Why Fourth Grade at Friends Academy?
In fourth grade, students begin to possess more maturity, independence, and confidence than in previous years, but they are still eager to learn and love to play. At Friends, these burgeoning school leaders are given opportunities to showcase their interests and talents, and they feel safe to take risks and make mistakes in our supportive, close-knit Lower School environment.
The fourth grade curriculum dives deeply into the history, geography, and culture of the United States as its central theme, spanning subject areas including social studies, language arts, science, music, and art. Students consider what they can learn from the past to become better stewards of our country now and in the future. They also strengthen their writing, reading, and math skills to prepare them for the academic challenges of fifth grade and beyond.
Although academic expectations increase in fourth grade, students still have fun while learning through workshops, games, partner activities, and independent challenges. Students continue to develop a growth mindset by identifying and sharing problem-solving strategies and responding with flexibility and positivity. Both inside and outside of the classroom, teachers devote time to working through important life skills, including conflict resolution, clear communication, mindfulness, self-regulation, and being a good friend.
Find a Place for Your Child in Fourth Grade at Friends Academy
Request more information about fourth grade or begin an application for your child today.
Meet the Fourth Grade Team
The fourth grade team at Friends Academy includes classroom teachers, specialists, and administrators. They work together to get to know each child personally and create a comprehensive, interdisciplinary education.
Fourth Grade Curriculum
At the end of each week, the fourth grade teacher sends out a newsletter to families with photos and updates about what students learned that week. (See a sample newsletter.)
Language Arts (Reading and Writing)
- Through a workshop model, explore a variety of types of writing including personal narratives, fiction, poetry, research writing, and persuasive essays
- Build comprehension strategies such as summarizing, visualizing, making connections, interpreting, and predicting
- Develop spelling, grammar, handwriting, and typing skills
- Strengthen reading stamina and comprehension, explore different genres, and develop critical reading skills through reading workshop, class novels, and independent reading
Mathematics
- Expand upon, reinforce, and cement essential math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)
- Engage with more complex problems (i.e. multi-digit multiplication)
- Introduction to decimals via work with fractions
- Continuation of geometric concepts with a focus on perimeter and area
- Identify and share problem-solving strategies and respond to challenges with flexibility and positivity
Social Studies
- Study the history, geography, and cultures of the United States, broken down into four regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West)
- Explore indigenous peoples, states and capitals, national parks and major landmarks, and significant historical events (Whaling, Civil Rights, Westward Expansion/Trail of Tears, and Gold Rush) in each region
- Build upon research skills and apply them to long-term, inquiry-based projects
Science
- Explore marine ecosystems – particularly whales, including their species, behaviors, and adaptations – as well as food webs and environmental impacts
- Learn about energy and electricity, including energy transfer, circuits, conductors, and batteries
- Begin to investigate geology (the rock cycle, types of rocks, and the difference between rocks and minerals)
- Understand the steps of the engineering process and how they can be used to solve a problem or challenge
Physical Education
- Promote physical activity and the benefits of healthy living
- Develop movement skills – including locomotor movements, ball manipulative skills, and dance/gymnastics – and understand when to apply skills in game play
- Practice life skills such as teamwork, cooperation, respect, taking turns, following directions, and communicating with peers
Art
- Understanding of foreground, middle ground, and background
- Recognizing color relationships (analogous and monochromatic)
- Differentiating between realism and abstraction
- Reflection on art-making process and an ability to assess their progress
Music
- Develop functional musicianship skills
- Learn to read sheet notation
- Explore arrangement of music
- Read traditional notation in multiple clefs and meters
- Learn the basics of piano, including stepwise and skipping melodies, playing melodies by ear, reading lead sheet notation, and accompaniment of a pop song cover
Spanish
- Gain confidence in using a new language by acquiring basic Spanish vocabulary and looking at simple Spanish stories.
- Learn about Spanish-speaking countries and their capitals to show where the Spanish language comes from.
Library
- Learn techniques and ethics of research, including searching databases, choosing reputable websites, and including proper citations
- Practice methods of organizing digital research, such as saving images on Google Drive
- Write a research paper about an author
- Discover new books for independent reading time