Fourth-grade students are emerging from early childhood and entering a new world of independence and responsibility. They are changing from students who are learning to read to students who are reading to learn and moving from being literal learners to conceptual thinkers. This is a time when students gain a sense of confidence and when new academic and intellectual possibilities are well within their reach. Fourth grade can be a particularly empowering year.
On the first day of school, independence and cooperation are encouraged as students discuss, agree by consensus, and write and sign their own class guidelines that set the tone for the year. Every action that a fourth-grade student takes be it in the classroom or on the playground, is judged by these rules of conduct which generally incorporate issues of communication, respect, kindness, and safety. The books we read in literature class, the work we do in social studies, the cooperation we depend upon in math class, and the parent-run ‘Appreciating Differences’ curriculum in which we partake, serve to address and emphasize these issues.
As fourth-grade students gain independence, they become engaged in an increasing number of different learning pathways. They research from multiple sources, including the internet, guest speakers, and experiential programs. Through oral and artistic forms of expression and extensive personal writing, students share their knowledge with their classmates thus becoming both learner and teacher.
As fourth-grade students write their own poems, they gain confidence in public speaking and surety of their own voice. On numerous occasions, fourth-grade students read and perform for parents, friends, and peers.
Throughout the year they leave their classroom to visit multi-handicapped students, an Islamic school, various places of worship, and to find out about Middle Eastern foods and culture.
Above all, they are asked to respect differences of view-points and opinions. While they often work closely with parents, we ask them to take increasing responsibility for their own work, ideas, and actions.
The academic program is demanding but also full of adventure and fun in the midst of a compelling, complex, and an inviting central subject/multi-disciplinary approach.
Literature and Writing
The importance of writing in the fourth grade is apparent as soon as one enters the classroom. At any given moment, some children may be writing on the laptops, self-editing with red pens, or sharing with each other in the conference corners. They may be collating their stories and poems for publication into class anthologies or busily preparing for poetry readings.
Our program is based on the conviction that children invest energy and care in developing their writing skills when they are given the chance to choose their own topics, the time to craft their pieces, and the opportunity to make responses that are both useful and respectful. They share the joys and struggles of authorship when they participate in a supportive community of writers.
The Writing Process is designed to encourage both the satisfaction in expressing feelings and ideas and in realizing that written language is a meaningful form of communication. In Grade 4, children participate in writing workshops several times a week, where they select topics, write and revise drafts, and publish their work. Throughout this process, they ask for, and receive, frequent responses from their teachers and peers.
Children learn writing mechanics primarily through individual editing conferences with the teacher. Skills are also developed through weekly lessons on spelling and daily mini lessons on capitalization and punctuation. We continually emphasize the connections between reading and writing; after focusing on specific stylistic elements in their reading, children are encouraged to use these techniques to enrich their own stories and poems.
Literature is a tool for understanding ourselves and others. It should be an ongoing source of enjoyment, to be experienced alone as well as with other people. Through guided discussion and collaborative writing, children learn to write coherent plot summaries, character sketches, theme analyses, and critiques. Because we believe that an emphasis on the reading-writing connection is essential, students are encouraged to think about the ways in which authors make choices as they craft their writing. Several times a year students present their independent reading in thoughtful and creative ways.
Later in the year, children participate in book discussions that are more student-directed. Each student writes personal responses that often become take-off points for spirited group discussions. During these discussions, children share feelings and observations about such topics as: what motivates a character, why an author decides to begin or end a chapter in a certain way, or how a conflict in the book relates to a personal experience or to a previously read story. Students are encouraged to pose interesting questions, to focus on one another’s contributions, and to add relevant ideas and information in a supportive and courteous way.
Mathematics
There are many opportunities for students to construct their own understandings about patterns, relationships, measurements, and numbers. Estimation and mental math account for much of the mathematical thinking that is done by adults in the real world and is also an important contribution to enhancing confidence in our maturing mathematical thinkers.
Students practice computation of whole numbers using all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Fractions and decimals are introduced at a conceptual level with pattern blocks, base ten blocks, fraction kits, and money, in order to make explicit the relationships between parts and wholes.
Fourth-grade students are exposed to the big ideas of equality, inequality, comparison, and multiple representations as they gain fluency in composing and decomposing numbers.
They are expected to memorize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts as tools to help make computing more efficient. We honor many ways of approaching an arithmetic problem including standard algorithms. We encourage multiple strategies to solve any one problem so that when a student faces a new, complex, or unfamiliar problem, he or she has a deep repertoire of possible approaches to solve it.
Problem solving is the foundation of our program, and students may solve problems independently or together. Some of the problems come from our real world (Can we figure out how far it is to the Junior Building? Can we figure out how to convert money for traveling to other destinations?), and some are just interesting challenges. Some have one right answer (How many total presents are there in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”?) and others may have a variety of answers depending on approach (How much do all the gifts in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” cost?).
Above all we want our students to be enchanted by the beauty of mathematics, empowered by their increasing abilities, and excited by new challenges.
Social Studies
We embark on a year-long adventure which takes us on a tour of the ancient and present day Middle East. We begin with an archaeological approach to studying the culture of Mesopotamia. In the late fall, students research, from an historical perspective, the culture of Ancient Egypt. And finally, in the spring of the year, students look, from a contemporary point of view, at the cultures in today's Middle Eastern world.
Because students, developmentally, are now reading to learn, they are on the threshold of becoming budding researchers. Through a carefully sequenced research process, they begin as collaborative scholars and end up being able to independently collate material from diverse sources. Initially we read together and summarize together, then read together and summarize separately, until everyone is able to venture off independently in search of information. As students prepare to be experts for the Middle Eastern Fair, they research from a wide variety of sources and then, independently, take notes and write creative reports.
From the beginning of the year until the very last day, students are involved in creating projects, reports, historical fiction, and pen pal letters, that incorporate information they have gleaned from their research. The final project reflects work in a number of disciplines, including art, music, writing, mathematics, science, and the social sciences. The children, their parents, and the teachers, as well as guest speakers and numerous other students, celebrate with a huge Middle Eastern bazaar, complete with authentic music and dance. Children and guests haggle noisily over student-made wares.
Throughout the year students work independently and collaboratively both on written assignments and projects. They are expected to read critically, pose questions, compare cultures, and reach an understanding of the ways in which people in different times and different places do things.
Technology
Throughout the Lower School, children explore different kinds of computing environments. Building on our children’s inquisitiveness we encourage them to experience different creative roles such as designers, builders, critics, and problem-posers. Children use technology as a part of their daily routines, whether they are experimenting with geometry by directing a Logo turtle, writing their memoirs using a word processor, creating a multimedia presentation on the life of an ancient Egyptian pyramid worker, constructing and programming a robot using Legos, or recording a field trip using digital cameras.
Each Fourth Grader is given a laptop computer to use and be responsible for during the school day. While children use the laptop for everyday tasks of writing and researching, they also become comfortable with the operating system and hardware of their laptops. Children continue to use the internet as a resource and discuss how to evaluate information found online. Fourth Graders experiment with ways to use technology to convey information, creating presentations, animated movies, and photo galleries. Fourth Graders also use computer programming languages to expand their critical thinking skills. Children learn to plan a solution to a problem and then test and modify that solution.
Art
While Fourth Grade art students are introduced to several new materials and techniques, a primary focus this year is on expanding and honing their art-making skills in order to express their more complex and personal ideas. Interdisciplinary units this year will include an in-depth artist study in conjunction with the fourth grade summer reading book, The Artsy Smartsy Club. Through visual and written research, student will become experts about a particular artist and make a painting in his or her style, as well as learn how to look at and interpret the works of seven other artists. Students also investigate more fully the world of sculpture as they design and create their own Egyptian mask, and make clay mosaic tiles based on designs of the Middle East. Students meet for 45 minute periods twice per week.
Library
The exploration of the library begins with a review of the fiction, folk/fairy tale, short story, biography, non-fiction, and reference sections and expands to include a more systematic and in-depth examination of these areas. The students’ knowledge of the Dewey Classification System and use of the card catalog is reinforced and expanded as the students select and use books for their social studies projects. They learn to locate and use almanacs, encyclopedias, and other reference books. As the students select specific types of books for their homeroom book projects, they become acquainted with various literary forms.
A study of world artists reinforces the homeroom emphasis on “point of view”. Children work individually and in groups as they research a particular artist in order to understand what makes him or her unique.
As always, the students’ love of literature is nurtured as they enthusiastically explore the library and choose reading books to take home.
Music
Fourth grade students continue to develop their musical ability through singing, playing instruments, listening, note reading, and movement. In addition they begin to explore composition and improvisation using technology. The fourth grade has several opportunities throughout the year to sharpen their skills in musical performances, as they participate in all chorus and orchestra presentations. In chorus the fourth grade will develop their ability to sing in two-part harmony as they practice posture, breathing, diction, and stage presence. A study of the symphony orchestra culminates in a trip to a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance. As in all music activities, students are encouraged to work together cooperatively and productively to create a rewarding and enjoyable ensemble experience.
Physical Education
Fourth-grade students continue to explore space and to use their bodies in a variety of ways. In fourth grade, more emphasis is put on using locomotor and manipulative (ball and stick handling) skills in various sports. We incorporate skills of running, sliding, and jumping into games, and stress moving
one’s body in relation to a ball or to other people. Strategies of sports such as soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and softball are taught in small-sided games allowing for maximum participation for all. Fourth-grade students ice-skate during the winter term and practice track and field events in the spring.
An important part of the fourth-grade curriculum is a team building unit emphasizing cooperation and group problem solving. Fourth-grade students continue to build on their knowledge of fitness and work towards improving their own fitness level.
Science
Children are curious! They work hard to make sense of their world. In science we encourage and expect students to develop an understanding of the physical world by investigating questions they have about how things work, what things are, and why they do what they do. Often in answering questions, students find more mysteries and questions to investigate. Science in the Lower School uses exploration and discovery to develop skills and cognitive thinking processes. Students will observe, describe, classify, predict, build, measure, test, collect data, sort, interpret data, and explore, within the context of meaningful experimentation.
Students in the fourth grade study several topics as a means of developing these skills. Among other units they will study archaeology (making connections with their social studies curriculum), buoyancy and the principles behind floating and sinking; the physics and behavior of bubbles; and the life of a pond ecosystem. Students will also work on a number of engineering projects throughout the year, often connecting them to other work they are doing.
Because communication is a means of refining our knowledge, students keep a record of their observations, data, and experiments in a lab notebook, and share their ideas in discussions. A primary goal is for the students to feel comfortable exploring different materials and to use them to answer questions and solve problems.
Woodworking
The building of an 8"x 16" box out of 1"x 8" pine ensures exposure to the ruler, try square, block plane, nail set, and hammer. This required project takes a good part of the year and emphasizes proficiency in basic woodworking skills. After this, students pursue their own ideas and have a chance to use a variety of power tools. A finished project is required and often a preliminary drawing or plan is needed. When possible, project ideas overlap with social studies topics.
Appreciating Differences
Throughout the year, the fourth grade participates in a parent-run program dealing with differences which may include chronic illness, blindness, deafness, allergies, or physical and mental impairments. Children experience and learn so that fears and stereotypes can be dispelled and sensitivity encouraged.
Oral Interpretation
The Performing Arts Program continues in fourth grade with oral interpretation. Fourth grade students engage in the art of performing literature aloud, and finding the potential in their own voices. They learn a variety of techniques including voice and body skills, storytelling, and elements of public speaking. During the course of the year students prepare performances including both poetry and prose.
