Mr. Pollard's
4th Grade Class
CURRICULUM
​MATH
Our math curriculum is the Univeristy Chicago created Everyday Math curriculum. It works on a "spiraling" model, which means we touch on concepts and then revist them later. This means that we do not expect mastery in our first encounter with a topic.
Unit 1: Place Value in Whole Numbers
Unit 2: Multiplication and Geometry
Unit 3: Fractions and Decimals
Unit 4: Multidigit Multiplication
Unit 5: Fraction and Mixed-Number Computation; Measurement
Unit 6: Division; Angles
Unit 7: Multiplication of a Fraction by a Whole Number; Measurement
Unit 8: Fraction Operations; Applications
​READING
My reading curriculum is called Reader's Workshop. This model is designed to foster engagement and a love of reading. Students have a lot of choice in the books they read within the bounds of our unit of study. We teach students strategys for reading as any good, adult reader would do. Our reading and writing curriculums are aligned so that we will study an author or genre as readers, and then piece apart how one writes in that genre or author's style.This year, we are rolling out Reader's Workshop at the fourth grade leve for the first timel. Fifth grade took it on last year, and taught us quite a lot during the process! Washington community at its finest!
Our topics for the year are:
Unit 1: Our Reading Life/Habits
Unit 2: Following Characters into Meaning
Unit 3: Nonfiction Expository
Unit 4: Author Study
Unit 5: Author Study Book Clubs
Unit 6: Narrative Nonfiction
Unit 7: Narrative Nonfiction Book Clubs
Unit 8: Traditional Tales
Unit 9: Traditional Tales Book Clubs
Unit 10: Fantasy
Unit 11: Poetry
​WRITING
Writing follows the Writer's Workshop model for increased student engagement and understanding of the writing process. Students work through the five-step process of Collecting, Drafting, Editing/Revising, Conferencing with a Teacher, and finally Publishing (which will usually involve a presentation). In addition, we read texts in class from the angle of writers and try to take pointers from professional authors. We call these texts "mentor texts." The year's units are as follows:
Unit 1: Personal Narrative
Unit 2: Feature Article (Integrated Science Unit)
Unit 3: Author Study
Unit 4: Personal Essay
Unit 5: Persuasive Essay
Unit 6: Travel Article
Unit 7: Poetry
​SCIENCE
The science curriculum our team follows is the FOSS (Full Option Science System) which is excellent for its inquiry based style of teaching. Students explore various topics with their hands, providing a richer and deeper understanding than standard book learning and rote memorization. The topics are as follows:
Unit 1: Human Body
Unit 2: Earth Materials
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Additional units will include: tree identification, renewable resources, earth materials used in bulidings, biomechanics, sketchup design software, architecture
Curriculum Philosophy
At Washington School, we strive to differentiate our instruction as much as possible. This means that every student will receive the instruction that they need (as challenging or supportive as necessary) to the teacher's best ability. I personally strive to provide this to your children. That being said, we, as teachers, are also encouraged to follow the Common Core State Standards that are being enstated through the PARCC exam. While I will modify work to help students achieve at their level, I am also going to follow these standards closely. These help focus instruction and ensure that students are learning what they need to learn to be ready for the following grade.
To learn more about the Common Core Standards click here: http://www.corestandards.org/
In addition, I also try to make learning in my classroom as authentic as possible. I believe in crossing content across subjects so that students can make connections in the content. I want them to understand that the material is not an isolated thing that they learn in a single subject in school, but rather that math helps us learn science that helps us learn social studies and writing, etc. Along with that, I want to teach real-world applications of content as often as I can.
I will continually update projects that we will do as a class.