Fourth Grade

Fourth grade at St. Michael’s focuses on getting the students world-ready.

Students are taught to advocate for themselves, and organization and planning are an integral part of the program as they work toward the transition to Middle School. Student choice is at the heart of most activities in the fourth grade.

Singapore Math Program

St. Michael’s was the first school in Rhode Island to adopt the Singapore math program. The program is structured around the belief that every new math concept should be taught first in concrete terms, then pictorial, and lastly, abstract. Through this program, concepts are consistently spiraled year after year, and students build on their prior knowledge. Lessons continue to be introduced first in a concrete manner, using manipulatives to solidify the “why” and “how.” Major topics of fourth grade are long division, fractions, decimals, area and perimeter, and measurement. Students continue to practice their math facts to aid them in the process of converting fractions with unlike denominators so that they can add, subtract, and multiply them. They transition from fractions to decimals, understanding that the concepts are related and can show the same idea in different ways.

Reading

Fourth graders begin to dive into more challenging texts during their reading lessons, using trade books and focusing on comprehension, foreshadowing, inferencing, and more. Whole group reads are alternated with smaller guided reading groups and book club style reads. Notable titles include The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The White Giraffe, A Long Walk to Water, and Esperanza Rising. Students explore a variety of topics through these texts, such as character growth, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and global/ historical issues.

Writer's Workshop

Creative writing in fourth grade introduces students to a topic and allows them to choice to choose how they compose their work. From persuasive writing to creative narratives, students utilize graphic organizers to plan their pieces. They then engage in the writing process, composing a rough draft and working closely with a teacher to implement constructive feedback to their work. A particular student favorite, the Superhero story, involves students choosing a superpower and creating a story about their lives as if they had this ability. Expository writing continues to be a cornerstone of the fourth grade curriculum, as students compose several written pieces, particularly in their thematic studies.

Thematic Studies

Geography and culture are at the forefront of the students’ theme work. They begin taking a world tour of the continents, starting close to home with North America and “traveling” to each continent one by one. Students create interactive notebooks in which they document information such as climate, landforms, languages spoken, and interesting facts of their choosing, all while strengthening their map skills, labeling countries within each continent. After a guided study of each continent, students engage in “X Marks the Spot” projects, where they are free to choose a topic of interest that is unique to the continent of focus. They engage in in-depth research on their selected topic and design projects to share with their peers. This global study concludes with a deep dive into the continent of Africa. Students study the various regions and native tribes from each one, examining their way of life and history. After their study of the continent as a whole, students select an African country to research, creating projects on points of interest. This project concludes with the “African Travel Agency”. This is a day when students share their work with the school community and perform African folktale plays in the round for their peers. Thematic studies are interwoven into all areas of our fourth grader’s day; for example, students batik cloths in art class that they use as their costumes for their folktale performances that are rehearsed in drama. In science, students study the various biomes found across the continent of Africa. This global study is truly immersive and is a signature piece of the St. Michael’s fourth grade program.

In addition to their classroom academics, third grade students are exposed to a variety of special area classes such as Spanish, Innovation Lab, Music, Science, PE, Mindfulness, Drama, and Fine Art.