4th Grade PAT Curriculum

Fourth graders will look at the theme of Structure and how it effects everything. As part of this study they will brainstorm then categorize everything they can think of that relates to structure to see if they can discover the universal generalizations about structure.

We will begin the fall semester introducing the students to Edward deBono's CoRT Thinking program. Activities using this approach to discussion will continue throughout the year. Discussion for the fall semester will concentrate on helping students review objectives to reach a goal (AGO) and to consider other peoples' viewpoints when in the same situation (OPV).

During the fall semester students will also be researching enigmas. We will be using the Texas Performance Standards Project as a basis to conduct this more formal investigation. Students will write a Statement of Purpose to drive their research as they investigate the history and theories that have been proposed to explain the enigma they have chosen to research. Each investigative team will present their findings to a larger audience presenting their findings from at least two different specific points of view.

Near the end of the first semester the students will spend several weeks studying the structure of mysteries. They will use their critical and deductive thinking skills as they work with a group to solve several mysteries. Some of the mysteries will be related to literature.

During the spring semester the students will become engineers and work together to solve engineering problems. Some problems will involve working with a partner, others will be a small group working together to find the best solution. All will require the students to use their creative thinking skills to find several solutions to the problem and their critical thinking skills to find the best solution to execute.

We will be studying and building bridges and skyscrapers as well as testing structures for strength and endurance. As part of this process the students will analyze famous bridges or skyscrapers and propose the structures they feel should be recognized as an exemplary example of each type of structure.

Our focus will then shift to one with a strong geometry emphasis. Using Zometools, students will first build regular polygons and be able to name the number of sides, vertices, kind of angles, as well as the sum of the angles in each regular polygon. They will then move on to discover and build Platonic solids and find the number of edges, the number of faces and how many faces come together at each vertex.

Creativity will be another focus throughout the year as students explore the Creative Problem Solving process and the SCAMPER technique. This technique is a structured way to look at how something can be changed into a new idea or product. The students always have fun with these activities.

Every PAT class also includes opportunities for building various thinking skills. Each class begins or ends with quick brainteaser activities that we call anchor activities. These activities usually take less than 15-20 minutes of our class and are done to not only encourage thinking, but to build the ability to assess problems quickly and to push the students in their ability to deal with problems that may be challenging or frustrating. Students are encourage to "Try again" if they do not find a correct solution on their first attempt to encourage persistance and motivation. The students will be introduced to or review various anchor activities throughout the year. In fourth grade these include:


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