Religion

Students use the We Believe series as a resource in discovering and learning about key areas of the Catholic faith. We strive to instill in our students a love and respect for God, ourselves, and others modeled through our everyday actions.  Students take an active role in school Masses as they serve their church, school, and community.  Our goal is to foster student’s spiritual development and personal relationship with God through prayer and good works.

Third grade – The Rosary:  The Sorrowful, Joyful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries, The Apostles Creed, The Liturgical Year, The Seven Sacraments, the parts of the Mass, the Saints, and basic Scripture

Fourth grade – The Ten Commandments, The Beatitudes, The Liturgical Year, prayer, Scripture, the Saints, and reflective journaling

Mathematics

Students will be learning a variety of mathematical concepts while continually improving their “higher order” thinking skills such as reasoning, conceptualization, modeling, and problem solving.  Through daily application, the use of manipulatives, shared group discussions, and cooperative group learning, the students will gain knowledge of the procedures but more importantly be able to think and reason mathematically.  They will be able to connect the knowledge to real-world problem solving.

Third grade – 4-digit addition & subtraction; place value up to 1000; data & measurement - bar graphs, pie graphs, picture graphs, line plot, frequency & tally tables; geometry - attributes of plane shapes;  multiplication - facts practice, two-digit times one-digit, properties, & missing factors; money; time; division - facts practice; and fractions - adding & subtracting like fractions, equivalent fractions using fraction bars, simplest form using fraction bars, and mixed numbers

Fourth grade – place value up to 100,000; add & subtract multi-digit numbers; multiplication- facts practice; multiply one-digit by up to four-digit numbers & properties; multiply by two-digit numbers using different methods; division- facts practice; divide multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers using long division; factors, multiples, & patterns; prime & composite numbers; fractions- adding/subtracting like fractions, adding/subtracting mixed numbers, multiplying fractions by whole numbers, comparing/ordering fractions, fractions as decimals (tenths & hundredths), comparing decimals to hundredths; measurement- standard and metric units, line plots, units of time; perimeter & area; geometry- classifying shapes and angles, parallel & perpendicular lines, angle measures 

Science

In a rapidly changing world of science and technology, we strive to instill a love of learning and enthusiasm for science in our students.  We believe that students learn by doing and participating.  Students are engaged in an active learning environment when they are able to interact collaboratively with one another on a daily basis. The various content areas of science are taught through a phenomena-based science curriculum using the application of the science and engineering practices. This process is supported by hands-on activities and experiments allowing the student to explore the world around him/her. The science classroom is physically designed for cooperative learning group instruction.  Our students learn how to use a variety of science and technology equipment while utilizing critical problem solving skills.  This type of learning environment accurately mimics real life working environments which involve effective teamwork and communication.

Students use the elevate Science curriculum and its complimentary online components and materials. Our courses of study are aligned with, but typically exceed, the NGSS- Next Generation Science Standards.

Third & Fourth Grades – The skills, content, and application of knowledge increase in rigor as the students make the transition from third to fourth grade. Complex questioning and analysis build from one grade level to another.
 

Language Arts

The goal of the 3 ^rd  and 4 ^th  grade language arts department is to develop confident communicators, writers, and thinkers.  In third grade, students continue to utilize the Shurley Method to sharpen and maintain fundamental skills in grammar, mechanics, and expression which are applied to creative and informational styles of writing including descriptive, narrative, persuasive, and expository/research-based samples. In fourth grade, these skills are further refined using the same method increasing in rigor and complexity of sentence structure.  The exposure and daily application of grammar/writing cohesively mesh to develop an effective, confident community of speakers and writers. Students are richly immersed in vocabulary skills and word attack strategies which are encouraged and developed through the study of various genres of fiction and nonfiction works. Teachers effectively mesh grammar and writing skills with the reading curriculum. Third and fourth grade adopted Fountas and Pinnell Reading curriculum which focuses on small group guided reading instruction. Students are immersed in rich, developmentally appropriate literature.   Fourth grade begins the school year with a strong emphasis on skill-building strategies utilizing fictional short stories and nonfictional informational texts as well as novels. Comprehension, critical thinking strategies, vocabulary building, and listening skills are introduced, developed, and mastered with the students’ progression from third to fourth grade. Students are encouraged to engage in cooperative learning and team-building while collaborating in group discussions and activities.

Third grade: 

READING – comprehension skills, fiction/nonfiction, biographies, realism/fantasy, vocabulary development, making inferences using textual evidence, using and recognizing idioms, sequencing, main ideas and supporting details, cause and effect, using and identifying context clues, author’s purpose, author’s point of view, making predictions, identifying character traits, comparing and contrasting, drawing conclusions, story elements, figurative language, and making text connections.

ENGLISH - editing skills:  capitalization, punctuation, word usage, subject-verb agreement, verb tenses; parts of speech; contractions, homonyms, comparative and superlative adjectives & adverbs; writing:  four types of sentences, compound sentences, development of paragraphs, story writing, letter writing, reflective narrative, informative writing, and persuasive writing.

Fourth grade: 

READING – mysteries, poetry, fiction/nonfiction, critical thinking skills, speaking & listening skills, vocabulary building, sequencing, main idea/supporting details, story elements, making inferences, compare & contrast, theme, figurative language, point of view, author’s purpose, making predictions, character traits, comprehension strategies

ENGLISH – the writing process:  descriptive, narrative, persuasive, and expository writing; grammar instruction using the Shurley method including proofreading marks, capitalization and punctuation, subject and possessive pronouns, possessive nouns, sentences, fragments, run-on sentences, comma splices, compound sentences, compound verbs, conjunctions, interjections, clauses, subordinate conjunctions, natural and inverted word order, helping and linking verbs, direct and indirect objects, regular and irregular verbs and tenses, comparative and superlative adjectives

Social Studies

In social studies, teachers collaboratively plan and teach content-rich units using a variety of materials and resources while encouraging and facilitating cooperative learning groups.  All lessons and activities are planned collectively to meet state goals. 

Third grade – map skills, early explorers, Branches of Government, Economics, and a Louisiana unit of study

Third grade begins the year with map skills and communities. Students then move on to early explorers before transitioning into government and Louisiana culture. Social Studies includes a combination of assessments: quizzes, tests, and projects.

In the fourth quarter, students will design, construct, and publish a Louisiana ABC book as a culminating activity to showcase the students’ knowledge and understanding of the Louisiana unit of study. Students will have the opportunity to experience and actively participate in a “Louisiana Day” in which presenters and activities showcase and celebrate our rich, unique culture and heritage.

Fourth grade – culture, history, climate, and landforms of U.S. regions, mapping skills, problem-solving, U.S. states and capitals, postal abbreviations

Fourth grade students are introduced to the cultural and environmental aspects of our nation’s regions and what unifies Americans as well as what makes us unique.

Students also receive a primer in economics as they study entrepreneurship and marketing strategies.  Students create and advertise for their own businesses.