4th Grade

What are we doing in the library?

September

📚 Exploring the Library!

Students are diving into a review of library rules and expectations as we kick off the new school year. They’re learning how books are organized, exploring different genres, and discovering how to check out and care for library materials. To make it fun, we’ll be doing scavenger hunts around the library and learning to navigate our library system, Destiny Discover. It's a great way to build confidence and excitement about using the library!

📚 Get Ready for Battle of the Books!
We’re excited to begin preparing for Battle of the Books (BoB) — a fun, quiz bowl-style competition for students in grades 3-5th Grade! Participants join a school team and commit to reading a list of 6 selected books. They can read independently, with a group, or alongside an adult!

BoB encourages teamwork, exposes students to award-winning literature, and promotes a love of reading both in and out of the classroom. While it is a competition, the heart of BoB is all about discovering great stories and sharing the joy of reading.

📖 This year’s book list includes:

• A Wolf Called Wander – Rosanne Parry

• Creature of the Pines – Adam Gidwitz

• Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1) – Tony DeTerlizzi

• Number the Stars – Lois Lowry

• The Secret Zoo – Bryan Chick

• Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Invention – Chris Barton

Also in September, we will be reading Growing Up Pedro by Matt Tavares. As we explore this inspiring biography of baseball star Pedro Martínez, our focus will be on asking and answering questions about the text and citing evidence to support our thinking. These strategies help students deepen their comprehension and build confidence in understanding nonfiction texts.

October

This month, students will be diving into Digital Citizenship lessons using the  Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum. These lessons are designed to help students think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world.

This month's focus will be on: Cyberbullying & Online Harm: Understanding how to recognize, prevent, and stand up against online bullying.

STEM Design Challenge – Spider Parachutes
This month, students will take on a fun STEM design challenge! Working with a partner, they will use the design process to create a parachute that can keep their spider in the air for at least 3 seconds .As they build and test their designs, students will think critically about materials, test different ideas, and make improvements along the way. This challenge supports the ISTE Standard: Innovative Designer, specifically:
🔹 1.4a – Applying the design process to solve problems
🔹 1.4b – Working within constraints to develop solutions

November

Used Book Fair – November 4–7
Students will have the opportunity to shop at the Used Book Fair from November 4th through November 7th. This event is a major fundraiser for our school library—last year we raised over $1,000 to purchase new books!

All books are donated by members of our Nederland community and will be priced at $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardcovers. Please take a moment to look through and discuss the books your child brings home from the fair. We do our best to review donations, but we’re not able to check every book individually

In honor of Veterans Day, fourth graders will read Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld and take part in a virtual author talk.

Fourth graders will read Classified by Traci Sorell, focusing on the reading strategy of asking and answering questions to deepen comprehension and engage with the text. Then, they’ll shift into design mode—applying the ISTE Standard 4: Innovative Designer (specifically 4.c: creating prototypes) by building their own versions of a classified airplane. This blended activity strengthens reading skills while encouraging creative problem solving and hands-on engineering.

December

Students will also read The Lost Package by Richard Ho and complete a STEM challenge, designing their own package to withstand a six-foot drop and a simulated rainstorm. This hands-on activity encourages creativity, critical thinking, and application of engineering principles while connecting reading comprehension to real-world problem solving.

January

This month, students will be using the Common Sense Media Digital Literacy & Well‑Being Curriculum to focus on privacy and safety and information and media literacy. Through age‑appropriate lessons, students will learn how to protect their personal information online, think critically about what they see and hear, evaluate the credibility of digital content, recognize the risks of oversharing, and use strategies for safe, thoughtful participation in online spaces.