The Four Grader is filled with action and ready to investigate the world. They begin to test adults and peers as the contrasts in humanity become glaringly evident to them. Local geography meets the students’ need to explore and know more about the world around them. The Norse Myths provide examples of colorful personalities striving to overcome challenges while clashing with others and aspects of themselves. The students awaken to the knowledge of deeds carrying consequences and the hope we can transform our mistakes with responsibility. This investigation into the human experience is heightened through the study of animals and the gesture each carries. The heart of the lion, the lone wolf and sly fox provide a subtle yet profound avenue of self-reflection. An in-depth animal report allows the student to apply their deeper understanding of the parts of speech, verb tense and paragraph development. Mental math increases in complexity with the introduction of fractions. The use of manipulatives expands the students’ number sense to include proper and improper fractions and builds the foundation for the computation of equations involving fractions in all four processes.
