Third Grade: Third grade is an unofficial graduation year. The lessons and methods of the students younger years are left behind as students are expected to be more independent in managing their workload. Learning topics cease to be general overviews and basic building block and are now more complete units with depth and details the students are expected to dive in to.
Math: Topics will cover multiplication tables, long division, mixed operations, estimating and rounding, patterns, graphs and data, probability and statistics, fractions and decimals, area and perimeter.
Science: This year students will focus on scientific investigation: lab tools, how to take measurements and display data. They will perform simple experiments and record their findings. Topics of learning will include: showing how compounds can interact with each other and change; inherited traits, biodiversity and natural selection; the universe: types of stars, comets, meteors, galaxies; nature of light and sound, matter transformations, energy/force/motion; how the earth was shaped and formed by weather and climate. Students will learn how to design simple machines.
Computer Science: Students will be exposed to algorithms with multiple coding concepts. Other lessons include: troubleshooting solutions for basic hardware/software problems, computers in everyday life, using technology resources to problem solve, and learning to navigate and manipulate word documents.
History/Social Science: Students cover world events ranging from the dawn of man through to the middle ages. This tour through world history will focus heavily on important people, dates, and ideas that shaped the world.
Human Studies: Topics will include: “What makes a community?”, How to be a good national citizen, How and when to ethically challenge authority, what are the major practices and traditions of the major religions. Reasoning and argumentation, the three levels and five stages of moral reasoning.
English: Students will read short stories and answer reading comprehension questions in complete paragraphs. Assignments will include weekly spelling and vocabulary tests and quarterly book reports. Students will be taught parts of a paragraph. Students will keep a journal and answer daily writing prompts
Foreign Languages: In daily half an hour sessions of Spanish, students continue to expand their vocabulary and basic grammar. Heavy emphasis on verbs and tenses.
Music: Students will perform pieces from memory and/or simple notation. They will learn to perform pieces with extended patterns. They will create short musical phrase and patterns and notate work using basic structure. They will apply and demonstrate use of basic dynamic, tempo, meter, and articulation using appropriate music vocabulary. They will identify and aurally recognize simple melodic rhythmic, and harmonic patterns as well as analyze simple notional elements and form. They will identify personal musical preferences, making and articulating informed judgments about musical performances and participation. They will be able to articulate musical significance within and individual experience.
Art: Students will learn to compare and contrast works of art across different mediums. They will create works of art based on nature and everyday experiences with an emphasis on value change. They will learn to understand and use in their work the following concepts: foreground, middle ground, background, tints and shades, value, rhythm, and movement. They will keep a personal sketchbook and learn to write about art. They will begin to work with clay and create their own sculptures. They will identify important artist from their own community and discuss local and regional art traditions.
Fourth Grade: Fourth grade is a transition year. Students find themselves going from being the top of the heap in the k-3 to yet again being paired with the older kids. Identities have begun to harden and students are beginning to discover their true interests and personalities. School work becomes less about reciting accepted facts and more about formulating individual responses to the questions posed.
Math: Topics covered: adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, multiplying fractions, coordinates planes, radius, diameter, circumference, variable expressions, angles, symmetry, adding and subtracting decimals.
Science: Students in this year will learn how to design and conduct experiments. Topics of study include: atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, simple and complex organisms, biological structures, size and scope of universe, day, years, light years, characteristics of the planets, energy transformations, sound, light, heat, electricity, transfer of energy from one object to another, energy conversion, the characteristics of waves, topographical maps, and natural resources.
Computer Science: Students will learn how to read and modify JavaScript, use and manipulate spreadsheets, the names and purposes of internal computer components, how to use the internet for research purposes, and how to collaborate of projects digitally.
History/Social Science: Students cover world events ranging from the Renaissance through to modern times. This tour through world history will focus heavily on important people, dates, and ideas that shaped the world.
Human Studies: Topics include: the way people serve their community, establishing an individual moral code, intro to the Abrahamic religions. “What is philosophy?”, “What is Psychology?”.
English: Students will learn to recognize and deconstruct parts of a story. Classes will conduct in-class readings ranging from poetry to short stories to selected novels with a heavy emphasis on reading comprehension and textual meaning. Assignments include weekly spelling and vocabulary tests, monthly book reports, and journals with daily writing prompts.
Foreign Languages: In daily half an hour sessions of Spanish, students continue to expand their vocabulary and grammar skills. This year’s emphasis being placed on irregular verbs and complex sentences. Students will make presentations and ask and answer questions in Spanish.
Music: Students will perform extended melodies from the treble staff using traditional notation, accurate production methods, and a variety of musical patterns. They will create improvised simple phrases and notate simple selections. They will be asked to apply and demonstrate advanced dynamics, tempo, meter, and articulation. They will also be asked to identify aural and visual notations of basic musical forms. They will be able to explain their personal musical preferences, comprehend and respect the musical values of others, and use cultural context as a method of evaluation.
Art: Students will learn how to use proportions, positive and negative space, contrast and emphasis, complimentary colors, shading, and additive and subtractive practices in their art. Students will learn about representational, abstract, and non-representational artwork. They will use simple fibers to create weavings and they will learn to evaluate how an individual’s personal context can affect how they interpret a piece of art.