Grade Four

Mrs. Stooke, Mrs. Vieira

     Grade 4 students are challenged with daily activities to help them learn academic, social, and physical skills. There is a combination of seat work and activity centers progressing from individual, to small group, to large group lessons.

Language Arts
     The Spelling program is based on textbook work with a weekly pre-check and post test given. Students will read on a daily basis from chapter books of their choice, and the daily newspaper. They will also be grouped by appropriate levels to participate in Literature Circles where they will read the same novel and learn to be Discussion Director, Summarizer, Word Wizard, and Illustrator. The groups meet to share ideas and discuss their readings. There will also be whole class novel study of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Each student will keep a Reading Log in which they record each chapter book they read this year.
     Each student will have a writing folder and will write in various forms for many purposes (personal journal, stories, poems, research, letters, opinions, etc.). Some of the themes the Grade 4 students have explored in writing are: My Summer Vacation, Haunted House, Remembrance Day, Greek Myths, Reflections on Reading, Story Starters, Great Canadian Mail Race, and many more.

Math
     Grade 4 students work with math manipulatives in small groups or partners. They learn skills through direct teaching, exercises in textbooks, scribblers, worksheets, math games, and computer games. There are pop quizzes, and students collaborate with the teacher to formulate end of unit tests. Some of the units students have worked on are: Place Value, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Geometry, Measurement, Fractions, Probability and Graphing and Patterns.

Science
     The science program is activity based, with a variety of hands on activities. Students are challenged with problems to solve, experiments to conduct , and guided discovery. Lessons are supported with reading material and worksheets where students record discoveries, organize data and use scientific language to answer questions and express their understanding. Students also do science research and create posters. There are 4 units of study: Habitat and Communities, Sound, and Rocks and Minerals.

Social Studies
     Grade 4 focuses on communities around the world. Students take turns giving an oral report on World News where the student tells the class something about a place in the world and mark it on a classroom map. This may be about a current or historical event or discovery, or about an interesting plant, animal, landform, architecture, weather phenomenon, etc. Students learn about mapping skills and do a research project on a country.

Art
     Students are encouraged to have a sketchbook where they learn to draw what they see, either from visuals or live form. Grade 4 students have also created a haunted house from boxes and new and recycled materials, and designed a musical instrument, as well as clay and plasticine sculptures and collage. Students are also taught an extensive unit on watercolours. They learn about colour mixing as we only work with the 3 primary colours. They are taught many techniques such as washes, glazing, charging, masking, adding salt and others.

Here are a few samples of student water colours

 

 

 

Click here to see our wonderful haunted houses:
 

 

Classroom Helpers
     Students in grade 4 are taught to be responsible for the classroom and classmates by rotating through jobs such as plant care, pet care, joy maker, chairs, mail, teacher’s helper, lobby, floor, job captain, etc.