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Introduction

As Catholic educators we have been called to teach as Jesus did. What a wonderful opportunity to touch the minds and hearts of children! We want to assure you that we take our responsibility seriously. We spend time reflecting on successful teaching practices, improving our teaching skills, and planning for optimal learning opportunities in the classroom. We believe that parent support and involvement are critical to the success of your child’s education. We look forward to working with you to help your child succeed.

Class Culture

Academic: Students will be asked to remember that school is their job.  Our goal for them is that they do their best at all times.  We have high expectation for them and expect them to conduct themselves as serious learners.

            Social: We believe that students need to develop the ability to work cooperatively.  We will provide opportunities to develop communication skills as well as making collaborative choices. 

Emotional: We believe that all children want to feel valued by their peers and their teachers.   It is important that students know that everyone makes mistakes and that these mistakes are viewed as a part of the learning process. 

As a class we will strive to act as Jesus did in response to the emotions of others. 

            Spiritual:  As a school community we begin each day with prayer and attend Mass each Friday. Throughout the day there will be many other opportunities for prayer.  Our curriculum helps us explore the connection between our faith and our world.   

Behavior Expectations

We will strive throughout the year to guide students in the process of making good personal and academic choices.  By this time, they should already know the expectations we as parents and educators have for them.  If they make the choice not to meet the expectations they will face logical consequences. 

            The Code of Conduct for the 4^th and 5^th grades

1.         Treat others and their property with respect.

2.         Pay attention and follow directions

3.         Come to class prepared

4.       Raise hand for permission to speak.

Our math text is Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Math.  The textbook is one of the resources we will use to learn math.  In addition, we will use the Problem of the Day, Mad Minute and a number of other resources.

The curriculum for 4^th grade includes Problem Solving; Numeration; Operations and Computation; Measurement; Probability, Statistics and Data Analysis; and Geometry.

The curriculum for 5^th grade includes Problem Solving; Numeration; Operations and Computation; Measurement; Probability, Statistics and Data Analysis; and Geometry. 

The same themes are included for all grade levels from kindergarten through high school.  A concept introduced in 1^st grade may be practiced in 2^nd and 3^rd and should be mastered by 4^th grade.

The Social Studies curriculum includes Historical; Geographic; Civic; Economic; and Social, Cultural, Religious and World Perspectives.

The 4^th grade textbook is Houghton Mifflin Social Studies – States and Regions.    Some of the topics in the 4^th grade curriculum are:

Historical Perspectives

• History of each of the regions of the United States with focus on territorial expansion and history of Colorado

Geographic Perspectives

• Study of the geography of the regions of the United states
• Environmental phenomena (floods, droughts, storms)
• Learn U. S. States and capitals and locate them on a map
• Physical geography and distribution of population of Colorado
• Latitude and longitude

Civic Perspectives

• State government
• Role of a citizen

Economic Perspectives

• The major economic activities of each region
• Focus on Colorado economic activity

Social, Cultural, Religious and World Perspectives

• Explore how different cultures contributed to the development of the United States

The 5^th grade book is Scott Foresman - The World. Some of the topics in the 5^th grade curriculum are:

Geography

• Define the five themes of geography: location, place, movement, human/environment interaction, regions
• Use these themes to analyze historical content
• Read and interpret various kinds of maps
• Locate civilizations on a map of the world
• Describe the physical geography of the fertile crescent, Egypt, India, China, Africa, Greece, the Mayans, and the Roman Empire.

Economics

• Explain how the natural resources determine the economics of a region
• Describe the economic characteristics of a society within a region
• Explain the effect of economics and resources on the jobs of a region

Civics

• Government systems developed in the past, such as monarchy, repuiblic. Etc.
• Important government leaders in ancient civilizations
• Contribution of past cultures to modern law
• Characteristics of a citizen
• Social justice issues (slavery, diversity, suppression of beliefs, economic repression, unequal living conditions, etc.) in ancient times

History

• How people today learn about people who lived long ago
• Define civilization
• Discuss the meaning of the labels B.C and A.D. on a time line
• Explain how why and where civilizations developed
• Trace the rise and fall of civilizations (Mesopotamia/Fertile Crescent, Egypt, India. China, Mayan, Persia, Greece, Rome)
• Name some major world religions/philosophies and discuss the spread of each (Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, mythology, Greek and Roman philosophers, etc.)
• Contributions of past civilizations to the modern world
• Construct accurate time-line of early civilizations

:

Our science textbook is Silver Burdett Science Discovery. 

Some of the major topics covered in 4^th grade are:

Earth and Space Science

·                                                         Weather (temperature, precipitation, sky conditions

·                                                         Forecasting weather

·                                                         Compare and contract climate types

·                                                         Water cycle

·                                                         Characteristics of oceans

·                                                         Compare and contrast geological features

Life Science

• Classify organisms based on structural features
• Flow of energy through the food chain
• Describe how an organism’s behavior is related to the nature of its environment
• Describe respiratory and circulatory of the human body
• Discuss human immune systems and health measures
• Identify brain and sensory organs and describe their function

Physical Science

• Physical properties and chemical properties of matter
• Define smaller particles (atoms, molecules)
• Recall changes in states of matter

Nature of Science

• Follow plans to construct scientific investigations using the scientific method and observing appropriate safety measures
• Use scientific devices (especially metric instruments) to collect data
• Use data to recognize/identify cause and effect
• Report results in a variety of ways (graphs, tables, drawings, etc.)
• Illustrate the collaborative nature of science by working in discovery teams

Topics covered in the 5^th grade science curriculum include:

Earth and Space Science

• Environmental protection, use and conservation of natural resources
• Identify comets, meteors and asteroids
• Life cycle of stars
• Oxygen-carbon and nitrogen cycles
• Connection between water cycle and weather

Life Science

• Cells and cell function
• Photosynthesis and respiration
• Transfer of information between generations
• Ecosystems
• Skeletal and muscular systems in the human body
• Digestive , excretion and reproductive systems and their function

Physical Science

• Density and solubility
• Force applied to an object will cause the object to speed up. Slow daown or change directions
• Relationship between the strength of a force and the effect on an object
• Properties and composition of matter
• Major areas of the Periodic Table of Elements
• Kinetic and potential energy
• Energy resources.

Nature of Science

• Follow plans to construct scientific investigations using the scientific method and observing appropriate safety measures
• Use scientific devices (especially metric instruments) to collect data
• Use data to recognize/identify cause and effect
• Report results in a variety of ways (graphs, tables, drawings, etc.)
• Illustrate the collaborative nature of science by working in discovery teams

I firmly believe that developing skills in language and communication will prepare our students to make good choices based on Christian values. Students must possess the ability to read fluently, write intelligently, and use critical thinking and comprehension skills to decipher new text. These skills will enable our students to communicate the Gospel message by word and by witness.

Writing: Students will…

Use the 5 step writing process

·    Prewriting/organizing ideas

·    drafting

·    revising

·    editing

·    publishing

·    sharing

Understand and include the 6 key elements of a written piece

·    Ideas (main idea/thesis, introduces it in a new way)

·    Voice (writing has a style, conveys how the author feels)

·    Sentence fluency (has a nice flow, variation on how a sentence begins)

·    Organization (has a logical order, has a beginning, middle, end)

·    Word Choice (words used correctly, descriptive words create a mental image)

·    Conventions ( clean, no errors)

Write for a variety of audiences and purposes

·    Write reports

·    Write in a journal

·    Produce Poetry

·    Write a narrative

·    Write an expository piece

·    Write personal letters

Use resources to assist in writing process

·    Thesaurus

·    Dictionary

·    Internet

·    Reference

Reading: Students will…

Understand and use the strategies for comprehending texts

·    Making connections (uses prior knowledge to make sense of new information)

·    Inferring (to go beyond the literal meaning to figure out what is implied)

·    Summarizing (to be able to put together important information while reading)

·    Synthesizing (to put it all together to create new understandings)

·    Analyzing (closely analyze separate parts to achieve greater understanding)

·    Critiquing (to judge or evaluate)

Understand and use the strategies for reading texts

·    Engages schema (reader uses prior knowledge to help them connect to the text)

·    Creates mental images (reader uses description in the text to create picture in mind to clarify meaning)

·    Re-reads (reader will read a sentence more than once to check for meaning)

·    Makes connections (reader will throughout the course of a piece make a personal connection to a character or situation)

·    Word attack skills (reader uses knowledge of word patterns and phonemic awareness to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary)

Explore a variety of Genres:

·    Poetry

·    Biography

·    Fiction (Realistic, Historical, Christian)

·    Non-fiction

Use resources to assist in the reading process:

·    Dictionary

·    Thesaurus

·    Resource texts

Improve reading through the following methods:

·    Sustained silent reading

·    Guided reading

·    Read Aloud

·    Group discussion

The Catholic religion curriculum is based on Sacred Scripture, the Second Vatican Council, and the writings and teachings of Pope John Paul II. The Image of God Series, used by St Louis Catholic Schools, has been approved by the Archdiocese of Denver.

The Fourth Grade program will introduce:

·    Identifying the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

·    Recognize qualities of Saints as models.

·    The Beatitudes in our daily life.

·    Understand and name the Ten Commandments.

The Fifth Grade program will introduce:

·    God the Father – Trinity, Creation, Commandments, Growing Up, Our Uniqueness

·    Jesus: God and Man – Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King

·    The Church – Birth of the Church, The Pope, Our Mission as Prophets, Priest and         Kings, Works of Mercy, Mary the Mother of God

·    The Sacraments – Virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Beatitudes, Prayer, Rosary

·    Saints