Academics

3-4 Learning Community

In our 3-4 community, you will meet a historical figure at our Third Grade Wax Museum, learn more about our Wolverine State than you thought possible and kvell as you watch your students fully lead a Rosh Chodesh service in our Bet Knesset (chapel).

These are just a few examples of the rich learning that engages our students in third and fourth grade as they build upon concepts and strengthen skills introduced in earlier grades. Students, in possession of foundational skills in reading and writing, demonstrate their thinking as they hone their communication skills.

In Math, third and fourth grade students apply learned skills to different situations found in their everyday lives. In third grade, they will develop and understanding of multiplication and division strategies, fractions, and area. They learn how to round whole numbers and apply their estimating skills to multi-digit problems. In fourth grade, students will apply and extend their knowledge to solve multi-digit multiplication and division equations, create equivalent fractions, and order decimals. In both grades students will use writing and verbal communication to support their ideas and mathematical thinking.

In Judaic Studies, the class is exclusively taught in Hebrew so students build vocabulary and master grammar in the present tense. Students conduct model seders that introduce them to Sephardic, Yemenite and Moroccan customs, and they become independent readers of biblical Hebrew as they continue their study of Bereshit (Book of Genesis).

A highlight of social studies in fourth grade is the annual class trip to Lansing, where students meet legislators, including Hillel alumni, learn about the establishment of laws, and see democracy in action.

Our 3-4 students also begin to take advantage of many lunchtime clubs including Math and Parsha clubs, where they continue to learn and foster relationships with teachers in an informal setting.

Future scientists in third grade use the scientific method to investigate states of matter, the weather, and animal habitats, and learn basic coding using Lego WeDo, an introductory programming set that helps children build and control the movements of their Lego creations. In fourth grade, through the formation of hypotheses and the collection of data, students use critical thinking skills to draw conclusions on evidence gathered through inquiries into electricity, invasive species, plant life, and sound.