Grade 4 Curriculum

Overview

The Fourth Grade curriculum provides a balance of independent and group work, encouraging students to collaborate toward common goals and appreciate the unique contributions of each classmate. Students also have ample opportunities to work independently, with the classroom environment designed to foster self-reliance and growth.

The curriculum includes lessons focused on good manners, teaching students the importance of courtesies such as holding the door for a friend or listening when others speak. These practices contribute to a peaceful classroom environment, help resolve conflicts, and reinforce valuable life lessons. These principles extend into the writer’s workshop, where students share their writing in a supportive setting, learning to listen and respect different perspectives.

By creating a safe space for discovery, exploration, sharing, and personal growth, Fourth Graders at All Saints are equipped to successfully navigate this emotional and dynamic year.

Language Arts

The Fourth Grade Language Arts curriculum emphasizes the careful assessment of personal skills and areas for improvement, preparing students for the academic demands of middle school. A strong focus is placed on reading skills and strategies, ensuring students can navigate a variety of challenging materials, including textbooks, essays, literature, and historical documents.

Students are encouraged to actively participate in classroom discussions about literature, challenging one another’s thinking by offering differing perspectives, particularly during Literature Circle meetings. Additionally, students engage in a spelling curriculum designed to help them master essential spelling skills.

Mathematics

Mathematics activities in Fourth Grade are rooted in problem-solving and hands-on, often collaborative, experiences. Students build on their existing skills, conceptual understanding, and number sense, applying them to increasingly complex tasks. They expand their knowledge of fractions, measurement, geometry, and data collection, and are expected to master their multiplication facts.

Students are given multiple real-world opportunities to apply their math skills. Starting in the fall, Fourth Graders organize and run two year-long fundraisers, with proceeds supporting their New Jersey Adventure Week. They also independently operate the School Store, allowing them to apply mathematical concepts in a practical setting. In the classroom, students analyze topics such as net and gross profits, purchase orders, and marketing.

Science

In Fourth Grade Science, students build on their refined laboratory skills, moving beyond simply gathering data to understanding how experiments are designed, how data is collected, and how this information is recorded and utilized. Labs become more independent, encouraging students to take greater ownership of their scientific investigations.

A key event, Open Science Morning, centers on the design process, where students develop ideas to assist people during extreme weather events and natural disasters. Science topics include the study of scientific methods, severe weather in U.S. regions, space, energy, motion and speed, electricity, and animal and plant parts and relationships. Fourth Graders are also encouraged to communicate their findings in a variety of ways, strengthening their ability to present scientific concepts clearly.

Social Studies

The Fourth Grade Social Studies curriculum focuses on New Jersey’s role in our nation’s history. Students begin the year by studying the first inhabitants of New Jersey, the Lenape, and continue to explore the state’s history during the Colonial Period, along with other key events that shaped its culture and development.

Students also learn about and visit various cities and landmarks across New Jersey. At the end of the year, they prepare an all-day boardwalk event for the All Saints community, where they incorporate their understanding of New Jersey’s history into interactive games and activities they create, bringing the boardwalk to life in a fun and engaging way.

The Fourth Grade year culminates with New Jersey Adventure Week, a series of trips to important geographical and historical sites across the state.

Co-Curriculars

Fourth Grade students participate in a variety of co-curricular activities, including music, American Sign Language (ASL), art, physical education, and world language. For more information, please visit our Beyond Core Academics page.