What your child should know at the end of fourth grade:

National PTA Organization

​

Literacy and English Language Arts:

Building the stamina and skills to read challenging fiction, nonfiction, and other materials
is fundamental in 4th grade. Your child will continue to learn about the world as well as
build vocabulary skills by reading more complicated stories and poems from different
cultures and a range of books on history, science, art, and music. Fourth grade students
also will make important strides in their ability to explain plainly and in detail what a book
says — both explicitly and what is implied from its details. By 4th grade, your child will
be writing effective summaries, book reports, and descriptions of characters or events
that use correct grammar and punctuation.

 

What your child will learn in fourth grade:

■ Describing the basic elements of stories — such as characters, events, and settings — by drawing on specific details in the text

■ Paying close attention to key features of informational books and articles: these include
understanding the main and supporting ideas; being able to compare and contrast information; and explaining how the author uses facts, details, and evidence to support particular points
■ Comparing ideas, characters, events, and settings in stories and myths from different cultures
■ Writing summaries or opinions about topics supported with a set of well-organized facts,
details, and examples
■ Independently conducting short research projects on different aspects of a topic using evidence from books and the Internet
■ Paraphrasing and responding to information presented in discussions, such as comparing and contrasting ideas and analyzing evidence that speakers use to support particular points
■ Reporting orally on a topic or telling a story with enough facts and details
■ Writing complete sentences with correct capitalization and spelling
■ Relating words that are common in reading to words with similar meanings (synonyms) and to their opposites (antonyms)

 

Mathematics:

In 4th grade, your child will gain important new skills while continuing to build on what he
or she learned the previous year. One of the main areas studied in 4th grade is arithmetic
and applying it to solve problems. This is an important life skill, and your child should
make significant strides in this area during the year. Your child will also build knowledge
and skills with fractions to prepare for mastering this topic in 5th and 6th grades. These
skills will help ensure your child is ready for algebra and advanced math.

 

What your child will learn in fourth grade:

■ Using whole-number arithmetic to solve word problems, including problems with remainders and problems with measurements
■ Adding and subtracting whole numbers quickly and accurately (numbers up to 1 million)
■ Multiplying and dividing multi-digit numbers in simple cases (e.g., multiplying 1,638 × 7 or 24 × 17, and dividing 6,966 by 6)
■ Understanding and applying equivalent fractions (e.g., recognizing that 1⁄4 is less than 3⁄8 because 2⁄8 is less than 3⁄8)
■ Adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions in simple cases (such as 2 3⁄4 − 1 1⁄4 or 3 × 5⁄8), and solving related word problems
■ Understanding simple decimals in terms of fractions (e.g., rewriting 0.62 as 62⁄100)
■ Measuring angles and finding unknown angles in a diagram