Core Content
Literacy
LITERACY PROGRAM
A comprehensive balanced literacy program based on strong research and effective classroom practices is used in the third and fourth grade classrooms. Our literacy program aligns with the Common Core State Standards and serves as an Integrated Model of Literacy where listening, speaking, reading, writing, and language standards are integrated across all subjects. Learning outcomes for this literacy model emphasize depth of knowledge, problem solving and higher order thinking skills. This is a rigorous literacy model designed to create literate students for the 21st century who are fluent readers, critical thinkers, informative writers, effective speakers, and engaged listeners. Students are also expected to use technology as a source of information, research, and a means of communication. The third and fourth grade literacy programs are based on the rigorous literacy learning standards of the Common Core and are designed to meet the needs of all learners.
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Comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a wide range of types and disciplines.
- Cite and evaluate specific evidence when offering an oral, written, or graphic interpretation of a text.
- Communicate effectively through writing by generating, organizing, and making sense of and deeply understanding information in order to produce new ideas and insights.
- Analyze and act on understandings of audiences, purposes, and contexts in creating and comprehending texts.
- Use inquiry and critical thinking to gather, synthesize, and evaluate information from multiple texts, media, and other non-print materials.
- Present their research orally, building on the ideas of others through collaboration and explorations of diverse perspectives.
- Gain control over many conventions of English grammar, usage, and mechanics as well as learn other ways to use language to convey meaning.
A careful selection and balance of high quality literature and informational text are the core instructional materials for the third and fourth grade reading programs. Based on the integrated model of literacy, students are exposed to a variety of grade-appropriate complex literature and informational text where they can ask and answer questions by referring explicitly to a text. Through close reading instruction students learn to uncover both the central message and supporting details, and identify connections between sentences and paragraphs in a text. A strong emphasis is placed on comparing and contrasting two or more works with the same topic, author, or character, describing the traits, motivations, and feelings of characters or how ideas relate to one another. Students are taught to tackle multi-syllabic words, increasing their fluency and ability to read new and more difficult text. Students develop a strong academic vocabulary that they use in their writing and speaking. The literacy program teaches students to ask questions of a speaker to deepen their own understanding of material and build on ideas of their classmates.
WRITING
At West School, students learn cursive writing. Third and fourth grade teachers provide direct instruction and reinforcement to develop and maintain legible handwriting.
A writing program that aligns with the Common Core State Standards is used in both third and fourth grade. Each year, students demonstrate increasing sophistication in all aspects of language use, from vocabulary and syntax to the development and organization of ideas. Students learn to write opinion pieces, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives based on purpose and audience.
Students learn to develop and organize their writing in a manner appropriate to the task and purpose and to write routinely for a range of time-frames and contexts. Students gain expertise at writing narratives where they accurately describe what happened and learn to recognize and select the most relevant information. Reading a variety of non-fiction texts provide models of connecting and sequencing ideas when writing to inform/explain or to express an opinion.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS
Third and fourth grade students develop their speaking and listening skills by making connections across the reading, writing, speaking, and listening domains. Students learn to listen critically to speakers and summarize what they have heard, ask and answer questions with appropriate elaboration, and recognize structures used in making oral presentations. Students learn how a central idea or theme is supported by facts, descriptive details, or observations similar to their own writing and correctly use conventions of standard English when speaking and writing.
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY AND WORD STUDY
In both writing and speech, students are expected to demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Each grade level focuses on specific grammar rules, usage and understanding of academic language and domain-specific vocabulary in order to comprehend grade-level literature and informational texts across the content areas.
Developmental phases of spelling instruction are included at each grade. Third graders learn “within word patterns” and begin “syllables and affixes.” Fourth graders continue “syllables and affixes” throughout the school year. Students are learning vowel patterns, consonant blends, complex consonants, compound words, homophones, syllable patterns, homographs, vowel patterns in accented and unaccented syllables, and base words with common prefixes and suffixes.
“We begin to focus on the meaning connection among words: ‘I wonder what parts obstruct, construct, and destruct have in common?’ This question is a great beginning for a discussion about the meaning of struct. Clearly, this type of word study structures our thinking.” - Shane Templeton and Donald Bear
Math
The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project began in 1983 and is still centered at the University of Chicago. Everyday Mathematics’ goals and objectives meet the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics “Principles and Standards for School Mathematics,” published in 2000, and the current Common Core State Standards. The standards define practices that should permeate instruction and assessment at all grade levels, Kindergarten through Grade 12.
The Standards for Mathematical Practice are:
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Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
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Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
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Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
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Model with mathematics.
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Use appropriate tools strategically.
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Attend to precision.
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Look for and make use of structure.
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Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
In addition, articulation among grade levels and increased opportunities for formal training have provided strong support for teachers. Communication among New Trier Township teachers of mathematics has contributed significantly to our students’ mathematical success. Components of an enrichment program designed by the University of Chicago to coincide with the Everyday Mathematics Program are utilized when appropriate.
Examples of 3rd grade content, strands, skills, & concepts
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Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division, understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division, multiply and divide within 100, solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
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Number and Operations in Base Ten and Fractions: Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic, and develop understanding of fractions as numbers.
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Measurement and Data: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects, represent and interpret data, understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and addition, and recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear and area measures.
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Geometry: Reason with shapes and their attributes.
Examples of 4th grade content, strands, skills, & concepts
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Operations and Algebraic Thinking: Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems, gain familiarity with factors and multiples, and generate and analyze patterns.
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Number and Operations in Base Ten and Fractions: Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers, use place value understanding and properties of operation to perform multi-digit arithmetic, extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering, build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understanding of operations on whole numbers, and understand decimal notation for fractions.
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Measurement and Data: Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit, represent and interpret data, and understand concepts of angles and measure angles.
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Geometry: Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.
Science
Science learning is maximized through hands-on experiences, reading, and research activities. Students are able to manipulate objects and materials, observe, measure, record data, predict outcomes, and make connections. Students are given many opportunities to communicate what they have learned through written and oral presentations. Using the Next Generation Science Standards students begin to develop an understanding of the four disciplinary core ideas:
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Physical sciences
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Life sciences
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Earth and space sciences
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Engineering, technology, and application of science
The following is a link to more detailed information on the Progressions Within the Next Generation Science Standards
Students begin by recognizing patterns and formulating answers to questions about the world around them. At West School, the outdoor garden is an integral resource to the units of study.
3rd Grade Disciplinary Core Ideas
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Forces and Interactions
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Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
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Life Cycles and Traits
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Weather and Climate
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Engineering and Design
4th Grade Disciplinary Core Ideas
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Energy
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Waves and Information
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Structure, Function, and Information Processing
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Processes that Shape the Earth
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Engineering and Design
Social Studies
In January 2016, Illinois adopted Illinois Learning Standards for Social Science, based on the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies. The purpose of these new, more rigorous standards is to better prepare students to be college and career ready. These standards are designed to ensure that students across Illinois focus on a common set of standards and have the opportunity to develop the knowledge, dispositions, and skills necessary for success in college, career, and civic life in the 21st century. The vision supporting this design is to produce students who are civically engaged, socially responsible, culturally aware, and financially literate (National Council for the Social Studies, 2016)
The Illinois Social Science Standards fall into two complementary categories: inquiry skills and disciplinary concepts. Inquiry skills involve questioning, investigating, reasoning, and responsible action while disciplinary concepts make use of social science ideas, principles, and content to pursue answers to the questions generated by student inquiries.
In social studies, disciplinary concepts are divided among the major disciplines of social science: civics, history, economics, and geography. These standards are taught in conjunction with inquiry skills. Standards on themes are aligned to the disciplinary concepts for our K-4 learners.
Third Grade: Communities Near and Far
Unit Examples
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Why is citizenship valuable or attractive?
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What are the goods and services produced in Chicago?
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What important events shaped Chicago’s history?
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Where are the major bodies of water and river systems in Illinois?
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Which ethnic groups have settled in Chicago and why?
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What problems exist in different communities?
Fourth Grade: Our State, Our Nation
Unit Examples
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How is the Illinois and United States government organized?
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How do the human resources affect the goods and services that are produced in a region?
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What can we learn about the characteristics of a region by investigating literature from that region?
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How did changes in the weather and climate affect the physical features of the environment in the regions of the U. S.?
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How is culture expressed differently through music, art, and literature in the geographic regions of the United States?
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Identify problems in each region and discuss alternative solutions and their consequences.