Joyce's Class - Grades 4-5
I try to keep foremost in my mind that fourth and fifth grades are foundational school years. Most students have accomplished the task of learning to read, allowing us to use reading to learn. However we learn many, many ways including reading. We learn with pictures and videos. We learn from each other. We love to learn by doing, so very often we carry out an experiment, make a project, play with things, practice skills, or investigate real objects.
My approach to math is to lavish personal attention on students and to help them learn at their own pace. I believe in clear explanations, with concrete models involved as appropriate. I believe in sufficient practice, which doesn't look the same for each student. I believe in connections to real life. We often cook, craft, or visit an office supply store or home improvement store to see how society uses math.
Students gain good writing skills by writing frequently, so we take plenty of opportunities to write. We write about what we're learning, we write about how we feel, we write to support an opinion and we write for fun.
I must confess that science is my favorite topic. Each major branch of science holds a unique interest. When we study life science we find out that life is diverse and amazing. When we study Earth and space science we are astounded at the scope of the universe and the processes our Earth goes through. When we study chemistry we see how things combine and react. And when we study physics we get to crash things, measure speeds, bounce light around and make noise.
When the students are away from the main classroom they are studying Chinese or Spanish, exploring music and art and getting crucial exercise while having fun in gym class.
Come and visit us sometime.