Grade 4 Classical Standards

Cathedral School of St Mary

 

History

 

Knowledge

• Understand key figures and events from Modern European history.

• Appreciate how the lives of the saints shaped the respective historical periods.

• Know that Christianity has shaped the world and that the expansion of Christianity has brought increasing liberty, reason, and culture (i.e., increased religious freedom and the encouraged rule of law).

• Distinguish how the Modern period differs from the past in its understanding of God and man, and truth, goodness, and beauty

• Examine how people in different European countries earned a living and trace the growth of the free enterprise system 4.10A&B, 4.11A-C, 4.12A-E

• Examine effects of exploration, migration, and limited resources during the Age of Exploration and the Age of Empires 4.12C

• Recognize the European flags that flew over Texas 4.16A

• Understand the impact of mass production, specialization, and division of labor during the Industrial Revolution 4.12D

• Trace growing inter-dependence of European nations during the Modern period, leading up to World War I 4.13A-C

• Understand what it means to be a good citizen and how individuals and groups can improve the community and serve the common good 4.17A-E, 4.16C

• Understand the difference between Medieval and Modern political forms, and compare/contrast with local governmental structure Identify local and national leaders, including the governor, local members of state and national legislatures, the mayor, and Texans who have been President 4.14B, 4.15B, 4.18A&B

• Understand key technological developments in the Modern period, including the processes of pasteurization 3.16B, 4.12E, 4.20A-C

• Recognize basic geography (i.e., major land masses and bodies of water, European capitals) 

• Recognize major periods of history using timelines.

• Recognize characteristics of Modern art and understand how art reflects cultural conditions during that period

 

Skills

• Compare, contrast, and explain the essential characteristics of cultures, governments, and figures during the Modern period.

• Memorize significant dates and be able to build timelines from them.

• Recognize correlation between “Secular” history and Biblical/Church history

• Explain cause and effect of historical events.

• Discuss philosophical and theological questions which arise from history

• Narrate historical events 4.22C

• Read and recognize symbols on maps (grid systems, scales, compass roses), and construct simple maps and graphs 4.6A&B

• Recognize how geography contributes to historical events and population distributions/separation into “regions.” Why do people live where they do, and how do they adapt to and modify their environments? Compare/contrast with Texas 4.12B, 4.7A-C, 4.8A-C, 4.9A-C

• Write biographical reports and do basic research on important figures in history 4.12A-E, 4.22A&B, 4.22D&E

• Use problem-solving and decision-making skills 4.23A&B

 

Aptitudes

• Continue to develop an interest in history

• See the relevance of past to present.

• Develop love of country.

• Develop a desire to be both a good citizen and a faithful Catholic

• Continue developing curiosity to know how things came to be and why people acted as they did

• Appreciate the beauty of the saints and the integrity and courage of heroes.

• Cultivate a desire to imitate the good qualities of these saints and heroes

 

Religion

 

Knowledge

• Begin to recognize how the Christian culture of the Middle Ages is reflected in art, music, architecture, literature, the liturgical calendar, the structure of cities, organization of labor, and the code of chivalry

• Begin to understand the importance of the Trinity and Incarnation

• Know they belong to God’s chosen people and are part of his family, the Church

• Know they are made for heaven and that creatures and the created world exist to help them get there

• Memorize books of the Bible, important verses, Apostles, the Beatitudes, basic prayers of the Mass in English and Latin, sacraments, and major events of salvation history

• Know parts of the Mass

• Know the major moments of salvation history from creation to Pentecost

• Understand basic teachings on Confession and Eucharist

• Understand sin, grace, and sacraments

• Know the creed and understand each of its tenets

• Know lives of the major saints from each period of history

• Know how to pray the Rosary

 

Skills

• Give more advanced theological explanations of Church doctrines

• Learn how to “assist” at Mass through acolyte training

• Memorize and recite Scripture, Bible facts, catechism, prayers, and hymns

• Learn and practice liturgical, intercessory, and contemplative prayer

• Develop regard for and participate in sacred music as a form of prayer

 

Aptitudes

• Cultivate longing for God

• Develop personal relationships with Christ as friend and Mary as mother

• Begin to value silence

• Have favorite saints and develop relationships with them

• Examine conscience, go to Confession, “offer up” a sacrifice

• Strengthen conscience so as to love God’s will and wish to avoid sin

• Take responsibility for faults or failures and apologize sincerely

• Acquire a spirit of service, collaboration, and genuine friendship

 

Art

 

Knowledge

• Understand and appreciate the Christian contribution to art

• Begin to appreciate an art history perspective in addition to a cultural history perspective 4.3A&B/D

• Study and explain the characteristics of art from relevant time periods, especially Renaissance 4.3A&B/D

• Begin to give more complex explanations and interpretations of works of art 4.4A-C

• Continuation of rendering

• Develop an understanding of and be able to apply the following principles in artistic work (drawing, painting, and other media): line, shape, texture, color, value, form, and space 4.1B&C

• Develop an understanding of the principles of design: emphasis, repetition/pattern, movement/rhythm, contrast/variety, balance, proportion, and unity 4.1B&C

 

Skills

• Continue to learn how to look at, examine, and see a painting and other works of art 4.4A-C

• Learn to tell the story of a painting 4.3A

• Learn how to justify why something is beautiful or not 4.4A-C

• Begin to reflect on the experience of beauty 4.1A

• Develop drawing, painting, and sculpting skills 4.2C

• Copy more complex images according to rules 4.2C

 

Aptitudes

• Deepen the habits of attending and noticing

• Sit still and carefully observe art and whatever is the subject of rendering

• Deepen love and appreciation of beauty

• Begin to look at art contemplatively

• Deepen appreciation of art and beauty in the life of faith

• Be able to question art works for their meaning

 

Language: Literature, Grammar, Composition, and Drama

 

Knowledge

• Acquire familiarity with classic folklore and literature related to the historical periods they study 4.9A

• Begin to master grammar 4.11D

  • all parts of speech

  • simple and compound sentences

  • S/V and pronoun agreement

  • verb tenses

  • comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs

  • reflexive pronouns

  • capitalization and punctuation

• Continue to analyze and diagram sentences

• Write complete sentences and paragraphs, avoiding comma splices, run-ons, and fragments 4.11D(i)

• Acquire facility in decoding words, spelling, and vocabulary 4.2A&B, 4.7F, 4.11D(xi)

• Have a repertoire of light verse, Psalms, ballads, and historical mnemonic devices committed to memory

 

Skills

• Recognize antonyms, synonyms, idioms, homophones, and homographs 4.3D, 4.2B(ii)

• Be able to use dictionaries, context clues, prefixes, suffixes, and root words to decipher word meaning 4.3A-C, 4.2A(v-vi)

• Be able to read chapter books without help 4.4-5

• Develop and deepen reading comprehension of increasingly complex texts 4.6A-I

• Recognize setting, theme, symbolism, and other literary elements 4.8D

• Identify conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution in a story 4.8C

• Evaluate characters in stories 4.8B

• Identify the main idea of a story, supported by text evidence 4.6G, 4.8A

• Recognize topic sentences, supporting evidence, and organizational patterns, and construct coherent paragraphs 4.9D

• Read and write summaries of readings 4.7B, D-E

• Practice good penmanship, especially cursive 4.2C

• Write and revise paragraphs and recognize topic sentences, supporting evidence, and paragraph organization 3.9D

• Write an organized, multi-paragraph composition in sequential order with a central idea 4.11A-E, 4.12B

  • Include an introduction, body paragraphs, transitions, and a conclusion 4.11B

  • Revise to improve sentences structure and word choice 4.11C

• Research a topic using multiple books/resources 4.7B&E, 4.13A-H

• Understand more complex poetry, including rhyme scheme, sound devices (alliteration and assonance), personification, and poetic structure (stanzas, etc.) 4.9B, 4.10D

• Narration: Re-tell more complex stories in detail with vocal clarity, poise, and eye contact

• Construct simple stories, incorporating (when possible) imagery, figurative language, anecdotes, and a 1st or 3rd person point of view 3.7D, 4.9B, 4.10A-G, 4.12A

• Write basic correspondence 4.12D

• Be able to read aloud with good inflection and diction

• Recitation: students recite poems, speeches, and psalms from memory with vocal clarity.

• Conversation: students should understand and be able to follow rules for “Socratic” discussions; students should be questioning and discussing various texts 4.1A, 4.6A-I, 4.7A

• Follow five rules of discussion: 1) Read the text carefully 2) Listen to what others say and don’t interrupt 3) Speak clearly 4) Use specific details from the text to support your points 5) Give others your respect 4.1A-D, 4.7C&G

• Perform a play: memorize lines and help design costumes, props, set, etc 3.9C

 

Aptitudes

• Listen attentively to peers and instructor 4.1A

• Read and concentrate for long periods of time

• Learn to ask questions about the moral or meaning of stories and symbols

• Learn to speak directly and confidently

• Be basically truthful and dependable

 

Latin

 

Knowledge

• Memorize the fundamentals of Latin: primary declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary

• Memorize Latin prayers, hymns, and phrases

 

Nature Studies  

 

Knowledge

• Recognize the study of nature as part of the human endeavor to understand the world

• Understand science as one aspect of the study of nature which must be integrated into a more comprehensive vision of reality as God’s creation and thus behold nature in a different way

• Recognize persons and animals not as historical accidents or the sum of their mechanical parts, but as living wholes that transcend their parts and are irreducible to them

• Understand that as living wholes, organisms possess an inexhaustible depth and are worthy of our awe, wonder, and affection

• Understand that nature is therefore hierarchically arranged according to capacity for self-transcendence:

  • All organisms, including plants, exhibit some form of metabolism that realtes them to the world through appetite

  • Animals exhibit metabolism as well, but also a capacity for self-movement and an awareness through the senses

  • Human beings, in addition to these, move and transcend themselves through reason and will, are able to contemplate God and the world, and can offer themselves in love

• Beginning with the study of living things, students should be able to:

  • Render detailed observations of different organisms

  • Distinguish between genera in the plant and animal kingdoms

  • Specify essential differences between species

  • Identify unique characteristics in different forms of animal life

  • Explain what these characteristics mean in the life of the animal

  • Identify essential differences distinguishing human beings from other animals

• From this basis, students should proceed to the interior world of plants and animals:

  • Botany

  • Anatomy

  • Physiology

• Students should then proceed to the external world, understanding the Earth as a home for life:

  • Ecosystems

  • Natural processes which support life (e.g., weather, soil formation, water cycles)

  • Earth’s place in the solar system: the finely-tuned astronomical factors necessary to support life

 

Skills

• Continue to develop the skill of observing, rendering, and cataloguing this knowledge in a “nature notebook”

• Narrate the above knowledge

• Begin to ask philosophical and scientific questions of nature

• Gain detailed, firsthand experience of nature through growing things and recording various stages of growth

• Follow directions carefully when carrying out scientific experiments

 

Aptitudes

• Acquire reverence for nature as God’s creation

• Be able to attend to and notice nature

• Have a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world and the mystery of living things

• Have an enthusiasm for examining nature and acquire the habit of curiosity regarding the physical world

• Acquire a desire to experiment with what they are studying and observing

 

Mathematics  

 

Knowledge

• Deploy numeracy/counting: whole numbers into the millions; decimal place value

• Recognize geometric shapes and calculation to perimeter and area

• Have facility in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers

• Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals up to the thousandths place

• Use fractions (reducing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing)

• Measure accurately using both customary and metric systems

• Estimate measurement when measurement tools are not available by comparison of similar surrounding objects

• Solve word problems

• Count money and basic decimals

• Create a simple budget (earning, saving, spending, and donating) SS3.6A&B

• Acquire basic algebra skills (looking for unknowns)

• Begin to understand proportions

• Comprehend basic averages and ranks (median and mode; mean by grade 5)

• Introduce classical geometric and architectural design (choose a building from the historical time period being studied and analyze its geometric and proportional properties)

• Analyze rounds and simple canons to identify simple progressions

• Recognize and construct fundamental shapes in plane geometry: points, lines, rays, angles, parallels, perpendiculars, quadrilaterals, and regular and irregular polygons

• Analyze composition, use of light, and perspective in art as it relates to geometry

• Construct Platonic and Archimedean solids

• Use Euler’s formula for the number of vertices, faces, and edges of a polyhedral shapes

• Solve more complex codes such as a single replacement and translation code

• Apply numeric methods in describing natural phenomena – for example, estimate the number of leaves on a tree by modeling the splits in a branch

 

Skills

• Memorize and master addition/subtraction tables (0-10)

• Memorize and master multiplication and division tables (0s-12s)

• Use mental arithmetic

• Multiple single- and multi-digit numbers

• Divide multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers

• Tell time to the quarter- and half-hour, to five minutes and one minute

• Add and subtract decimals, and compare decimals and fractions

• Multiply multi-digit numbers by two-digit numbers

• Divide larger multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers

• Find the area of two-dimensional shapes

• Reason mathematically both orally and in writing through word problems

• Use problem-solving strategies to solve real-world math problems

• Add and subtract fractions and decimals

• Identify and describe three-dimensional shapes, and find their volumes and surface areas

• Use long division to divide large numbers by multi-digit numbers

• Recognize numerical patterns in music and nature and geometrical patterns in nature and art

• Solve simple probabilities, including independent and dependent events and simple truth table for conjunctions, disjunction, negation, and implication

• Read and use bar, line, and circle graphs

• Measure shape and position over time, such as tracking the phases of the moon and simple astronomy, including solar measurements (measuring shadows and angles at different times of the year)

• Give change up to $100

• Recognize basic Biblical numerology

 

Aptitudes

• Acquire a foundation for logical reasoning through math

• Be attuned to the relevance and significance of number and shape

• Begin to appreciate the Aesthetics” of number through recognition of patterns

 

Music

 

Knowledge

• Understand the concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, tempo, dynamics (crescendo, decrescendo) and articulation (staccato and legato) 4.1C, 4.2C, 4.3F

• Be able to recognize beautiful music and be able to explain why it is beautiful 4.6A-F

• Recognize instruments by sight and sound 4.1A&B

• Be able to sing and, if possible, play an instrument 4.3A

• Be able to read music 4.2A&B

• Move rhythmically to music 4.3C

• Memorize lyrics and know how to sing liturgical music

• Sing carols, ballads and authentic folk music from periods of history they are studying 4.3B, 4.5A-D

• Sing the Hail Mary and Our Father in plain chant 4.3B

• Recognize forms of music from the periods of history they have studied 4.1D, 4.5A-D

 

Skills

• Acquire some musical skill singing and/or playing an instrument 4.4A-C

• Be able to concentrate, listen, and discuss a piece of music 4.6A-F

• Begin to learn how to sing/play various parts of a musical piece (applying their understanding of melody, harmony, and rhythm) 4.3E

 

Aptitudes

• Develop a love and appreciation of beautiful music and its power

• Understand the relationship between music, prayer, and liturgy

• Acquire the habit of patient, attentive listening, and active participation

 

Physical Education  

 

Knowledge

• Understand their bodies and physical abilities as gifts

• Learn the rules of major sports and races

• Recognize importance of discipline for achieving bodily excellence

• Understand dynamics of competition

 

Skills

• Acquire facility in throwing, catching, hitting, and kicking

• Learn to work as a team in order to achieve a goal

• Compete against other students of similar skill level

• Learn basics of contra, square, and ballroom dancing MUSIC4.3D

 

Aptitudes

• Practice teamwork and good sportsmanship

• Aspire to physical gracefulness

• Admire excellent athletic performances, especially their aesthetic qualities