Grades Four and Five
Grades four and five are often taught jointly at Hydrostone Academy . Of all the Elementary grades, the students’ developmental stages and academic abilities and goals are the most similar. Even when the grades are taught separately, students in grades four and five often study the same topics, with different expectations of achievement in the two grades.
Language Arts
Students in grades four and five meet or exceed the outcomes of the provincial curriculum
Science and social studies are integrated into the language arts curriculum. Science and social studies topics are chosen from the provincial curriculum. All topics are explored through the lens of our pillars: arts integration, outdoor education and nature, a contemplative approach, fostering community, and culturally sustaining curriculum.
Math
The math curriculum in grades four and five meets or exceeds the outcomes of the provincial curriculum. Students engage in math activities that connect with our pillars and offer an opportunity to put their math skills into action. For example: students apply mapping skills to their outdoor camping experiences, and they use their knowledge of charts and graphs in science research projects.
Art
Visual art projects in grades four and five are usually connected to aspects of the curriculum, for instance: they may study perspective drawing as part of their study of geometry. Students also use their art skills to build sets and props for festivals.
Social-Emotional Learning and Health
Although ‘health’ is not listed as a curricular subject on report cards, it is an important part of student learning. In grades four and five, students study body systems in science and connect this to a study of puberty, growth and development, and reproduction. Topics such as personal hygiene, body image, allergies, diseases, emotional literacy, gender, internet safety, and substance abuse are explored and discussed. Students in grades four and five take a Stay Safe Course as part of their outdoor education experience.
French
Students have French class, taught by a specialist, three times a week. The program is conversational, with drama, games, music, and fine art being integral parts of the program, and now students do a number of writing assignments in French.
Physical Education
Physical education is taught two to three times a week by a specialist teacher. They travel to a number of recreation facilities in the area as part of this program.
Music
Students continue to sing and often play recorders and ukuleles. They begin to explore instruments that make up the pop/rock genre: drum sets, guitars, bases, percussion, and keyboards and work toward forming a band that performs twice a year in concert at the school. Students are often part of the conversation in determining what material will be performed.
Handwork
As in art, much of the handwork in grades four and five is related to other curricular areas.
Key language and math outcomes: By the end of grade five, students can read and respond to a variety of complex fiction and non-fiction texts, and they have developed excellent reading stamina. They can independently write several pages about one topic. They write stories, poems, reflections, reports, and research projects using effective spelling strategies. Students use proper punctuation and capitalization, and have developed strategies to edit their own work.
In math, they have a strong sense of numbers up to 1 000 000. They understand and apply the four mathematical processes. They can solve multi-digit addition and subtraction questions, with and without regrouping. Students know their times tables up to 12×12. They can read and solve multi-step word problems. They understand the concept of fractions and their relationship to decimal numbers. They measure area, perimeter, volume, and capacity and they can measure elapsed time and distance. They know the characteristics of two-dimensional figures and three-dimensional objects. They can collect and record data using charts and graphs.