Welcome to Fourth Grade FOCUS Resource
Welcome to FOCUS! For those of you who have not met me yet, my name is Melissa Smith. I have 23 years of teaching experience in grades K-8. I speak Spanish and was an ESOL teacher for 14 years! I have also taught EIP in math and reading, classroom in Kindergarten/1st grades, language arts enrichment and life science connections in middle school. I am very excited to be working with your children this year. Whew! I hope to integrate this plethora of experience to make learning challenging and fun for our students.
Gwinnett County is embracing Project Based Learning in FOCUS. So, we will do some of the traditional FOCUS units, but will also be doing Project Based Learning on content areas and by class vote/student interest. Technology will be incorporated into many units. These units will be created as the year goes since students have input. We are starting with our problem solving (creative), coding, and Order of Operations! Fun stuff!
Gwinnett County is embracing Project Based Learning in FOCUS. So, we will do some of the traditional FOCUS units, but will also be doing Project Based Learning on content areas and by class vote/student interest. Technology will be incorporated into many units. These units will be created as the year goes since students have input. We are starting with our problem solving (creative), coding, and Order of Operations! Fun stuff!
welcome_to_focus_resource_2013.docx | |
File Size: | 32 kb |
File Type: | docx |
focus_curriculum_night__ppt_revised_for_2013.ppt | |
File Size: | 1182 kb |
File Type: | ppt |
Announcements
Try out Code.org with your student!
Curriculum Update
Thinking Skills:
Thinking skills are woven throughout all unit work we do in the resource classroom. At this level, students will apply the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) skills and the tools (mind mapping, matrix grids, brainstorming, SCAMPER, etc...) learned through the P.E.T.S. curriculum instruction. In addition, students will become familiar with the Six Hats thinking model developed by Edward deBono and focus attention on Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge. Throughout the year, students will spend time working in Brainy Acts centers. The activities, games and challenges offer opportunities to apply all types of thinking skills including creative, divergent, and convergent and include choices for multiple learning styles and modalities. In addition, all classes will be regularly exposed to vocabulary work and games in Latin and Greek roots. Once students garner patterns and understand the workings of prefixes, roots, and suffixes, their ability to figure out new words, and utilize a greater vocabulary of know words will increase. It is my goal that they be able to apply these words in all academic areas. They will need this knowledge through college!