ST. CHARLES BORROMEO
FOURTH
GRADE
Mrs. Elizabeth Lofties
RELIGION
READING
MATHEMATICS
LANGUAGE
HANDWRITING
SOCIAL STUDIES
SPELLING
SCIENCE
SPECIAL CLASSES
HOMEWORK
LATE PAPERS/ASSIGNMENTS
PROGRESS FOLDERS
·
RELIGION:
This is Our Faith
The focus in fourth grade is morality.
Throughout the text, moral values are fostered by looking at the lives of people
who lived them, and Jesus is presented to the students as the model of Christian
life and love.
The major theme for this year is the Ten Commandments. The students will also lern about the Beatitudes, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, the virtues of Faith, Hope and Love, Reconciliation, the Eucharist, Preparing for Lent, Celebrating Easter, Celebrating Advent, and Celebrating the Christmas Season.
Tests are given at the end of each chapter and at the end of each unit. Participation in class discussions is also taken into consideration when figuring quarter grades.
At the beginning of each unit, your child will bring home a page from their Religion book for the parent/guardian. It is titled, Sharing Faith as a Family. It will provide an overview of the doctrine, additional resources and faith formation for parents/guardians, and applications to family life. The activities and discussion on these pages are directed by a family member.
At the end of each chapter, your student will give you another page titled Sharing Faith with My Family. These family pages invite participation in each chapter through prayer, activities, information, and review. Activities and discussions on these pages are student-initiated.
Parents/guardians can also access the program's website at www.WeBelieve.com for safe web activities for their children and family-based activities to share.
The fourth graders will lead the school Mass four times this year.
READING: Seeing is Believing
This reading series uses classic and contemporary literature to inspire children
to discover the rewards of reading.
Students will learn strategies for recalling, analyzing, summarizing, inferring,
and evaluating the information read.
These skills will help students comprehend better.
Students will also build vocabulary, learn word-attack skills, and
decoding skills. In addition to the
textbook, at least one chapter book per quarter will be read by the class.
Students are graded on the workbook pages, the comprehension questions at the
end of each story, and the chapter book’s activities/test.
Students will be required to do independent reading.
Students are expected to read at least one book each month beginning in
September. To encourage the
children to read a variety of books, a different type book will be required each
month.
During September, students may choose any book.
In October, they will read a nonfiction book.
In November, they may read either biography or autobiography.
In December, students will read a fiction book.
The next four months are the same as the first four with January being
free choice, February is nonfiction, March is biography/autobiography, and April
is fiction. May will be free
choice. There will be time each day
for the students to read in class, but most of the book will need to be read at
home.
Students will have the opportunity to participate in the Braums Reading
Incentive Program and the Pizza Hut Reading program.
Each month students may purchase paperback books from the book clubs.
Students are never required to purchase.
·
MATHEMATICS:
Math 54, An Incremental Development
This year we will continue to drill on the addition/subtraction facts and the
multiplication/division facts through twelve.
Timed tests will be given regularly.
Our goal is to do 100 facts in 4 minutes (or less) with three (or less)
errors.
We will continue to master the skills learned in previous years.
Some new skills that will be taught this year are multiplying by a
two-digit number, dividing by a two-digit number, writing equal fractions,
adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, squares and square
roots, multiples, percents,
geometry, metrics, time and money, and decimals.
Students will complete a math lesson daily.
After every five lessons, a math test will be administered.
Daily work counts as 1/3 of the quarter grade and weekly tests count as
2/3 of the grade.
·
LANGUAGE:
The Shurley Method – English Made Easy
The
Shurley Method teaches the solid foundation of grammar in a new and exciting
way. Students use rhythm and a set
of specific questions to classify sentences orally; identifying each sentence
part as well as the overall sentence structure.
They learn how all sentence parts fit together to make sense and express
an idea. They learn how to expand,
improve, and edit their writing.
The students then learn how to express their own ideas through creative writing.
Due to extensive classroom work, the individual homework load is
significantly reduced.
Grammar
topics include: Nouns (common,
proper, singular, plural, possessive, and predicate nouns), Verbs (action,
linking, and helping), Adjectives (descriptive and article adjectives), Adverbs,
Pronouns (subject, object, possessive, and understood subject pronouns),
Prepositions (objects of prepositions and prepositional phrases), Types of
Sentences, Punctuation, Conjunctions, and Interjections.
The
quarter grade is taken from daily work and tests.
·
HANDWRITING:
Zaner-Bloser Handwriting, With a new alphabet
Students will continue to master cursive handwriting.
Starting second quarter students will be expected to write everything
except Spelling tests and Spelling workbook pages in cursive.
This subject is graded with an “E” for excellent, “G” for Good, “
” for needs improvement.
·
SOCIAL STUDIES:
Our Country’s Regions
The states and regions are our main focus this year.
Students will learn two state capitals per week.
By the end of the twenty-fifth week (third quarter) the students will
have learned all fifty. After the
capitals have been mastered, the children will learn the location of the fifty
states. Oklahoma History is part of
the 4th grade curriculum.
We will be visiting the State Capitol this year.
Grades will be taken from the capital tests (25%), study guide questions, and
chapter tests (50%).
During the year, the students will be required to do projects on the region that
we are studying. Each student will
research one state and prepare a Power Point Presentation in their Computer
class.
·
SPELLING:
Spelling Connections:
Words Into Language
Spelling tests are administered on the last school day of the week.
Students are tested on the 20 unit words.
Five challenge words are given for extra credit.
Students who like competition will want to participate in the Daily Oklahoman
Pee Wee Spelling Bee and the Archdiocesan Spelling Bee.
Both these contests are held during second semester.
Spelling grades are taken weekly on the spelling workbook and the weekly
spelling test.
The workbook grade counts as 1/3 and the weekly test counts as 2/3 of the
quarter grade.
· SCIENCE: Delta Science Modules
Students learn science concepts most effectively when they explore concrete
examples of these concepts. This
program provides students with many opportunities to construct their own
knowledge of science through hands-on activities that are pertinent to the
concerns of their daily lives.
The topics that will be covered this year are Magnets, Electricity, Food Chains and Food Webs, and Earth Movements.
Students will be required to keep a Science Journal of each day's activities/experiments. Their grade will be determined by their participation in class, journal entries, and grades on tests. The report card will reflect an "E" excellent, "G" good, or "U" unsatisfactory.
During the second semester, we will be taking a field trip to the zoo to
participate in ScienceFest 2008.
Students spend a portion of each week attending special classes such as Music,
Band, Physical Education, Spanish, Computers, Library, and Art.
·
HOMEWORK
Homework is assigned Monday through Thursday.
If a student does not finish his classwork during the day on Friday, he/she will
need to finish it at home on the weekend.
Some students like to use their weekend time to study for the spelling test
and/or to work ahead on the next week’s spelling unit.
If students choose not to complete their homework assignment or fail to bring the assignment to school, they will be allowed to turn it in one day late. The highest grade a student will receive on a late assignment is % 74 (D+). Students may take their late assignment outside at recess to complete or complete it at home that night. They are not allowed to stay in the classroom at recess time because I am not always available to supervise them.
You will be notified by e-mail when your student has received a late grade of
74% (D+). If you do not have Internet access, I will send a note home with
your child requesting that it be signed and returned.
On the second school day of each week, you will receive a folder of your child’s
papers from the previous week. The
purpose of sending you these papers is to keep you up-to-date on what your child
is learning. It also lets you know
how your child is progressing. More
importantly, it gives you an opportunity to praise and encourage your child.
Please sign the folder and return it to your child.
Folders will be collected the following day.
Students who are absent should try to get their work caught up as soon as
possible.
According to the handbook, if a student is absent one day, he/she has one
day to make it up.
The classroom expectations are as follows:
Expectations:
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1. Respect yourself, others, and things
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This year I will be using Dr. Marvin Marshall’s “Raise Responsibility System” as
outlined in his book Discipline Without
Stress, Punishments, or Rewards.
This program classifies behavior in four categories:
Level A: Anarchy, Level B: Bossing/Bullying, Level C:
Conformity/Cooperation, and Level D: Democracy. Levels A&B are unacceptable
levels of behavior. Level C is
acceptable but the motivation is external.
Level D is the highest level.
At this level, the motivation to be responsible is internal.
Students choose to do the right thing even when no one is looking.
If a student chooses to behave on Levels A or B, it is seen as an opportunity
for learning, rather than for punishment.
Students will be asked to reflect on the level of behavior they chose and devise
a plan on how they can choose higher levels of behavior.
I will be spending the first few days of school teaching this program to your
children. Ask them to explain it to
you. If you have any questions that
they can not answer, I’ll be happy to explain it in more detail.
I am always happy and willing to visit with you regarding your child’s progress.
If possible, please notify me a day in advance.
My school e-mail address is
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School is empowered by gospel values to develop lifetime learners who are Christ-like in serving, caring, and becoming.