Grade 4

🌲 Grade 4 at Aldabra Academy

Exploring forces, stories, and relationships—within ourselves and across the land.

Grade 4 marks a year of critical thinking, big questions, and deeper connections. Students begin to explore how systems—social, ecological, mathematical, and cultural—shape the world around them. They also begin to examine their own roles as learners, community members, and stewards of the planet.

At Aldabra Academy, we guide students through rich, integrated “Learning Adventures” that blend science, geography, storytelling, and hands-on exploration. While the learning is asynchronous, it is far from passive—students investigate, create, reflect, and share their discoveries with growing confidence and independence.

What to Expect:

• 🌿 Nature-Based Learning Prompts

Each week includes outdoor observations and inquiry tasks connected to real-world topics—like the movement of wind and water, erosion, local landforms, or seasonal energy use. These prompts invite students to record data, sketch patterns, test ideas, and explore how the land around them tells a story.

• 🧠 Core Skill Development (Literacy, Numeracy, Social-Emotional)

Students build stamina as readers and writers, analyzing informational texts, summarizing key ideas, and writing structured paragraphs and multi-paragraph responses. Writing includes personal reflections, persuasive arguments, descriptive reports, and creative stories.

In math, students deepen their understanding of place value (to 10,000+), multi-digit multiplication and division, fractions, measurement, and geometry. Learning is applied through story problems, nature-inspired math tasks, and collaborative problem-solving challenges.

• 🎒 Mini Learning Adventures

Each interdisciplinary unit explores a guiding question and invites real-world investigation. Examples include:

• “How do natural forces shape the land we live on?”

• “Whose stories shape our understanding of this place?”

• “What is energy, and how do we use it?”

Students document learning through models, maps, experiments, slide presentations, infographics, or journals—choosing formats that align with their strengths.

• 💬 Storytelling and Sharing

Students are invited to share their thinking in flexible ways—voice recordings, visual journals, short videos, slide decks, or written reflections. These formats build communication skills while encouraging creativity and self-expression.

• ❤️ A Flexible Pace with Expanding Independence

Grade 4 learners take on more responsibility for managing projects and organizing their week. Support is offered through clear weekly plans, suggested schedules, and checklists that encourage accountability and pride in personal progress.

• ✨ Parent Support Every Step of the Way & Live Weekly Support Sessions

Families receive easy-to-follow weekly guides, printable activity pages, curated video lessons, and optional enrichment ideas. To foster connection and support, students can attend optional weekly “drop-in” sessions. These are relaxed, small-group gatherings where learners can ask questions, get help with a concept, or share something they’re working on. It's a space for encouragement, community, and clarity.