Curriculum Detail

Discover Our Curriculum

Grade 4

Fourth grade students strengthen and consolidate skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, and gain independence in locating, analyzing, and using information. The curriculum reflects the students' comfort with basic skills, their curiosity about and accessibility to information about other times and places, and their readiness for challenging work in mathematics. Fourth grade builds a foundation for the close reading and effective writing that will be crucial to their learning in the years ahead.

  • Language Arts, Fourth Grade

    The Grade 4 language arts program emphasizes the appreciation of literature and the acquisition of advanced skills in reading comprehension, research, and fluency. Students read a variety of novels, poetry, and informational texts in various content areas. While literal comprehension and recall of facts are not ignored, there is a growing importance placed on inferential and evaluative thinking: the ability to establish a main idea, to place ideas in sequence, to draw conclusions and make predictions, to analyze character and plot development, and to support one's arguments with details gleaned from the text. The independence gained in using reading as a powerful tool, begun in Grade 3, gains momentum in Grade 4 as students learn to follow printed directions and to locate information in the text and in captions, illustrations, and graphs. Time is also devoted to polishing expression, clarity, and inflection in oral reading.

    Children study and experiment with different genres of writing and they build their writing skills through assignments in expository, descriptive, creative and narrative writing. The Grade 4 writing curriculum continues to stress the development of ideas in clear, well-structured sentences and paragraphs. Fourth graders learn to write paragraphs with a central idea, a topic sentence, and supporting sentences. Formal teaching of spelling and grammar is continued, as well as an expectation to independently apply these skills to their daily work. The cursive handwriting that was taught in Grade 3 is utilized throughout the fourth grade school day, to provide opportunities for practice and application.

  • Mathematics, Fourth Grade

    The Grade 4 program reviews, strengthens, and extends the student's understanding of a range of areas of mathematical concepts, and lays a strong foundation on which to build the child's confidence in his or her ability to solve problems in those areas. Areas of focus in Grade 4 include achieving fluency with multi-digit multiplication and division algorithms; developing a deep understanding of fractions and fractional concepts, in-depth explorations in geometry, and applying basic mathematical concepts and skills in advanced problem solving.
     
    Students are taught a variety of approaches for solving multi-digit multiplication problems. These strategies give students a solid understanding of how and why the standard multiplication algorithm works prior to being taught the algorithm. A similar approach is used for division as the students complete long division problems using a hands-on approach before moving to the pencil and paper algorithm. These strategies deepen the students understanding of the base-ten number system and allow them to more easily apply these strategies in other areas of mathematics. A deep understanding is an integral part of the Grade 4 curriculum. Fractional concepts including equivalency, addition and subtraction, mixed numbers, and finding fractional parts of a set are practiced and reinforced throughout the year.

    In geometry, students analyze the attributes of two and three-dimensional shapes, lines, and angles. They use these foundational skills to define properties of geometric shapes and discover that some shapes can belong to more than one group or category. Measurement activities including the ability to calculate the area of regular and irregular two-dimensional shapes are also a focus.

    Throughout the curriculum, problem solving-strategies are discussed and practiced, and a continuation of the Bar Modeling strategy is applied. Children are given frequent opportunities to communicate their understanding both verbally and in writing. Beginning concepts of algebra are introduced through the use of the Hands on Equations program. Finally, in an effort to encourage students’ interest and enthusiasm for math, we offer an optional math club once a week, during which students work on solving challenging problems in small groups.

  • Social Studies, Fourth Grade

    In Grade 4, students embark on an interdisciplinary study of the complex origins and rich history of New York City and the United States. Over the course of our study, students grapple with the following essential questions: How do geography and natural resources affect development of civilizations? What motivates people to explore and colonize other lands? How do people, laws, technology, and beliefs shape a society? Through an initial exploration of the Hudson River, students learn about the impact that geography and natural resources have on the development of a civilization. Furthermore, students learn about the encounter between Native Americans and European explorers, as well as the establishment and development of New Amsterdam, discovering how contemporary New York is shaped by its Dutch and British roots. Students analyze the ways in which power, government, and ideas shape communities. Furthermore, in Grade 4, students study the profiles of Changemakers in order to understand that one of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship is to uphold just laws and help change unjust practices. In doing this, students engage in meaningful conversations about contemporary activism and social justice issues.
     
    The development of effective research skills is an essential part of the Grade 4 social studies curriculum. Through guided, independent research and expository writing tasks, students acquire basic research organizational skills such as note-taking, framing of essential questions, reading for information, and planning and presenting their findings. Finally, students apply their understanding by evaluating the current issues facing New York City and imagining the role they could play in shaping its future. Students present their research findings and propose solutions to real world problems in a grade-wide Future Fair.

  • Science, Fourth Grade

    Grade 4 Science serves as the students' introduction to scientific fieldwork and research. In concert with the Fourth Grade’s study of New York City history, students analyze the Hudson River Estuary system and its multiple stakeholders. Two trips are taken to Dead Horse Bay. In the Fall, each homeroom spends a day performing fieldwork at the site. In the Spring, Lower School Science Club returns to the site to tag and release Horseshoe Crabs.

    Scientific Fieldwork
    During the first term, fourth grade science students dutifully prepare for their trip to Dead Horse Bay. The children begin their study of an estuarine ecosystem by replicating its abiotic components in the lab's 125-gallon aquarium. The concepts of salinity and pH are introduced through hands-on investigations. While at Dead Horse Bay, students perform water quality tests (and later submit the data to the National Parks Service), seine for fish (and invariably collect over 60 fishes of multiple species), collect and research "Neo-cheological" artifacts from the site’s percolating landfill, and perform a Beach Clean Up whereupon they remove (on average) over 90 pounds of plastic trash from the beach.

    Marine Science
    Building upon their study of marine chemistry, the curriculum segues into marine biology. As part of their study of marine invertebrates, the children learn to dissect both a cuttlefish and a squid. The students research cuttlefish anatomy and behavior and create "nature documentaries" on their iPads using the app, Puppet Pals HD, later presenting them to the class. Continuing their study of marine invertebrates, students work in teams of three to dissect squid and prepare lab reports on the iPad using the app Keynote. Later in the term, the course shifts its focus to marine vertebrates, specifically fish. Fourth grade scientists conduct an external analysis of eleven different species. As they investigate the connection between the form and function of fish anatomy, students are able to determine how a fish behaves within its habitat based upon its external features. Additionally, threats and stressors facing the global fish stock and conservation issues within the marine food web as a whole are addressed.

    Aviation (The Physics of Flight)
    Emanating from Fourth Grade Science’s examination of the history of Dead Horse Bay, is a study of aviation, since the site was home to New York City’s first municipal air field. Students engage with the physics of flight, analyzing the properties of air, lift, thrust, and drag, Bernoulli’s Principle and Newton’s 2nd Law within the context of an engineering design challenge in which students build and test airplane prototypes.

    Lower School Science Club
    Lower School Science Club is a relaxed and child-directed enrichment program. Attendance is voluntary and varies from week to week. Past projects have included: fossils, polymers, setting up and maintaining a household aquarium, designing simple circuits with Little Bits, presenting at Earth Day Chapel, a trip (outside of the school day) to tag and release Horseshoe Crabs, and various dissections (sheep brain), among other projects.
     

  • Spanish, Fourth Grade

    The integrated Fourth Grade Spanish program uses the immersion methodology as well as FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) in which students develop new language skills in the context of authentic situations through the target language (Spanish). It is essential for us at Trinity, to offer multiple opportunities to interact and orally produce the second language; this is why we divide each Fourth Grade group in half.
     
    The foundation of our curriculum is based on backwards design (Wiggins and McTighe) which focuses on standards, enduring understandings and performance assessments. We teach through thematic units inspired by the Fourth Grade Social Studies curriculum and we focus on teaching phrases and sentences in relevant contexts. Instilling a love for Spanish and Hispanic socio-cultures is an important goal of our program. In Fourth Grade, Colombia is the region of focus, and students explore the various symbols, food, music, traditions, influential activists and geography of this vibrant country.
     
    Fourth Grade students develop a relationship with a native Spanish speaker from Latin America through a year long exchange of letters and video conferences. Our lessons incorporate games, songs and stories into fun learning experiences.
     
    We look to develop in all our students empathy, self-respect and respect for others, active participation, effort, positive attitude and responsibility toward homework.

  • Technology, Fourth Grade

    Students in fourth grade prepare for Middle School by learning how to navigate and use Google Apps. Students continue exploring topics to prepare them for social challenges ahead, including Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy, through discussions and class projects. Systems thinking, game design, robotics and engineering projects challenge classes with more complex problems to solve. Our final project of the year combines research with Minecraft in an exciting culminating project about Ancient Egypt.

  • Art, Fourth Grade

    In Grade 4 art class, students build on the concepts covered in Grades 1, 2 and 3 such as line, shape, color and texture. Additionally, they learn about value, tints, shades and observational drawing. New tools such as charcoal and ink and new techniques such as papercut, figure drawing and Silhouette portraiture are introduced. Recent projects have included “Still-life Drawings", "Unconventional Drawing".

  • Sculpture, Fourth Grade

    As the students in the 4th grade were unable to build the chairs they designed in 3rd grade, we will review the project to enable the students to build their chairs this term. Following the construction of a model in paper, we will begin the process of cutting and assembling the chairs in wood. If there is time in the semester we can also work on a second project, building a marionette. The marionettes can be assembled with a variety of techniques available. They learn to identify movable sections of the body, engineer movement possibilities and animate a subject of their choice. As time permits, the students are also encouraged to write a short dialogue for their puppets.

  • Music, Fourth Grade

    The Grade 4 classroom music curriculum builds and expands on all previous learning. Students embark on their yearlong study of the soprano recorder and play it in ensemble with the Orff instruments. Two- and three-part singing, creative movement, instrumental study and performance, along with listening activities provide students with a multi-faceted array of musical experiences.

    The Grade 4 instrumental program gives each student the opportunity to study one of the following instruments: Violin, Viola, Cello, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, or Clarinet. Students receive small group instruction on like instruments once a week and also meet as a full band or orchestra once a week. The highlights of the class are the winter and spring concerts.

    In addition, Grade 4 students also have the opportunity to join Trinity Tones, Trinity’s Grade 4 chorus. Weekly rehearsals and performances throughout the year at chapels and at the winter and spring Grade 4 concerts allow the students to enhance their ensemble music-making experience and showcase their talents in an exciting and enjoyable way.

  • Library, Fourth Grade

    Trinity School has one of the largest elementary school libraries in the city. The environment of the library is warm and inviting, and it is laid out with the needs of young children in mind. The Grades K-2 library shelves are filled with collections of picture books, easy-to-read books, short novels and easy non-fiction. Fiction and non-fiction books for Grades 3-6 are also plentiful. There are also reference, biography, and a professional collection for faculty and parents. Computer databases provide additional reference information for research projects. The library houses a large collection of DVDs, videos, and books on tape.

    Grade 3 and 4 classes schedule short visits to the library to browse for books as well as another visit during which librarians teach the students various research skills based on topics integrated with the classroom curricula.

    The library program includes celebrations of themes presented at various times throughout the academic year. These may take the form of book and art displays, library assemblies, or visits from authors, storytellers and performers from around the world. Each year in late May the library hosts a "Paperback Book Fair for Summer Reading". The librarians also prepare suggested reading lists for each grade level.

  • Physical Education & Fitness, Fourth Grade

    The Lower School Physical Education & Fitness program is designed to keep students active and involved in physical activity. We aim to foster enjoyment in activity, enhance socialization skills, and to build a conceptual knowledge of movement, fitness and sport skills. All Lower School children participate in Physical Education & Fitness classes in small groups.
139 West 91st Street | New York, NY 10024-1326 | (212) 873-1650
Located on the Upper West Side of New York City, Trinity School is a college preparatory, coeducational independent school for grades K-12. Since 1709, Trinity has provided a world-class education to its students with rigorous academics and outstanding programs in athletics, the arts, peer leadership, and global travel.