will be on seven different strategies good readers use when they read. We will review some of the strategies, learn some new strategies and then we will practice the strategies. The seven strategies are: making connections, questioning, visualization, inferring, “fix-up” strategies, synthesizing, and determining important details in non-fiction. We will read from a variety of picture books, novels, and non-fiction materials. We will incorporate cooperative learning, poetry, writing activities, phonics, decoding skills, and assessments. Our reading will also be supplemented with literature based units throughout the year.

Writing

Our writing program is modeled after the design of Lucy Calkins. Writing Workshop begins with mini-lessons focusing on qualities of good writing. Students incorporate these skills during their own writing time of approximately 45 minutes. Lessons end with a teaching share time during which students have the opportunity to show each other what they have accomplished.

At the beginning of the year we work on writing personal narratives. We call them “seed stories” to help students focus on small moments.
As the year progresses, students will learn to write in a variety of genre, including essay, short fiction, poetry, and memoir.

Word Study
We use the Rebecca Sitton spelling program which emphasizes spelling well in writing and learning essential word skills. Instead of weekly lists of words to memorize, this program emphasizes the learning of important words, not for a Friday Test, but for a lifetime of spelling in the real world – that is, spelling correctly in writing. This lifelong spelling ability grows over time. It grows through skills instruction (phonics, word origins, spelling rules, usage, etc.), through everyday writing, and through word study on specific words a child has not yet mastered.
To help your child learn and use essential skills, take-home tasks will be sent home regularly. They are skill-building activity sheets for you and your child to do together. These tasks will complement the skills we’re working on at school.

To help your child spell and use essential words, your child will be proofreading his or her own work on a regular basis. Your child will be expected to spell some words correctly all the time to meet the minimum requirement for spelling in everyday writing. These words are called Priority Words. They are the words that occur most frequently in writing. As your child proofreads for these, he/she will practice the skills for proofreading any word. You and your child will be kept informed of this list of words that will grow throughout the year.

Handwriting
We will continue to practice manuscript and cursive writing. We will not usually require the students to write in all cursive or all print. Some of their projects will be typed.