4th Grade Parent Guide
4th Grade Parent Guide
- English Language Arts
- Recommended Books
- Social Studies
- Math
- Science
- Recommended STEM
- Special Education
- English as a New Language
- Dual Language Program
- Library and Media Center
- Physical Education
- Fine Arts
English Language Arts
Lifelong Practices of Readers |
Lifelong Practices of Writers |
Readers:
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Writers:
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Through the study of the English language arts, students will learn to read fluently and understand a broad range of written materials. They will be able to communicate well and listen carefully and effectively. They will develop a command of the language and demonstrate their knowledge through speaking and writing for a variety of audiences and purposes.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to...
Reading
- Read literary and informational texts with accuracy, and fluently with appropriate pacing, intonation, and expression
- Engage in and sustain independent reading of texts from a variety of genres
- Read and comprehend grade appropriate complex literary and informational texts
- Compare, contrast, draw conclusions, and summarize from multiple texts
- Identify parts of a story (setting, characters, plot, point of view, theme, problem, solution)
Writing
- Write for variety of purposes including narrative, informational and argumentative
- Write to respond to literature and to express an opinion
- Engage in the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing
- Monitor for correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Listening/Speaking
- Demonstrate active listening and comprehension
- Engage in a range of discussions
- Come to discussions prepared having read or studied the required material in advance
- Listen carefully for specific information
- Use strategies for note-taking, organizing and categorizing information
- Orally communicate with others in a clear and concise manner
- Support opinions with facts and details
Recommended Books
- Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera
- Love by Matt de la Peña
- We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell
- Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth
- Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented by Tanya Lee Stone
- Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace
- Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night by Rob Laidlaw
- The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
- Two Truths and Lie books by Ammi-Joan Paquette
- Life Hacks for Kids by Sunny Keller
- When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad
- Jake the Fake Keeps It Real by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach
- Enginerds by Jarrett Lerner
- How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer by Taryn Souders
- The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
- Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks
- Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami
- Front Desk by Kelly Yang
- The (Fairly) True Tales by Liesl Shurtliff
- Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
- Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan
- The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla
- The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standish
- Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
- Moo by Sharon Creech
- The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner
- The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
- The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life by Kwame Alexander
- Code 7: Cracking the Code for an Epic Life by Bryan R. Johnson
- Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
Social Studies
Social Studies is intended to promote civic competence through the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities. The primary purpose of Social Studies is to help young people to develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. Students will explore these six practices via the overarching theme of New York State History and Government.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Gathering, Interpreting and Using Evidence
- Develop questions about New York State and its history, geography, economics, and government
- Recognize, use, and analyze different forms of evidence to make meaning in social studies
Chronological Reasoning and Causation
- Recognize dynamics of historical continuity and change over periods of time
- Use periods of time, such as decades and centuries to put events in chronological order
Comparison and Contextualization
- Recognize the relationship between geography, economics, and history in social studies
- Describe historical developments in New York State with specific details, including time and place
Geographic Reasoning
- Use location terms and geographic representations, such as maps and photographs to describe where places are in relation to each other
- Identify how environments affect human activities and how human activities affect physical environments
Economics an Economic Systems
- Explain how scarcity necessitates decision making
- Describe the natural resources required to produce goods and services
Civic Participation
- Show respect in issues involving difference and conflict
- Participate in negotiating and compromising in the resolution of differences and conflict
Math
Mathematics is a language we use to identify, describe, and investigate the patterns and challenges of everyday living. It deals with numbers, quantities, shapes, and data, as well as numerical relationships and operations. Mathematics is a way of approaching new challenges through investigating, reasoning, visualizing, and problem solving with the goal of communicating the relationships observed and problems solved to others.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Multiply or divide to solve multi step word problems
- Solve for the unknown using letters to represent the unknown quantity
- Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental math and estimation strategies
- Find all factor pairs for whole numbers in a range from 1-100
- Generate a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule
Numbers and Operations in Base 10
- Recognize moving to the left, on a place value chart, represents ten times what it represents to the right
- Read and write multi-digit whole numbers in written and expanded form
- Compare two multi-digit numbers
- Round multi-digit whole numbers less than one million
- Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers
- Multiply and divide 4 digit x 1 digit numbers with and without remainders
Number and Operations Fractions
- Explain why equivalent fractions are equivalent
- Compare two fractions with different numerators and denominators
- Understand addition and subtraction of fractions
- Decompose a fraction into a sum of fractions with the same denominator in more than one way
- Add and subtract mixed numbers with like denominators
- Solve word problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions
- Multiply a whole number by a fraction
- Express a fraction with denominator 10 as an equal fraction with denominator of 100
- Use decimal notation for fractions with denominators of 10 and 100
- Compare 2 decimals to hundredths
Measurement and Data
- Know relative sizes of measurement in both standard and metric units
- Know the conversion factor and use it to convert measurements from larger to smaller units: kilograms to grams, pounds to ounces, liters to milliliters
- Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, time, liquid volumes, mass and money
- Solve problems involving fractions or decimals in terms of larger to smaller unit
- Represent measurement quantities using diagrams that feature a scale such as number lines.
- Apply area and perimeter formulas for rectangles
- Able to make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions
- Recognize angles and geometric shapes
Science
The goal of science education is to develop an understanding of the inquiry process as it is related to key concepts and principles of the life, physical, and the earth/space sciences. The curriculum addresses the integration of the sciences with technology and society as students learn to connect the importance of scientific knowledge to its application in everyday life.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Energy
- Identify types of energy
- Explain conservation of energy and energy transfer
- Recognize the relationship between energy and forces
- Understand the relationship between energy and natural resources
- Design solutions to engineering problems
Waves: Waves and Information
- Identify how waves are formed and measured
- Understand practical applications for wave technology
- Apply their understanding of waves to design solutions
Structure, Function, and Learning Processing
- Identify the structures of plants and their functions
- Identify the structures of animals and their functions
- Recognize the difference between instinctive and learned behaviors
- Understand the relationship between animal adaptations and survival
Earth’s Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth
- Identify how the Earth was formed
- Understand the relationship between natural disasters and their effect on Earth
- Recognize the relationship between fossil types and rock layers
Recommended STEM
Science:
- Interactive Simulations https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new
- Interactive Simulations http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1390665/
- Interactive Games http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/games/-/science/all/interactive
- Clearinghouse of Websites http://interactivesites.weebly.com/science.html
- Animal Games https://switchzoo.com/
- Videos http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/index.htm
Math:
- Videos https://www.khanacademy.org/
- Math Fact Fluency https://xtramath.org/#/home/index
- Math Fact Fluency https://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards
- Problem Solving Games https://www.mathplayground.com/
Special Education
Special Education Programs
A unique education program means specially designed individualized or group instruction to address student’s academic goals in reading, writing, and math. The Committee on Special Education will determine appropriate program recommendations based on the continuum of services and students’ progress.
Related Services
Related services are supportive services required to assist a student with a disability and include speech-language pathology, hearing services, vision services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling services, and parent counseling and training. A student’s need, identified through an evaluation, will provide the basis for written annual goals and appropriate provision of services.
Resource Room & Consultant Teacher
Resource Room is a special education program where students require specialized supplementary instruction in a small group setting outside the classroom for a portion of the school day. Resource Room is capped at five students per group. Consultant Teacher, another special education program, is for students who require additional specially designed individualized or group instruction within regular education classes.
Integrated Co-Teaching, or “Inclusion”
Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) is a special education program where students required specially designed instruction in an individualized or small group setting for multiple subjects within regular education classes. A general education teacher and a special education teacher jointly provide instruction to a class that includes both students with and students without disabilities to meet the diverse learning needs of all students in a class. ICT is capped at 12 students with a disability.
Special Class
Special Class is a special education program where students with disabilities have been grouped together with similar individual needs and academic goals for the purpose of being provided specially designed instruction in a small-sized class without general education students. Students in a special class are exposed to the general education curriculum and are on a Regents pathway to graduation.
Supplementary Aids and Services
Supplementary aids and services are other supports (i.e., additional personnel, assistive technology, instructional modifications) that are provided in regular education classes, Specials, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings to enable students with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled students to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with the least restrictive environment.
English as a New Language
English as a New Language (ENL) programs provide instruction in English with home language support, emphasizing English language acquisition. Students in ENL programs can come from many different language backgrounds, and English may be the only common language among the students. As per CR Part 154, there are two types of ENL components:
Stand-Alone ENL: Students receive English language development instruction taught by a New York State certified ESOL teacher. Students acquire the English language needed for success in core content areas (English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and/or Mathematics). Stand-Alone ENL is a separate time devoted to English language acquisition and English language development. The required amount of stand-alone ENL instruction depends on the English proficiency level of each student.
Integrated ENL: Students receive core content area (English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and/or Mathematics) and English language development instruction including home language supports and appropriate ELL scaffolds. Integrated ENL along with the subject area are taught by a New York State certified ESOL teacher and a New York State certified Common Branch (K-6) teacher or a teacher that is dually certified. The length of instruction depends upon the student’s proficiency level. The English Language Proficiency levels are: Entering, Emerging, Transitioning, Expanding and Commanding. For a child to exit the ENL program he/she must score an English proficiency level of Commanding on the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) or a level of Expanding and a 3 or 4 on the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment.
Dual Language Program
The Dual Language Program (DL) represents an innovative approach to education whereby students learn all curricular areas in TWO languages. The Patchogue-Medford School District DL Program serves both the English dominant and Spanish dominant student.
Goals of our program:
- Promote educational excellence for all students
- Foster the development of bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate individuals
- Promote multicultural awareness
- Provide high-quality instruction in TWO languages that supports students in demonstrating mastery in all the core subjects
- Provide an academically challenging curriculum
- Encourage all parents to become active partners in their child’s education
Our Bilingual Programs serve youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade at:
- Bay Elementary (K-5 DL)
- Canaan Elementary (K-4 DL)
- Eagle Elementary (K-5 DL)
- Medford Elementary (K-5 DL & 4/5 Newcomer Program-Transitional Bilingual)
Side-by-Side Dual Language (DL) is comprised of English and Spanish dominant children, each receiving instruction both in their Native and New Languages. English instruction is provided by an English-speaking classroom teacher and Spanish instruction by a bilingual teacher.
Newcomer Program (TBE) provides English Language Learners with high-quality instruction in both their native and new language simultaneously while promoting cultural awareness and support until students are ready to be mainstreamed into English-only classes.
Library and Media Center
Information literacy is a skill necessary for today’s world of rapidly increasing information. Students will have to assimilate more information than has appeared in the last 150 years.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to...
Information Literacy
- Continue to search the library computer catalog to identify and locate materials for individual interests and research needs
- Explore print and online reference sources: dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, and thesaurus
- Explore the virtual reference collection
- Continue to explore various literary genres within fiction and nonfiction
- Explore chapter books by noted authors, including state and national award nominees and winners
- Discuss elements of a story: characters, plot, setting, theme
- Continue to use a simple research process, learn how to evaluate a variety of resources, and summarize findings in students’ own words
Technology: Computers
- Introduce the effects of cyber-bullying
- Demonstrate the ability to use basic operation commands (opening and closing programs, save, log-on)
- Prepare documents that include a variety of media
- Determine correct keywords to use when conducting Internet research
- Introduce students to the idea of “fake news” and how to make sure their source is reliable
- Work collaboratively with a team using information technology resources
- Adhere to safety and security policies
- Identify personal information that should not be shared
- Introduce proper input techniques
Physical Education
Physical Education Programs offer students the opportunity to enhance their minds and bodies.
As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Physical Skills
- Students will focus on the acquisition and refinement of sport specific motor skills, fundamental strategic play, decision making, and sportsmanship through a variety of modified activities.
Knowledge
- The goal for each student is to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain personal fitness, perform basic motor and manipulative skills in a variety of activities in a safe and healthy environment.
Physical Activity
- Students will focus on physical fitness, as well as skill acquisition and development through various fitness and sport-related activities
Intrinsic Value
- Each student will participate with the desire to succeed with confidence, and ultimately have fun, in a safe and nurturing environment; while developing the love of living a healthy lifestyle.
Fine Arts
Our art and music programs help our students build perseverance and achievement, teach responsibility, expose students to history and culture, help improve coordination, reading, math and social skills, as well as nurture self-expression and creativity. The arts connect us to the world and open our eyes to new ways of seeing.
Music Appreciation
- Students will learn about history and genre throughout their experiences, building knowledge of key musical terms, analyzing melody and harmony, rhythm and form. Students will learn to read, write and compose music.
Movement
- Reinforcing body awareness with various movement activities.
Improvisation
- Exploring creativity through movement, rhythm and pitch.
Performance
- Giving opportunities for students to learn to sing, as well as use the recorder, ukulele and world drumming, as a foundation to performing within an ensemble.
Ensemble
- Students in grades 4 and 5 have the opportunity to join the band, orchestra and choral ensembles. Students perform in a winter and spring concert. Both the orchestra and band program involve weekly instrumental music lessons throughout the school day on a rotating period basis
The elementary art curriculum focuses on integrating aesthetics, studio art, collaboration, connections to literature and art history in an engaging, creative and imaginative environment with an emphasis on the Elements of Art and Principles of Design.
Art skills/fine motor skills are taught as scaffolded skills based on appropriate development of the young artist and accommodations are made for students to reach their individual goals.
- Exploring Materials: Students will begin to recognize and learn to use positive/negative space, form, value and color in two and three dimensional art. They will also expand their ability to use a variety of art materials and tools, and practice proper maintenance.
- Use of Principles of Design and Elements of Art: Students will identify value and color and create art that will allow students to explore color mixing, tints, and shades. They will work on form and create a 2D/3D dimensional artwork that will support value, principles of design and elements of art.
- Cultural Connections: Students will continue to observe art made by various cultures and master artists and sculptors. Students will create artworks inspired by the artists and their techniques.
- Cross Curriculum Connections: Students will continue to integrate literature, mathematics, history and science into various art lessons.
- Reflections: Students will continue to be able to critique their own creations and continue to constructively critique their classmate’s artwork. They will continue to expand their knowledge of art vocabulary that helps support the creative process, elements of art and principles of design.