What They Learn in Fourth Grade
In fourth grade, children take on new types of work and social experiences, and for some, these can be tough. Fourth graders may struggle to follow the many directions and long-range planning that their school assignments require. They have to collaborate with their peers on group projects, which can be stressful in the charged social dynamics that emerge in fourth grade. Students might have a folder or planner for each subject, all of which can present organizational challenges (and heavy backpacks). The work gets harder and they need to manage it more independently - that includes homework assignments, as well as keeping track of those assignments and tasks.
Language and Literacy
Books, books, and more books fill the curriculum as fourth graders become sophisticated readers. They can use root words (words that are the basis for other words, such as "act" in "action"), context clues (looking for clues in the surrounding text and images in the story), and word endings to figure out new words. They'll spend long periods of time reading and writing on their own. Teachers introduce genres such as myths and legends, fantasy and adventure. Fourth graders relate characters and other story elements to their own lives, and empathize with the characters most like them.
Fourth graders begin to use research tools, such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, library and the Internet, to gather information independently on a topic. Most importantly, they start to learn to organize this information into paragraphs, essays, projects, and presentations that help students synthesize their learning - although their work is appropriately far from "perfect." They develop a writing style where their personality comes through as well as skills to help them edit their work.
In fourth grade, children take on new types of work and social experiences, and for some, these can be tough. Fourth graders may struggle to follow the many directions and long-range planning that their school assignments require. They have to collaborate with their peers on group projects, which can be stressful in the charged social dynamics that emerge in fourth grade. Students might have a folder or planner for each subject, all of which can present organizational challenges (and heavy backpacks). The work gets harder and they need to manage it more independently - that includes homework assignments, as well as keeping track of those assignments and tasks.
Language and Literacy
Books, books, and more books fill the curriculum as fourth graders become sophisticated readers. They can use root words (words that are the basis for other words, such as "act" in "action"), context clues (looking for clues in the surrounding text and images in the story), and word endings to figure out new words. They'll spend long periods of time reading and writing on their own. Teachers introduce genres such as myths and legends, fantasy and adventure. Fourth graders relate characters and other story elements to their own lives, and empathize with the characters most like them.
Fourth graders begin to use research tools, such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, library and the Internet, to gather information independently on a topic. Most importantly, they start to learn to organize this information into paragraphs, essays, projects, and presentations that help students synthesize their learning - although their work is appropriately far from "perfect." They develop a writing style where their personality comes through as well as skills to help them edit their work.