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Fourth Grade Curriculum
Curriculum standards are what all grade-level students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of a school year. Key standards of fourth grade education are highlighted below. All K-5 teachers are implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cc/) in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Curriculum used includes Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, Envision Math, Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative (SVMI), FOSS Science Program, and Scott-Foresman History-Social Studies.
In Fourth Grade, each student will…
Language ArtsTop of Page
Reading
- Delve into complex texts and see significance in details
- Study complexity of characters
- Trace a theme through the story
- Grow skills such as inference and interpretation
- Use their knowledge of structure to decide what is and isn’t important
- Form research teams to delve into topics about extreme weather and natural disasters
- Study authorial tone and craft, practice close reading, compare and contrast, and evaluate sources to determine credibility
- Use nonfiction texts to research history
- Learn strategies to tackle complex texts, preview and paraphrase, and study all parts of a text to extract main ideas
- Discover strategies for learning and using new domain-specific words
- Practice reading analytically, synthesizing complicated narratives, comparing and contrasting themes, and incorporating nonfiction research into their reading
Writing
- Learn to apply their own writing techniques across the genres of Opinion, Information, and Narrative
- Develop believable characters with struggles and motivations and rich stories to tell in their fictional writing
- Learn the value of organization and form by gathering evidence to support and express an opinion on topics they know well
- Tackle historical research by collecting evidence and using details to vividly describe people and events long ago and far away.
- Build on their learning of essay writing and apply it with increasing sophistication
Speaking and Listening
- Participate in conversations about grade level topics
- Paraphrase a text and identify reasons and evidence
- Report on topic/text, tell a story, retell an experience
- Differentiate between formal English and informal discourse
MathematicsTop of Page
- Use four operations with whole numbers to solve problems
- Gain familiarity with factors and multiples
- Generate and analyze patterns
- Generalize place value for multi-digit whole numbers
- Use place value/properties of operations to solve
- Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering
- Build fractions from unit fractions
- Understand decimal notation and compare decimal fractions
- Solve problems involving conversion of measurements
- Represent and interpret data
- Understand concepts of angle and measure angles
- Draw/identify lines/angles
- Classify shape by properties
ScienceTop of Page
- Energy
- Explore concepts of energy and change, waves, and energy transfer
- Experience electricity and magnetism
- Learn useful applications of electromagnetism in everyday life
- Consider energy transfer, force, and motion in different systems
- Solids, Rocks, and Landforms
- Study the planet’s earth materials and natural resources
- Investigate with soils, rocks, and minerals
- Study changes to rocks and landforms at Earth’s surface
- Environments
- Study different ecosystems
- Build understanding of the relationship between organisms and their environments
- Focus on concepts that organisms need energy and matter to live and grow
- Learn how organisms depend on one another and their environment for survival
- Experience a “living lab” in the school garden
Social StudiesTop of Page
Woodside Elementary School District adopted TCI’s (Teacher’s Curriculum Institute) Social Studies Alive! curriculum for grades K-8. TCI is located in Mountain View and has been supporting teachers for decades in making social studies come alive for students. Our approach includes Hands-On Activities that engage students in big questions, as well as inquiry-based lessons that help students develop critical thinking skills and master essential knowledge
For Fourth Grade Students, the textbook is Social Studies Alive! California’s Promise.
Chapters include:
- California’s Golden Landscape (Geography)
- California’s Native Peoples (History)
- The Mission System (Economics and Geography)
- California Becomes a State (Civics)
- Bringing Water to a Thirsty State (Economics)
- The Gold Rush Changes California (Economics)
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)Top of Page
Learn about…
- Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, Give Yourself
- Resolving problems
- Importance of attributes such as kindness, compassion, empathy, and respect
- Participating in community circle and team building experiences
Physical EducationTop of Page
Skills are built upon each other throughout the grades. Some areas to be emphasized throughout the year are:
- Movement Concepts
- Body Management
- Locomotor Movement
- Manipulative Skills
- Rhythmic Skills
- Aerobic Capacity
- Muscular Strength/Endurance
- Flexibility
- Self-Responsibility
- Social Interaction
MusicTop of Page
- Participate in a mini-musical or musical revue
- Learn to play the recorder
- Play and sing a variety of songs in various keys, time signatures, and genres
- Gain accuracy in reading and understanding music
- Improvise and compose music of their own
- Talk about music using musical vocabulary
- Learn that music is part of the world around them
- Explore cross-curricula ideas
- Share self-expression through speaking, playing, and moving
- Experience life skills related to teamwork, respect, and responsibility
ArtTop of Page
The sequential skills based program focuses on the appreciation and production of art, and the study of art history through…
- Artistic Perception
- Creative Expression
- Historical and Cultural Context
- Aesthetic Valuing
- Connections, Relationships, and Applications
DesignTop of Page
- Develop their ability to understand others, analyze challenges, and reflect on their work
- Apply design practices to more complex projects
- Work on three different projects, one during each trimester, that are aligned with current curriculum
- Incorporate a variety of technology: littleBits, Sketch, Pages, Adobe Creative Suite, TinkerCAD, SketchUp, iMovie, DIY Electronics