In engaging, immersive experiences, fourth graders get to know well-known literary characters, transform into historical figures, and explore New York’s famous landmarks and historical sites.
As their reading comprehension and mathematics skills soar, they take on research projects and persuasive essays that challenge them intellectually and expand their knowledge of our complex and ever-changing world. In Judaic Studies, our students grasp the chronology of our Tanakh and dive into Navi, expand their Hebrew vocabulary and grammar, and grow their relationship with Israel and their own Jewish identity.
Reading
Fourth graders meet some of literature’s most beloved characters as they dive into novels such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Because of Winn Dixie, When Lunch Fights Back: Wickedly Clever Animal Defenses, and more. They continue to develop the skills necessary to understand and analyze a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts. They engage in several novel studies throughout the year, learning to analyze the intentions of a character, the relationships between characters, the role of the setting in the plot of the story, themes and deeper meanings, and more. While reading nonfiction texts, students learn to identify a variety of text structures and consider why they’re used alongside the main idea and supporting details.
Each student’s reading progress is measured by administering the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment several times a year. This helps us to carefully monitor student growth over time, making changes to instruction and groupings as needed. Our fourth graders continue to benefit from NSHA’s top-notch Learning Lab and reading specialists as well.
Mathematics
Fourth grade mathematicians continue to expand our students’ mathematical knowledge and confidence in solving complex problems.
Students strengthen their usage of the four operations, solve problems, understand place value and multi-digit whole numbers, and use this understanding to perform multi-digit arithmetic. They extend their understanding of fractions to fraction equivalence, ordering, and solving word problems involving multiplication of a fraction by a whole number. Students use visual fraction models and equations to articulate their thinking, and new geometry skills include drawing and identifying lines and angles, and classifying shapes by properties of their lines and angles.
Writing
Fourth grade students explore a multitude of genres that guide them to write in more sophisticated and complex ways.
Fourth graders begin the year writing realistic fiction, putting a new spin on the narrative genre they’ve previously learned about in first, second, and third grade. Following this unit, students write personal and persuasive essays by going through a “boxes and bullets boot camp” which helps them understand and internalize proper essay structure. As our fourth graders read more sophisticated books independently and as a class, they learn to craft literary essays by growing ideas, crafting strong thesis statements, and structuring their points logically.
As students learn about the history of New York in Social Studies, they bring history to life through their writing by composing research-based informational writing pieces about a variety of New York landmarks. This final unit culminates in a gradewide celebration during which students present their research about a New York landmark alongside a three-dimensional structure they’ve created.
Writing instruction in fourth grade uses the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project curriculum as its foundation.
Ivrit
As they learn Ivrit b’Ivrit – Hebrew in Hebrew – fourth graders tackle the future tense and begin conjugating more complex verbs. They build on their vocabulary and expand their fluency using both the iTalam interactive platform and other supplementary materials to deepen their knowledge and appreciation of Hebrew grammar.
Students have the opportunity to study in small groups tailored to their fluency level, with those who exhibit greater Hebrew fluency working together and those who need some English translation benefiting from more structured support. When needed, teachers from our Hebrew Learning Lab provide additional support to our students.
Tanakh
As their knowledge of Jewish foundational texts expands, our fourth graders begin to grasp the chronology of Tanakh and of Jewish history as a whole. Students continue their study of the parashiyot of Sefer Bereshit, focusing on the parashiyot of Vayeshev, Miketz, Vayigash, and Vayechi. They begin to study Navi as well, covering much of the narrative sections of Sefer Yehoshua.
Shabbat & Chagim
Our students deepen their appreciation of the various customs and laws associated with Shabbat and Jewish holidays in many beautiful ways. They learn about each chag in advance of the holiday through hands-on activities facilitated by our program department and our Bnei Akiva Shlichot. Our students share their own multifaceted minhagim with their classmates, contributing to the vibrant mosaic of Jewish culture at our school.
Israel
Fourth graders discover new fun facts and a shared connection with Israel, its people, and its customs through iTalam’s virtual tours. During the Jerusalem Celebration, they learn about Israel’s geography and historical sights, and present what they’ve learned with songs and speeches.
Our Bnei Akiva Shlichot add to the students’ experience and appreciation of Medinat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael through a variety of informal activities throughout the year. Our love for Israel culminates each year with a full day celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut typically led by our Shlichot and has included events such as visits to different cities in Israel, a NSHA shuk, IDF bootcamp relay races, chagigot, daglanut, special performances, BBQ and more.
Jerusalem Celebration
Using various technological modalities, students learn about the many geographical and historical locales in the land of Israel and its capital city of Jerusalem. This educational segment culminates with a moving night that features a musical performance and a presentation of our students’ learnings.
New York Landmark Celebration
Fourth graders bring history to life through their writing by composing research-based informational writing pieces about a variety of New York landmarks. Their work culminates in a gradewide celebration during which students present their research about a New York landmark alongside a three-dimensional structure of their creation.
Who Was? History Bee
Our fourth and fifth graders compete in this annual bee. Our students prepare by reading as many biographies as possible and then participate in a competition that features multiple choice and open-ended questions about historical figures.
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