Grade 4

In Grade 4, students continue to flourish as independent thinkers and learners. The curriculum is structured to help students broaden their abstract-thinking skills. Literacy, social studies, math, science and art are often integrated to help students deepen their understanding of concepts and expand their learning processes. Group work allows students to enhance their critical- and creative-thinking skills, and collaboration further strengthens their ability to respect and build upon different learning styles and opinions. One of the first Grade 4 field trips is an extended day trip to a local coastline. Teachers of all disciplines chaperone the students as they set up camp on the beach; engage in physical-education activities; and participate in science projects, including monitoring ocean salinity. This trip fosters team-building skills and group work, which translate back to the classroom. K–4 teachers help establish their classroom community within the first six weeks of school and throughout the year. As part of the Responsive Classroom practice, students help create their classroom rules, engage in morning meetings and use collaborative problem-solving strategies. Students are encouraged to care for themselves, one another and their school community. As the oldest students in our building, Grade 4 students assume additional responsibility, including helping to run the weekly assembly. By the end of the year, each student has at least one opportunity to lead a community assembly.

STEAM 4

Students solve weekly challenges using LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robotics kits and software. Challenges involve programming their robotic cars using motors and ultrasonic, touch and color sensors. They also learn about debugging—how to identify and resolve programming problems—and also use partnership skills when working on shared projects. Students also design and build their own robotic projects and create programs and applications for real-world scenarios.
Art 4

Grade 4 self-portraits are a highlight in the art studio, incorporating painting skills acquired over previous years along with new skills and techniques, all grounded in thoughtful, close observation. While building upon their personal art-making and depiction skills, students also consider the many ways that art functions in different cultures and disciplines such as fashion, activism, or performance. In a combined Spanish and art project, students work collaboratively to create paper mache piñatas. Students create trophy sculptures as they learn techniques for molding, joining, and decorating clay. Other projects arise from student interest and curricular connections, such as investigating functional and fantastical designs to build models of tenement buildings in support of their work in social studies.
Dance 4

Students use elements of modern, contemporary, and jazz dance styles to explore space through movement within their personal kinespheres. Working collaboratively in pairs and small groups, they apply choreography tools including the use of positive and negative space, the device of “cause and effect”, and the Limón technique. Dance is connected to the broader world as students study the French movement company Géometrie Variable, work with a guest artist skilled in the Limón technique, and create choreography inspired by their social studies curriculum.
Literacy 4

Students build independence as readers and writers, using their skills in a variety of ways in individual and group projects. Reading genres including nonfiction, poetry, historical fiction, and realistic present-day fiction, students learn to gather information and perspective to support their own growing understanding of the world. Written work includes responses to literature, creative fiction, expository text, and a sustained project of historical fiction as students engage in a year-long integrated research study of immigration to the United States. Students learn strategies for reviewing, revising, and editing their own work to enhance clarity and expression. A focus on vocabulary, spelling, and study skills supports students’ confidence and success in mastering the humanities curriculum.
Mathematics 4

Students learn and reinforce skills for analyzing and solving problems with flexibility, fluency, and accuracy. As they solve increasingly complex multi-step, multi-operational story problems, students use a variety of mathematical models to guide and communicate their thinking. Students develop understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication and division, along with an understanding of factors and multiples. They find equivalent fractions and learn to add, subtract, and multiply fractions. Students work with angle measurements and other defining attributes to classify and categorize geometric figures.
Physical Education and Athletics 4

Students learn fundamental sport skills as they combine mature motor patterns with perceptual skills (throwing to a teammate, dribbling a ball, receiving a pass or striking a pitched ball). They discover ways of working with one another within a team setting as they acquire the basics of team strategies and competition.
Science 4

Students build upon their scientific skill set as they observe, question, test, and analyze their findings in a number of longer-term projects. The salt marsh study includes a field trip to sample organisms, then a series of safe and humane controlled experiments to test student hypotheses. Studying the forces of flight, students build contraptions that manipulate lift, drag, thrust, gravity, and wind resistance. In a combined science and STEAM project, students work in partnerships to design, build and program LEGO robots using motors and sensors that respond to touch, color, and ultrasonic input.
Social Studies 4

Using the lenses of history and geography, students complete an in-depth study focused on immigration through Ellis Island and Angel Island, and on the ways our country has developed and evolved over time. Students explore aspects of identity through individual experiences, family stories, history, and culture, all while considering how sharing our ideas, beliefs and perspectives allow us to express who we are in the world.
Spanish 4

Students practice and enhance their oral and written skills, engaging in a wide range of activities supporting clear expression of their ideas, requests, and interests. Language-rich resources such as level readers, labels, songs, and educational videos strengthen and expand their vocabulary. Pronunciation is honed through choral repetition, reading aloud, and the immersive language of the class. Cultural connections include combined Art and Spanish projects, and a study of renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Students develop confidence and ease with social interactions in Spanish through collaborative tasks such as dialogues, interviews, and surveys.
Music 4

Grade 4 music represents a major step into performance and ensemble mastery. Students joyfully apply their knowledge of the ukulele, recorder, and barred instruments to complex, collaborative, high-energy arrangements, including engaging bucket drumming and percussion ensembles. Choral singing advances to nuanced two and three-part harmonies, focusing on blend and expressive delivery. The curriculum continues to integrate Spanish language and world culture through more sophisticated songs, fostering advanced musicianship and deep cross-cultural appreciation.
Reading/Writing Workshop 4

Taught by Lower School Learning Specialists, our Readers and Writers Workshop classes focus on helping students develop skills in the areas of decoding, spelling, reading comprehension and vocabulary in order to help them develop into efficacious and independent learners.

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Curriculum Detail

SPL: Picker

Grade 4

STEAM 4

Art 4

Dance 4

Literacy 4

Mathematics 4

Physical Education and Athletics 4

Science 4

Social Studies 4

Spanish 4

Music 4

Reading/Writing Workshop 4

Middle & Upper School

Lower School

Athletic & Educational Facility