Fourth Grade Experience

Our Lower School literacy curriculum focuses on the Five Pillars of Reading: phonics, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Instruction is grounded in scientific evidence about how the brain acquires language, and it is designed to inspire a love of reading and writing for learning and pleasure. Instruction is delivered through two programs: IMSE (Institute for Multi-Sensory Education) and Wit & Wisdom. Both programs align with the Science of Reading, have a clear scope and sequence, and explicitly teach literacy skills. IMSE is an Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching phonics and morphology. Wit & Wisdom is a knowledge-based language arts curriculum designed to help students build the knowledge and skills they need to be successful readers and writers, and effective communicators. It intentionally builds knowledge across grade levels, integrates writing into the unit modules, and provides rich text sets that align with our LS SEL and DEIB goals. Literacy instruction in 4th grade is differentiated to provide students with appropriate enrichment and support. Students work in small groups, in partnerships, and one-on-one with teachers.

Fourth Grade Modules:
Module 1: A Great Heart
Module 2: Extreme Settings
Module 3: The Redcoats are Coming!
Module 4: Myth Making
 

Country Day’s math program is designed to build fluent mathematicians, skilled and perseverant problem solvers and creative thinkers. Our teaching is based on the Math in Focus program, and the core focus in the Lower School is on building a deep understanding of number sense, operations, and computation. Our students learn not just how to solve rote problems, but how to think mathematically and tackle real-world, rigorous mathematical problems.

Skills and Concepts

• Adding and subtracting multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm
• Fluently multiplying and dividing numbers 1-12
• Applying mental math strategies
• Recognizing, writing, naming, and converting among mixed numbers and improper fractions
• Understanding decimal notation through hundredths
• Solving addition and subtraction problems with fractions and decimals
• Identifying line and rotational symmetry
• Estimating, measuring, and classifying angles
• Collecting, interpreting, and representing data using tables, bar graphs, line graphs, and pictographs

The Lower School social studies program focuses on the study of people in relation to their past, present, and future, their environment, and their society. Our curriculum encourages curiosity and helps students develop an understanding of a rapidly changing world. Students become aware of their personal and cultural identities, and they acquire the skills and knowledge needed to actively participate in their classroom, school, community, and world.

Units of Study

• Unit 1: NC History and NC Native Americans
• Unit 2: Freedom in a New Nation and Building a New Nation 
• Unit 3: Making Change Through Government and Citizenship

Lower School science focuses on engaging in investigation and discovery through the scientific method in Country Day’s state-of-the-art science lab. An integrated STEM program brings together engineering and inquisitive minds to design innovative, sustainable solutions to real world problems.

In fourth grade, students practice observing, predicting, inferring, data collection/analysis, the design process, communication of data and results, and they develop lab science competencies. They cover the physical, life, and earth sciences, specifically sound, food chemistry, water quality, plant adaptations, and the solar system.

The physical education curriculum focuses on the physical, mental, and social emotional growth of our students. The curriculum focuses on developing and maintaining a physically active and healthy lifestyle in addition to developing gross motor, body control, and spatial awareness skills. Students pursue personal fitness goals and an understanding of skills, strategies, and rules of individual and team sports and activities. Problem-solving strategies, leadership, and sportsmanship are developed through an environment of cooperative learning.

Our goals in Lower School are to expose students to language and culture, instill a love for the language, develop an appreciation for the larger world, and build cultural competencies. Students are exposed to French and Spanish in JK through first grade. In second grade, students choose one target language with the goal of developing a Novice Low proficiency level (based on ACTFL Standards) by the end of fourth grade.

Fourth graders continue to increase their vocabulary on different topics of interest and age appropriate, through the four language skills: listening, reading, pronouncing, and speaking while developing basic writing kills. Students strengthen their four language skills at this level.  They communicate using memorized sentence and question patterns and are encouraged to communicate in the target language during class.

Our fourth grade Design Lab learning experiences are created to further develop skill, allow for application of new learning, and set design challenges that work to empower students to creatively communicate and solve problems with empathy. 

Skills in engineering, coding, robotics, 3D printing, and multi-media design are reinforced in mini projects.  In fourth grade, students begin to move seamlessly through the design process and learn how to solve design problems collaboratively.

Through the library curriculum, we strive to instill the joy and value of reading, provide access to diverse information and ideas, and equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to access, evaluate, and apply new learning in both personal and academic pursuits. Students receive whole-class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction and practice their skills through authentic activities and research.

In fourth grade, students learn how use advanced reading strategies for comprehension, conduct research using the full research cycle, use all types of online resources for research, discuss the credibility, correctness, and currency of websites, databases, and books, use copyright principles in their work, and apply their learning to their Exhibition project at the end of the year.

Art
Fourth grade artists continue to use their knowledge of the elements of art and principles of design.  With an emphasis on expression and finding their personal voice,  students create works that communicate ideas and emotion. Documenting and sharing their art process with others is an essential part of our studio practice.  Exploration of paint, oil pastel, markers, clay, fibers, and mixed media prepare students for Middle School art. 

Drama
In fourth grade, students are immersed in the process of auditioning for a play and challenge themselves by bravely speaking in front of their peers, being a leader in all roles, and celebrating each other. The fourth grade musical changes each year and offers the most advanced lower school performance experience. Theatre skills translate to life skills which contribute to our students shining on stage and around campus throughout their time in Lower School and beyond.

Music
Fourth grade students explore music with vocal warm-ups, singing a variety of songs, playing unpitched and Orff instruments, studying music theory, and continuing the Recorder Karate program that began in third grade. Fourth graders also create a Music Showcase which encompasses the Changemakers unit from their classroom curriculum, extending their knowledge of the power music has to make a difference in the world.