News briefs

 

What your child will learn in Fourth Grade

 

Introduction

Children entering fourth grade have already developed many of the skills and attitudes necessary for learning. These skills and attitudes will be reinforced and built upon over the course of fourth grade.

It is realized that students learn at different rates. It is our conviction that instruction will accommodate the visual, auditory and tactile learner. With parental support your child should reach his or her maximum potential.

With this in mind, our goal is to have all our students successfully achieve the high expectations set forth by the New York State standards.

The following expectations are established in the curriculum areas of the fourth grade.

Subjects Taught

Mathematics

The student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division

  • Understand the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division using whole numbers (including borrowing, trading and regrouping)

  • Understand Place Value

  • (from tens through millions, rounding to the nearest place value)

  • Expanded and standard form

  • Understand and utilize the calculator

  • Estimating

  • Rounding

  • Master Time, Money and Customary Measurement

  • Money counting change

  • Measurement stand and units

  • Length (inch, foot, yard)

  • Weight (ounce, pounds, ton)

  • Capacity (cup, pint, quart, gallon)

  • Use Metric Measurements

  • Length (millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer)

  • Weight (gram, Kilogram)

  • Capacity (milliliter, liter)

  • Tell Time

  • Tell time to nearest minute

  • Read a calendar

  • Identify and Use Geometry

  • Geometric shapes

  • Formulas for perimeter and area

  • Write Fractions

  • Understanding lowest terms

  • Comparing fractions - mixed numbers

  • Number-equivalent fractions

  • Adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators

  • Understand Decimals

  • Writing fractions as decimals and decimals as fractions, rounding to nearest place value

  • Adding / subtracting decimals

  • Demonstrate Probability and Statistics-Graphing

  • Collect & organize data to make a graph (label)

  • Be able to read and interpret a graph-bar, line, pictograph

  • Demonstrate Probability and Prediction

  • Fair and unfair games

  • Determining probability

  • Solve Problems

  • Use manipulative, sorting, classifying & patterns

  • Single step

  • Multiple step

  • Eliminating unnecessary data

  • Understand the question; label written response to strategies

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Language Arts

Reading

Students will be able to:

  • Read a minimum of 25 books or the equivalent per year, across all content areas

  • Use all decoding strategies including looking for word parts to build vocabulary

  • Use reading strategies to read for meaning

  • Identify the characters, setting, problem, and resolution in a story

  • Read with increasing fluency and confidence from a variety of texts

  • Engage in independent silent reading

  • Writing

  • Students will be able to:

  • Write for various purposes and audiences

  • Create meaningful sentences, paragraphs and complete compositions with proper cursive handwriting, capitalization, and punctuation

  • Understand structure of poetry, letter writing, report writing, story writing, and persuasive writing

  • Write for critical analysis and evaluation

Spelling

Students will be able to:

Social Studies

Students will be able to:

  • Geography of NYS

  • Demonstrate map skills using NYS

  • Use scale, directions, latitude and longitude, map key

  • Native Americans

  • Research Iroquois & Algonquin nations

  • Understand customs, lifestyles

  • Discuss contact with Europeans

  • Identify French, Dutch, English exploring NYS

  • Revolution

  • Identify causes and results of the war:

  • Discuss major battles in NYS

  • Show NYS's significance in the war

  • Government

  • Distinguish between city, state, federal governments

  • Recognize three branches of government

  • Interpret citizenship & rights

  • Know the importance of holidays

  • Transportation Westward and Industrial Revolution

  • Know the contributions of the Erie Canal and Barge Canal

  • Identify natural waterways

  • Identify natural resources

  • Discuss the importance of immigration

  • Document Based Questions

  • Read and understand graphs

  • Read multiple documents for details

  • Use details from documents to write essays

  • Understand what a thesis is, be able to write a thesis, and support the thesis from the documents read

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Science

Students will be able to:

  • Life Science Concepts

  • Plants

  • Recognize plant parts

  • Know the function of roots, stems, leaves and flowers

  • Identify other methods of plant reproduction

  • Animals

  • Classify living and non living, vertebrate and invertebrate

  • Follow the life cycle of mealworms

  • Identify animal adaptations

  • Acknowledge endangered species

  • Environmental Issues

  • Discuss the effects of pollution

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the conservation of air, water and land

  • Physical Science Concepts

  • Matter and Energy

  • Identify the properties of matter

  • Identify the states of matter

  • Magnetism and Electricity

  • Understand the relationship between electricity and magnetic fields

  • Make complete circuits, series circuits and parallel circuits

  • Identify conductors and insulators

  • Simple Machines

  • Identify six simple machines and compound machines

  • Show the effects of friction

  • Identify potential and kinetic energy

  • Buoyancy

  • Create a design to demonstrate knowledge of: density, capacity, stability, displacement

  • Science Skills

  • Students will demonstrate the following:

  • Measurement, observations (written & visual), record & interpret data, hypothesize, predict, and classify

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Computers

The student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate keyboarding skills

  • Use word processing in assignments

  • Use multi media

  • Understand the reference capabilities

  • Practice the use of graphics

  • Communicate "on line"

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Art

The student will be able to:

  • Become participating, creative members of our multi cultural society

  • Create art work in a personal, imaginative, creative style

  • Use a variety of techniques, processes, tools and mediums to create Art

  • Create Art both independently and in groups

  • Correlate and integrate Art with other subject areas

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Music

The student will be able to:

  • Identify various meters

  • Utilize simple two-part singing

  • Continue study of style and form through movement and dance

  • Practice more extensive reading of melody and rhythm

  • Define tonality i.e. major/minor

  • Perform with critical analysis

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Health

The student will learn about the following topics:

  • Emotional health

  • Human growth and development

  • Nutrition

  • Diseases and disorders

  • Environmental health

  • Family life education

  • Consumer health

  • Community Health

  • Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug substances

  • Safety, first aid, and survival

    (back to Subjects Taught)

Physical Education

The student will be able to:

  • Develop physical fitness.

  • Develop the cardio-vascular system.

  • Develop and increase in strength and motor coordination.

  • Participate in a diversity of activities so each child may meet success.

  • Physical Education (cont)

  • Develop an enjoyment of exercise and understand its importance and benefits.

  • Develop eye-hand coordination.

  • Develop eye-foot coordination

  • Develop perceptual motor skills.

  • Develop proper attitudes and sportsmanship.

  • Develop skills necessary for lifetime activities and sports.

  • Develop and understanding of the rules for sports and games.

  • Develop and understand the meaning of team sports.

  • Participate in a variety of lead-up games.

  • Have an opportunity to participate in an intramural program.

    (back to Subjects Taught)

In all classes we want the children to:

  • HAVE FUN!

Parental Support Tips

  • Set aside a special time and place to do homework

  • Read with your child every day for at last 20 minutes

  • Ask your child each day what s/he "learned" in school rather than what s/he "did"

  • Practice basic addition and subtraction multiplication and division facts with your child

  • Use math outcomes in daily situations (i.e. measuring when cooking, estimating costs when shopping, identifying items that are in liters around the house)

  • Have your child write in some form daily (letters, notes, lists...)

  • Take a family trip every month: zoos, local historical sites, art galleries, museums, planetariums, plays, concerts, sports events, and movies

  • Encourage your child to observe and talk about the world of science around him/her (observe and identify plant and animal life in your neighborhood)

  • Watch and discuss educational TV programs and limit the amount of time to no more than one hour per day

  • Plan and enjoy physical activities together (hike, skate, walk, play ball..)

  • Model and expect respectful, responsible, honest and caring behavior ("please", "thank you")

  • Sing, draw and dance with your child

  • Encourage a healthful lifestyle by being sure your child eats a well balanced diet and gets plenty of sleep

  • Review and monitor your child's daily homework

  • Give each of your children a hug and a kiss and tell them you love them every day.

(back to Subjects Taught)

 

 

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