MATH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM OVERVIEW Fourth grade teachers and Mr. Kendall are differentiating math instruction both in the regular classroom and in small pull-out groups. The pull-out group varies from week to week based on student pre-test and post-test results. The pull-out group for Mrs. Gianniny's class meets on Mondays from 9:30-10:25 and the group from Mrs. Hickman's class meets on Thursdays from 8:30-9:20. There are aspects of fourth grade math curriculum that are of significant challenge to all students (long division, dividing and multiplying with fractions and decimals, etc.) During the early sessions of these units, Mr. Kendall will frequently assist in class rather than pull out students. There may be some students that can handle working at a fast pace with these new concepts, but since most others need more step by step instruction the differentiation during these units will most often be extra challenge problems in these areas of math to work on in class rather than in the pull-out group setting. For many students the pace of instruction they need will vary from unit to unit. With skills like long division students will need to be reminded step by step until it suddenly clicks and they are able to internalize the process. That "click" happens for students at various different times within the study of division. E-mail Mr. Kendall if you have questions about this program: kkendall@lexedu.org LINK TO ON-LINE MATH GAMES WE USED IN CLASS LAST YEAR Curriculum Update - August Students in both fourth grade classes did some extended work in graphing, combining the results of a survey completed by all of the students in both classes. Students needed to decide the best way to display the information that they had gathered, including what scale to use when setting unit markers on their graphs. Students also had to work through how to categorize information garnered from an open-ended question at the end of the survey. Students also learned how to use a web site to create a graph (GRAPHING WEB SITE), learning how to fill in appropriate fields to properly label each axis and display the information effectively. Curriculum Update - September During August and September students in both fourth grade classes did problems that extended their thinking in certain skill areas using enrichment sheets provided in the current math series as well as some from the previous series that provided an appropriate level of challenge last year. Students in Mrs. Gianniny's class also worked with solving "Magic Squares" and learning algebraic formulas that aided in the creation of their own magic squares. Curriculum Update - October In Mrs. Gianniny's and Mrs. Hickman's classes subtraction with multiple digits has proved a bit of a challenge for many advanced students, particularly when regrouping is needed. Subtracting with zeroes in the top number has also been a significant hurdle. While repetition may seem "boring" to some students, performance to date has not yet indicated "mastery" of these skills. Students in general need to do a better job of understanding what a reasonable answer might be (through rounding and/or estimation) so that they can catch arithmetic errors. Students also need to do a better job of checking their work using addition. Curriculum Update - November During November students in all fourth grade classes are working through multiplication and division skills at increasing levels of complexity. As students demonstrate mastery, additional challenge problems to extend those skills will be offered. Many students will need to be reminded that math cannot be completed "all in [their] heads" as it often was in prior years. This does not mean that children are any less skilled in math than in prior years, but that the challenge level of the curriculum is rising to the point where it is at least somewhat challenging for all students. Depending on pretest results, students who may be used to being pulled out to work with Mr. Kendall may find themselves needing to stay in the room for additional instruction on some skills. There may also be weeks in which there is no pull-out because it is more effective to teach the full class with two teachers in the room. READING ENRICHMENT Reading enrichment in fourth grade occurs through ability grouping in reading within each regular classroom. Students read appropriately challenging literature from such authors as Roald Dahl, Avi, and Katherine Patterson. They engage in active discussions of the literature using the vocabulary of literary analysis. Students also do critical and creative writing assignments based on the literature they read. |