4th Grade Syllabus for 2009-2010

RELIGION
Description of Themes and Standards to Be Presented For the Year:

Students understand that we are called to live as Disciples of Christ by choosing a life of loving service and to be an active person of faith (Student Learning Expectation). Students understand and actively participate in the Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the major feasts of the liturgical calendar.

Major Units of Study:

• The Ten Commandments
• The Beatitudes
• The Sacraments

Required Reading Material:
Break Through!, the Bible for Young Catholics
Call to Faith, Harcourt Religion Publishers
Venture Weekly Magazine

Major Reports or Projects for the Year

• Saint Research Report
• Community service, focusing on the environment
• Learning several prayers

MATHEMATICS
Description of Themes and Standards to Be Presented For the Year:

By the end of the year students understand large numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers. They describe and compare simple fractions and decimals. They collect, represent and analyze data to answer questions. Emphasis is placed on solving word problems.

Essential Materials Required:
Students will follow the Houghton Mifflin Mathematics program, California Edition, which explicitly supports the California mathematics framework.

Major Units of Study:

• Students study rounding numbers, place value, decimal and simple fractions
• Students use the language of mathematics
• Students extend their use and understanding of solving problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and the relationships among the operations.
• Students use and interpret variables, mathematical symbols and properties to write and simplify algebraic expressions and number sentences.
• Students understand perimeter and area rectangles and squared.
• Students collect, represent, and analyze data to answer questions.

Supplemental Material:
Board Math spiraling math review program to reinforce previous learning
www.eduplace.com
www.aaa math.com
www.A+math.com

Click here to view math curriculum in a PDF document. (coming soon)

SCIENCE
Description of Themes and Standards to Be Presented For the Year:

By the end of year, students demonstrate an understanding that waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape the Earth's land surface. They know that living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival and that all organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. They demonstrate that electricity and magnetism are related effects that have useful applications in everyday life. They understand that the properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them. They follow the scientific process of asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. They will have hands on experience of many principles by working in the school garden.

Major Units of Study:

• The Earth’s land
• The importance of natural resources and recycling
• Ecosystems, food chains, the water cycle, biomes
• Minerals, rock classification, volcanoes, earthquakes
• Magnetism, magnets, electrical energy, energy generation

Required Reading Material:
Discovery Works, Houghton Mifflin Science, California Edition, which explicitly supports California 4th grade Science Content Standards.

Supplemental Reading Material:
www.eduplace.com
Internet access for on-line research and unit specific sites

Major Reports or Projects for the Year

• Vermiculture
• Build circuits
• Ecosystem poster

SOCIAL STUDIES
Description of Themes and Standards to Be Presented For the Year:

Students learn the geography, regions, and resources of California.

They describe the social, political, cultural and economic life and interactions among the native peoples to the to the Spanish, Mission, and Mexican rancho periods. They explain the economic, social and political life of California’s independence through the gold rush, statehood and western expansion. They understand the structure, functions and powers of the state and federal governments as described in the US Constitution.

Major Units of Study:

• Geography of California, its regions, resources, and map skills
• The first Californians, tribes, economy, village life, and belief systems.
• European explorers
• Colonial California, the Mission system, life in a Mission and its effect on native cultures.
• Hispanic California, transition from Missions to ranchos and pueblos, finally to independence.
• Westward Movement, the Gold Rush, California statehood, and the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Required Reading Material:
History-Social Science, California Studies, Houghton Mifflin

Supplemental Material:

• Field trips to a mission, gold country and Sacramento
• Interactive, experiential learning games
• Internet access for on-line research and unit specific sites
• Island of the Blue Dolphins and Zia by Scott O’Dell
• By the Great Horn Spoon! By Sid Fleischman
• Patty Reed’s Doll by Rachael Laurgaard

Major Reports or Projects for the Year

• California Geography/Regions project
• California Native American research project
• Mission Research Project
• Gold Rush Report

LANGUAGE ARTS
Description of Themes and Standards to Be Presented For the Year:

At the end of the 4th grade students will understand the structure of literature.

Students will read and understand grade-level-appropriate narrative and expository texts. They draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed (e.g., generating and responding to essential questions, making predictions, comparing information from several sources) , will understand story elements, making inferences, sequence of events, cause and effect, and main idea and supporting detail.

Writing will be a major focus of the language arts program. This year the entire school has adopted a writing program, Six Traits of Writing.

Students will write and speak with a command of Standard English conventions. Grammar, punctuation, capitalization and spelling are emphasized.

Required Reading Material:
Reading, Grade 4, Macmillan/McGraw Hill, which explicitly supports the California Language Arts framework

• Various literature books will be read aloud in class.
• Students will be required to read at least 20 minutes each day as homework.

Major Reports or Projects for the Year

• Students will write several informational cross curriculum reports such as Native Americans, California Missions, The Gold Rush, the life of a chosen saint
• Reports will be integrated with technology requirements
• Students will complete multiple book reports, including oral summaries
• Students will make three informational presentations