Education is a joint venture involving the combined efforts of students, parents, and educators.  These grade level booklets have been developed as a resource for parents seeking ways to assist their children in their educational journey.  Each grade level booklet was produced through the efforts of many dedicated professionals and is designed to help you understand more fully the educational growth your children will experience in the Huntington Beach City School District. 

 

Given adequate resources and enough time, we could easily achieve the objectives outlined in these booklets with the vast majority of our students.  In the real world of public education, however, limited time and resources require that we work diligently as a team to equip our students with the essential skills, attitudes, and beliefs that they will need to be successful now and in the future. 

 

In addition to assisting parents, these booklets are also designed as a resource for our entire educational community.  Teachers, administrators, support personnel, and community partners will benefit from a careful and thoughtful reading of the books.  If you should have questions, or if there are parts that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, a school administrator, or the district office.

 

We are proud to be partners in your child’s education.  We know that we play an important role in your child’s progress, but we are equally clear that you are his or her most important teachers and models.  Together, we can chart a course of success for each student in the Huntington Beach City School District.

 

 

Superintendent of Schools

 

 

Character Counts	Respect, caring, trustworthiness, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship are the ethical foundations upon which our district is built.  We value each individual who practices, teaches, and serves as the role model for these virtues.
Academic Excellence And Accountability	Academic excellence is the highest priority in our district.  Students will demonstrate academic proficiency by meeting world class standards. To that end, all stakeholders in the organization – board members, employees, students, and parents - are accountable for carrying out their responsibilities toward that end.
High Expectations	We believe that each child is an individual of great worth entitled to develop to his or her full potential.  All children can and will learn, and each deserves equal access to a quality education that is built upon high expectations.
Parent and Community Involvement & Teamwork	Families, staff, and the entire community are full partners, actively working in a collaborative manner for the benefit of each child’s education.  We welcome, seek, and expect active participation and involvement of all stakeholders.
Shared Responsibility	We believe that education is a shared responsibility where the student, the school, the home, and the community work together toward common goals.
Civic Pride and Social Responsibility	It is important that students understand the origins of the nation, principles of the Declaration of Independence, and ideals and hopes of the founding patriots.  They should develop a respect for the fundamental law of the land, together with a concern for the just enforcement and improvement of the law.
Lifelong Learning	We are committed to display, and develop in our students, habits of the mind and heart that will lead to a lifetime love of learning.

 

 

As opposed to the more exuberant and expansive third grader, the typical fourth grader is on the quieter side.  Living more within himself, the child this age is more self-contained and self-sufficient.  As this increasing independence emerges, the distance between the child and parent also increases.  Parents are replaced by the peer group as the key aspect of the child’s world.  Instead of forming close relationships with adults, a child this age prefers to work with them on an activity level.  Team sports become important, as well as scouting and outdoor expeditions.

 

Intellectually, fourth graders have made great strides. They are able to think critically and independently. With their ability to use language as a tool, they are capable of expressing a wide range of emotions. Children this age can exhibit a great deal of understanding and feeling for others.

 

The activity level of nine-year-olds is extremely high. They can work and play hard for prolonged periods of time. Most love to test their strength. Games that provide opportunities to do so usually generate a lot of interest.

 

The typical fourth grader wants and needs to have maturity, independence, and separateness respected. Fourth graders are likely to rebel against authority and may choose pathways of either withdrawal or excessive complaint.  Complaints are common and range from the generic, “This is too hard” to a variety of aches and pains that seem to occur almost weekly.

 

Student at this age will show interest in the community. They are interested in problems of health, weather, seasons, and holidays, as well as in cultures outside of their own. They tell the truth with increasing frequency, which is an indication of their growing moral development.  Children this age see themselves as group members.  They enjoy groups and clubs, and they attempt to test their self-concepts against peer standards.

 

 

The English-Language Arts curriculum provides students, through their study and understanding of literature, with intensive experiences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Students progress at their own individual pace through levels of mastery.  In grade four, the major focus is developing fluency skills and reading to learn.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

READING

 

Word Analysis, Fluency, and Vocabulary Development

·       Apply multiple decoding strategies, including phonics, syllabication, and word parts, to make meaning from increasingly complex reading selections in both silent and oral reading.

·       Apply knowledge of word origins, derivations, synonyms, antonyms and idioms.

·       Use knowledge of root words to determine the meaning of an unknown word.

·       Use the thesaurus and dictionary to determine related words and concepts.

 

Reading Comprehension

·       Identify and use common strategies to gain meaning from a text (comparison, cause and effect, chronological order, fact and opinion, make generalizations).

·       Know and use a variety of reading strategies to understand informational text (skimming, scanning).

·       Confirm predictions in a reading selection by using prior information and ideas presented in text (illustrations, ideas, titles, topic sentences).

·       Evaluate new information and ideas by testing them against known information and ideas.

·       Compare and contrast information on the same topic after reading several passages.

 

Literary Response and Analysis

·       Define and compare terms of literature, including fantasies, fables, myths, and fairy tales.

·       Identify the main events of a plot, including their causes and effects.

·       Determine the causes of a character’s actions through knowledge of the setting, situation, and character’s traits and motivations.

·       Compare and contrast tales from different cultures.

·       Identify and understand the use of figurative language in literary works (simile, metaphor, exaggeration, personification).

·       Evaluate an author’s techniques, purpose and viewpoint to influence readers’ feelings and attitudes.

·       Draw conclusions.

 

WRITING

 

Writing Strategies

·       Write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that elaborate on a central purpose.

·       Consider audience and purpose in writing.

·       Use the stages of the writing process (pre-writing, drafting, revising, proof reading and editing).

·       Create paragraphs that 1) support a central idea with a topic sentence, 2) include supporting sentences with simple facts, details, and explanations, 3) include a concluding statement that summarizes the points, 4) are indented properly.

·       Quote or paraphrase information sources, citing references.

·       Use electronic word processing features such as word searches, thesaurus, spell check, and outlining packages to create simple documents.

·       Improve rough drafts by adding, deleting, combining, and rearranging text.

 

Writing Applications

·       Write texts that describe and explain objects, events, and experiences that are familiar to them, demonstrating command of standard English.

·       Collect information from observation and research and produce a report that accurately reflects the data collected in a third person report.

·       Write narratives that relate ideas, observations, or memories using strategies that provide insight into why the event was memorable.

·       Write responses to literature that demonstrates an understanding of the literary work and support judgments through references to the text.

·       Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection plus the most significant details.

·       Be assessed for proficiency in the Practical/Informative domain of writing, while continuing to write in the three remaining areas; Imaginative/Narrative, Sensory/Descriptive, and Analytical/Expository.

 

LISTENING AND SPEAKING STRATEGIES

 

·       Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions in oral settings.

·       Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence in spoken messages and formal presentations.

·       Give precise directions and instructions.

·       Address a specific problem in a group setting by choosing the best course of action after considering alternative solutions.

·       Present effective introductions and conclusions that guide the listener’s understanding.

·       Use details, examples, anecdotes or experiences to clarify information.

·       Use appropriate volume, pitch, phrasing, pace and gestures to communicate meaning.

·       Evaluate the role of the media in focusing attention, and in forming an opinion.

·       Make narrative and  informational presentations that effectively provide insight and information to the listener.

·       Deliver oral summaries of articles and books.

·       Recite brief poems, soliloquies, or dramatic dialogues using clear diction, tempo, volume, and phrasing.

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS – ORAL AND WRITTEN

 

·       Use simple and compound sentences in writing and speaking.

·       Combine short, related sentences with appropriate phrases.

·       Identify and use regular and irregular verbs, adverbs, prepositions in writing and speaking.

·       Use commas in a series, dates, locations, and addresses; apostrophes in possessives and contractions; and parentheses.

·       Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to identify titles.

·       Capitalizes names of magazines, newspapers, works of art, musical compositions, names of organizations and the first word in a quotation.

·       Use conventional spelling, including roots, inflections, suffixes and prefixes.

·       Use legible cursive handwriting with appropriate form, spacing, slant, connecting strokes, and size.

·       Use legible manuscript appropriately.

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Listening to your child read.

·       Listening and talking with your child.

·       Encouraging your child to write thank you notes and other letters.

·       Taking family outings and discussing the experiences.

·       Taking your child to the library.

·       Encouraging and providing a variety of reading materials.

·       Letting your child see you read.

·       Discussing books being read at school.

·       Keeping in close contact with your child’s teacher and school.

·       Reviewing your child’s written work.

·       Taking your child to local drama productions, museums, and musical productions.

·       Reading to your child regularly.

·       Attending parent conferences and school activities.

·       Limiting television and video games.

 

 

 

By the end of fourth grade, students understand large numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers.  They describe and compare simple fractions and decimals.  They understand the properties of and the relationships between plane geometric figures.  They collect, represent and analyze data to answer questions.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

NUMBER SENSE

 

·       Understand place value and rounding of whole numbers and decimals to two decimal places, how these relate to simple fractions, and use concepts of negative numbers.

·       Add and subtract simple decimals.

·       Solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers.

·       Know how to factor small whole numbers.

·       Solve mathematical calculations using calculators.

·       Solve problems related to time and money.

 

ALGEBRA AND FUNCTIONS

 

·       Use and interpret variables, mathematical symbols and properties to write and simplify expressions and sentences.

·       Know how to manipulate equations.

 

MEASUREMENT AND GEOMETRY

 

·       Understand perimeter and area.

·       Use two-dimensional coordinate grids to represent points and graph lines and simple figures.

·       Demonstrate understanding of plane and solid geometric objects and use this knowledge to show relationships and solve problems.

·       Demonstrate the use a ruler, protractor and compass.

 

STATISTICS, DATA ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY

 

·       Organize, represent, and interpret numerical and categorical data, and clearly communicate their findings.

·       Make predictions for simple probability situations.

 

MATHEMATICAL REASONING

 

·       Make decisions about how to approach problems by identifying relationships, discriminating relevant from irrelevant information, and by observing patterns.

·       Use a variety of strategies, skills, and concepts to find solutions.  This would include estimation, and using words, numbers, symbols, charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams to explain mathematical reasoning.

·       Move beyond a particular problem by generalizing to other situations.

·       Calculate mathematical solutions using mental math.

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Reviewing classroom work and discussing strategies and solutions to problems.

·       Practicing basic math facts.

·       Encouraging your child to play games involving math.

·       Taking your child shopping, discussing prices, and estimating costs.

·       Providing opportunities to use measurement (i.e. cooking, sewing, carpentry, and telling time).

·       Exploring with your child the math in everyday life (i.e. checkbooks, product contents, speed limits, budgeting, and price comparisons).

·       Providing opportunities for your child to manage money.

 

 

 

In fourth grade, students learn the story of California, in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many waves of immigration, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth.  Students examine the state in the context of the rest of the nation.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

·       Demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features.

 

·       Describe major effects that the transition from Pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods had on the people of California.

 

·       Explain the economic, social, and political life of California from the establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican-American War, the Gold Rush and California Statehood.

 

·       Explain how California became an industrial power.

 

·       Understand the structure, functions, and powers of the United States local, state, and federal governments as described in the U.S. Constitution.

 

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

In addition to the standards for grades 1-5, students demonstrate the following

 intellectual, reasoning, reflection and research skills.

 

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

·       Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying both in a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret timelines.

·       Students apply terms related to time correctly, including past, present, future, decade, century, and generation.

·       Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same.

·       Use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through the map’s legend, scale, and symbolic representations.

·       Judge the significance of the relative location of a place and analyze how those relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time.

Research, Evidence and Point of View

·       Students differentiate between primary and secondary sources.

·       Students pose relevant questions about events encountered in historical documents, eyewitness accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, maps, art and architecture.

·       Students distinguish fact from fiction by comparing documentary sources on historical figures and events with fictionalized characters and events.

 

Historical Interpretation

·       Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain their historical contexts.

·       Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying.

·       Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.

·       Students conduct benefit/cost analyses of historical and current events.

 

CHARACTER EDUCATION

 

The district’s character education program seeks to instill in students habits of the heart, mind and will that contribute the development of a “person of character.”  Six core values have been adopted to guide and systematically address ethics in the instructional program, as well as in the school community.

·       Trustworthiness

·       Respect

·       Responsibility

·       Justice and Fairness

·       Caring

·       Citizenship

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Taking family trips to historical or cultural locations (missions, museums)

·       Using maps to plan vacations or family outings.

·       Setting a positive example of character and ethical behavior.

·       Discussing the implications of positive and negative choices of public figures.

·       Developing an awareness of media influences on society.

 

 

The district science program encourages children through inquiry to comprehend the nature of the physical universe (the interdependence and the connection) in a laboratory setting.  Major science themes (Energy, Evolution, Patterns of Change, Scale and Structure, Stability, and Systems and Interactions) and the scientific thinking processes (observing, communicating, comparing, ordering, categorizing, relating, inferring, and applying) are crucial to the sciences.

 

The fourth grade student will demonstrate an understanding that…

 

EARTH SCIENCE

The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them.

·       Differentiate among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks by their properties and methods of formation (the rock cycle).

·       Identify common rock-forming minerals (including quartz, calcite, feldspar, mica, and hornblende) and ore minerals using a table of diagnostic properties.

 

Waves, wind, water and ice shape and reshape the Earth’s land surface.

·       Some changes in the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.

·       Natural processes, including freezing/thawing and growth of roots, cause rocks to break down into smaller pieces.

·       Moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places (weathering, transport and disposition).

 

 

 

LIFE SCIENCE

All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow.

·       Plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most food chains.

·       Producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs, and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.

·       Decomposers, including many fungi, insects, and microorganisms, recycle matter from dead plants and animals.

 

Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival.

·       Ecosystems can be characterized in terms of their living and nonliving components.

·       For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

·       Many plants depend on animals for pollination and seed dispersal while animals depend on plants for food and shelter.

·       Most microorganisms do not cause disease and many are beneficial.  

 

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Electricity and magnetism are related effects that have many useful applications in everyday life.

·       Design and build simple series and parallel circuits using components such as wires, batteries, and bulbs.

·       Build a simple compass and use it to detect magnetic effects, including Earth’s magnetic field.

·       Electric currents produce magnetic fields; build a simple electromagnet.

·       The role of electromagnets in the construction of electric motors, electric generators, and simple devices such as doorbells and earphones.

·       Electrically charged objects attract or repel each other.

·       Magnets have two poles, labeled north and south, and like poles repel each other while unlike poles attract each other.

·       Electrical energy can be converted to heat, light and motion.

 

INVESTIGATION AND EXPERIMENTATION

Through inquiry, the students develop questions and perform investigations.  

·       Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation), and know that scientists’ explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.

·       Measure and estimate weight, length, or volume of objects.

·       Formulate predictions and justify predictions based on cause and effect relationships.

·       Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between results and predictions.

·       Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.

·       Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Visiting science-oriented locations such as aquariums, arboretums, and observatories.

·       Using the scientific method to investigate phenomena and answer children’s questions about the world around them.

·       Discussing science programs on TV, video, or on the Internet.

 

 

The physical education program provides students with opportunities to achieve motor skills and movement knowledge, develop a positive self-image and recognize personal achievement, and develop social skills of respect and acceptance of others.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

·       learn how to practice to achieve a skill and develop a practice plan.

·       demonstrate the correct technique for throwing, catching, striking, kicking, dribbling and trapping a ball.

·       teach a two player game.

·       describe how forces, such as your muscles, are used to correctly throw, kick, strike, or catch an object.

·       design a one-day exercise program for improving muscle strength and muscle endurance.

·       assess personal fitness and compare scores to a health-related standard.

·       adjust to success and failure through movement experiences.

·       create a movement which displays their interpretation of literature, fine art, music, and/or sports.

·       respect the rights of others and their property.

·       Value multicultural, local sport, and recreational opportunities in California.

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Encouraging extra-curricular involvement in organized sports (team or individual).

·       Limiting your child’s use of video games, TV, and computers to promote opportunities for physical activity.

·       Taking family walks or hikes.

 

 

The health curriculum provides students with opportunities to explore concepts in depth, analyze and solve real-life problems, and work cooperatively on tasks that develop and enhance their conceptual understanding.  It also provides students with the knowledge and skills that can lead to lifelong positive attitudes related to health.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

·       accept personal responsibility.

·       demonstrate respect for, and promotion of, the health of others.

·       understand the processes of growth and development.

·       use health-related information, products, and services.

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Involving your child in planning nutritious meals and snacks.

·       Modeling and encouraging healthy habits in hygiene, rest, activity, and eating.

 

 

Dance, music, drama, and visual arts are a means to develop personal dimensions within the learning process; thus, they provide the necessary curriculum balance in developing the whole person.  They are integrated throughout the curriculum, though at times become subject-centered fine arts classes.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

DANCE

·       Communicate an understanding of dance through creative expression, aesthetic perception and valuing, and dance theater heritage.   Examples:

-        Create a simple repeatable dance

-        Engage in rhythmic movement

-        Experience the creative process of dance

-        Attend or participate in a school production

 

MUSIC

·       Express and communicate an understanding of music by creative expression, aesthetic perception, and valuing.  Examples:

-        Sing songs with limited range

-        Experience playing with percussion instruments

-        Become aware of differences in pitch

-        Distinguish between singing and speaking

-        Experience music of various cultures

 

DRAMA

·       Communicate an understanding of drama through creative expression, aesthetic perception and valuing, and drama theater heritage.

-        Begin to participate in story dramatization

-        Move as an object or storybook animal

-        Reproduce sounds individually or with others (rain, wind, thunder, wind, etc.)

-        Begin to acquire a sense of drama through storytelling and improvisation

 

VISUAL ARTS

·       Express and communicate an understanding of visual arts by creative expression and aesthetic perception and valuing.

-        maintain a portfolio with art work produced throughout the year

-        create a number of products that represent an initial understanding of the design elements: line and color

-        be introduced to drawing, painting, and constructing techniques using pens, tempera, crayon, and watercolor

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Visiting art museums, musical concerts, theatrical performances, and other exhibitions.

·       Encouraging your child’s participation in organized music, dance, theater, or art classes.

 

 

Our vision is to prepare students for a changing future through the expanding use of technology that serves as a catalyst for learning.  To this end, students will regularly use computers and other educational technologies.  Through a district network, teachers have access to electronic mail and both teachers and students have access to selected educational sites on the Internet.  In fourth grade, the major focus is information management.

 

The fourth grade student will…

 

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

·       perform basic trouble shooting on equipment

·       merge documents with assistance

·       type approximately 20 words per minute

 

TECHNOLOGY ETIQUETTE

·       follow district policies

·       obey copyright laws

·       demonstrate proper care of equipment

 

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS THAT IMPROVE LEARNING

·       use electronic reference media

·       use the Internet as a source for a research project

·       use curriculum software appropriately

 

As a parent, you can help by:

·       Working with your child on keyboarding skills.

·       Guiding your child toward appropriate use of the Internet.

·       Monitoring student access to the Internet.