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Fourth Grade 
Fourth grade is a time of tremendous growth in the life of a child. The students enter our class emerging into independent thinkers. Our role is to encourage this thinking to develop, guide them towards making the right choices and enable them to take responsibility for their learning. We work across the year to give them the tools they need to be able to fully develop their critical thinking and express their opinions in a confident and coherent manner. We integrate our reading and social studies programs to increase student engagement in both areas. Our students study many facets of New Jersey, reading historical fiction and non-fiction works to foster an interest in, and to create personal connections to, the subjects that are covered. Some of our major topics are the geography and development of the state, the Lenape Indians and the first settlers of New Jersey. We finish the year with a celebration of New Jersey, during which the children create an enormous, edible map of the state! Another unit, which provokes incredible student engagement, is the topic of immigration. Within this unit the students cover family trees, historical family connections, carry out interviews with immigrants to this country, and read and learn about times in history when people have been forced to emigrate. Without a doubt, major highlights of the year are our trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, as well as the visit to our classroom of a Holocaust survivor who came to America. Math is always an exciting time in fourth grade. This is the year when all of the early grade preparation comes to fruition. The students use their multiplication tables in multiple-digit multiplication and in long division. They also study the relationship between fractions and decimals. Problem solving, math games, and logic work, create an exhilarating math experience. Enrichment is provided for more capable students, and everyone in the class is encouraged to undertake this work if they want to. Our science curriculum is rich and varied, covering components of human science, earth science and physical science. Our fourth graders work individually and in teams on multiple projects including understanding the human body; breaking down the structure of an animals bones and ligaments; creating mind maps showing how energy sources interact; developing their own electrical circuits; and finally, studying rocks and minerals. A highlight of this subject area is the work we do on food webs and chains - it is wonderful watching this age group work out where they fit in our world, and how they can have an impact on it. Our fourth graders also enjoy lesson time every week with our Spanish and French teachers, and it is fabulous to witness them start to really progress in both of these languages. We also introduce Latin to our fourth grade, with a lesson taking place every other week. In addition they attend computer studies, art and music, and we work hard with the teachers of these subject areas to ensure our curriculum themes are fully integrated in these lessons. In fourth grade, every child learns to play the penny whistle - and it is a major highlight of our year to see the class perform at numerous events both on and off campus. Our field trips include a visit to Trenton, where we tour the State House, the State Museum and the State Barracks; a trip to the Orchestra to study the instruments interaction; and as mentioned before, our trip to Ellis Island. During the year our fourth graders stay committed to service projects, with their key activity being the leading of a cross-school UNICEF collection at Halloween. This year is a time of tremendous social, emotional and intellectual growth - and by the end of the year we love seeing that our students are ready to go forth and handle the challenges of grade five! Fourth Grade Curriculum Overview: Reading/Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
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