Grade 4
GRADE FOUR CURRICULUM OVERVIEW (2021-2022 School Year)
"For the Fourth Grade child, the inner and outer worlds are no longer one. The child experiences these worlds as torn apart. Self-consciousness becomes stronger, and the soul life becomes more inward and independent. The task of the teacher and parent is to lead the child into a world that is filled with beauty and meaning." -Rudolf Steiner
The first three years of grade school can best be described as a time of helping the child find their way into the world. Now, in fourth grade, the child has “arrived”, the transition from early childhood is complete, but puberty, for most, has not yet begun. It is the tail end of the Nine Year Change, when the ego (I) begins to emerge and the child’s heart rate and breathing approach adult maturity. The fourth and fifth grade years are often referred to as “the heart of childhood”.
The fourth grade child begins to more strongly experience that there is an inner world (me, myself) and an outer world (you, them), unlike, as in early childhood, when they were “one with the world”. Frequently the child experiences opposing forces at this age, met in the curriculum through stories and images such as the “fire and ice” images brought forth in Norse Myths. The fourth grade child may now experience a sense of separation, introspection, self-consciousness, and a need for others. At times, the child may even feel isolated from the group. Temperaments become more blended as personality emerges, which often may lead to hurt feelings in friendships as children begin to seek out new friends, qualities, and personalities to explore. At the same time, the child’s desire for “personal space” emerges. Where sharing a room with a sibling was previously preferred or acceptable, now the child may request a bedroom or space of their own.
The fourth grade child has a greater sense of personal responsibility. They are confident, full of energy, and have a somewhat more realistic view of and interest in the world. Questions about the world begin to emerge as they are more aware and observant of everyone and everything. The fourth grade curriculum helps the child to “navigate” the world by seeking to understand space and time (therefore the study of history and geography are introduced). There is a stronger momentum of moving from “the whole” of the younger years to “the parts”, which is experienced through the introduction of fractions, and the fourth grader begins to strengthen powers of observation through work done in the Zoology block. All of these studies and more help the fourth grade child to find a sense of balance and symmetry.
Grade 4 Block Rotation
Language Arts – Norse Myths
We open the year with the quintessential Waldorf fourth grade content – stories from Norse mythology. The myths of the Norse gods, goddesses, and giants have a universality to them that embodies different personality characteristics found in the fourth grader, such as strength, temper, cleverness, mischief, wisdom, courage, and transformation. As we explore these stories, we review third grade grammar content and establish literacy routines and expectations for reading, writing, and spelling.
Mathematics Block 1
Having reviewed grade 3 math content during skills practice time throughout block one, we are ready to dive into the heart of grade 4 math… fractions! Students are now developmentally ready to tackle the concept of fractional parts of a whole. In this block, we explore the concept of fractions by using models, manipulatives, music, and movement. In the final stretch of the block, we introduce algorithms for multidigit multiplication and long division.
Local Luminaries – Milwaukee Geography and History
As we enter the season of our annual lantern walk, as days grow shorter, cooler, and darker, we seek to bring light through the introduction of local luminaries, people who have shaped Milwaukee’s history. We explore local geography and grow our map skills and navigational skills through neighborhood walks and making maps.
Mathematics Block 2
In this block, we build onto our knowledge of fractions by learning about equivalent fractions and how to find them. This concept paves the way for adding and subtracting fractions, both with and without common denominators. Daily math review will continue to build skills in mental math, problem solving, fact fluency, and previously introduced concepts.
Zoology
In this block, we explore the animal kingdom and the human relationship to the many types of animals with whom we share this earth. Exploration is done through stories, observation, and artistic rendering.
Language Arts – Ancient Mythologies of North America
The Norse myths introduced us to a world of personalities. In this block, we meet characters from mythologies originating in our home continent of North America. We introduce stories and characters from various Native American cultures, the Hawaiian pantheon (including the favorite trickster demigod, Maui), and from Mesoamerican mythologies. Students complete their first book reports and writing is enhanced by focusing on sentence structure (subjects and predicates) and verb tense agreement. We continue work with grammar as we introduce more parts of speech and emphasize appropriate use of homophones (to/too/two, there/their/they’re, etc.).
Mathematics Block 3
In this block, we review adding and subtracting fractions and introduce the concepts of multiplying and dividing fractions. These are typically the most challenging operations to comprehend conceptually with fractions and will follow us into grade five as we review and revisit. We work closely with factoring, as a prerequisite for reducing/simplifying fractions.
Photo from 2019
Class Play and Language Art
Our mythological exploration continues as we prepare and perform our class play (hopefully in person this year!).
Wisconsin Geography and History
We expand our study of local geography beyond Milwaukee to the state of Wisconsin. Stories and biographies, field trips (if health/safety practices allow by this time), and nature exploration support learning in this block. Students begin their animal reports, selecting an animal that lives in Wisconsin as their focus.
Animal Reports and Review: May 16 – June 9
To wrap up the year, we focus on reviewing 4th grade math and language arts concepts and skills, finish and present animal reports, and celebrate 4th grade accomplishments.
THE ARTS:
Form Drawing: Form drawing becomes more intricate as we work with woven forms and knots. Learn more here.
Watercolor Painting: Watercolor paintings reflect curricular stories and seasonal inspirations.
Drawing: Lesson book artwork is combination of crayon and colored pencil as drawings include more detail.
Modeling: We continue modeling with beeswax and incorporate clay work into our zoology studies.
Music: Our teacher from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music will introduce the ukulele. In class, we will begin to learn how to play the recorder.
Winter Assembly: The Winter Assembly for 2021 was a virtual experience. Each class provided songs and poems as well as images of work that they have been working on thus far this year. Here is what Grade Four shared.