My name is Ms. Strider and I am the Grade 4 LET (Learning Expert Teacher) at BASIS Independent Bellevue. I stay with my class of students throughout the day, supporting both their academic development and personal growth. While Grade 4 students follow a full schedule similar to upper grades, my role is to help them build responsibility and independence as they prepare for Grade 5. I work closely with our Subject Expert Teachers (SETs) to collaboratively teach each subject, ensuring lessons are engaging and connected across disciplines. Because I see my students in every class, I gain a deep understanding of their learning needs and strengths. This allows me to form meaningful relationships with families and provide thoughtful, and accurate updates on student progress throughout the year.
My day with Grade 4 begins at 7:55 AM when I pick my students up from the multi-purpose room and we head to our lockers to get ready for our day. Students get to say hello to their friends each morning, catch each other up on their fencing practice or dance rehearsal, and get the last of their wiggles out before it is time for class.
Period 1: Science with Ms. Delp!
The first five minutes of each class look fairly similar throughout the day. Students are filling out their CJs (communication journals) and following any directions on the board as a warm up. In Science, students’ daily warm up is to copy down the notes from the board into their science folders so they have all the necessary information ready to go when it is time for a discussion or to start collecting data. Ms. Delp and I work together to provide Grade 4 students with materials, guidelines, and data points for a variety of different scientific activities. In the first month of school, we have measured our wingspans and compared our lengths to that of birds, tested if double stuffed Oreos are actually doubled stuffed, and explored surface tension by adding singular water droplets to pennies. Once we have our notes, completed our experiments, and graphed our data, it is time to clean up, pack up, and line up for our next class.
Period 2: Specials—Music, Art, Drama or Engineering!
Primary students have a variety of specials throughout the week. This morning’s special is Engineering with Ms. DiBattista! Our Specials classes look different than the classic LET/SET model. During these classes, I sometimes work with small groups of students in various levels of reading groups conduct interventions or enrichment. Today, I pulled a few of my students to conduct a reading intervention activity, while the rest of my class did an engineering lesson with Ms. DiBattista. Students’ reading levels are decided by our process of reading assessments that happen once per trimester. With that data, students are placed into small groups, of 3–5 students, and work directly with me on various reading strategies such as identifying the main idea, providing text evidence, or determining character motivation. Building these skills will help students in English class, advance their literacy skills, and most importantly, allow them to be able to read and understand texts independently.
Period 3: English with Ms. Tseng!
Just like in Science class, students begin class by filling out their CJ’s, noting any homework or upcoming assessments, and working independently on their warm ups. Ms. Tseng and I usually collect this work and begin getting students ready for their Novel Study. Currently, we are reading The Phantom Tollbooth! We take turns reading pages in the book between Ms. Tseng, myself, and the students. Learning to annotate texts is a skill we are building and growing in Grade 4. The Phantom Tollbooth is great practice for these skills, as it has several settings and characters. Ms. Tseng may pause the reading to point out a vocabulary word that we need to write down. I may also pause when we meet a new character to take notes about their description and add a sticky note annotation. English class flies by when everyone is so invested in the story! Time to clean up, pack up, and line up for lunch and recess.
Period 5: Math with Ms. Tessler!
These consistent classroom routines make a huge difference in the lives of the students and the teachers. No matter what subject, students know exactly how each class is going to start and exactly what each teacher is expecting their behaviors should be. Grade 4 enters math class, fills out their CJs, and begins their math warm up. Math warm ups are usually a set of problems covering material that we learned the day before. I will go over the warm up with the class, model the work on the board, and answer any questions. Ms. Tessler will get the class set up and ready for notes in their math notebooks. As students are taking notes or working on their independent math assignment, this is a great time for me to look for students who are exhibiting qualities of P.A.C.E (perseverance, active, community, and empathy). Students who show one or more of these qualities at any time during the day receive a PACE Pass. Students turn in their earned passes to the front office to enter the grade level weekly raffle for a chance to win a small prize every Friday. Once all of our daily math tasks have been completed, it is time to clean up, pack up, and line up!
Period 6: Specials or Mandarin!
Three days of the week, Grade 4 has Mandarin class. There are two different Mandarin classes that students are sorted into from the beginning of the year based on ability-level. I do not attend Mandarin class, so I spend this time meeting with SETs, planning reading groups, or having an extra cup of coffee and a snack.
However, this afternoon is Drama with Mr. Mullens! Once all of the students have entered the drama space, filled out their CJs, and listened to Mr. Mullens’ daily expectations, I begin pulling another round of small reading groups. Groups can meet once, twice, or three times a week depending on students’ needs for reading and decoding texts. In Drama class, students are working in three different casts to write their own scripts for the upcoming spring performance. Even though some students are pulled away during the script writing, the entire cast works collaboratively and is able to quickly and effectively fill in any students upon their return to the classroom.
AE (Academic Enrichment) Time!
All students Grade 4 and above have a 20-minute AE period each afternoon. There are a variety of ways to spend a Grade 4 AE period: study hall, brain breaks, or most often, SEL (Social Emotional Learning), lessons and activities. For our SEL lessons we utilize a program called CharacterStrong at BASIS Independent Bellevue. Each month is centered around a character trait theme—October’s is Responsibility. Throughout the month, our class engages in mini-lessons, discussions, videos, and games designed to help students learn about and practice being responsible in their daily lives. Because academic expectations are high on this campus–even in the primary grades–it’s important to remind students that they are more than their grades, and that being a kid is about learning and growing in all areas of life.
Period 7: History with Ms. Rieger!
Our last core class of the day, but procedures and expectations remain the same. Students enter the classroom quietly, fill out their CJs with today’s topic, homework, and upcoming tests. Warm ups in History require students to have their binders and answer the questions on the board neatly on a piece of notebook paper. When the five–minute timer goes off, I read each question with the students and go over the answers. Often in this course there is some background information to read before students can dive deep into the new content, analyze cause and effects, and collect evidence. At the beginning of class I will read the passages with the students and have some student helpers annotate for vocabulary and important details. Then Ms. Rieger will share her slides, photographs, or stories about the time period we are focusing on and begin to ask critical thinking questions to the class. After notes, worksheets, or discussions, it is time to clean up, pack up, and line up once again.
Period 8: PE with Coach Shelp!
“Welcome to your favorite class!” is the way Coach Shelp begins PE. This class is different from Art, Music, and Drama because I always attend PE with my class. PE is a great way to get moving and learn about sportsmanship. Students begin each PE class by jogging some laps around the gym. Once we are warmed up, it is time to play—dodgeball, soccer, pickleball and more! We congratulate our teammates and exchange kind words with our opponents. Time flies in PE and then it is time to grab all of our belongings from our lockers and go home!
After all of my students have been picked up from dismissal, I meet with my co-teaching SETs to collaborate on lessons for the following week. After school you will find me at home in the coziest pajamas crocheting or snuggling with my cat. Another great day in Grade 4!
