A student entering fourth grade will experience a rich and productive learning environment. Teachers strive to integrate all disciplines through the curriculum which focuses on Texas. The key points are:
Citizenship
Regions
History
Plants and Animals
Economics
The theme for the entire school year is "Changes Through The Eyes of Texas."
Teachers plan together to meet the needs and expectations of a diverse population. Brain-based instruction is emphasized in regular, ESL, and bilingual classrooms.
Language Arts instruction engages students in authentic and meaningful experiences that build literacy. Support and guidance through daily activities which target specific skill provide avenues to meet reading levels, writing opportunities, and oral language development. The TEKS are correlated through integrated thematic instruction.
Reading: Reading instruction's main purpose is to teach students that reading is a meaningful and pleasurable experience. Shared Reading, Guided Reading, Sustained Silent Reading, and Literature Circles are some of the routines that teachers follow every day to encourage reading comprehension and a lifelong love of books. Opportunities to read a wealth of varied materials motivates students to read for pleasure and to gain knowledge. The Accelerated Reader program, Time For Kids, National Geographic, and a large selection of library books surround our students with reading choices.
Writing: The Writer's Workshop model provides students in a process that involves pre-writing activities, editing, revising, and sharing of a final product. Students learn to identify the purpose and audience for their writing. Using literature as models helps guide and encourage students to communicate their own ideas through writing. Students are encouraged to write letters, research reports, and poetry in addition to mastery of the TAKS writing models. Students may write to inform, persuade, entertain, or for their own personal purpose as in journal writing. The importance of learning to communicate ideas in a well thought-out, structured manner, following grammar rules is integrated throughout all subjects of the curriculum.