2010-2011 Syllabus for   Fourth Grade    Term  1

Teacher: Mrs. Debbie Powell

 Language Arts

Objectives: This is a general overview of what the teacher will teach and what the student is expected to master.

-The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.

-The student will use and reflect on an appropriate composing process (e.g., planning,

drafting, revising, editing, publishing/ sharing) to express, communicate, evaluate, or

exchange ideas with a focus on texts increasing complexity and length.

-The student will compose narrative text relating an event with a clear beginning, middle, 0

and end.

-Stories and retellings

-Narrative Poems

-The student will apply Standard English to communicate.

-The student will apply Standard English grammar to compose or edit.

-Nouns (e.g., singular, plural [including irregular forms], common, proper

-Nouns (e.g., singular, plural [including singular possessive, plural possessive,

appositives)

-Pronouns (e.g., subject pronouns, singular pronouns, plural pronouns, singular

possessive pronouns, plural possessive pronouns, object pronouns, reflexive pronouns,

demonstrative pronouns)

-Pronoun-antecedent agreement (number and gender)

-The student will apply Standard English mechanics to compose or edit.

-End punctuation (e.g., period, question mark, exclamation point)

-Produce legible text.

-Periods in common abbreviations (e.g., titles of address, days of the week, months)

-Commas (e.g., dates, series, quotations)

-Quotation marks (e.g., quotations; titles of poems, titles of songs, titles of short stories

-Underlining/Italics (e.g., titles of books and movies)

-Colons (e.g., time, before lists introduced by independent clauses)

-Capitalization (e.g., first word in a sentence, proper nouns, days of the week, months of

the year, holidays, titles, initials, the pronoun “I,” first word in greetings and closings of

friendly letters, proper adjectives)

-Spell words commonly found in fourth grade level text.

-The student will apply knowledge of sentence structure in composing or editing.

-Analyze the structure of sentences (e.g., simple sentences including those with

compound subjects and/or compound predicates).

-Compose simple sentences with compound subjects and/or compound predicates

Assessments: A test will be given at the end of each unit.  The following is the Biloxi Public Schools fourth grade Language Arts grading scheme.  The grade will consist of 40% English, 20% spelling, 30% writing, and 10% from the common term assessment.     FORMTEXT    

Homework/Assignments/Projects:  FORMTEXT Homework is due the following day unless otherwise specified.  Assignments aren't accepted late except for absence from school. 

Reteaching and Retesting:   FORMTEXT Students will be retaught and retested within 10 days of receiving his or her failing test grade.  Any other grade can be retested with a written request from the parent.  In order to be retested, the student will have to invest his/her time before school.  If not, the student will not be eligible to retest.     

 Reading

Objectives: This is a general overview of what the teacher will teach and what the student is expected to master.

-The student will use word recognition and vocabulary (word meaning) skills to

communicate.

-The student will use syllabication types (e.g., open, closed, r-controlled, vowel team) for

decoding words.

-The student will develop and apply expansive knowledge of words and word meanings to

communicate.

-The student will identify and produce grade level appropriate synonyms,.

-The student will use definitional, synonym, or antonym context clues to infer the meanings

of unfamiliar words.

-The student will use reference materials (dictionary, glossary, teacher or peer [as a

resource], thesaurus, electronic dictionary) to determine the meaning, pronunciation,

syllabication, synonyms, antonyms, and parts of speech for unknown words.

-The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or

evaluate a variety of texts of increasing levels of length, difficulty, and complexity.

-Genres – Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry

-The student will analyze texts in order to identify, understand, infer, or synthesize

information.

-Identify the stated main idea or supporting details in a paragraph.

-Apply knowledge of transitions or cue words to identify and sequence major events in a narrative.

-Identify stated causes and effect relationships in paragraphs and short passages.

-Synthesize information stated in the text with prior knowledge and experience to draw a

conclusion.

-Predict a logical outcome based upon information stated in a paragraph or short passage

and confirm or revised based upon subsequent text.

-The student will interpret increasingly complex literary text, literary nonfiction, and

informational text to compare and contrast information, citing text-based evidence.

-Story elements (e.g., setting, characters, character traits, events, resolution, point of view)

-Author’s purpose (e.g., inform, entertain, persuade)

-The student will identify facts, opinions, or tools of persuasion in text.

-Distinguish between fact and opinion.

Assessments: A test will be given at the end of each unit.  The following is the Biloxi Public Schools grading scheme for fourth grade Reading.  The grade will consist of 55% major tests, 35% activities, and 10% from the common term assessment.       

Homework/Assignments/Projects:  FORMTEXT

Homework is due the following day unless otherwise specified.  Assignments aren't accepted late except for absence from school.  

Reteaching and Retesting:  Students will be retaught and retested within 10 days of receiving his or her failing test grade.  Any other grade can be retested with a written request from the parent.  In order to be retested, the student will have to invest his/her time before school.  If not, the student will not be eligible to retest.     

Math

Objectives: This is a general overview of what the teacher will teach and what the student is expected to master.

-Understand relationships among numbers, use the four basic operations, compute

fluently, and make reasonable estimates.

-Add and subtract up to five-digit whole numbers with and without regrouping.

-Recall multiplication facts.

-Compose and decompose five-digit numbers with representations in words, physical

models, and expanded and standard forms.

-Solve real world problems involving addition and subtraction.

-Analyze and represent patterns, number relationships, and functions using algebraic

symbols. Demonstrate an understanding of the properties of the basic operations.

-Explain the properties of the basic operations using models, numbers, and variables.

-Associative properties of addition

-Commutative properties of addition

-Identity properties of addition

-Demonstrate and explain the inverse operations of addition/subtraction.

-Formulate and analyze data. Evaluate inferences and predictions.

-Draw, label, and interpret bar graphs, line graphs, and stem-and-leaf plots.

-Find and interpret the mode, median, and range of a set of data.

-Compare data and interpret quantities represented on tables and graphs including line

graphs, bar graphs, frequency tables, and stem-and-leaf plots to make predictions and

solve problems based on the information.

Assessments: A test will be given at the end of each unit.  The following is the Biloxi Public Schools grading scheme for fourth grade Math.  The grade will consist of 55% major tests, 35% activities, and 10% from the common term assessment.   

Homework/Assignments/Projects: Homework is due the following day unless otherwise specified.  Assignments aren't accepted late except for absence from school. 

Reteaching and Retesting:  Students will be retaught and retested within 10 days of receiving his or her failing test grade.  Any other grade can be retested with a written request from the parent.  In order to be retested, the student will have to invest his/her time before school.  If not, the student will not be eligible to retest.     

Science/Social Studies

Objectives: This is a general overview of what the teacher will teach and what the student is expected to master.

1 Explain and use skills necessary to conduct scientific inquiry.
a Form hypotheses and predict outcomes of problems to be investigated.
b Use the senses and simple tools to gather qualitative information about objects or events (size, shape, color, texture, sound, position, change).
c Demonstrate the accurate use of simple tools to gather and compare information
c1 Tools (English rulers [to the nearest eighth of an inch], metric rulers [to the nearest centimeter], thermometers, scales, hand lenses, microscopes, balances, clocks, calculators, anemometers, rain gauges)
c2 Types of data (height, mass/weight, temperature, length, distance, volume, area, perimeter)
d Use simple sketches, diagrams, tables, charts, and writing to draw conclusions and communicate data results.
e Interpret and describe patterns of data using drawings, diagrams, charts, tables, graphs, and maps.
f Explain why scientists and engineers often work in teams with different individuals doing different things that contribute to the results.
g Draw conclusions about important steps (e.g., making observations, asking questions, trying to solve a problem, etc.) that led to inventions and discoveries.

 

4 Develop an understanding of the properties of Earth materials, objects in the sky, and changes in Earth and sky.
c Investigate, record, analyze and predict weather by observing, measuring with simple weather instruments (thermometer, anemometer, wind vane, rain gauge, barometer and hygrometer), recording weather data (temperature, precipitation, sky conditions, and (cont.) weather events), and using past patterns to predict future patterns.
d Describe how human activities have decreased the capacity of the environment to support some life forms.d1 Reducing the amount of forest cover
d2 Increasing the amount of chemicals released into the atmosphere
d3 Farming intensively
e Compare and contrast the seasons and explain why seasons vary at different locations on Earth.
f Describe objects in the universe including their movement.
f1 Physical features of the moon (craters, plains, mountains)
f2 Appearance and movement of Earth and its moon (e.g., waxing/waning of the moon and lunar/solar eclipses)
f3 Why a planet can be seen in different constellations (locations) at different times
g Summarize the process that results in deposits of fossil fuels and conclude why fossil
fuels are classified as nonrenewable resources.
 FORMTEXT Science

-Describe how external forces including heat, wind and water affect the Earth’s surface.

-Using maps, students identify watershed and run-off patterns of local areas.

-Group landform examples by the forces that may have created them.

-Analyze and predict the weather using the thermometer, anemometer, rain gauge, barometer and hygrometer.

-Recognize and collect data of extreme weather conditions.

-Describe ways to protect the air we breathe.

-Recognize the need for conservation of water resources.

-Discuss the ways man can protect and manage organisms in the environment

Social Studies/MS History

-Develop an understanding of the state in relationship to the expanding horizon theme.

a.Describe the history of people who first lived in Mississippi.

b.Assess the impact of the first European explorers in Mississippi.

c.Evaluate the impact and interactions among all groups throughout the history of Mississippi (e.g., European, African, Asian, Native Americans, etc.).

d.Identify the ideas and individuals that were significant in the development of Mississippi and that helped to forge its unique identity (e.g., cotton as king, Mississippi waterways, music, literature, etc.).

e.Explain the connections between Mississippi and other states (e.g., economic, political borders, etc.).

-Acquire the characteristics to be a responsible citizen at the local, state, national and international level.

a.Explain the functions, responsibilities, and histories of governments.

b.Explain the process of electing local and state officials.

c.Explain the student's role as a responsible citizen (e.g., justice, equality, responsibility, freedom, integrity, loyalty, honesty, diversity, compassion, fairness, courage, authority, rule of law, etc.).

d.Recognize responsibilities of the individual at home school, community and state(e.g., courteous public behavior, respect for the rights and property of others, tolerance, honesty, compassion, self-control, participation in the democratic process, and work for the common good).

3.Demonstrate the ability to use social studies tools (e.g., timelines, maps, primary sources, globes, compasses, graphs, technological resources, grids, schedules, etc.).  (C, H, G, E)

a.Describe relationships among people, places, and environments (e.g., the Delta and the blues, etc.).

b.Demonstrate spatial and ecological perspectives to life situations (e.g., location of waste disposals in the state, wetlands, forest areas, etc.).

c.Locate Mississippi in relation to other states.

d.Identify time relevant to the student's environment (e.g., home/school) by using social studies tools (e.g., maps, timelines, graphs, etc.).

e.Review cardinal and intermediate directions.

f.Recognize space relevant to a student's environment (e.g., home/school, etc.) by using social studies tools (e.g., cardinal directions, map legends, etc.).

f.Sequence historical events in proper chronological order (e.g., Battle of Vicksburg, etc.).

h.Locate various places in Mississippi using a grid (e.g., city or state map).

4.Identify the interdependence of economics (self, family, local, and state).

a.Compare the resources and scarcity of resources in a local region to other regions in Mississippi (e.g., Delta’s rich soil vs. coastal waters).

b.Compare the resources and scarcity of resources of regions in Mississippi to other state regions.

c.Describe the division of labor within the state (e.g., government, industry, agriculture).

d.Describe the opportunity cost of choices made within Mississippi (e.g., cotton farming vs. soybean, pasture vs. manufacturing, beaches vs. casinos, landfill vs. park, etc.).

5.Integrate, connect, and apply social studies into other subject areas and everyday life.

a.Identify story elements in read-aloud stories based on Mississippi (e.g., Steamboats on the MS).

b.Identify various cultures in Mississippi (e.g., Native American).

c.Measure the distance between geographical locations discussed within stories (e.g., Devil’s Highway – measure distance traveled along The Natchez Trace).

d.Identify regional soil types in Mississippi and investigate their effects on local agriculture.

Assessments: A test will be given at the end of each unit.  The following is the Biloxi Public Schools grading scheme for fourth grade Science and Social Studies.  The grade will consist of 60% major tests, and 40% from activities.     

Homework/Assignments/Projects: Homework due the following day unless otherwise specified.  Assignments aren't accepted late except for absence from school. 

Reteaching and Retesting:  Students will be retaught and retested within 10 days of receiving his or her failing test grade.  Any other grade can be retested with a written request from the parent.  In order to be retested, the student will have to invest his/her time before school.  If not, the student will not be eligible to retest.