Welcome to Fourth Grade
Grade Four
The fourth grade year is a time of transitions. Students are working on skills to make them more independent and responsible for their learning success. These include organization of their materials, keeping assignment books, and returning homework on a daily basis.
In reading, the focus changes from learning how to read to reading to learn. We continue to review identifying the story grammar in fiction. Students write book reports where they identify and discuss the characters, setting, plot, and conclusion. Instruction focuses more on the how and why questions that required higher level comprehension than who, what, when, where questions. Students also spend more time reading nonfiction articles and books. Instruction includes how to use headings, understanding the important words are in bold face print, an index and a glossary. Students work on skimming to find information, highlighting important words or phrases, and reading more slowly than when they read fiction.
In math, students are expected to master all the basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Quick recall of the facts allows students to focus on problem solving strategies rather than the computation. In addition to short word problems, students work on portfolio problems that align with the state standards. Work is also done in the areas of geometry, data, probability, algebra, and measurement.
Students also work to improve their writing skills. We are focusing on narratives and reports this year, but also include writing friendly letters and poetry. Students write daily responses in complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation. The students’ work is assessed using the Vermont Writing Process Benchmarks.
Learning the skills and strategies needed to become lifelong learners is a major objective for fourth grade. As the students continue their education, they will be able to find information they need.