Fourth Grade

Aiken
Preparatory
School
Established in 1916

SAIS SACS Accredited

Language Arts

grade 4 Daily Oral Language Review
HBJ Language
Rules of the Game
Wordly Wise 3000
Novels
How To Spell

The Language Arts component of the fourth grade program focuses on written language and literacy. Fourth graders experiment with written language as a basic communication skill. Students are encouraged to learn naturally through literature, with emphasis on creativity.

Written work is balanced with many genres: short stories, poetry, plays, biographies, and the like. These varieties enhance each student’s ability to become more sophisticated in their grammar usage, mechanics, and sentence structure. Through these skills, students are given the lifelong learning tools to assimilate knowledge on their own, evaluate, process, and express it with fluency and confidence.

The literacy program encompasses activities that build habits of choice, independence, fluency, and solid comprehension. Students participate in literature circles which include a wide variety of novel studies. During these guided reading times students are expected to read, discuss, and respond to the text through many different venues. Reading skills are taught through mini lessons which emphasize reading strategies and literacy appreciation. Vocabulary is further enhanced through Wordly Wise, a study of words that promotes essential grade-specific vocabulary development.

Fourth graders keep reading logs, journals, and writers' notebooks which chronicle their explorations throughout the year.

Mathematics

Everyday Mathematics
Math 4 Today

The fourth grade math program includes lessons that are tailored to meet the needs of the individual child. The instructional design is meant to refresh, reinforce, build, and extend skills and concepts essential for the maximum learning experience. Development of mastery is obtained through problem solving, mathematical reasoning, and mathematical intuition and understanding of procedures and operations. These tools are acquired through paper/pencil activities, multiple strategies for problem solving, collaborative learning in partner and small group activities, manipulatives, and cross-curricular activities. The balanced curriculum’s major emphasis is on the mastery of a number of skills and concepts: multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents, measurement, geometry, data, and algebraic thinking.

Assessments opportunities are given in the form of quizzes, tests, and teacher observations.

Science

Fourth graders study topics in earth science, life science, and physical science. Students are exposed to basic, factual knowledge that will allow them to conduct inquiry investigations, much like experiments that real scientists conduct every day. The curriculum is designed to pique students’ curiosity and increase their motivation to learn more. Fourth graders develop critical thinking skills, strengthen their understanding of science concepts, and learn to use exploration to develop insight in scientific concepts.

Assessments are based on note-taking skills, ability to recall scientific facts, and completion of grade-specific projects related to topics.

Social Studies

United States: Adventures in Time and Place

Social Studies begins with the creation of an atlas and a state report as students review the geography of the United States and continues with an overview of the history of the United States, dating from the exploration of the New World to the beginning of the War Between the States. Students study the contributions of Native Americans, the exploration and settlement by the Europeans, the Revolutionary War, the westward expansion and its implications, and the problems that led to a civil war. Students focus on particular topics for a greater in-depth study. Current events, map skills, and date-appropriate topics such as Presidential Elections, Olympic Games, and special holidays are also included. Field trips and use of the media center for research supplement the classwork.

Students are assessed using classwork, quizzes, and projects.

Fine Arts

Music

Fourth grade students develop their talents and self-esteem with an emphasis on singing, playing instruments, rhythm, movement, performance and musical drama. Students sing in the Lower School Chorus and are invited to join the Minstrels, a choir of third, fourth, and fifth grade students who participate in the SCISA Music Festival. Students continue to play recorders, xylophones, boomwackers, and hand bells. Studies continue in music theory and selected composers. Additionally, fourth grade students perform for Grandparents’ Day, Christmas, and the Spring Concert.

Art

Students use basic art elements and the principle of design to create artwork and communicate personal ideas. Students are introduced to the styles of different artists and use these techniques in their work.

Foreign Language

Spanish

Oral experience is the basis of each class. Students are exposed to high frequency vocabulary from their lives and new vocabulary through flash cards, games, rhymes, puzzles, and story telling. CD’s and videos reinforce correct language. The activities are presented in fun and exciting ways as students increases skills: word recognition, comprehension, and conversation. Through repetition students practice pronunciation and intonation. Fluency improves through story telling as students move beyond simple comprehension of pictures to thinking in Spanish as they retell a story.

Physical Education

Here at Aiken Prep our curriculum incorporates State of South Carolina Department of Education Physical Education Standards enhanced with an adventure based curriculum developed from Project Adventure. Basic standards such as movement, balance, and improving performance are reinforced through out the year with an emphasis on developing a kinder and gentler child. Incorporated into our daily activities are opportunities for creating community, cooperation, communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution. To further develop well rounded student-athletes we incorporate South Carolina Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (SCAHPERD) programs and activities as well as integrating math, science, and language into the curriculum.

Emphasis is placed on playing together, creating win-win scenarios, and the ideal of "Play hard, play safe, play fair".

Computer

Fourth graders begin the year with intense keyboarding fundamentals that aim to give them a firm foundation in proper typing technique. The class is designed to help prepare them to efficiently manage tasks and perform coursework in later grades where typing is essential.

Library Science

Fourth graders continue the study of the Dewey Decimal System and the use of the card catalog. They are introduced to the use of maps, atlases, almanacs, and phone books as research tools. The curriculum presents the students with information about the use of biographies, biographical dictionaries, and biographical encyclopedias. Students practice using the library’s resources to solve mysteries. Reading time and book check-out occur weekly.