Language Arts
Balanced Literacy
Recent classroom research shows that literacy develops best when a balanced program is in place. At the center of our Upper Elementary program at International School Bangkok is the reading and writing workshop, which includes a mini-lesson (explicit modeling and guided practice), independent reading or writing, and partner time. In addition to the workshop, the other components of a balanced literacy framework include read-aloud with accountable talk, shared reading/writing, phonics/word study, and small group instruction (guided reading, strategy lessons, and interventions).
Reading
International School Bangkok’s Upper Elementary curriculum aims to create independent, lifelong readers by developing comprehension, fluency, and stamina. Throughout the year, students will focus on developing their reading skills and related strategies for fiction and nonfiction texts.
Writing
Students will develop their skills in narrative, informational, and argument writing. During the writer's workshop, they will engage in the writing process of generating ideas, rehearsing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
Listening and Speaking
Speaking and listening are woven into many areas of the curriculum throughout the year, especially in their partnership work in literacy, math, and science, as they strive to develop skills related to attentive listening, collaborative communication, and clear presentation of ideas.
Mathematics
We believe mathematics is an essential universal language, necessary as a reasoning tool to solve problems and make sense of our world. At ISB, mathematical thinkers use reasoning and apply skills to solve problems and make informed decisions about their world. The Grade 4 content standards and practices are:
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
- Gain familiarity with factors and multiples.
- Generate and analyze patterns.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
- Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers.
- Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
Number and Operations-Fractions
- Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering.
- Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers.
- Understand decimal notation for fractions and compare decimal fractions.
Measurement and Data
- Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from larger to smaller units.
- Represent and interpret data.
- Geometric measurement: understand the concept of angles and measure angles.
Geometry
- Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles.
Mathematical Practices
- Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
- Model with mathematics.
- Use appropriate tools strategically.
- Attend to precision.
- Look for and make use of structure.
- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Science
All science units are taught using hands-on inquiry activities designed to further the child's understanding of the content and foster the natural curiosity of elementary children.
Water
This unit helps students explore the properties of water, changes in water, and interactions between water and other earth materials. Students examine how water is used in different ways, naturally and through human adaptations, and how, as global citizens, our actions matter, especially in relation to water usage.
Magnetism and Electricity
This unit includes investigations designed to introduce or reinforce concepts in physical science. Students experience magnetism and electricity as related effects and learn useful applications of magnetism and electricity in everyday life. Students explore how humans can contribute to or hinder a sustainable future based on their choices of type and amount of energy use.
Social Studies
The Social Studies program at International School Bangkok aims to develop in Upper Elementary students the ability to think critically about the human condition and make informed decisions that guide social action.
The Influence unit examines the variety of influences that children have in their lives. It examines the cultural, geographical, and family influences that shape their beliefs and values and how these interact with ISB’s values. Students explore how these can influence our actions and decisions, thus leading to greater understanding and empathy.
The “Is it Fair” unit helps students understand their individual rights as children. With this understanding, they look to a broader community/world to examine situations where rights are not being met.
Health and Wellbeing
Students explore personal and social factors that support and contribute to their identities and emotional responses in varying situations. They also develop a further understanding of how their bodies grow and change as they get older, along with aspects of human body systems and physiology.
Typical Grade 4 Daily Schedule
7:40-7:45 Homeroom
7:45-9:15 Specialists (Art, PE, World Language, Music)
9:15-10:40 Core Learning Block 1
10:40-11:00 Recess
11:00-12:35 Learning Block 2
12:35-1:20 Lunch and Recess
1:20-2:20 Learning Block 3
