Fourth Grade
"By fourth grade, the facts start talking to each other. Students begin to notice why things are the way they are, and we welcome more complex questions with open arms."
Ilene Dobny
Fourth Grade Teacher
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By fourth grade, the facts my students have gathered over the years begin to talk to each other, and my classroom is where those connections come alive. This is the year students start asking not just what is true but why, and I welcome those first real questions with open arms. We read to analyze as well as to enjoy, drawing out themes and evidence and learning to support an idea with what the text actually says. Our writing grows into multi-paragraph work with a clear structure and a point of view, and our math moves into fractions, longer reasoning, and problems that reward careful thinking. I design our units to cross subjects on purpose, so a question raised in history might resurface in science or in what we are reading, and my students begin to see knowledge as one connected whole rather than a set of separate boxes. My job is to feed their growing appetite for reasons while keeping the room a place where it is safe to wonder out loud.
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Reading
Students in fourth grade read a variety of texts including biographies, fiction, informational texts, myths, legends, short stories, and poems. The program includes reading from across the curriculum, with an emphasis on California history. Students take their analytic skills to a higher level in fourth grade through research of informational books, articles, and websites, and using literature to explore the theme and character analysis. Fourth graders will assess first-hand and second-hand accounts of real events and analyze the information to draw conclusions in collaboration with other students.
Writing
Written work in fourth grade focuses on developing skills to create multi-paragraph compositions using supporting facts, research, reflection, collaboration, and revision. Compositions will include comparing and contrasting, creative writing, persuasive, and opinion essays. Students will also compose poetry and develop their understanding and use of figurative language.
Students will build vocabulary through exploration of the reading texts and additional vocabulary activities. I emphasize technical writing, including grammar usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Students will also learn basic typing skills.
I integrate discussions, group work, and oral presentations into all curricular activities. I also emphasize collaboration and exploration of ideas.
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My students in fourth grade will learn to compute very large and very small numbers, positive and negative numbers, decimals, fractions, and percents. Students will study the relative magnitude of numbers; they will perform calculations and solve problems involving addition, subtraction, simple multiplication, and division of fractions and decimals. Students will also analyze algebraic equations using variables in simple expressions, compute the value of the expression for specific values of the variable and interpret the results. Geometry concepts include learning to describe, draw, and classify properties of and relationships between, plane and solid geometric figures. In addition, students will compute volumes and areas of simple objects. They will understand and apply standard and metric measurements. Using critical reasoning, models, and justification of solutions is essential for all students throughout all areas of mathematics. Collaboration, discussion, and synthesis of mathematics concepts are threaded through the curriculum.
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My social studies program includes developing map skills and learning about California’s varied geography and its impact on the growth of California. We study the history of California, from the first settlement of peoples coming from Asia and their development into the many different tribal groups to the impact of European imperialism. Students will study and examine the growth of California and the contributions of various cultures (particularly the Hispanic, Chinese, and Japanese) to our state. Students will explore historical reasons for emigration/immigration and learn to look at these issues in the context of current events.