Fourth & Fifth Grade

Students switch classes for the first time. The 4th/5th Team Teachers each provide instruction for the subject areas they specialize in.
Students are required to use a daily class planner and an expandable folder with tabs for each subject to help them stay organized
We only write in cursive!
Students start writing in the 5 Paragraph Format.
We teach all subjects every day.
Fourth and fifth graders can participate in extracurricular activities; Altar Servers, Safety Patrol, Choir, Scouts, Ski Club, and Drama Club.
Students can join the St. Mary CYO sports teams for volleyball, cross country, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, and baseball.
We also offer vicariate sports teams combined with other local Catholic schools for football, softball, and track.
We go on an overnight camping trip at Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center.
4th graders can now join choir.

A Typical Day in Fourth & Fifth Grade at St. Mary

Morning Homeroom: Students listen to morning announcements and get any important information from their homeroom teacher.
Morning Class Rotations: The 4th and 5th Grade students travel to classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Religion).
Specials: It's time for students to spend time in Spanish, Computers, Gym, Art, Music, or Library.
Lunch Time and Recess
Afternoon Class Rotations: The 4th and 5th Grade students travel to classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Religion)
Afternoon Homeroom Students return to their homerooms for the last 20 minutes of the day to clean-up, pack-up, and fill out academic planners

Students are actively engaged in prayer, service projects, and learning to read and interpret scripture.
Writing the Mass intentions, leading the school in Advent and Lenten prayer services, and touring the church are a few ways to increase our faith.
Students reflect upon the Liturgical Year events. In addition to increasing the students’ knowledge of the Catholic Faith, students are encouraged to develop their personal relationship with God and to share their faith with others.
We attend Mass on Wednesdays.

Reading is taught using a novel based method. The students read novels in class rather than from a textbook. The books cover a variety of genres including fantasy, biographies, realistic fiction, and current events.
“Storyworks” magazine is another reading resource used. It provides plays, poems, fiction, and nonfiction articles. Behind the scene videos of how magazine authors research and write nonfiction articles in the magazine are incorporated into lessons.
Students work on threads of core reading strategies, such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, making inferences, sequencing, synthesizing, and summarizing.

We provide inquiry-based lessons aligned with the NGSS curriculum in which students learn by experiencing and interacting with science.
Students make predictions and observations, collect and analyze data, and share conclusions. Some explorations we do throughout the year include Bottle Biology Ecosystems, Biomes-in-a-Box, salt crystal experiments and a variety of S.T.E.M activities that challenge students to think outside the box.

Students work through the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, , editing, revising, and publishing) to develop a well-written piece.
We focus on writing descriptive, expository, and persuasive paragraphs along with personal narratives and opinion pieces.
Instruction in grammar, vocabulary expansion, and figurative language enhance student’s writing.
The "Everyday Spelling" program targets frequently misspelled words that students use in their daily writing.
Cursive writing is taught and expected on all assignments.

Textbook: Sadlier Math
We Incorporate hands-on activities, problem solving, music, technology, and projects.
Topics we study include place value, whole number operations, fractions, decimals, geometry, data and statistics
We provide a math interventionist for extra support for struggling students. We also look for students who are ready for an additional challenge.

4th and 5th Grade students will learn the following topics in Social Studies:
American economy and government
Students will participate in a Mini-Government with elections
Regions of the United States
States and Capitals
The Five Themes of Geography
Students will apply the themes as they learn about countries from the Western and Eastern Hemisphere.
World economies and types government
Major world religions