Creative Arts Charter School
Fourth Grade

Fourth Grade

Language Arts

The 4th grade language arts curriculum emphasizes making connections through reading and writing; that is, activating prior knowledge for deeper understanding as well as making connections to new text and connecting personally to written material.

In the 4th grade, language arts focuses on reading and writing for meaning, comprehension and analysis. Using the Reading and Writing Workshop models, students use authentic text, short text, fiction, picture books, nonfiction and the writing of their peers as models for personal writing. Students read across fiction and nonfiction genres, identifying the strategies they use to make meaning, and writing responsively about what they have read.

In small group literature circles, independent reading and whole group lessons, students read at their own level, investigate cognitive strategies and discuss their own techniques for understanding text.

Direct skills instruction consists of illuminating strategies for reading expository text, including questioning techniques, visualization, inferring from text, and synthesizing. Students are taught to uncover patterns in nonfiction such as pictures, captions, title and subtitles.

Listening and public speaking skills are taught in 4th grade as well. Students have opportunities to speak to large and small groups of peers on a daily basis.

Mathematics

As children enter 4th grade, they continue to move from concrete thinking to understanding mathematics concepts more abstractly. The overall math curriculum in 4th grade supports this stage of development by continuing the use of math manipulatives, with an increasing focus on using algorithms and equations.

The primary curriculum focuses on investigations in number, data and space. Throughout investigations, students construct knowledge and identify relationships and patterns in numbers. Students develop deep understanding of number concepts, reinforce basic skills, and learn conventional algorithms as well as invent their own.

Materials such as The Problem Solver, and Mental Math in the Middle Grades support the curriculum, and whenever possible, math is integrated with other curricular areas. For instance, the science gardening project requires the use of measurement, symmetrical design, mapping and planning to scale. For supporting abstract thinking and the integrated projects, students articulate their thinking process in writing.

Social Studies

The 4th grade social studies curriculum focuses on geography skills. Beginning in a broad fashion, the students learn the skills necessary for reading and creating maps. They learn about scale, the use of keys, longitude and latitude. The children will construct a globe as a culminating activity.

The curriculum narrows to the specific study of California and the various regions of the state. Fourth graders study California history and geography in a variety of ways. Students read about history in differentiated historical fiction literature circles. In addition, students are guided through an understanding of history in expository text. They complete mini-research projects on explorers, learning to apply note-taking and research skills. Through simulations of California missions and the Gold Rush, students experience history. Students also create models of the geographic regions of California with physical maps made from clay and other materials. Students examine many versions of topographical and physical maps in preparation for this project.

Field trips too are an important curricular resource. Students take a field trip to Strybing Arboretum where they investigate California's Native People and their use of plants. Finally, working with the San Francisco City Parks' Youth Stewardship Program allows students to learn about the changing landscape of the city over time. The abstract idea of history becomes more concrete for these learners.

Science

In 4th grade science, students study, investigate and explore the physical, Earth and life sciences. Through a partnership with City Parks and Recreation as part of the Youth Stewardship Program, students learn about native plants, bio-diversity, and the ecosystem of San Francisco and California. This is a service-learning project that involves the students developing and implementing a community action plan.

Connected to this work is the Friendship Garden Project, which takes place on campus. In collaboration with other CACS classes and Enola Maxwell Middle school, the students measure, plant, and observe the science of gardening.

Separate science curricula include investigations with minerals, electricity and life cycle. The students work with crystallized salt solutions and the study of crystals. The students perform the experiments and then construct a paper model of the three-dimensional shapes and hexagonal prisms. Using a curriculum developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science, students explore electricity and magnetism. Life cycles are explored trough the observation and recording of the butterfly life cycle.