Fourth Grade
Fourth grade is an emergent year when students begin to take on larger responsibilities, helping to prepare them for fifth and sixth grades. Continuing from third grade, students are expected to interact cordially and maintain basic responsible practices, exhibiting Eagle PRIDE (Personal Best, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and EWmpathy). Students develop self-confidence and self-awareness through social and emotional-based discussions and activities. Explorations and experiments happen weekly in science, student perspectives are expanded with multi-modal lessons and projects in social studies, and writing workshops help students to write like professionals. A deep, conceptual focus in differentiated math classes allows students to build a strong foundation while simultaneously teaching them at their instructional level.
Reading
The reading curriculum is centered around comprehension and learning to be “wide awake” readers who connect their reading to the world around them. Through a combination of written and discussion-based analysis, students gain the ability to interpret basic story elements as well as character development and deeper literary meaning. Diversity, equity and inclusion are embedded in all class discussions as students deepen their awareness about history and current society.
Writing and Grammar
In fourth grade, writing focuses on realistic fiction, persuasive, and fiction writing genres. Writing incorporates critical aspects to ensure students develop excellent writing traits such as a clear and even voice, organization, vocabulary, transitions, craft, elaboration, grammar, and more. Students learn different sentence styles and parts of speech as well as conventions and how they mesh to create a professional writer. Writer’s Workshop units include: the arc of the story (a focus on realistic fiction), personal and persuasive essays, bringing history to life through historical fiction, and the literary essay (writing about fiction texts).
Mathematics
The math program is designed to provide strong, incremental development and continual review of mathematical concepts and fundamental skills. Through a combination of differentiated direct instruction and small-group-extension activities, students build confidence in their ability to apply problem-solving strategies and accurately complete computations. Critical thinking is emphasized by digging deeper into word problems with more complex scenarios and multi-step solutions. Students reinforce their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills with applied use in fractions, decimals, geometry, and measurement.
Science
In the fourth grade, students learn through a combination of direct instruction, small-group observation, experimentation, and independent research. FOSS Science units engage students through hands-on activities in cooperative groups. The earth science unit studies characteristics of solids, rocks, and landforms. Life science incorporates the study of human systems (“The Human Machine”), and physical science is studied with waves of sound and forms of energy.
Social Studies
In fourth grade, students study California history. Social studies units are encouraged to be seen through different lenses, and often students are asked, “What perspectives are not present?” Students then take a deeper dive into California Geography with an emphasis on native groups in California at the time of early explorers and Spanish Missions (with a field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano). Next, fourth graders learn all about the Gold Rush, statehood, and the California Government. Students take a very special trip to Sacramento for a Gold Rush tour of Sutter's Fort where students try their hand at panning for gold.