Fourth and Fifth Grade Curriculum (Blue Room)

In addition to incorporating themes throughout the content areas, I also utilize children's literature to unify and reinforce mathematics, science, social studies, technology education, and other areas of instruction across the elementary curriculum.

True learning comes through personal discovery. The goal of the Blue Room is to not only increase the size of a student's knowledge base, but also to create possibilities for student invention and discovery. There will be many hands-on applications throughout the content areas this year.

Language Arts

Reading and writing are connected, and therefore are an integral part of the Blue Room curriculum. We will read an assortment of literary works with an emphasis on classics and contemporary works by a variety of authors. We will have author studies in which students explore the writing techniques of various authors. Much of our reading material will relate to math, science, and social studies. We will also incorporate current events into our language arts program.

We will study the steps to becoming proficient writers as well as the processes for developing good “pieces.” The students will learn to use various resources to gather information. The students will be exposed to a variety of poets and poetry and have many opportunities to write the same. Students will learn and/or continue their cursive writing skills.

Most days the students will have a Reader's or Writer's workshop. The workshops consist of the following activities:

Reader's Workshop (students will be required to keep a reader's response journal)

Mini-lesson - a short lesson on some aspect of reading such as identifying genres or gauging a book's level of reading difficulty.

Independent Reading - in which students read a text, usually of their own choosing. Over time, students will read and respond to a variety of texts independently. I will guide text selection, confer with individual students, and facilitate a shared discussion to extend students' understanding and enjoyment. The students will complete a Reader's Quilt project this year.

Guided Reading - in which a small group of students with similar reading strategies work with the teacher to learn more about reading. I will select a text at an appropriate level, introduce it, and provide supportive teaching that helps the group understand what reading is and how it works.

Literature Study - in which a group of readers discusses various aspects of a text or a set of related texts and sometimes works on projects to extend and share learning. Students will be shown how to analyze and discuss texts with one another in order to create shared meanings that are more refined and complex than they would discover on their own.

As our reader's workshop develops, students will work in different areas. Some may do independent reading, usually of their choice. This may not always be true, but most of the time it will be their choice. Readers should self select about 80% percent of the texts they read, since reading skills improve when students choose the books they can and want to read.

Comprehension strategies will be emphasized during reader's workshop. Strategies that will be taught include:

• Making connections between prior knowledge and the text
• Questioning
• Visualizing
• Drawing inference
• Determining important ideas
• Synthesizing information

These strategies will be taught through teacher modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and real reading situations. Regular strategy practice, combined with teacher and peer response, is central to reading improvement.

Writer's Workshop

Mini-lesson - a short lesson on some aspect of writing such as parts of speech, sentence structure, or paragraph writing.

Independent Writing - in which students work individually and silently on their own writing. Students may write or sketch in their writer's notebook. At other times, they may work on drafting, revising, editing or publishing a writing project. The students will choose most writing topics, but sometimes they will be assigned. I will confer with individual students to support and address their needs.

Guided Writing - in which the teacher pulls together temporary groups of student writers and teaches the craft, strategies and skills those writers need at that particular time. Group work may focus on developing specific writing skills, on using writing as a tool for inquiry, on learning to write in different genres, or on using technology to publish writing.

Investigations - in which students will explore a piece of literature or content area topic in depth, using writing, reading and a variety of media resources, including technology. The investigation will often culminate in an oral presentation, performance or display.

Language and Word Study - this block of instruction varies from day to day. The focus will be on the students' language and word study knowledge and skills. We will build vocabulary, practice handwriting, and learn the rules and principles of phonics and spelling. We will focus on parts of speech and the various parts of a sentence. Diagramming of sentences will be utilized.

Reading and writing goals that will be emphasized for fourth grade students:

• Use effective communication skills in group activities (4.1)
• Present brief oral reports (4.2)
• Apply word-analysis skills when reading and writing (4.3)
• (knowledge of less common vowel patterns and homophones)
• Use synonyms, antonyms and homonyms (4.3)
• Identify parts of speech
• Use strategies to read a variety of printed materials
• Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of printed materials
• Read a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections, including biographies and historical fiction (4.4)
• Read a variety of poetry (4.6)
• Write effective narratives and explanations, using correct subject-verb agreement, avoiding double negatives, and using commas in series, dates and addresses (4.7;4.8)
• Write stories, letters, simple explanations and short reports across all content areas
• Use available word processing programs (4.7)

Reading and writing goals that will be emphasized for fifth grade students:

• Use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings (5.1)
• Use knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (5.4)
• Identify parts of speech
• Read a variety of literary forms, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (5.5)
• Describe character and plot development, and explain how conflicts are resolved
• Write effective narratives and explanations (5.5)
• Use information resources to research a topic (5.8)
• Demonstrate comprehension of a variety of literary forms by using text organizers such as type, headings and graphics to predict and categorize information in informational texts (5.6)
• Write for a variety of purposes to describe, inform, entertain, and explain (5.7)
• Organize and record information on charts, maps and graphs (5.8)
• Use available electronic databases to access information (5.8)
• Credit secondary reference sources (5.8)

Mathematics

The Blue Room will be using a math curriculum entitled Everyday Mathematics. It was developed through the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project in order to enable children in elementary grades to learn more mathematical content and become life-long mathematical thinkers. The instructional design was carefully crafted to capitalize on student interest and maximize student learning. The curriculum is organized into six mathematical content strands that cover a number of skills and concepts. This approach provides a rich yet balanced curriculum, with attention to numeration and computation without neglecting geometry, data, and algebraic thinking. The content strands that are emphasized are: numeration; operations and computation; data and chance; geometry; measurement and reference frames; and patterns, functions and algebra. Everyday Mathematics stresses:

• A problem-solving approach, based on everyday situations, that develops critical thinking.
• Mathematical communication, including understanding and evaluating the mathematical thinking and strategies of others.
• Frequent practice of basic skills through ongoing program routines and mathematical games.
• An instructional approach that revisits topics regularly to ensure full concept development.
• Activities that explore a wide variety of mathematical content and offer opportunities for students to apply their knowledge.

Focused math areas for fourth grade students this year:

• Identify orally and in writing, the place value for each digit in a whole number expressed through millions.
• Compare two whole numbers, expressed through millions, using symbols (>,<, or =), and words (“greater than, less than, or equal to”).
• Identify and represent equivalent fractions and relate fractions to decimals.
• Compare numerical value of fractions having denominators of 12 or less.
• Create and solve problems using addition and subtraction of money amounts using various computational methods, including calculators, paper and pencil, mental computation and estimation.
• Add and subtract whole numbers written in vertical and horizontal form.
• Find the product of two whole numbers when one factor has two digits and the other factor has three digits or fewer.
• Estimate and find the quotient of two whole numbers given a one-digit divisor.
• Estimate and measure weight/mass using both US Customary and metric units.
• Estimate and measure length using both metric and US Customary units.
• Estimate and measure volume using both US Customary and metric units.
• Investigate, describe and draw the relationships between and among points, lines, line segments, and rays.
• Identify lines which illustrate intersections, parallelism, and perpendicularity.
• Collect, organize and display data in line and bar graphs with scale increments of one or greater than one.
• Identify and locate missing whole numbers on a given line number.
• Solve problems involving pattern identification and completion of patterns.

Focused math areas for fifth grade students this year:

• Read, write, identify, and compare the place values of decimals through ten-thousandths.
• Find the product of two numbers expressed as decimals through thousandths.
• Given a dividend of four digits or less and a divisor of two digits or less, find the quotient and remainder.
• Determine perimeter of polygons and area of square, triangle and rectangle.
• Solve problems using various unit of measurement to include length, weight/mass, liquid volume.
• Measure temperature to include Celsius and Fahrenheit.
• Classify, measure and draw angles.
• Identify ordered pairs.
• Solve problems of probability by using tree diagrams or by constructing a sample space representing all possible results.
• Investigate and describe the concept of variables.

Science

The purpose of science education is to help children acquire the skills necessary to investigate more thoroughly and systematically. Children are natural investigators and naturally ask questions. Channeling the power of questions for instructional purposes is known as the inquiry approach. This is the approach we will take in science this year by providing the opportunity for the students to transform those questions into investigations.

Students will be expected to develop questions, formulate simple hypotheses, make predictions, gather and analyze data, make inferences and draw conclusions. They will use the metric system with greater precision.

Focused science topics for the Blue Room this year include, but are not limited to:

• Water cycle (4.7, 5.7)
• Weather (4.6)
• Simple and complex machines (4.2)
• Light and sound (5.2, 5.3)
• Magnetism (4.3)
• Amphibians and reptiles (4.5, 5.5)
• Human Body
• Forensics
• Science Fair Project (4.1, 5.1)

Social Studies

Social studies is more than a collection of facts for children to memorize. It is an understanding of how people, places and events came about - an understanding of how people relate and respond to each other's needs and desires. It develops respect for different viewpoints and cultural beliefs.

In the Blue Room this year, our focus will be on 50 states and their capitals, study of Asia, US government and the election process, Westward Expansion and the Civil War. Time permitting we will also conduct a mock trial held at the end of the year.

Current events will be a key component to our social studies. Students will be required to bring in a current event every week that pertains to an aspect of content study. These current events will be incorporated into various activities including reading a map and understanding political satire.

Computer Technology

Computer skills are an essential component of every student's education. Minimum skills that students should acquire by the end of 5th grade include, but not limited to the following:

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of computer theory, including bits, bytes and binary logic (CT 5.1)
• Develop basic keyboarding skills (CT 5.2)
• Process, store, retrieve and transmit electronic information (CT 5.3)
• Create a one-two page document using word processing skills (CT 5.4)
• Integrate graphics into word-processed documents (CT 5.4)
• Prepare presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint
• Prepare spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel