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Math and Science Pacing Guide: 4th Grade First Nine Weeks: Julia Lombardo
Math and Science Pacing Guide: 4th Grade First Nine Weeks: Julia Lombardo
Math and Science Pacing Guide: 4th Grade First Nine Weeks: Julia Lombardo
Math: When organizing the standards for math during the first quarter,
I started with the standards that laid the foundation for all the other
math standards and was considered more basic math. Without the
children having a basic understanding of algebraic operations and
place value, then the students will have a harder time when learning
the other standards that require the prior learning of these first
standards. Not only will it make it harder on the teacher when teaching
the rest of the standards, but it will also be hard for the students, since
they don’t have the foundational skills needed. When sequencing these
standards, I started with place value recognition before the children
learned about subtraction, addition, multiplication and division of
multi-digit numbers , as I felt this would be beneficial to the children.
In order for children to be able to add, subtract, multiply or divide
multi-digit numbers, they will first need to know how to arrange the
numbers correctly according to the place value of the digits. This will
be a new concept for the children, since they will be working on multi-
digits numbers up to the thousands place. The standards that follow
these standards were intentionally placed in the sequence they were
because each preceding standard builds upon the previous one. There
is a natural progression of skills within the layout of the standards,
which then comes to an end with the standard 4. OA.3, which allows
the children to apply all the skills they learned previously together, in
order to show what they learned. For example, the students start off
with learning about place value and how it applies to numbers and
then can use that knowledge to help them when writing numbers in
expanded and word form. Knowing the place value of a number will
make it easier to break a number into expanded form and also when
writing the number since you have to know the values of each digit.
Once the students have mastered that, I then have them comparing
numbers, which is where their knowledge of place value comes in
again. After that, the next standard deals with rounding of numbers up
to one million. Those math standards gradually build upon each other
and require students to use their prior learnings to help them with the
new standard. After that, it goes into subtraction and addition of multi-
digit numbers, which then leads them to the next standard which
involves multiplication and division of multi-digit numbers. Once they
understand the basics of subtraction and addition, it will be easier to
do multiplication and division. Then, once they have mastered that,
they can start working with multiplication and division of larger
numbers, which will then lead them into solving mule-step word
problems. This again, shows a good progression of skills and standards
that progressively get harder and build upon one another.
Pacing: When working on the pacing of both the science and math
standards, I had a little difficulty with this, since this is an area that I do
not have much prior knowledge on. To help me with this, I decided to
reference other pacing guides to see how long they decided it would
take to teach each standard. Before I referenced this website, I had
estimated how long I thought it would take to teach each standard and
then crossed checked it against the websites suggestion. I had to also
look into how in depth each standard was and just how much content it
covered, to come up with a reasonable pacing schedule. Also, I took
into consideration that during these first nine weeks, labor day will
occur during the third week of school and will take away one day from
teaching content. Although it is not a significant loss of time, I would
still make sure to review what was taught the day before the day off for
labor day. This way, I can ensure that the students still are able to
recall what they learned previously, before expanding on what they
learned before. Also, after each weekend, I would make sure to do a
quick review of what was learned during the prior week, in order to
activate their prior knowledge, so the students learning can be
enhanced. Also when sequencing the standards, I referenced Columbus
City Schools curriculum map to get a general idea of how they arranged
their standards. I then laid out the standards according to that and
reworked them a bit and tweaked some of the arrangements, to better
suit how I believed they should be arranged. I really thought critically
about each nine weeks and what I thought could be appropriately
covered in that time limit. I also had to think about what standards
built off of each other and which ones were not as crucial to cover for
the test.
4.OA.3 Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and
Week #7 having whole-number answers using the four operations, including
problems in which remainders must be interpreted. Represent these
problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown
quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental
computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
Science Standard(s): 4. LS.2- Fossils can be compared to one another
and to present-day organisms according to their similarities and
differences.
Math Standard(s): 4.OA.3 Solve multistep word problems posed with
whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four
operations, including problems in which remainders must be
Week #8 interpreted. Represent these problems using equations with a letter
standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of
answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including
rounding.
Science Standard(s): 4. LS.2-Fossils can be compared to one another
and to present-day organisms according to their similarities and
differences.
Week #9 Performance Assessment: Describe how your assessment aligns with
This performance
assessment must make
both the math and science standards introduced during the nine
the students actively weeks.
use the skills the
learned during they
nine weeks. You may Explanation of assessment: For my first quarter assessment, I
on create one
assessment and that
wanted to focus directly on the life science standard that dealt strictly
one assessment must with fossils (4. LS.2). The math standard that is also included in this
integrate at least one
(or more) of BOTH the
performance assessment is 4. NBT. 2 For students to complete this
math and science skills particular assessment, they will be given a worksheet that contains two
practiced during the
nine weeks.
different fossils and some information regarding those fossils. For the
science portion of the standard, the children will have to compare the
two fossils given to one another. They can use the picture and
information given to determine the similarities and differences
between the two fossils. Once they have done that, the students will
have to identify an animal that they think this fossil resembles. For
example, the children might say the trilobite resembles the modern day
horseshoe crab. After they have identified an animal similar to the
fossil, they will need to compare one of the fossils to the modern day
version of it. If needed, the children can pull up a picture of the modern
day animal to help them with this. In addition to science, the children
will also be asked to work with some math. To do this, the children will
have to take the infromation about each fossil and write some of the
numbers in standard, expanded, or word form. The numbers given on
the worksheet will be written in a variety of forms, to ensure the
students get practice with all the ways to write a number. This
performance task will provide the students with an opportunity to
show their knowledge on both math and science standards and has a
real world connection, since fossils do relate to one another and can be
found outside. Children would be given various pictures of each and if
possible would be provided with real examples.
Below average: For the below average learners, I would have some of
the numbers on the chart already filled in for the child, in order to help
them. I would also provide the student with three options of animals
that the fossil resembles and they would have to use their critical
thinking skills to determine which one most closely resembles the
fossil. I would provide the student with a premade Venn diagram for
the both of the comparison activities. I would have them prelabeled
and would include one or two comparisons in the chart to help start
the student in comparing the fossils.
Above average: For above average learners, I would have the students
work with three fossils, instead of just two. I would try to pick some
more complex fossils for these children and give them larger numbers
to work with. They would still do the Venn diagram that compares the
fossils given, but they would need to compare all three together.
Criteria:
Criteria Checklist:
Section: Complete (check ) Possible points
Students used a Venn 10 points
diagram to thoroughly
compare and contrast the
two fossils given ( at least 2
details in each part)
Students identified what 5 points
animal each of the fossils
look liked ( logical guess)
Students compared their 10 points
fossil to its modern day
counterpart
Students correctly wrote 15 points
each number in standard,
word, and expanded form
( got 2 out of the three right
for each number)
Total points: 40 points
How old
Number of
Species
Discovered in
Largest one
Extinction
How old
Number of
Species
Size of females
Largest one
Extinction
Part 2: Now that you have learned more about each of the fossils, create a Venn
diagram to compare and contrast the two fossils.
Part 3: Determine what type of modern day animal the fossil looks like and write
your answer on the lines above. Then choose one of the fossils and its match to
compare and contrast. Make sure to look for similarities and differences between
the two. If necessary, you can look up a picture of the modern day animal.
Math: For this second nine weeks, I really had to think critically about
the sequencing of the math standards. Like I mentioned above, I had
referenced another curriculum map and looked at how they had
arranged the standards, to help me with this. Although I had agreed
with some of the placements, I did not fully agree with all of them,
Rationale which is why I rearranged some around to better suit my beliefs. To
This should address at
minimum: start this second nine weeks, I first started by focusing on 4. MD. 1,
which focuses on metric measurements and how to convert from
-Why you selected the
specific sequences of larger to smaller units. Due to how complex fractious are, I knew that
standards to be fitting in the measurement and data standards would be hard, so
covered during this
nine weeks? putting them during the second nine weeks made the most sense to
me. I thought that this would be important to cover first since in this
-How you determined
how long it would take nine weeks, the students will be learning about matter. In order to
to cover all the work with matter and the law of conservation of matter they will need
academic standards
for the year? to have some basic understanding on the metric measurements. In
addition, the students will need to have a basic understanding of
metric measurements since the next math standard covered deals with
real world problems that involve metric measurements, along with
money and time. For this second math standard, 4. MD.2, the students
will also need to be able to know how to solve problems by adding,
subtracting or multiply whole numbers, which is a foundational skill
that was covered in the first nine weeks. The next set of standards that
are covered, 4. OA. 5 and 4. MD. 4, do not directly correlate to the
previous standards or buildup on the other ones, but I did feel that
these standards made the most sense in this second nine weeks and
that they should be placed by each other. The first standard, 4. OA. 5
deals with being able to generate a number or shape pattern based on
a certain rule. I felt that if a student could do that, then they would have
an easier time when they had to display and interpreted data in graphs
to solve problems using operations and numbers. In order for children
to be able to interpreted data, it might be helpful for them to know how
to recognize certain patterns, such as when sales are the lowest for a
given year. Also knowing about the different patterns that exist with
data, will make it easier to display the data on a chart and help the
children solve problems. In order for the students to solve these
problems, they will also need to have some prior understanding on
how to solve problems involving any of the four operations. After those
two standards, I then move onto focusing on 4. OA. 4 and 4. NBT. 6. I
felt that these two standards were also linked together and follow the
progression of skills in this second nine weeks. The first standard
focuses on finding factors pairs for whole numbers and I figured that
teaching children how to find those factor pairs would be beneficial to
them when learning about whole number quotients and remainders.
Knowing factor pairs will be helpful to the standard 4. NBT since this
standard deals with division. Being able to identify the factors of a
certain number can make it easier on students when looking for
numbers that can go into another number. It will make it easier on
them and also give them an advantage. In addition, in order to be
successful with standard 4. NBR. 6, students need to have a good
understanding on place value and operations, which is covered in the
first nine weeks. After the students learn about whole number
quotients and remainders, the next standard I covered is 4. OA.3. This
particular standard focuses primarily on solving multistep word
problems that involve using the four operations and remainders. From
the standard covered previously to this one, the students will have a
good grasp on remainders which will be beneficial to them. Also, they
will need to know how to round and use the four operations to help
them solve these problems, which are two skills taught in the first nine
weeks. Once those standards are covered, I then decided to start to
introduce the concept of fractions to the students. During weeks 16
and 17, I began to cover two fraction standards. I thought that
introducing children to fractions before winter break would be
beneficial to them so that they could leave with some prior knowledge
on fractions and know what to expect when they return from break.
Since fractions are a big part of the 4th grade content and are heavily
prevalent, I wanted to make sure to give them the opportunity to
explore with fractions before we really start to get into them the third
nine weeks. I also want to give them some foundational knowledge so
that when they do start to really get in depth with fractions, they will
have some prior knowledge and understanding. Even if the students
are unable to recall much about what they learned about fractions
before they went on break, reviewing the concepts with them will help
activate their prior knowledge. I also felt that due to the complexity of
fractions and how time consuming they are that trying to fit all the
fraction standards into the third nine weeks would be hectic and
overwhelming to the children, which is why I decided to do this. I
thought that focusing on only two fraction standards would be good to
help with pacing and to show them what is coming next. I didn’t want
to focus on much more because I know that the students will lose a
significant amount of knowledge during break and with just how
important and complex fractions are, covering too much would not be
helpful. Previewing the content, rather than going too in depth was the
main goal.
Science: For the second nine weeks, I wanted to focus on the science
standards 4. PS. 1 and 4. PS.2. Not only do these standards both deal
with physical science, but they also deal with similar concepts in
regards to conservation of mass and energy. For the first science
standard covered, 4. PS. 1, measurement is major component of matter.
Due to that, I decided to focus on metric measurement during the same
time as I am addressing this science standard. By doing so, the children
will have a better understanding on dealing with the measurements
involved in this matter standard and will make it easier for the
students to grasp . It also starts their investigation into physical
sciences, as life science was covered fully in the first nine weeks. This
transition between sciences made the most sense to me and went
along nicely with some of the math standards for this quarter. The
science standards also related nicely to each other and built upon the
same principle of conservation which would make it easier for the
students to understand the conservation of energy, since they just
learned about the conservation of matter. Both deal with the same
principle of conservation, although one focuses directly on matter and
the other on energy. Once the students have fully covered matter,
which will take a bit more time, since it does deal with quite a bit of
information, the children will then jump into the second physical
science. When I decided to cover this standard, I thought that it would
be best to split this standard between two quarters, since it is complex
and deals with a lot of information. I figured that breaking it down into
heat and electric would make the most sense to me, and covering heat
first also made sense, since the math standards covered in the third
nine weeks related better to electric. Also, due to winter break coming
up after this quarter, I didn’t want to get into too much information
about heat and electric. Deciding to focus my time on just heat made
sense to me because I could fully teach that part of the standard and
then wait to begin teaching the second half of it during the third nine
weeks. That way, I am not cramming in so much information, which
will then be lost during the break. Due to the break, I also make sure to
review the heat part of the standard doing the beginning of the third
nine weeks before jumping straight into the electric component of the
standard. This would help with learning loss and also just provide the
children with a necessary refresher before delving into a new part of
the same standard.
Power standards: For this second nine weeks, I made sure to take into
consideration the power standards for math and science. The power
standards that I found for math involve standards 4. OA.3, 4. NBT. 6
and, 4. NF.2. Due to the importance of these standards, I made sure to
spend more time on them during this quarter. Knowing just how
critical they are to a student’s learning made me really think about how
I can help the children master these standards. Out of all of the math
standards covered this quarter, the standards listed above are the most
critical, which is why I decided to focus more energy on them. Building
in practice, review, and repetition of these standards was my goal. Also,
embedding in some extra time for these standards was essential, as I
wanted to make sure if I needed some extra time teaching these
standards to the children, I had the time to really help them
understand the full concept. Knowing just how important standard 4.
OA. 3 was, I even decided to revisit it during the 15th week, since it
correlated with the standard that was covered after it. Giving children
a review of that standard is important, because it is so critical they
understand that standard out of some of the other nonessential ones.
In science, standard 4. PS.2 is the most important one to know for this
period. I decided to break this standard down into different parts, heat
and electric, to ensure students fully understand the different
components of each and make it easier for them to grasp. Making sure
to review the heat part of the standard again in the third nine weeks
was important to me because I wanted to make sure the student still
understood the standard even after break. Really honing in on these
standards and providing adequate time to go over them with the
students was the most important thing to me, in regards to the power
standards.
4.OA.3 Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and
having whole-number answers using the four operations, including
problems in which remainders must be interpreted. Represent these
problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown
quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental
computation and estimation strategies including rounding.
Science Standard(s): 4. PS.2 Energy can be transformed from one
form to another or can be transferred from one location to another.
(heat)
Math Standard(s): 4.NF.1 Explain why a fraction a /b is equivalent to
a fraction (n × a) /(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with
attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though
the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to
recognize and generate equivalent fractions.
Week #16 Science Standard(s): 4. PS.2 Energy can be transformed from one
form to another or can be transferred from one location to another.
(heat)
While conducting your experiment, use the following table below to help you
keep track of your data.
Directions: You will be given five different objects ( objects will be rotated in
groups) to work with. Once you get your object, begin the experiment by
weighing it and then record that number in your graph. Once you have
weighed the object, now it is time to make the object undergo a change. For
example, if you had a bag of chocolate chips you could try to melt them or
smash them. Once your object has undergone a change, reweigh it and record
that number in the chat. Now that you have your weight of the object in
grams, it is time to convert the beginning weight of the object in grams to
milligrams. When the graph is completed, make sure to answer the questions
below that also deal with conversions.
OBJECTS BEGINNING WEIGHT ENDING WEIGHT CONVERT BEGINNING WEIGHT
(GRAMS) TO MILLIGRAMS
PAPER
PLAYDOUGH
POP
BALLOON
COOKIE
Find the number of liters of pop there is and then convert it to milliliters. Record
both answers below.
Number of liters:__________________ Number of milliliters:_________________
Measure the length of the paper in centimeters (either the full piece or if ripped, any
of the individual pieces). Convert the number of centimeters to millimeters.
Number of centimeters:_______________________ Number of millimeters:_________________
Part 2:
1. Did the objects mass change as they underwent a change? Why do you think this
happened? Use a law to support your answer and make sure to explain the
reasoning behind it.
2. If you wanted to change the state of matter of an ice cube to a liquid, what would
you do?
Third Nine Weeks
Pacing: Again, when trying to map out the amount of time that should
be spent on each standard, I started by estimating how long I believe it
would take to teach the concept. To help me with this, I used my
learnings from this class, from experienced teachers (family friend
and placement teachers), and my own field experiences. I also know
just how complex and difficult fractions are for children so I wanted to
make sure enough time was spent on each because of how important
they are. Fractions are one of the most critical areas of content for the
children to understand, so I made sure to spread them out and allow
for enough practice and review of each. Some of the standards are
obviously a little bit more complex than others, which is why only one
week is spent on them, whereas others take about two weeks to fully
cover. After I did that, I made sure to cross check my estimations
against other curriculum maps to get a better picture. Most of my
timings were the same, although I had adjusted one or two to better
Rationale suit what I believed. In addict to that, I also took into consideration
This should address at
minimum: that during this third quarter, MLK day and Valentine’s day will occur.
-Why you selected the
they will have one day off for MLK day around week 20, so during that
specific sequences of week, i wil make sure to do a quick review of the material covered
standards to be covered
during this nine weeks?
before the day off just to serve as a refresher for the students. For
Valentines day, the teacher will run into the same problme
-How you determined
how long it would take
experienced during Halloween. Children will probably be excited that
to cover all the it is Valentines day and be looking forward to their party, so not much
academic standards for
the year?
of what is taught will be retained. To address this issue, I will not go as
heavily on the lesson that day. I might even try to relate the content to
Valentines somehow and make sure to review what was learned that
day on the following day of school. Also, I made sure that enough time
was spent on the standard to make up for lost time during Valentines
day. Since the standard goes pretty deep, two weeks were spent on it,
which will also help with retention of the information.
Math: When planning out the sequencing of the third nine weeks, I
first started by revisiting the two fraction standards that I had covered
in the last two weeks of the second nine weeks. This was done to help
accommodate for learning loss of the students from winter break.
I would spend the first week back reviewing what they had learned
previously before they left for break. This would serve as a good
refresher for the students and will hopefully spark and bring back
some of the information they learned previously. Since winter break is
a pretty big chunk of time, it is guaranteed that the students would
have lost a significant amount of knowledge, which is why I
intentionally added this two standards in my third nine weeks. After I
have reviewed those first two standards involving fractions, I will
then move onto more fraction standards. While sequencing these
standards, I made sure to place them in a logical sequential order that
I felt would best benefit the children and really help them learn
fractions and all the parts to a fraction. Since fractions can be very
hard to children, especially when they are first trying to grasp a new
concept, I made sure that I allowed adequate time to be spent on each,
so that I could go over each part. That is the reason a whole nine
weeks was spent on just fractions. I did not want to rush through
them because they are super important, and are a big part of the math
assessment in 4th grade. I also added in wiggle room to frequently
review the standards, since review is essential to the mastery and
retention of these standards. The first standard that I focused on after
the ones that I went over again, was standard 4. NF. 3. This particular
standard focuses on the basics of adding and subtracting fractions and
the decomposing of them, which I felt was good to cover after the first
two standards in this quarter. Once parts a and b were covered, I then
focused on parts c and d, which go into having the children actually
apply their learnings from part a, in order to add and subtract mixed
numbers with like denominators. once they are able to understand
and apply their previous learnings to do part c, they are then ready to
focus on part d, which is doing pretty much the same thing, but only
this time, the focus is on addition and subarctic of fractions in word
problems. After 4. NF. 3 was completely covered, I then moved on to 4.
NF. 4. For this particular standard the children will need to apply their
previous understanding of multiplication to help them multiply a
fraction by a whole number. Since the children learned how to
subtract and add fractions in the standard before, it only seems logical
to move onto multiplication of fractions. They already are aware of
how to sub rat and add fractions, so this standard takes it one step
further. After that is covered, the students are then taught how to use
decimal notation for fractions in standard 4. NF.6. This is the first time
decimals are being addressed so I made sure to spend some time on
this standard, but not too much because this is a bit less complex
standard compared to other fraction ones. Once that standard is
covered, I then have the students working on expressing fractions
with denominator 10 as an equivalent fraction with denominator 100.
The children have just worked with using decimal notation for
fractions with denominator 10 and 100, so this next skill builds upon
this previous standard. Then they are expected to add fractions with
denominators 10 and 100, which is a subset skill from another
standard learned earlier in this quarter, where the students practiced
adding and subtracting whole numbers with like denominators. The
next couple of standards covered in this quarter no not focus directly
on fractions, but are still related to previous learnings. The standard 4.
NF. 7 focuses on comparing two decimals up to the hundredths place.
The children have already learned how to represent fractions using
decimal notation, so the next step would be to have them apply this
knowledge to help them compare two decimals. They will need to
have a good understanding on decimals and place value in order to do
this, which are skills they gained previously. After they compare the
decimals, they will need to solve real world problems involving
money, time and metric measurements. Money is represented using
decimals, so it will be easier for the children to understand money,
because they have prior knowledge on them. Also, metric
measurements were covered in the second nine weeks so the children
will have the prior knowledge to help them solve these problems,
although a quick review might be neccessary to refresh their memory.
Science: for this third nine weeks, the science standards that are
covered include 4.PS.2 and 4. ESS.1. 4. PS. 2 was covered during the
end of the second nine weeks and is still being covered during the
beginning of the third nine weeks, due to its complexity and
abstractness. During this quarter, I focus more on the electric part of
the standard, since the focus was on heat during the second nine
weeks. Since this is a pretty big standard, I decided to split it between
two quarters and break it into heat and electric, to better help me
cover the standard and determine how long it would take to teach this
standard. Although not directly related, fractions can sort of be
connected to circuits in this second part of this science standard,
because you can have the children determine how much of the circuit
is light bulbs by using fractions. Additionally, I thought that focusing
on standard 4.ESS. 1 would be important before the students covered
4.ESS.2 and 4.ESS.3 since those standards build off of this first
standard and make it easier to understand the content during the last
nine weeks because it provides students with the prior knowledge
needed. It also shows a logical sequence of standards, since they start
with the less complex standards and work into more complex ones. I
felt that focusing on these two science standards during this quarter
made the most sense, even if the progression from electric to earth
science does not make much sense. This is where I found the two
standards to fit the best and where the time would permit them to be
taught. I also needed to fit in 4.ESS. 1 before 4.ESS. 2/ 3 since they
build off of this first standard. That is why I decided on this
sequencing of standards for this third quarter.
Criteria:
Section: Complete (check ) Possible points
Students created a simple 5points
circuit
Students drew a neat 5 points
representation of the circuit -.5 per each label
and labeled the tools -1 point neatness
correctly
Students correctly identified Varies depending
the fractions for each tool on number of
and labeled them on the tools used
drawing -1 point per
correct fraction
-
Students made a more 5 points
complex circuit that worked
Students drew a neat 5 points
representation of the second -.5 per label
circuit, making sure to label -1 point neatness
each part
Students correctly identified 5 points
the fractions for each tool -1 point per
and labeled them on the fraction
chart
Now that you have created the most basic circuit needed to make light, your job is to
create a more complex circuit. Once you have created your new circuit, you will
need to draw it below and again label each tool and the fractions for each. Then
compare this new circuit to the first one. Look at each individual tool used in both of
the circuits and determine which fraction is greater. For example, if you battery
pack in the first circuit took up 2/8 of it and then the second circuit used 6/8, you
would have to determine which fraction was bigger using visual representations.
Once you have compared each tool to itself, you can take a look at all the tools and
compare them to one another. Make sure to do at least 3 additional comparisons of
tools to one another, in addition to the four you already did for each individual tool
against itself.
Part 2: What are the necessary tools needed to produce light when creating a circuit.
What are the two types of circuits? What does each mean? Either draw or explain
you answer.
Fourth Nine Weeks
Pacing: When working on the pacing for this last nine weeks, I again
followed the same approach. This time, I did have a better idea of just how
long it would take to cover both of these standards, since we worked on
these standards more so in class and because I had a field experience that
dealt directly with these standards. Once I had made my estimation of
timing for each standard, I made sure to reference the curriculum maps
pacing guide to double check that mine were realistic. In addition to
pacing, I also had to take into consideration the holidays or breaks that
occur during the last nine weeks. I figured out that St. Patty’s day will take
place around week 28 and that Easter will happen during the end of week
29 dam preceded until the beginning of week 30. Again, St.Pattys day is
another holiday that students will be in school for. Although time for
instruction is not necessarily loss, it is still a day that students will have a
Rationale hard time paying attention and taking in new material, which is why I
This should address at made sure to spread the content over the course of that week to make up
minimum: for the holiday. The content covered that day will also be reviewed by me
-Why you selected the after St. Patty’s day just to make sure the students are still able to recall
specific sequences of
standards to be
what they learned the day prior. Easter will cause the teacher to loss some
covered during this time for instruction during this last nine weeks. I was very manful to this
nine weeks? holiday and made sure to plan accordingly. I spent time reviewing in week
-How you determined 30, to make sure students did understand the content learned before
how long it would take
to cover all the
Easter break, since some learning loss probably occurred during this time.
academic standards for Not a significant amount of time was spent on just reviewing these two
the year? standards, rather all the standards were reviewed since the test was
coming up. Also, I didn’t spend too much time on reviewing those
standards since they are not as complex and abstract as others and
because only three days of instruction were loss, not much learning loss
would have ensued. They are also not power standards, so they are not as
critical to students.
Math: While working on the last nine weeks in math, I first had to be
mindful that during this quarter, the children will be testing and will take a
math state test. Due to this, the arrangement of standards was affected and
arranged accordingly. While working on the sequencing, I made sure to
cover the standards that I thought were most important to know for the
test. I also made sure to take a week out of instruction to review content
that had been learned during the other nine weeks, to better help prepare
the students for the test. I also used the week prior to the test to cover a
standard (4. MD. 5) that I believed was important to just introduce to the
children, just so that they had some prior knowledge and understanding of
angles, just in case they appeared on the test. From taking the practice
math test for fourth grade, I had a general idea of what was on the test and
I remember there being some questions about these standards, which is
why I made sure to preview them. Since not much time will be spent on
them during the week before the test, I also make sure to continue to teach
them the week after the test, so that I can go further in depth with them
and really help the students understand the full standard. To start this
nine weeks, I first started with the standard 4. MD.3 which mainly deals
with finding the area and perimeter in real world situation. I figure it
makes sense to start off with this more general knowledge and then start
going into the harder material, like angles. That way I can work toward the
angles and prepare the students for the upcoming lessons on angles. After
the students learn about area and perimeter, I then go into the more
technical side of things and focus on angles, which are more abstract.
Before I do that though, I teach the standard4. G. 1 and 4.G.2 so that the
children have general knowledge on lines, line segments, rays, and angles.
Before the children are expected to learn 4. G. 2, I first have them work
with drawing points, lines, angles and rays in 4.G.1, which is where they
are also prating identifying these. Once they have that prior knowledge,
they will have a much easier time classifying two dimensional figures
based on the presence or absence of parallel and perpendicular lines and
angles. Starting with 4. G. 1 and then gradually working towards 4. G. 2 is a
great progression of skill and is sequenced so that the children can use
their prior knowledge to help them with the second standard, which is
built upon the first one. After the children have learned about that, then it
is time for review the content covered prior from all the third weeks. I will
make sure to review the most important material that I feel is most
prevalent on the state test. I will also take time to cover 4. MD. 5 just so the
students have some general knowledge on angles before the test. After the
review week, the state testing occurs, so we loss a week on instruction.
The week after testing, I jump right back into instruction and pick up with
the last standard that I taught 4. MD. 5. Since I only previewed this
standard for the students two weeks prior, I wanted to make sure to fully
teach the standard and go much deeper with it, since time is permitting.
Since it is a pretty complex standard, I spend two weeks on this after the
test to fully cover the whole standard. Once I have fully covered it, I then
start working with children on measuring angles using protectors and
sketching angles. This also shows a natural progression of skills and shows
a layout of standards that really do build upon one another. After the
children know the basics of angles, they will then start to work with
solving addition and subtraction problems to find the unknown angles
during the last week. By knowing the different types of angles which was
learned in earlier weeks, the children will have a much easier time
identifying the measurement of unknown angles because if they know the
angle is acute, then the measurement they find has to be less than 90
degrees. Also, identifying angles is easier than measuring them, which is
why I have the students identify angles first then working their way into
much more complex standards where the focus is on measuring angles.
Science: For science, I made sure to cover the last two science standards
for the year. Although I was worried about covering the standards before
the test, I realize that getting in all the content before was not important,
since the students do not take a science test until fifth grade, which was a
relief. When arranging the standards, I first wanted to start off by going
over what weathering was because children can have a difficult time
determining the difference between weathering and erosion. Giving them
that prior knowledge that is necessary on weathering, will be helpful when
they start to learn about erosion and deposition, since the concepts are
connected in ways. Also, erosion will take more time to over, so I made
sure to start with the easier material and less time consuming standard, so
that I was left with enough time to cover erosional and deposition. Also, I
wanted to focus on weathering and erosion during the last nine weeks
because that is when it starts to get warm outside again. Teachers can use
this warm weather to their advantage and help students understand
erosion and weathering by allowing them to go outside and find real world
examples of both of these concepts. This will provide them with more of a
visual example of weather or erosion, which will better help them grasp
and understand the standards. The teacher can also use the nice weather
to really get the students involved and to help them take an active part in
learning. I also wanted to end the year with content that would be more
exciting and interesting to students since this is when they start to become
sick of school and have a lack of motivation. The content covered in the
last nine weeks is more interesting to students and is not as complex as
the content covered in the other nine weeks.
Power Standards: For this particular nine weeks, none of the math
standards covered are considered to be power standards, so I did not
worry as much about certain standards over others. I made sure to focus
on each standard around the same amount and allot more time to
standards that were more abstract. In terms or science, the power
standards in earth and space science deals directly with the water cycle
and how it works. Due to this, I will make sure to spend more time going
over the water cycle and making sure all my students are able to fully
understand the concept of the cycle and the processes involved, since this
is a very important concept to understand. Although I am not as worried
about it when compared to math, due to the students not being tested in
science yet, I still make sure that I am aware of the power standard for
science.
Math Standard(s): 4.MD.3 Develop efficient strategies to determine the
area and perimeter of rectangles in real-world situations and
mathematical problems. For example, given the total area and one side
length of a rectangle, solve for the unknown factor, and given two adjacent
Week #28
side lengths of a rectangle, find the perimeter.
4.G.1 Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, and
Week #29 obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two
dimensional figures.
Below average: For below average students, I will provide them with a key
of the types of line and angle types. I will not directly state what an acute
angle is, but I will provide them with the name of the different angles. For
the perimeter and area problems, I might only use one-digit numbers or
numbers that I am certain the students can multiply. I also will include the
formulas for area and perimeter, since these are not something that
children will have to know for the state test, as the formula is given to
students taking the test. For the science questions, I will ask the student to
identify which rock has been weathered and which one has been eroded
and have them explain to me the differences between the two processes.
Criteria:
Section: Complete (check ) Possible points
Students identify parallel 1 point per line
and perpendicular lines seen
on the rock
Students correctly identify 1 per angle
the type of angles on the identified
rocks
Students correctly use their 2 points
protractor to identify the - 1 for using
measure of the angle protractor
provided correctly
- -1 for correct
answers
3. The following rock has been divided into two parts due to weathering. Find the
perimeter of the left rock and the area of the right rock.
6 feet 7 feet
20 feet
11 feet
Part 2:
1. Using the two pictures shown above, explain how these structures were created.
Make sure to name a specific process and explain it in detail.
2. What are some ways that we could potentially stop these processes from
happening?
Citations:
During my project, I had referenced Columbus City School’s curriculum map to help
me determine my sequencing and pacing of the standards in fourth grade. This
helped me significantly because as a student, it is still hard to understand how to
sequence standards so that they follow a logical sequential order and how long it
will take to teach them, since we do not have much practice with this area. Due to
that, I was able to use the example curriculum map to help me with the sequencing
and pacing of the standards. Although I referenced their layout, I did not follow the
exact arrangement of standards, as I felt that some of them fit better in different
areas, which can be seen by my own map. For the sequencing portion, I did not use
the map as much as I did to help me with the pacing. Pacing of standards was hard
for me because I haven’t had experience teaching these standards yet. To help me, I
would cross reference my estimations against the pacing guide on their curriculum
map and see if they were close. Sometimes, I would disagree with the amount of
time they said it would take so I would either add or take away a week. The link that
can be used to access this is: https://www.ccsoh.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=19
In addition to the curriculum map example, I also referenced a website that dealt
with the fourth grade power standards. Doing this, allowed me to see specifically
which standards are the most important for the students to understand. This really
helped me determine the pacing and layout of these standards. I made sure I often
added time in for review and practicing of these standards, as they are the most
important. The following websites referenced include the following:
https://www.lwsd.org/uploaded/Website/Programs_and_Services/Curriculum_and
_Instruction/Standards/4th-Grade-Science-Power-Standards.pdf AND
https://public.rcas.org/administration/SD/Professional%20Learning%20Communi
ties/2012-
2013/Power%20Standards/Elementary%20math%20power%20standard%20doc
ument.docx.pdf