FOURTH GRADE CURRICULUM

Language Arts

Reading/Literature

• Strategies used by good readers: purpose for reading, prior knowledge, SQRR, phonics, structural analysis, KWL
• Comprehension strategies: rereading, predicting, sequencing, cause/effect, drawing conclusions, generalizing, story mapping, paraphrasing, summarizing
• Story elements: topic, main idea, point of view, character, plot, setting, problem, solution
• Literary techniques: dialogue, introductions, conclusions
• Literature circles
• Types of literature: fantasy, adventure, tall tale, biography, newspaper, poetry
• Strategies for reading informational text: fact vs. opinion, outlining, taking notes, graphic organizer, glossary
• Types of informational text: textbooks, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines

Language

• Weekly spelling tests
• Grade-appropriate mechanics: quotation marks, commas, apostrophes, colons/semicolons, capitalization proper nouns and titles
• Grade-appropriate grammar: compound sentences, subject/verb agreement, simple and complete subjects and predicates, nouns/pronouns, verbs, conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives
• Vocabulary: analogies, categorizing, classifying
• Reference skills: alphabetical order, multiple meanings, parts of speech in a dictionary; glossary, thesaurus

Writing

• Prewriting and drafting strategies: brainstorming, webbing, theme expansion, choosing and narrowing, audience and purpose, clustering and patterning
• Revising and editing strategies: fluency, attitude, audience, purpose, organization, word choice, sentence construction, indenting/paragraphs, titles, maintaining point of view
• Proofreading and publishing strategies: correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation; grade appropriate grammar and usage
• Types of writing: personal narrative, friendly letter, story, descriptive paragraph, persuasive paragraph, how to paragraph
• Research skills: dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanacs, encyclopedia, periodicals, newspapers

Penmanship

• Legible cursive writing

Speaking and Listening

• Directions: follows four-step and generates three-step
• Listening: takes turns, raises hand, focuses on speaker, avoids interrupting, asks appropriate questions, asks for clarification
• Expressing ideas orally: clarity, volume, eye contact, staying on topic, sequencing thoughts, standard English, correct grammar, personal voice, pauses and gestures, visual aids
• Public speaking: poems, role-playing, skits and plays, presentation of personal writing, informal interviewing, choral reading, short presentations with visuals, book Talks
• Group participation: plans collaboratively, stays on task, performs assigned role

Social Studies

Time Travelers 1760 - 1850 C.E.

• American Revolution
• 19th Century Africa
• 19th Century China
• Westward expansion
• Pioneers
• Archaeology and artifacts

Civic

• Human rights
• Roles of citizens
• Statehood
• Constitutions
• Core Democratic values

History

• Michigan History

Geography

• State/regional maps
• Physical regions
• Cultural regions
• Climatic regions
• Landforms
• Types of maps

Economics

• Opportunity cost
• Partnerships
• Corporations
• Market economy
• Natural, human, capital resources
• Import /export
• Banking systems

Science

District Kits

• Levers and Pulleys
• Magnets and Motors
• Land and Water
• Chemistry Tests

Science City

• Physical Fitness
• Properties of Heat
• Chemistry
• Magnification

Scientific Method

• Science Fair project

Math

Numbers

• Nine digit numbers
• Expanded notation through 1,000,000
• Place value within a decimal number
• Fractions and mixed numbers and their equivalent decimals
• Ordering fractional numbers on a number line
• Percent equivalent to a given simple fractions
• Rounding whole numbers up to six digits
• Pre-algebra concepts

Operations, Relations, and Number Systems

• Instant recall of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts
• Sums and differences of five-digit numbers
• Multiplication with one-digit multipliers and four-digit multiplicands
• Division with one-digit divisors and four-digit dividends
• Equivalent fractions
• Sums and differences of decimal numbers

Measurement and Reference Frames

• Converting units of measure
• Telling time to the second
• Reading and drawing simple maps using coordinates

Geometry and Spatial Relations

• Perimeter and area of a polygon
• Congruent shapes
• Flips, slides, turns of geometric figures
• Points, edges, vertices, angles, radii, centers, intersections
• Protractors