4th Grade Expectations
My classroom teaching is based off of Responsive Classroom strategies. Feel free to click this link to learn more about it. We also will be using Second Step, which is a social emotional learning curriculum. I will send out more information about this program as the year progresses. You will have access online to resources and receive parent links with activities to do at home with your child.
At the beginning of the year, we will focus a lot on the following routines:
-Getting to know one another through morning meeting and circle activities
-Keeping desk and classroom organized
-Establishing good homework and learning habits
-Listening and being respectful of others while they are speaking
-Transitioning from one activity or subject to the next
-Learning when to take a break and how to do so successfully
Some students love the challenge of 4th grade. Some students find that there is a bit of a jump moving from 3rd grade to 4th grade academically that can cause anxiety. I am here to help support you and your child in this transition. Of course every child is unique, but here are some things that you might see developmentally from your fourth grader. The following list was taken directly from the book What Every 4th Grade Teacher Needs to Know.
Social Emotional
-individualistic and competitive
-often worried or anxious
-critical of self and others
-often prefer same gender friends
-complain about fairness and hurt feelings
-need lots of encouragement
Physical
-push themselves to physical limits
-complain about aches, pains, and injuries
-may twist hair or bite nails to relieve tension
-can’t sit for too long
-still need recess and snack
Cognitive
-industrious and curious
-beginning to see “bigger world,” including social issues
-still very concrete in their thinking
-can draw information from printed material (they’ve moved from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”)
-easily overwhelmed
Language
-love word play, new vocabulary, and descriptive language
-sometimes revert to baby talk
-enjoy exaggeration and “dirty” jokes
-very verbal--if they think it, they say it!
(Anderson, Mike. What Every 4th Grade Teacher Needs to Know. Turner Falls: Center for Responsive Schools, 2015. Print.)