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<p class="fontlook">Fourth grade is a transition year in which the students move from the Primary environment to the Intermediate School. The students enjoy an exciting year as they learn to take on a new level of responsibilities. The curriculum presented challenges each student to develop critical thinking and to appreciate intellectual values.

<p class="fontlook">LANGUAGE ARTS
<p class="fontlook">The students strengthen their reading comprehension and develop new reading skills. The Reading Curriculum includes these elements; the selected novels and the Junior Great Books program.  Different purposes for writing are practiced, such as writing for enjoyment and writing to inform. Paragraph structure, correct sentence composition, and the parts of speech are reinforced. Students are engaged in weekly studies of spelling and a vocabulary unit. 
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<p class="fontlook">MATHEMATICS
<p class="fontlook">The mathematics program emphasizes development of skills in operations of whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Number theory is applied in problem solving giving the students the ability to use critical and algebraic thinking.
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<p class="fontlook">SCIENCE
<p class="fontlook">The students will learn what it means to be a scientist and how to think as a scientist.  Fourth graders learn about Bones and Skeletons, Land and Water, and Electric Circuits.  The students learn through hands-on experiential lessons and there is an emphasis on reporting their findings in a proper laboratory format.  Making observation, data collection, data analysis, and drawing conclusions are critical skills emphasized throughout the course.
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<p class="fontlook">SOCIAL STUDIES
<p class="fontlook">In social studies, the students develop map reading skills which are utilized in a study of explorers who traveled to the Americas. Students study regions of the United States through the examination of history, geography, economics, humanities, and citizenship. 
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<p class="fontlook">RELIGION
<p class="fontlook">The religion program focuses on the spiritual and moral development of the child using the Peace Scholar Program, <U>Finding God</U> text and the Sacred Heart Goals. The students will read literature that presents moral dilemmas and will analyze the steps leading to solutions of these problems. 
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<p class="fontlook">STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
<p class="fontlook">The student development curriculum in the Intermediate School encourages the students to learn to make wise choices regarding their personal well-being and to practice healthy behaviors. Topics covered throughout the year are: conflict resolution, empathy, self-esteem, responsibility, building friendships, respect for self and others, effective communication, problem solving skills, community building,  peacemaking skills, body image, bullying prevention, touching safety, puberty, and drug and alcohol prevention.
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<p class="fontlook">PHYSICAL EDUCATION
<p class="fontlook">Physical Education includes instructional swimming and physical fitness activities.  Skill development and rules and regulations are introduced for various team sports including basketball, volleyball, soccer, kickball, softball, and water polo.   Students begin to develop appropriate attitudes concerning winning and losing that will lead to acceptable social and emotional behavior.
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<p class="fontlook">ART
<p class="fontlook">Students will learn the foundations of fine art through hands-on experience in many media; including charcoal drawing, painting, clay sculpture and printmaking. Students will gain knowledge of fundamental art techniques and concepts including line, value, color, proportion, perspective, composition, positive/negative shape and shading. Students will learn how projects fit into the context of art history and emphasis will be placed on studying specific artists, both historical and contemporary.
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<p class="fontlook">MUSIC
<p class="fontlook">Music in fourth grade is a continuation and expansion of the children’s musical knowledge and creativity.  Students will learn the fundamentals of music notation and use their knowledge to read music and compose their own melodies.  They will learn to sing and play a variety of multi-cultural songs throughout the year.
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<p class="fontlook">SPANISH - For Non-Speakers
<p class="fontlook">Students start to write simple paragraphs in Spanish.  They learn to ask questions in Spanish, as well to answer in complete sentences. They continue to develop their oral, written, reading and listening skills in the target language.
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<p class="fontlook">SPANISH - For Speakers
<p class="fontlook">The fourth graders will continue to develop their vocabulary skills.  They are expected to integrate the vocabulary in their conversations. They will increase their awareness and knowledge of irregular verb forms in the present and the past tense.
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<p class="fontlook">Technology
<p class="fontlook">Students are introduced to the use of laptops in the classroom this year. Throughout the year the Fourth grade students continue to explore the programs Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft Student and Inspiration. They continue to learn and demonstrate proper internet and e-mail etiquette, file management, and develop faster and more accurate typing skills.  The students are responsible for the care of their school laptops, saving their school work to the Carrollton network, and developing problem solving skills.
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