3rd & 4th Grade Curriculum

​Religion
  • Our faith is key to why Zion Lutheran School exists. In third grade we cover areas such as our relationship with God, He is the Triune God who is just, but loving and forgiving enough to send Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. We also cover our relationship with others in the church as Christians and in the world. We also identify and relate various stories from the Old and New Testament as well as memorize selected texts that relate to these stories as well as the 10 commandments and their meanings from Luther’s small catechism.

Art
  • In   3rd and 4th  grade the students will use and create with a wide variety of media, such as painting, drawing with different media, 3 dimensional forms and shapes, printing and collage.  The focus in  3rd and 4th  grade  is to allow the students to continue to create using imagination while also building upon the skills learned in 1st and 2nd grade. We will continue to emphasize  the basic elements of art such as color, repetition, shape, line, texture and value as well as learn some techniques to describe perspective    using value and line. Students will also discover more about famous artists and art history.

Drama
  • ​Along with classroom dramatic activities (readers' theaters, short plays, etc.) Students have the opportunity to participate in two dramatic activities yearly. The first is our Christmas Eve program which is presented by students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The second is our spring play presented by the Kindergarten through 4th grades, In both productions students are required to memorize lines, deliver them in an audible manner with feeling and emotion, and work well with directors and other performers.

​Health/Physical Education
  • The third and fourth grade Health curriculum covers a wide range of topics from posture and exercise to diet and cleanliness, from first aid and safety to basic human anatomy.  Students will learn about their muscles and bones, their lungs, skin and teeth. They will learn how they work and how they should be cared for. They will learn to appreciate their bodies as wonderfully crafted gifts from their loving and almighty heavenly Father.​
  • ​In third and fourth grade, students continue to work on basic locomotor skills, are introduced to the basic skills of volleyball, football, basketball, & badminton. They practice and master some basic rope jumping skills along with beginning gymnastics and tumbling skills. They practice moving rhythmically and using good posture. Track and field activities are introduced.  Physical fitness is stressed as is flexibility. Active games are also played where children learn teamwork and sportsmanship.

History/Social Studies
  • Our curriculum covers culture, geography, political science, economics and history. We learn about cultural traditions and diversity, supply and demand, regional economies and industries. We compare and contrast different forms of government and learn about our democracy. We learn about the three branches of our government and the history of our country. We learn the states and capitals, and study the various regions of our country.

Language Arts 
  • At Zion we know that reading and comprehension  skills are essential to student success. Therefore our reading and language art curriculum focuses on the basic skills of comprehension word analysis and decoding, vocabulary, phonics and study skills such as using dictionaries both online and physical. Reading and comprehension skills are taught along with grammar, spelling and writing skills such as  personal narratives, comparative, explanatory and persuasive paragraphs. These skills are not limited to language arts class but are taught throughout the curricular areas.

Math
  • Our math curriculum is strong on the basics of arithmetic, concepts and numbers and applying those concepts though problem solving. In third grade we review adding and subtracting of double digits with carrying and borrowing. We continue studying the multiplication facts through 12's and use them to multiply by one,  and two digit multipliers. We study long divisions with one digit divisors and introduce two digit divisors to get ready for 4th grade.Math applications that are used are measurements in standard and metric systems to calculate problems and convert them from one unit to another, time and money, geometric shapes, solve simple algebraic equations solve story problems with up to four steps.
  • In fourth  grade we review addition and subtraction  and multiplication with regrouping, recognize and use numbers with place value through the millions as well as place value of decimals,  make equivalent fractions, add, subtract and multiply fractions with uncommon denominators, use metric and standard measurements, recognize and use basic shapes in geometry to find perimeter and area, read and interpret different types of graphs and read scale drawings and maps.
 
Music
  • Students go through a variety of units in music.  They include: instruments of the Orchestra, The Great Composers, History of Rock and Roll, Great Artists of Jazz and Blues, and World Music.  Students are also given the opportunity to learn to play two instruments, the ukulele and the recorder.

Science
  • Our students will grow in their knowledge in three areas, Life science, Earth science and Physical science. In life science we cover topics such as the traits of all living things, basic parts of cells, plant and animal, life cycles,how they grow and the steps in photosynthesis. We classify and organisms, evaluate different organ systems and talk about their roles and  relationships to the ecosystem. We study food webs and food chains and discuss survival and competition among living things. In earth science we weather, erosion and landforms. We learn about the water and rock cycles as well as study and identify three classifications of rocks. We also study our solar system and related topics such as the phases of the moon. In physical science we discuss the properties and states of matter as well as how to measure them, physical and chemical changes, sound heat and light energy, and electricity and magnetism.  
 
Spelling​
  • Third and fourth grade spelling is integrated into the language arts curriculum. It is accessible and available on line with the SpellingCity app.

Spanish
  • Our students will be using Duolingo, that has organically become the most popular language learning platform and the most downloaded education app in the world with more than 170 million users. Duolingo is designed to feel like a game and scientifically proven to be effective. Everyone learns in different ways. For the first time in history, Duolingo can analyze how millions of people learn at once to create the most effective educational system possible and tailor it to each student. The ultimate goal is to give everyone access to a private tutor experience through technology.
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Technology (click for more information)