Teachers:
Kathy Eckstein
Janet Brickey
Lois Wilken

Weekly Newsletter
4th Grade Schedule
5th Grade Schedule

In the 4-5-classroom, every student has a voice. The 4-5-classroom environment is positive.  Mrs. Brickey, Mrs. Eckstein and Mrs. Henson are respectful of the student's interests and time. At the same time, they strive to instill lifelong organizational skills such as project scheduling, pacing, and prioritization.

The small class size allows for a curriculum that is tailored to each student's specific needs, talents, and optimum learning style. The curriculum has been organized into integrated units intended to provide students with weeks of study immersed in different learning environments. One example, The Ellis Island Simulation, is a popular social studies activity with the students. Students are assigned the persona of an immigrant seeking to enter the United States. In the weeks leading up to the simulation, the students are responsible for creating, researching and providing detail for their character. During this period relevant historical fiction is read during literature time and each student writes a daily journal through the eyes of their respective character. The unit culminates in a simulation in which students arrive in full costume and character in the New World where immigration officials (portrayed by school staff and parents) consider the pleadings and plight of each character and ultimately decide their fate. The depth of the student's identity in their characters guarantees an extremely emotional day that the students remember and discuss for years.

The Math curriculum is designed to introduce many methods for solving each type of problem. The goal is to have each student choose the method that best fits his/her learning style and conceptual framework. Topics and methods are carefully revisited on a recurring basis to provide students with several opportunities to evaluate and solidify their methods.

Literature, Science, and Social Studies topics rotate on a two-year cycle. Literature topics in year one include News Writing, Narrative and Lyric Poetry, Mysterious Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Biography and Autobiography, Adventurous Fiction, and Folktales. Year two includes Mythology, Nature Writing, Journals and Diaries, Historical Fiction, Narrative and Lyric Poetry, Biography and Autobiography, Science Fiction, and Drama.

Science in year one includes: Electricity, Magnetism, Chemistry (Matter and Change), Meteorology, the Scientific Method (Science Fair), Geology, History of the Earth (Paleontology), Soils, Erosion, and Rivers. Year two: Forces and Motion, Human Body, Heat and Heat Transfer, Density, The Invention Process (Invention Fair), Oceanography, Classification of Living Things, Chick Embryology, and Archaeology.

Social Studies in year one includes Geography followed by a simulated world tour that explores each continent through geography, history, arts, government, religion, and language. Year two topics cover History of Ancient Greece, Comparative languages, Immigration and Citizenship, Comparative economics, Comparative governments, and Comparative religions.

In addition, students have Physical Education three times a week, and Music twice a week. Foreign language instruction includes Spanish or Chinese  three times a week, and Latin twice a week.