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| William Colley, Social Studies Supervisor |
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Contact
Beginning in the 2004 – 2005 school year, students in grades four and five will experience three ninety-minute instructional periods. The language arts period will focus on reading and writing based on the Balanced Blocks model currently implemented in grades K – 3. The math period will be the LL Teach Model currently in place. The remaining ninety minutes will be the THINK period.
The curriculum for the THINK Period is based on the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Science and Social Studies. During this period, the students will work collaboratively and independently in order to complete a set of performance assessment tasks designed to measure their level of competence in the various Social Studies and Science standards. The performance assessments are arranged according to learning style and the students must complete assignments in each of four learning categories: Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Musical/Kinesthetic.
The school year will continue to be organized into four marking periods, and each marking period will focus thematically on one particular area of the Science and Social Studies Standards. Wherever possible, these concepts have been paired in ways that demonstrate the relationship between the two content areas.
For example, the fourth grade unit on Systems will focus for one marking period on the systems of living organisms and systems of democracy, satisfying the standards required in both Science and Social Studies for grade four. The students will demonstrate their understanding of the various aspects of democratic and of body systems by completing at least one Linguistic product, one Logical/Mathematical product, one Visual/Spatial product, and one Musical/Kinesthetic product by the end of the unit. These products will replace the midterm or final exam, and will be supplemented and reinforced by an array of daily assignments, products, and activities.
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