Visitors, Parents, Benefactors, Students and Alumni

Welcome to Fourth Grade!

Your fourth grader will have many wonderful experiences throughout the year. Here are some of the fun activities and some special learning opportunities.

Click here for 4th Grade Curriculum.. .

SAINTS:  Children write a report and dress up as their favorite saint. They share a little information about their saint at mass on All Saints’ Day. The fourth grade is the only grade that does this and it has been very special to the 4th graders, the student body and the parish.

MATH FAIR: During the Math/Science Fair in January or February fourth and sixth grade do math projects. It is an excellent opportunity for students to do investigation and inquiry in all areas of math.

MASS: Every Wednesday the fourth grade attends Mass with the third and fifth grades. The grades alternate who will do the readings and bring up the gifts at Mass. Once a month there is a special all school Mass that the whole school attends.

SERVICE PROJECT:  Every grade in our school has a special community service project.  Fourth grade visits their friends at The Franciscan Healthcare Center about once a month. They often make cards for the residents, sing, read, and play games with them. This is the students’ opportunity to give to others and live, as Jesus did.

CHRISTMAS: Every year our school puts on a wonderful Christmas Pageant. The fourth grade is involved, as is every class in the school. It is a very moving and memorable occasion.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK:  The fourth grade participates in many fun and special activities during this week, along with the rest of the school. Some activities usually include participating in sing-a-longs, pajama day, read-a-thons, writing letters to people in the military and in political offices, Math/Science Fair, and a special All School Mass.

FIELD TRIPS: The fourth grade usually attends plays in Olympia with the fifth grade. (one to two times each year) The fourth grade alone goes to the Washington State History Museum, usually in May. Other field trips may be scheduled to go along with the curriculum.

IMAGINARY TRAIN TRIP:  We journey through the United States and the Oregon Trail and our diaries keep an account of our trip.  Their pretend trip tells of their adventures using the vocabulary and key places they have learned.  They also do a little time travel and write about their rough trip across the Oregon Trail.

LIVING MUSEUM:  The fourth grade also studies Washington State History.  One of their projects is to write a one-page report, memorize a speech and dress up as a famous person from Washington State. The entire school comes to visit our museum and hear the presentations. It is very exciting.

Do you remember being in fourth grade? Well, here’s a little bit about the characteristics of a twenty-first century fourth grader.

Emotional and Social:  Fourth Grade is a transition year. They are moving into a broader context of life. The fourth grader is group oriented and therefore needs opportunities for group sharing, group competition, and cooperative effort. Acceptance, prestige, and responsibility within a group, are significant needs at this time. There is a growing development of conscience, a need for justice and moral order; along with a greater sensitivity to others. Fairness is very important.

Intellectual:  They are developing the power to think and reason for themselves. The imaginative world of the past is giving way to a more real world. They can understand more abstract ideas; while still needing some concrete experiences. They are action oriented and their thirst for knowledge is great. They like to classify and collect objective information, are interested in improving skills, and independent work is more possible. They are also eager to explore and discover their environment.

The teacher is here to continually inspire the students' quest for knowledge, while presenting new information and opportunities to them. The teacher is their guide, facilitator, and motivator.

Parent-Teacher Partnership

Fourth graders still need strong parental guidance. They are developing and learning study habits. The student and teacher need parent support to emphasize the importance of completing assignments, doing quality work, and turning in projects on time, along with studying for tests.

Success promotes success. It is our job to allow them to experience success as often as possible, without doing the work for them, so that they will always want to be successful.  

Ongoing communication is vital between parents and teacher.  This is accomplished in a number of ways:

Assignment Notebooks:   Students record daily assignments in their assignment notebook, which is initialed by the teacher each day. Sometimes the teacher writes messages to parents, and they can write messages to the teacher.  Parents initial the assignment page each night and, each morning  a star is given to those who have their parent initials and see any messages parents have sent.

Friday Folders:   Each Friday the students take home some tests and work they have completed that week that has been graded and recorded.  Parents sign the folder after they have seen the work and can make comments.

Voice Mail:   Parents can leave messages on voice mail by calling the school number. Messages are checked at least once a day.

Notes:  Personal notes from parents are presented to the teacher at the beginning of the day by students. They are read right away and responded to the same day.

Conferences:  The teacher is more than happy to set-up conferences with parents. Wednesdays and Thursdays @ 3:30 are the best times. We have Staff meetings on Mondays and an after-school math club is held on Tuesdays. You can sometimes catch me after school, without an appointment. The worst time to try and meet is before school when the teacher is busy preparing for the day. WE want time for a quality conversation.

Newsletters:  A parent newsletter about our class activities is sent home once a month. 

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