They use the “upper class” hallway and have a locker room complete with lockers and an area for special projects and small group work. 4th and 5th teachers instruct in their areas of specialty and students enjoy moving from room to room as they switch classes. Fourth grade gets to go on longer and further field trips than ever before, enjoying such things as a trip to Galveston to learn about the Galveston Movement, a trip to Rice University to learn about artwork and how it can relate to creative writing, and a trip to an authentic Ranch belonging to one of the families of the “Old Three Hundred” original Texans. Students take more responsibility for their own education, learning study skills, organizational skills, and how to find reliable sources to research and learn about things both within our curriculum and outside of the scope of what we learn in school.
Fourth graders continue with the Singapore curriculum and Common Core State Standards. It is a spiral approach and builds on the concepts introduced in third grade while introducing other higher-level concepts.
Math is more than just numbers. With unlimited questions, engaging item types, and real-world scenarios, we help students experience math at its most mesmerizing!
These include the four operations with whole numbers, decimals, fractions, geometry, coordinate graphing, data analysis, and measures and volumes. The program uses a concrete-to pictorial-to abstract approach which enables students to understand the concepts before learning the “rules”.
Our curriculum focuses on mathematical thinking with immediate application of new skills to problem solving. It encourages students to solve problems in various ways. This program stretches the mind and promotes an understanding of the way mathematical processes work.
4th graders are required to read 210 minutes a week. Students read literature and informational text, such as novels, magazines, and the web. Students actively respond to their reading through writing.
Students will use reading strategies effectively, solidify decoding skills, and increase their developing vocabulary. 4th grade students participate in book clubs and small group instruction. The students are required to read 10 Bluebonnet books by January.
These include ideas, sentence fluency, organization, word choice, conventions and voice. Students will focus on narratives, informational and opinion pieces.
Both will be incorporated into every reading and writing lesson. In addition, students will use their imagination and experience creative writing through poetry and short stories.
Students research and study how early American Indians in Texas and North America met their basic economic needs, how American Indians governed themselves, and the characteristics of Spanish colonial and Mexican governments in Texas. This will culminate in a group project on various native tribes.
We will identify motivations for European exploration and colonization and reasons for the establishment of Spanish settlements and missions.
We also study the establishment of the Republic of Texas, and our subsequent annexation to the United States. We discuss important issues, events, and individuals of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
As a Jewish Day School, we never overlook the importance of Jewish people in the establishment of our state. Though our numbers are few, our impact has been widespread. Students will learn about an assortment of Texas Jews throughout the past several hundred years, uncovering their resiliency and adaptability.
Students continue to be leveled. The program is fluid and allows students to go at their pace and receive the instruction they need to boost their self-confidence and increase their knowledge base in a spiraled and appropriate manner.
In Judaic studies, students begin working on Torah text using Rabbinic sources to support their learning of Torah text. Students begin writing Divrei Torah and present them during Kabbalat Shabbat.
Though our numbers are few, our Jewish Texans’ impact has been widespread. Students learn Jewish History and go on a Jewish tour of Galveston.
The highlight of the year for fourth graders in Judaic Studies is leading a Havdallah service. Students receive a Havdallah set to use at home each week.
Students spend 2 hours/week in the Science Lab. Over half of that time is spent in hands-on investigation with the remaining time spent reading, watching videos, learning vocabulary, or playing games that reinforce the concepts learned in the investigations.
The Physical Science investigations relate to energy and continue until approximately the end of the first Trimester.
Our 4th Graders cover a unit on Life Science which compares the systems in plants, animals, and humans.
We will introduce Geology during our Earth Science unit.
Students will experiment with art materials and elements and focus on learning new art styles such as radial design and studying art history while painting in the style of impressionism.
Students further learn the Kodaly songs, Solfege singing, music composition, learning guitar, and technology’s role in music. Students sing in a group and in performances for our Thanksgiving, Grandfriends, Chanukah, Spring Showcase programs, and during their own Havdallah Service.
Students continue to be leveled. The program is fluid and allows students to go at their pace and receive the instruction they need to boost their self-confidence and increase their knowledge base in a spiraled and appropriate manner.
In the 4th grade we learn to count to 100 and learn vocabulary related to our home, weather, and directions. We will focus on even more complex grammar such as plural nouns and the gender of nouns, possessive adjectives, and diminutives.
Through monthly thematic units from basketball to Jump Rope for Heart, we focus on age and skill-appropriate lessons four days a week for 30 minutes a day with a health class once a week.
4th and 5th Grade students are eligible to qualify for the National Elementary Honor Society. NEHS is based on the pillars of scholarship, leadership, and service. These pillars are parallel with the mission and vision of our school and emphasize connecting each component through a Jewish lens.
The National Elementary Honor Society is one of the most prestigious honors that can be awarded to an elementary student. BYDS is proud to have a National Elementary Honor Society chapter at our school. The National Elementary Honor Society strives to recognize the whole student, one who excels in all areas of Leadership, Service, Citizenship, Character and Academics.
Membership into the NEHS is much more than just an honor, it incurs a responsibility and an obligation to demonstrate the outstanding qualities that NEHS exemplifies.
