Lower School
Fourth Grade
In the fourth grade, stories come to life and imaginations soar. While reading The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, fourth graders create “scrappy caps” which they wear in class whenever stories are read aloud. These magic caps are said to be able to focus the beams of our imaginations, and allow whatever you are reading to come alive inside your head.
Writing is also of particular focus in the fourth grade. Students craft research reports, creative stories, and narratives throughout the year, allowing for development of voice, details, and extension of thought. Fourth graders love compiling their own portfolio at the culmination of the school year to demonstrate their personal growth in writing.
During the “Mission year,” each student creates a model or book or film about one of California’s historic missions. And, through an imaginative program called Walk through California, students go back in time for a day to experience the sights and sounds of California’s history. History comes alive in fourth grade!
Core Curriculum
List of 5 items.
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Language Arts
There are many aspects of All Saints’ fourth grade language arts studies. In reading groups, the students develop comprehension skills through discussions, workbook exercises, learning and using new vocabulary, and an assortment of writing activities. Research skills are taught through library lessons. Grammar studies and weekly spelling exercises help prepare for work in a variety of compositional forms. The students enjoy fine literature books and write book reports, reference reports, poetry, and stories. -
Mathematics
The fourth grade focus is on reviewing and renewing retention of place value, rounding numbers, addition, and subtraction as the year begins. The students learn multiplication tables and learn to solve problems with double digit multipliers and divisors. Other areas covered are fractions, decimals, measurements, data and graphs, geometry, perimeter and area. All units covered include word problems and logic lessons. -
Science
Fourth grade science curriculum encompasses the physics of sound, environments and ecosystems, the physical properties of water and the water cycle; animals, pets and California sea otters; the five senses; a health unit covering alcohol, tobacco and drugs; and a unit on personal safety, with emphasis on bullying and personal harassment. Particular focus is on incorporating STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) activities.Skills involved include: observing, communicating, comparing, organizing, note taking, research reports, partner work, group work, discerning facts vs. opinions, collecting data and making graphs. Students perform experiments; incorporate art work, poetry, research reports, story writing, and oral reports; take field trips and have guest speakers who enrich our program with their expertise. -
World Languages
Students are enrolled in Spanish and class instruction is held in the target language. The focus in lower grades is placed on developing oral communication and conversation skills. Songs, stories, games, poems, and props are used to encourage children to participate actively in speaking the language. T.P.R. (Total Physical Response) Storytelling, a method that permits immediate comprehension of the input as students listen to and mimic the phrases in the target language, is used in grades 1 - 5. Students enact dialogues and readings, focus on conversational skills and expand their knowledge of Hispanic countries through poetry, songs, and readings.In fourth grade world language, students review and expand the language skills developed in ECC through third grades. The total physical response storytelling (TPRS) method is used more extensively. -
Social Studies
The goal of the fourth grade history/social studies curriculum is to “teach students the story of their home state, unique in American history, in terms of its vast and varied geography, its many waves of immigration, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth,” as outlined in The California History Social Science Content standards for California Public schools.There are six major curricular units: California Native Americans; Spanish exploration and control; Mexican governmental decisions and rancho days; Americanization with westward expansion, the gold rush and its effects on statehood; and transportation changes that led to more modern times.
Specialty Classes
All Saints Day School, in Carmel, CA, is the only independent, private school on the Monterey Peninsula that focuses solely on educating students in Preschool through Grade 8, and has been doing so, with a reputation for excellence, since 1961.
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS
All Saints Day School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS
All Saints Day School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.