Denise Brown - Fourth Grade 8 years at Holy Family - 19 years teaching experience Room 211 Ext.212 brownd@archmil.org
Philosophy of Education
I believe every child wants to learn and succeed in life. They should be given many opportunities to be successful. God has given us different talents and gifts that need to be nurtured along with weaknesses that may need special attention. It is essential for me to meet the needs of each child and see that they have successes. Each child must be treated with respect and fairness so that they feel safe and positive about themselves. I believe that teaching by modeling, followed by practice, and evaluation allows each student to succeed by accomplishing his/her goals.
Curriculum Summary
Religion
In religion we use the Sadlier’s We Believe book it here we study the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. We also will use Gods Own Making, a book of Catholic values of human sexuality. Some of the other activities that we are involved in are: monthly pastoral visits; plan for a weekday Mass; every six weeks, and read Venture Magazine; which has stories and activities that go along with the Scripture for that week.
Reading/Literature
The fourth grade reading curriculum consists of: Scholastic's "Literacy Place"; McGraw's SRA "Reading Lab"; read together chapter books, such as Caddie Woodlawn, and Rascal, and visiting the school’s library weekly. We also have a variety of book reports that are done orally once a month, and a weekly story that is read out loud to a parent.
Language Arts
The students correct sentences for capitalization, punctuation, and grammar using the Daily Oral Language series. They use the Houghton Mifflin English book for grammar. They begin to learn the 6+1 Trait model: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. The students also have a Scholastic Spelling book that they use throughout the year with weekly spelling test.
Mathematics
We are using the Houghton Mifflin book. This series incorporates manipulatives, problem solving, practice daily and skill development. We learn and practice multi-digit addition, subtraction problems, name and construct geometric figures, compare fractions, decimals and percents. Algebra equations, measurement, and probability. We memorize the multiplication and division facts and work on double digit problems. We also use the web site for extra practice and get ready for the chapter tests.
Science
We incorporate hands on activities on topics such as of Water, Ideas and Inventions, Magnetism and Electricity and Structures of Life as part of the FOSS Science Curriculum.
Social Studies
We study the state of Wisconsin for three quarters of the year using the text book "The Wisconsin Journey" by Gibbs Smith. We also read a weekly newspaper called "Wisconsin Studies" and a magazine titled "This Business Called Agriculture". In the late spring we take a trip to Madison to visit our Capitol Building, the Veteran Museum, and the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. The last quarter of the year we study the regions of the United States and learn to name and locate all the states.