The following is a list of subjects, units of study, and a brief summary of what is expected from fourth grade students.

Language Arts

Text: Scott Foresman Reading; student book, Seeing is Believing, and practice books

Students will participate in an integrated language arts program which will include reading, English, and spelling.

Reading

Students will have one reading anthology that includes six units and an accompanying practice workbook.

¨ Understand literary elements – characters, setting, theme, plot, point of view

¨ Develop vocabulary

¨ Develop decoding skills

¨ Develop reading comprehension through specifically taught skills

Students are expected to follow written and oral directions on practice book pages. If the directions require an answer in a complete sentence, they should follow that. If the vocabulary words are listed on the page, they should make all attempts to copy and spell them correctly.

English

Students will also be developing English and writing skills as part of the Scott Foresman Reading program. Students will learn and follow the writing process to develop their own persuasive, informative, and narrative pieces as well as complete a research project.

Students will have the opportunity to practice the following skills in their grammar practice books:

¨ Recognize subjects and predicates

¨ Compose four types of sentences

¨ Practice correct capitalization and punctuation

¨ Identify and understand the proper grammatical and mechanical usage of the various parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns

Students are again expected to follow all written and oral directions on their papers. Complete sentence structure is stressed heavily across the curriculum.

Spelling

Spelling is the third component of Scott Foresman Reading. Each reading selection is accompanied by a spelling list and corresponding spelling practice book pages. Students will be tested on the spelling lists upon completion of the reading selection. Spelling test days will vary.

Math

Text: Everyday Math, Everyday Learning Corporation, Student Reference Book, Student Math Journal, and supplemental activities and materials

Areas of study in mathematics include:

¨ Number theory concepts and relationships

¨ Place value

¨ Four basic operations

¨ Fractions

¨ Geometry

¨ Algebra

¨ Probability/Prediction

¨ Rounding and estimation

¨ Vocabulary

¨ Organization and display of data

¨ Measurement – perimeter, volume, weight, area, time, temperature, linear

¨ Decimals

¨ Problem solving

¨ Create and solve word problems

Development of multiplication and division skills will be an important of the curriculum this year. If you do not already have a set, multiplication and division flashcards are a good investment.

Social Studies

Text: This is my Country, Houghton Mifflin, Co., textbook and supplemental materials

Topics included in this year’s Social Studies curriculum are:

¨ Map Skills

¨ Geographic Regions of the U. S.

¨ PA history

¨ Current events

Students will be exposed to the capitals of the states in each region of the U.S. as the region is studied, as well as the location of those states on a blank map. Homework will be a study guide that will include page numbers to help your child find the answers. Unless otherwise noted, the study guide answers should be written in complete sentences. The chapter tests will contain various types of questions: fill-in-the-blank, matching, true and false, etc; and an essay section. Essays will be assigned in a variety of ways, including open-book, take home, or completed in class independently.

Science

The elementary science program was designed by the Spring-Ford School District to be a hands-on, activities based program. While there is no textbook, materials from various suppliers will be used. The elementary science program will focus on the following topics this year:

¨ GLOBE program and Weather Instruments

¨ Simple Machines

¨ Electrical Circuits

¨ Solar System

¨ Environmental Cycles with Emphasis on the Water Cycle

One unit of study, the GLOBE program, will continue throughout the year. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is an international environmental education and science program. GLOBE schools around the world collect data that is sent via the Internet to scientists. GLOBE scientists use the data to conduct environmental studies. Our students will be following scientific protocols to gather atmospheric data.

Computers

Students have the opportunity to work in the lab at least once a week. The new lab features the Windows programs and other educational software. Additionally, four computers will be available for student use in each classroom. Classroom computers are equipped with the Compass Learning Program.

Revised 8/2004