About the Teacher
My name is Rachel Fairbanks, and I am so excited to be teaching your children this year! This is my seventeenth year teaching and fifteenth year teaching here at Christ the King. I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a loving community of teachers, families, and students! I have a B.A. in English Literature from Trinity College in Connecticut and a Masters in Education from the University of Massachusetts. I am licensed to teach both Elementary School and Middle and High School Language Arts. I am a graduate of Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona, and I am passionate about Catholic education!
Throughout my childhood and young adult life, I lived all over the country (Michigan, Texas, Arizona, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). I moved to Seattle eighteen years ago and have never looked back! In my free time, I love to travel, swim, read, and spend time with family and my labradoodle Roger.
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching philosophy centers on creating a classroom community where students feel safe to take risks, learn from mistakes, and develop both academically and personally. I believe students learn best when they feel a sense of belonging and understand that they are an important part of the classroom community.
Building a strong classroom community is the foundation of my teaching. I establish clear expectations, encourage collaboration, and provide opportunities for students to learn from and support one another. By fostering respect, empathy, and trust, I help students develop the confidence to participate, ask questions, and persevere through challenges.
Most importantly, I believe that teaching the whole child means addressing students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. Academic growth is important, but students also need opportunities to develop self-confidence, communication skills, independence, resilience, and healthy relationships. I strive to create a classroom where students feel comfortable expressing their needs and where social-emotional learning is integrated into the everyday learning environment. When students feel supported as individuals, they are better prepared to engage in learning and reach their potential.
I strive to create a classroom where students feel comfortable expressing their needs and where social-emotional learning is integrated into the everyday learning environment.
Rachel Fairbanks
Curriculum Overview
I firmly believe that students learn best when challenged at a level that is appropriate to their individual needs. I have worked hard to develop a curriculum that is both challenging and flexible. Students will work independently, with partners, in small groups, one-on-one with me, and as a whole class, depending on the needs of the students and the framework of the lesson.
Religion
We will be participating in weekly Mass on Fridays, and our class will be hosting four school Masses throughout the year. You will be notified of these in advance. In fourth grade religion class, we will be studying stewardship, the Holy Trinity, the Beatitudes, Saints, and the Sacraments. We will be memorizing two prayers this year: Saint Francis’s Prayer for Peace and the Memorare. Our classroom Saint in Fourth Grade is Saint Francis of Assisi.
Math
In fourth grade, we follow the Bridges in Mathematics curriculum, a K-5 program that helps us meet the Common Core State Standards while making math more meaningful and exciting. This curriculum focuses on developing students’ deep understandings of mathematical concepts, proficiency with key skills, and ability to solve new and complex problems. Bridges blends direct instruction, structured investigation, and open exploration. Bridges taps into the strengths of all students by presenting material that is linguistically, visually, and kinesthetically rich.
Please refer to the “Helpful Links for Fourth Grade” section on this page for a very useful website that has many resources for families, including free math apps that are digital replicas of many of the manipulatives we use in the classroom.
Reading
Fourth graders will read a variety of genres throughout the school year through the Reader’s Workshop model. Reading will also be integrated into other content areas. In fourth grade, we will read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and textbooks. Students will read independently and with a variety of book groups. I will provide instruction in comprehension strategies, fluency, text features, elements of literature, and responding to text in writing and conversation with classmates.
Writing/English Language Arts
Writing in fourth grade is taught using a Writing Workshop approach. Skills are taught in mini-lessons, and writers will write, participate in conferences, and share their work. Students will keep a notebook of writing ideas, and the writing process will be our focus. Lessons on conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization) will be embedded in Writer’s Workshop. As we learn new grammar and spelling skills, we will be creating anchor charts in our writing notebooks. This notebook will be used as a reference tool for students to use during all writing assignments. Students will practice their writing skills in all content areas. Fourth graders will also be reinforcing the cursive skills they learned in third grade, using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.
Science and Social Studies
Science and Social Studies are closely intertwined in fourth grade. Science is largely focused on our year-long project of raising salmon. In addition to the many benefits of this hands-on science project, the 4th graders learn about the interrelationships in ecosystems, environmental stewardship, and the importance of salmon to Pacific Northwest commerce and culture. The emphasis of Social Studies in fourth grade is on Washington State. Throughout the year, we learn about Washington’s history, geography, and economy. Salmon play an integral role in each of these disciplines.
Social Emotional Learning
Social Emotional Learning is more important than ever and is incorporated into all of our learning. By following the Responsive Classroom model paired with the Zones of Regulation curriculum, the fourth graders work on honing their social skills (with an emphasis on cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, self-control, and empathy) and building a toolbox of strategies to help them manage their emotions and impulses.
For more information on Responsive Classroom and the Zones of Regulation, please refer to the “Helpful Links for Fourth Grade” section on this page.
Technology
In 5th grade, technology topics and skills are integrated into content areas. Topics and skills include: device basics, touch typing, word processing, multimedia presentations, digital citizenship (social media, online etiquette, safety and communication skills), internet research (citing sources, reliable sources, search engines), and troubleshooting.
Highlights
Through the Salmon in Schools Program, our fourth graders raise over 200 chum salmon for the first three stages of their lifecycle: egg, alevin, and fry. While applying such core skills as observation and data collection, they learn about life cycles, interrelationships in ecosystems, environmental stewardship, and the importance of salmon to Pacific Northwest commerce and culture. The fourth graders are actively involved in caring for our salmon, monitoring water temperature and chemistry, cleaning the tank, changing the water, documenting salmon behavior, and eventually feeding them when they are fry.
Before releasing our salmon into Pipers Creek in the spring, we complete a culminating research project. Each fourth grader conducts research on salmon as well as an environmental issue impacting Puget Sound. We then invite each class from preschool through third grade into our classroom to meet our salmon friends and learn all about salmon as the fourth graders present their findings.
