Course Descriptions for Fourth Grade Class
Grade 4 | Communication Arts
Classic and award-winning children's literature will carry the student across oceans and through centuries as tales of adventure unfold. Books read in this course include Robinson Crusoe, Famous Legends, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Additional reading skills will be taught and practiced through workbook activities. Reading comprehension strategies taught in Critical Thinking include classifying, predicting, outlining, summarizing, inferring and evaluating. The student will develop the tools to understand vocabulary presented through a variety of reading material through exercises in Vocabulary Connections.
This course also gives the student experience with a variety of writing tasks. Initially, the student will learn about the five stages of the writing process. He will create compositions throughout the course by moving through the stages of planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Effective planning tools will help the student create well-organized compositions. The student will begin the year planning with graphic organizers, then will use word planners, and finally will learn the basics of formal outlining. The student will write creative, factual, descriptive, artistic, and persuasive compositions that tie together all the skills learned in the course. In addition, oral language skills are developed with instruction in oral compositions, interviews, and discussion. The student will study the basic skills of writing through instruction in spelling, handwriting, grammar, and language usage. The Zaner-Bloser Spelling workbook presents weekly spelling lists that highlight the patterns and relationship of letters within words. Daily practice activities give the student opportunities to use spelling words in context. Handwriting exercises in the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting workbook teach and review the basic strokes of manuscript and cursive writing. Activities will help the student practice and self-assess penmanship as he becomes a legible, fluent writer.
Student Resources
• Poetry Selections (Calvert School)
• Vocabulary Connections D (Steck-Vaughn)
• Critical Thinking Level D (Steck-Vaughn)
• Famous Legends (Calvert School)
• Island of the Blue Dolphins
• Robinson Crusoe
• Grammar and Usage F (Calvert School)
• Activity Pages 4 (Calvert School)
• Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 4(Zaner-Bloser)
• Spelling Connections 4 (Zaner-Bloser)
• Reading F and Writing F Lesson Manual
· Grade 4 | Mathematics
In this course, the student expands his skills in all four operations. The Calvert series textbook, Calvert Math, and the Practice and Enrichment Workbook are the primary resources for this course. Addition and subtraction are practiced with six-digit numbers. Basic facts in multiplication and division are reviewed and then these operations are practiced with four-digit numbers. With these skills in hand, the student will add and subtract fractions and decimals. Measurement is a hands-on unit that covers both customary and metric units of length, capacity, and weight. The student will have the opportunity to study polygons and solid figures in the geometry unit.
Throughout the course, the student will be given the opportunity to apply the skills learned in different ways. To assist with this, he will study the problem-solving process. A four-step problem-solving plan is taught and numerous problem-solving strategies and skills are introduced and practiced. Many of these are then applied to different types of problems.
Student Resources
• Calvert Math 4 (Calvert School)
• Calvert Math Practice and Enrichment Workbook 4 (Calvert School)
• Math F Lesson Manual
· Grade 4 | Science
Science is an adventure in which everyone can take part! Throughout this course the student will be participating in scientific investigations of many different forms including simple observations, experiments, and long-term projects. Results from these investigations will provide information about the surrounding world. The McGraw-Hill/National Geographic textbook, Science, and the science kit are the primary resources for this course. The opening unit continues the exploration of the jobs of scientists and the scientific method. The Life Science units examine the commonalities and differences of organisms. The Earth Science units provide an opportunity for the student to investigate animal tracks and explore ways to conserve water. The Physical Science units enable the student to investigate the composition and use of different forms of energy. In this course the student will build a terrarium, create cell models, construct electrical circuits, and do much, much more!
The lessons in this course are designed to accommodate a variety of learning styles, and to provide a variety of opportunities for the entire family to participate in the student’s education. Some lessons, or groups of lessons, in each unit are activity-centered, which allows the student to engage the new concepts he encounters through exploration and discovery; others are more traditional, requiring the student to read, research, and reflect on the underlying theory. The student may choose to read and review a fiction or nonfiction book about the subject being studied, undertake a project that reflects a particular personal interest, or participate in an appropriate online interactive experience. The student may include others in a longer-term project such as creating a family garden, or by visiting and reporting on a trip to a farm, zoo, nature center, aquarium, or museum.
Student Resources
• McGraw-Hill Science 4 (McGraw-Hill)
• Activity Pages 4 (Calvert School)
• Science Kit
• Rock and Mineral Kit
• Science F Lesson Manual
· Grade 4 | Missouri Social Studies
This course builds upon the geography skills taught in previous courses and introduces the study of continents. The student will continue his study of the five themes of geography, and learn to use longitude and latitude to find locations, distinguish between different types of maps and identify their uses, and understand the Earth’s rotation around the sun. Students will compare the population distribution and political divisions among continents, while also studying their landforms, vegetation, and resources.
This course also introduces Missouri state history. The student will trace the state’s history from the early history of Native Americans up until the 20th century. The course focuses on the state's people, economy, resources, and geography. The student will also learn about the structure and functions of local and state governments.
Student Resources
• Geography Workbook 4 (Calvert School)
• Discovering Maps (Hammond World Atlas Corporation)
• Missouri State History Materials and Geography F Lesson Manual