Curriculum Information

Communication Arts

The Park Hill School District has adopted the curriculum materials of Lucy Calkins. Calkins has done extensive work with elementary students and the Common Core State Standards. As a result, she has developed reading and writing curriculum for students K-5.

In Reading, your child will be reading nearly equal parts fiction and nonfiction and will be strengthening all of the reading skills we are familiar with...summarizing, comparing/contrasting, inferring, etc.

Likewise, in Writing, your child will be composing both fiction and nonfiction pieces while following the writing process.

Lucy Calkins has structured her curricular units so reading and writing overlap. For example, students will be analyzing characters they read in a fiction unit while they practice writing in detail about their own characters.

In class, we will continue to use the workshop format which will continue to ensure your child's learning is individualized based on classroom data collected.  To strengthen the skills we will be working on in class, please refer to the Communication Arts Links on the blog as well as the Home Learning opportunities offered every other week.

Math

This year your child will develop their depth of mathematical understanding by connecting meaning to procedures. Math will be presented in a workshop format. This will consist of a direct, focused teaching lesson based on a specific strand presented to the whole class. It is an opportunity to specifically address skills, strategies, issues and concerns in a students’ mathematical understanding. Students will also be engaged in activities to reinforce learning. A reflection time will be given for students to converse about math processes, struggles and achievements.

Some of the skill lessons will include geometric measurement, properties and representations of shapes, factors and multiples, 2-digit multiplication and division, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, and multiplying fractions.

A major focus will be the understanding and applying of strategies to solve a particular mathematical problem. Students will be introduced to the process of mathematically showing how to solve a complex word problem using more than one step. The goal is to produce mathematically powerful students who can reason, solve, and explain both procedural and application problems. Our ending goal is for students to be able to solve multistep problems independently and be able to communicate verbally and in writing how they solved the problem.

Computational strategies for fluency will also be a focus. Students will have independent daily practice to help understand the relationships of numbers with automaticity and strategies for pattern recognition, fact recall, and mental math.

Science

We will focus on several strands of science this year. Fourth graders will begin the year learning about adaptations and ecosystems. The other areas we’ll cover are matter, electricity, force and motion, the Earth’s crust, technology, and the history and impact of science. Throughout the units we’ll integrate scientific inquiry. Our culminating assessment for scientific inquiry is a science fair project. Students will develop and design an investigation and then they will conduct the investigation. On our fourth grade field trip to Jefferson City, we’ll go to Runge Nature Center to learn more about Missouri’s ecosystems. Fourth grade boys and girls will participate in growth and development. We’ll cover personal hygiene and health in the fall, and a basic introduction to puberty in the spring.

Social Studies

Fourth graders will learn about many aspects of Missouri this year. We’ll begin the year learning about Missouri geography including regions, cities, and rivers. Other areas students will learn about are Missouri history from the first settlers in Missouri to the Civil War & Reconstruction. We’ll end the year learning about Missouri government. We will take our fourth grade field trip to Jefferson City to see our government in action. Economic concepts including taxes will also be covered.