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Fourth Grade CurriculumOverview
During fourth grade, the child continues the development of the skills and strategies in reading and writing. The teacher models for students and then guides their practice. They are transitioning from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”
Reading
The fourth grade reading program includes a variety of genres such as fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. These genres are incorporated into the anthology that the students read throughout the year. The instructional plan includes whole group instruction, flexible groups, paired reading, literature circles, independent reading, and teacher read-alouds. To assist in planning for instruction the students will be assessed periodically. All of the assessments evaluate the reader’s ability to apply the skills and strategies of the previous learning and lessons.
Reading Counts
Students participate in the Reading Counts program. At the beginning of the year, goals are established in the school and in the classroom to motivate children to read on a regular basis. Students are encouraged to choose books that are at their reading level- not too easy and not too hard. Upon completion of a book, students take computerized comprehension quizzes and are rewarded for their progress.
Writing
The focus in fourth grade is to instruct the students in the three modes of writing: narrative, informative, and persuasive. Students are developing their writing skills in the five domains, which include:
· Focus- To stick to the topic, make a point, and effectively communicate in the mode
· Content-To develop pieces with precise, specific, and well-developed details, explanations and reasons
· Organization-To use transitions and to group related ideas together by time, space, subject, or order of importance
· Style-To write with a variety of sentences, strong verbs, literary devices, and voice
· Conventions- To use correct punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling
During writing workshop, the teacher begins with a mini-lesson in a whole group setting, next the students have time to apply the lesson to their own writing. Afterwards they share their writing with others and get feedback which can be used for revision. Students are provided with many examples of high quality writing which are intended to serve as models. Students are assessed though a variety of methods which includes fall and spring district assessments and classroom writing pieces.
Spelling
Spelling is a part of writing. Students begin a unit with a pre-test. After the pre-test students identify the spelling pattern(s) for the week and words that they need to practice. During the week, students make connections with their spelling to thinking, vocabulary, reading, and writing. Making connections like these helps students achieve real spelling success, not just correct spelling in isolation. Therefore, during the formal weekly assessment, students write their spelling words in sentence form. The expectation is that students apply conventional spelling across the curriculum.