FOURTH GRADE CURRICULUM NIGHT 2015 - 2016

Teachers Mrs. Meade

Miss Decoteau

Miss NolanMr. Fennessy

Fourth Grade Band

• Making a choice. Taking responsibility.• Lesson Structure - 30min. group lessons, like instruments, every friday• Home Support - practicing, sharing• Upstairs/Downstairs• Grading

• What’s the point?

1) The Standards – Describe what a student should know and be able to do by the end of a given grade level

2) Curriculum and Instruction - Standards based curriculum is a roadmap a teacher uses to ensure that instruction targets the standards

3) Assessments – A teacher uses assessments to measure learning and the extent to which a student has met the grade-level standards

4) Report Card – The standards-based report card allows a teacher to communicate accurately a student's progress towards meeting standards at specific points in the school year

NPS is a Standards-based System

ELA & Reading• Teaching and learning implemented through the district wide standards• Sixteen power standards incorporating reading, writing and speaking, listening and language• Supporting standards included throughout the Five ELA units

ELA: Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing• Power standards and supporting standards enable learners to meet the rigor of the MA Curriculum Frameworks�• Five Curriculum Maps with 16 overarching power standards and many supporting standards in each unit to teach to mastery• � Examples: Unit 1 : 7-8 weeks• Power Standard: Students will proficiently read and comprehend literature including stories, drama and poetry

Supporting Standards

• Unit 1 Examples( there are 14 in all)• Describe in depth the setting drawing on specific details in the text(RL3)• Refer to details and examples in the text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text(RL1& RI 1)

WritingPower Standards:• �Students will produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.• �Opinion pieces: write, develop, and support opinion pieces on topics or texts.• Informative/Explanatory pieces: write, develop, and clearly explain topic or idea to inform the reader.• Narrative pieces: write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.• Students will report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Common Writing Assessments�Routine Writing: Builds content knowledge and provide

opportunities for reflection on a specific aspect of a text/texts. Routine written responses to such text-dependent questions allows students to build sophisticated understandings of vocabulary, text structure and content and to develop skills in analysis.

�Analysis Writing: Should put a premium on using evidence, as well as on crafting works that display some logical integration and coherence. These responses can vary in length based on questions asked and performed, from answering brief questions to crafting longer responses, allowing teachers to assess students’ ability to paraphrase, infer, and ultimately integrate the ideas they have gleaned for what they have read.

�Narrative Writing: Offers students opportunities to express personal ideas and experiences; craft their own stories and descriptions; and deepen their understandings of literary concepts, structures, and genres (e.g. short stories, anecdotes, poetry, drama) through purposeful initiation.

Writing Across the CurriculumProject Read: Framing Your Thoughts

The Written Expression curriculum focuses on the art of sentence and

paragraph development, using multisensory activities and sequential

instruction to develop the basic skills of writing.

1. Direct instruction of the concepts and skills of language

2. Presentation of concepts and skills in their dependent order, from

simplest to most complex

3. Multisensory strategies and materials created specifically for each

concept and skill

Writing Across the CurriculumJohn Collins Writing as a resource

TYPE I CAPTURE IDEAS - GET IDEAS ON PAPER

TYPE II RESPOND CORRECTLY

TYPE III STUDENT EDIT FOR FOCUS CORRECTION AREAS- Does it complete the assignment?- Is it easy to read?- Does it fulfill the focus correction areas?

TYPE IV EDIT FOR FOCUS CORRECTION AREAS(Student and adult collaboration. Not co-authoring.)

TYPE V PUBLISH / PORTFOLIO WORK

Fourth Grade Word Study

• Syllabication (syllable types)• Prefixes/suffixes• Use combined knowledge of all letter/sound correspondences, syllable types, syllable patterns, and morphology to accurately read unfamiliar multisyllabic words in and out of context.

Math Students will...Mathematics Power Standards: Unit 1 (“What they will do”)

● Students will understand and apply knowledge of place value to 1,000,000.

● Students will use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.

● Students will understand factors and multiples to generate and analyze patterns.

Mathematical Practices: Unit 1 (“How they will do it?”) 1. Make sense of problems and

persevere in solving them.2. Reason abstractly and

quantitatively.3. Construct viable arguments and

critique the reasoning of others.4. Model with mathematics.5. Use appropriate tools strategically.6. Attend to precision.7. Look for and make use of

structure.8. Look for and express regularity in

repeated reasoning.

Math - The Power Standards and ENVISION

• Make Sense of problem solving and Persevere • Aligned with the standards• Balanced Instruction • Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice• Home/School Connection• Appropriate Use of Technology

●Some assignments can be printed at home

Math Fluency4.NBT.4 Students fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.

As defined by the standards, fluency in mathematics means quickly and accurately.FALL (NOVEMBER)

o 5 mixed problems add/subtract whole numbers within 1000. “Quickly” is defined as within 25 - 30 minutes and includes checks

WINTER (FEBRUARY)o 5 mixed problems add/subtract within 10,000. “Quickly” is defined as

within 25 - 30 minutes and includes checksSPRING (APRIL)

o 5 mixed problems add/subtract within 100,000. “Quickly” is defined as within 25 - 30 minutes and includes checks

END OF YEAR (JUNE)o 5 mixed problems add/subtract within 1,000,000. “Quickly” is defined

as within 25 - 30 minutes and includes checks

ScienceStrands Curriculum

StructureConcepts and

SkillsLife Overarching Guiding

QuestionsIdentifying and

conceptualizing key vocabulary

Earth Essential Questions Targeting skills to process knowledge

Physical Directed Inquiry Experiments and discoveries

Technology Study Guides/Elementary is Engineering

Model

Applying knowledge through written

language

Science Topics of Study Life science

Classification of plantsEnergy from plants

Adaptations and reproduction of plants

Earth ScienceWater cycle and weather

Physical Science

Properties of MatterHeat

Electricity and MagnetismSound and LightSimple Machines

Social Studies• Five Themes of Geography

1. Movement 2. Regions

3. Human / Environment Interaction

4. Location

5. Place

• Geography● Map reading and interpretation● Regions of the United States● Fifty States and Capitals● Landmarks, Landforms, Natural Resources etc.

Social Studies• Immigration and Citizenship

● Primary Sources● Contributions from other cultures to our own

• Canada and Mexico● Based around the Five Themes

• Ancient Civilization● China

Responsive ClassroomGuiding Principles:

The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum. How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand. Knowing the children we teach individually, culturally and developmentally is as important as knowing the content we teach.

Teaching Practices: -Morning Meeting-Rules & Logical

Consequences-Classroom Organization-Guided Discovery-Academic Choice-Reaching out to

Parents/Guardians-Give Me “5” -Hopes and Dreams -CARES

Standards-based Assessment- • Assess students progress towards meeting a standard or standard(s).

- • Assessment results give a teacher information on each student's progress towards meeting a standard. This informs a teacher's instruction so that differentiation and re-teaching can occur as needed.

- • Gifted and talented students can be truly challenged in a standards-based classroom because if they show early mastery of fundamental skills and concepts, they can then concentrate on more challenging work that is at higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy or that seeks connections among objectives.

Standards-based Assessment (cont.)• Students who struggle can continue to retest and use alternate assessments until they show proficiency, and they are not penalized for needing extended time.

- • Allow for less isolated "testing". Instead of isolated tests, students are asked to perform real-world tasks that assess multiple standards at the same time and can include multiple subject areas.

Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching and Learning

● Applies, integrates, and transfers knowledge - Many important concepts, strategies, and skills taught in the language are ‘portable’. They transfer readily to other content areas. For example, the concept of perseverance may be found in literature and science. (i.e. Bridge Reflections)

● Increases Motivation - Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching can increase students’ motivation for learning and their level of engagement.

● Improves Learning - Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching can increase students’ motivation for learning and their level of engagement. They can see the value of what they are learning.

● Less Isolated Assessment and More Quality Authentic Performance Tasks - Students are asked to perform real world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills. (i.e. writing a job application)

Integrated Studies: Bridges Subjects included:● Math (measurement, four

operations, conversion) ● ELA (writing persuasive

letters, journal entries, ● Social Studies (history of

bridges, primary sources)● Technology (videos created

by students)● Engineering/Design

(blueprints)

Other Skills:TeamworkResponsibility Creativity Hands-On building CommunicationArtNegotiationPresentationMeasuring Tools

Bridges in Action

HOMEWORK/ AGENDA• The District-Wide Homework Policy for  the  fourth grade is assigning 40 minutes of meaningful homework a night • Homework is given to have students review skills and concepts taught throughout the day and instill a sense of responsibility, independence and time management• It must be recorded in the daily agenda

Got Grit?Angela L. Duckworth describes grit as follows:

“Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals.”

Drive & PassionPersevere: Sometimes it is uncomfortable. What does this look like in a classroom?

Thank you!Ms. Nolan Rm. 15 (First Floor)Mrs. Meade Rm. 24Mr. Fennessy Rm. 25Miss Decoteau Rm. 26