In fourth grade, students continue working as artists through TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) and are becoming adept at the studio habits that have been taught each year.  Materials and techniques are taught at the beginning of class, and students are given ample time to explore and experiment. Students improve upon their skills through practice and are asked to reflect upon their creations through critiques and written observations.  Students work autonomously, planning and creating works of art based on personal experiences and interests.  The work created is authentic and unique to each student.  Students are encouraged to express themselves through their artwork and given resources and guidance to do so.  Studios include drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, pottery, printmaking, and fiber arts.

The fourth-grade reading and language arts program intentionally devotes time to building relationships, blending social development and academic instruction, and making connections between what they know and what they are learning. 

Reading instruction is taught in whole and small groups using diverse texts from multiple genres. Students engage with texts, learning and discussing how and why authors organize certain information. Students use a variety of comprehension strategies, such as questioning, visualizing, making inferences, determining importance, summarizing, and synthesizing. These skills are practiced and applied throughout the school year in whole-group and small-group settings.  Teachers form flexible small groups based on similar reading behaviors such as reading strategies and comprehension skills.  Small group instruction focuses on developing and establishing student-led book clubs. Students read independently daily, practicing skills learned, such as self-monitoring. 

Students are taught to write with lessons focused on generating ideas, organizing, word choice, conventions, and voice. Throughout the school year, students go through the writing process; revising, proofreading, publishing, and sharing their final drafts with peers. Students are taught to write in a variety of genres, including personal narratives, fiction, nonfiction, and opinion pieces. 

Handwriting Without Tears is a developmental, engaging, multi-sensory program that is fun and easy to learn. The program is designed to help students naturally transition from print to cursive. Cursive is simplified by eliminating slants, loops, and curlicues. Students in fourth grade continue the work established in third-grade cursive writing. 

Word study is taught with a focus on morphological awareness. During word study lessons students learn how words are constructed and the meaning of the parts. That knowledge will transfer to new words the students encounter on their own.

Fourth graders incorporate the use of research methods in a large Biographical Project called Living Museum. During this project they cultivate their reading, listening, discussion and story retelling skills. They also learn to locate resources, use criteria to choose credible sources as well as to paraphrase and summarize information, avoiding plagiarism to create an all encompassing presentation in front of family, friends and students.

The mathematics program in fourth grade continues to build the foundation in computational and problem-solving skills. Using the Everyday Mathematics program, mathematical concepts are presented in a real-world context, with students solving problems cooperatively, as well as individually. Skill acquisition is monitored in practice, reteaching, enrichment, and extension activities using a variety of hands-on materials. Decimals, metric and standard measurement, fractions, time, and money are included in basic computation.

In fourth grade music, increased awareness of healthy vocal technique is emphasized alongside a basic understanding of music theory. Instrumentally, students reinforce their skills learned on the soprano recorder when they are introduced to the alto recorder. Skills in reading and writing musical notation are reinforced through singing, movement activities and folk dances, and playing Orff and classroom percussion instruments, ukuleles, and recorders. Students read, write, and perform more advanced rhythmic and melodic patterns.  Examples of classical, folk, contemporary, and world music are used throughout the school year to enhance each student's development in understanding musical concepts. Students are able to audition for our annual Lower School Talent Show and all students perform at Olympic Day, Spring Concert at Arts Jam, a schoolwide celebration of the arts, and their Moving Up Ceremony.

In fourth grade PE, students should be able to demonstrate activities that develop muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance. Students focus on the importance of motor skills and movement concepts to be successful in physical activity and/or sports. Students continue to work successfully in a group, regardless of personal differences while participating in games or activities.  Students are given the opportunity to participate in team sports such as: basketball, volleyball, handball, lacrosse, softball, football, soccer and hockey. Students are given the opportunity to participate in individual sports such as: tennis, gymnastics/tumbling, track & field, basketball, jump rope, dance, and recreational games (corn hole, horseshoes, bowling). Students in fourth grade also participate in The Cannon Health and Performance (CHAMP) Test. The assessment includes a variety of health-related physical fitness tests that assess aerobic capacity; muscular strength, muscular endurance, speed, power and flexibility. Scores from these assessments are compared to our overall class averages to determine students’ overall physical fitness and suggest areas for improvement when appropriate. Our goal as a Lower School Physical Education Department is for all students to be equipped with appropriate knowledge of varying sports and to develop a lifelong love for fitness.

The Lower School years are ones of rapid growth and development. Each new birthday brings tremendous change. Typical challenges and characteristics of children, by age and developmental stage, can be found on the School Counseling webpage along with recommended resources.

In the beginning of fourth grade, students focus on becoming better scientists by improving their general experimentation skills. After working on their research skills by studying the planets, students do science lab work to learn more about Earth science through the study of how earthquakes and volcanoes shape the planet. Fourth graders spend time experimenting with magnetism and electricity, observing seed germination and plant growth, and investigating animals through research and presentation of their findings.

The fourth grade social studies program, Social Studies Alive! America’s Past, covers American history from the first migrations into the Americas through the 20th century. Intense interaction with the personalities, places, and events that structured our nation leads students to be both keen observers of and informed participants in U.S. history.

The program is a marriage of the Communicative Language Approach (CLT) and the Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) approach. Both approaches encourage self-expression and communication.  Furthermore, the FLES approach emphasizes cross-curricular content and tasks at grade level.

Students build upon level 3, reviewing and adding vocabulary to every core unit.  They learn the plural pronouns we, you, and they which increases the number of dialogues, exchanges, and topics for writing.  During the action verb unit, they learn about the adventures in an imaginary trip to Spain.  They continue with rotations and choices as the main form of material recycling and Spanish acquisition.  For the cultural segment, fourth grade focuses on Spain, Guam, Equatorial Guinea, and Mexico.  Students continue to use their technology and research skills to create Google slide presentations on a Spanish-speaking country of choice.

In Lower School, our learning design involves high engagement, structured so that students are drawn into appropriate levels of challenge. Curiosity and creativity are nurtured, along with consistent encouragement for teamwork and partner work. Students are encouraged to try new things, and to think and talk through problem-solving steps. Students follow core values as they use media and technology.

During the fourth grade year, students work with robotics to create, load and test block-based scripts to control movement, LEDs, drawing, and more. Students also gain experience with coding using a variety of resources, including programming with Scratch 3.0. Our students grow in their adaptive learning through fun problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork!

Technology is integrated into classroom curriculum units to promote information literacy, creative work, and critical thinking. Students create and save files to a cloud-based account and share files to teachers and collaborators. Students also use quality learning software appropriate to their developmental level in the areas of literacy and reading, and in math and problem solving. Tech basics include digital citizenship education, keyboarding/writing, creative mixed media and presentations, and information literacy. Special emphasis is placed on comprehension, communication, organization, and research skills. This program helps students increase their sophistication levels in currently available technology, but also incorporates "learning to learn" in a way that will transfer to the technology tools of the future.