Grade 4 TEACHER: Helen Wareham (wareham@stbartholomew.org or Ext 24) Fourth Grade is an exciting year. This year marks the end of the Primary Years and is referred to as the doorstep of the Junior Level. Fourth Grade is the year when studies in Science and Social Studies are broadened, and skills in other subjects are increased. GRADE SCALE: Academics
Specials REPORT CARDS: Report cards are sent home four times a year. Progress Reports are sent home in the middle of each Quarter. HOMEWORK POLICY: Homework is assigned on Monday to Thursday. The main core of assignments are in Math, Reading, and Spelling. All other subjects are given for homework when needed. Each child should read for at least 20 minutes per night. TESTS: Tests are given in all subjects. Most tests are administered at the end of each chapter or unit. Spelling, and Religion tests are given weekly. TEST FOLDERS: Test folders are sent home on Tuesdays and are to be returned to the teacher on Thursdays. The cover of the folder is to be signed by a parent, and all tests should be returned in the folder. BIRTHDAYS: Birthdays may be celebrated in the classroom. Please notify me two days in advance that you are planning to send in some goodies for the class to share. Celebrations will be held at the end of school. APPOINTMENTS DURING SCHOOL: If your child needs to leave school during class time for an appointment, please send in a note. Your child can only be released from the Main Office, and needs to be signed out by a parent. ASSIGNMENTS WHILE ON VACATION: If your family is going on vacation during the school year, and you would like the assignments, send in a written request for these assignments about a week before your departure. FIELD TRIPS: Field Trips must be approved by the Principal. Parents are asked to accompany our class on all Field Trips as Chaperons. Permission Slips must be signed and returned to me in order for a student to participate in a Field Trip. CURRICULUM RELIGION: Fourth Grade studies the Ten Commandments, Laws of the Church, Beatitudes, and the Rosary as guides for living our Faith. Religion is presented in whole group instruction and class discussions. The students are encouraged to live their Faith through daily prayer, attending Mass, and by participating in activities to help the less fortunate. SCIENCE: Science is an overview of many topics. It is an introduction to subjects which will be investigated more thoroughly in the upper grades. Some of these topics are: Photosynthesis, +Sound, Light, Earth’s Composition, Rocks and Minerals, Nutrition and Exercise. A class consists of textbook materials, some experiments, videos, and sometimes parents who share their expertise on a certain aspect of Science. MATHEMATICS: The Math curriculum reviews basic skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Double digit multiplication and division are introduced. Fractions are expanded to adding and subtracting unlike denominators. Some Geometry is taught in respect to angles, shapes, congruency, and symmetry. Mental math is encouraged with each skill learned. Students become well versed in solving math problems mentally, but do use paper and pencil, too. Each student participates in class in a interactive manner. SOCIAL STUDIES: The first three quarters of the year are devoted to the Regions of the United States. The students learn about the states in each region, along with landforms, economy, resources, and location on the map. The students learn the capital and abbreviation of each state through memorization and playing State/Capitals Bingo. Map skills are developed during this section. The last quarter of the school year is focused on the State of Maryland. The students explore the history, geography, present day problems , and life in Maryland. The class goes on two Field Trips – Annapolis and the Beall-Dawson House, to experience first hand some of Maryland’s History. LANGUAGE ARTS: Language Arts is a combination of Reading, Spelling, and English. All of these facets are integrated, so that what is learned in Spelling is also the vocabulary in the core story. In addition, the students use Loyola Press' Vocabulary in Action as a Vocabulary source, and have separate instruction in Grammar. Language Arts is Literature based. It is a combination of selected core stories in our textbook, and is also supplemented by Great Books. The students develop their writing skill by learning about the Writing Process, and then using this process in developing different kinds of writing styles. These skills are encouraged and enhanced by directed prompts, daily journal writings, and formal reports. The different kinds of writing include summary, persuasive, descriptive, explanatory and general topics to encourage critical thinking, to analyze a situation, and to solve a problem. DISCIPLINE POLICY: See Primary Guidelines in the school Handbook. PROJECTS: Throughout the year projects are assigned. Some of these are long term, while others have a short turn around time. Some of these are:
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