The Fourth Grade Reading program enables students to master their reading skills through literature, plays and poetry. They work on fluency and expression for both oral and silent reading. The Houghton Mifflin series offers skill work and some stories, but many of the stories are from trade books. Some of these titles include Skinnybones by Barbara Park, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman. Fourth Graders present book shares and formal responses throughout the year. Comprehension is reinforced at all cognitive levels as they expand their understanding of all story elements. There are several opportunities for girls to practice reading at school and they are encouraged to read at least 20 minutes from an independent book every night.
Creative and Expository Writing
The Fourth Grade writing program provides opportunities for various types of writing. Using the writing process, students create pieces following a specific style, pattern or format. Some of their writing pieces include different types of news stories and advertisements, dialogue for plays and poetry. Students use their laptops to create and polish their writing. They also organize and write book responses and research papers that they can share with the rest of the class. Students are encouraged to write creatively and to critique each others work. Teachers help to foster the enjoyment of writing as a means of communicating ideas.
Spelling
The Spelling program is based on the lessons in the Spellwell workbook, which builds on phonetic rules as well as sight words. Each week students have a spelling test on their current list. Teachers also include vocabulary which they encounter in literature or other areas of the curriculum.
All Fourth Grade students are expected to write in cursive using proper form, spacing and neatness. They have review and practice with their teacher on a daily basis.
The Fourth Grade curriculum is based on the Saxon math series. The program has a spiraling approach to scope and sequence. The girls learn new skills and concepts and revisit those taught in previous grades. Some of the skills and concepts they will learn involve measurement, decimals, fractions, geometry and the use of charts and graphs. The girls use mental math, manipulatives, word problems and problem solving on a daily basis. The five instructional practices implemented are daily warm-up (facts practice, mental math and problem-solving), daily lesson, daily practice, daily problem set and cumulative tests. Students also continue to develop mathematical skills through the use of online services.
The Fourth Grade Social Studies curriculum covers important people, events and issues in American history. Students study the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and immigration as their major topics. They learn research and map skills as they study the different periods. Many of the books they read are integrated with the language arts program. Some of these books include Jean Fritz titles such as Why Dont You Get on A Horse, Sam Adams? and Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? which support their study of the Revolutionary period in history. Through the use of their laptops and the library, students are exposed to historical information from various sources, and they create a research paper on a particular. Field trips to Fort McHenry and Gettysburg support the themes studied in class.
The Science curriculum covers a variety of topics including evolution and adaptation, physical and chemical properties, constellations, and rainforests. Students work in the lab and perform experiments using the scientific method. They also use the computer to investigate and learn about different constellations, rain forests, and other units of study. Fourth Graders gather research and are involved in a debate on deforestation. Other projects include reporting on how an animal adapts, a story explaining how a constellation got its name, and making a model of a molecule. Science class is interactive as students learn the scientific method and how to use it for many of their experiments.
The Music curriculum, designed to meet the National Standards for Music Education, presents Music concepts and skills in a logically sequenced and developmentally appropriate way. Using Silver Burdetts Music Connection 2000, Orff instruments and supplementary materials students sing, move, play instruments and engage in dramatic improvisation to Music. Elements of Music theory, vocabulary and staff notation are introduced and reinforced in relation to these activities. Students learn to analyze and discuss Music in terms of dynamics, articulation, tonality and mood. Previously taught concepts and skills are reinforced and expanded. Specific songs and Musical examples frequently coordinate with and reinforce the academic curriculum. Structured listening lessons including Music of Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Menotti, and Prokofiev, as well as contemporary, popular and world Music, heighten Musical awareness while students become acquainted with Music of various styles, eras, genres and cultures. Students thus learn to express themselves Musically in meaningful ways and to make valid aesthetic judgments about Music. Fourth Graders perform Music at Winter Sing, Spring Sing and for their class play.
Fourth Grade students begin to understand the differences among visual characteristics and purposes of art in order to convey ideas. As the program becomes more serious, the students learn in appropriate ways, more about form and the creation of the illusion of form on a two-dimensional surface. The children make fantasy food out of clay, draw imaginary fish and create spirit rocks modeled after work done by Northwest Coast Native American people. Each year the students create a book in conjunction with their language arts, which can involve many different media, principles of photography are introduced, and the girls work in clay and do collages. The Lower School art program encourages students to develop an awareness of art, as it exists in the world around us. The children use a variety of materials and work in both two and three-dimensional formats. Through exposure to many cultures and the history of art, the young artists learn to observe the work of others and see how their work contributes to the wealth of the arts. As they continue through the curriculum, they are working toward independent and critical thinking. They scenery for class plays is produced by the students in the art room in close coordination with the classroom teachers. Each year culminates in an art show where work from every student is displayed.