Curriculum

Fourth Grade Curriculum Overview

English Language Arts

Fourth graders explore a variety of genres including poetry, short stories, plays, and nonfiction texts.Through reading, they can make connections with situations beyond their own experience. They can make inferences, draw conclusions, and are learning to support their opinions about what they read. When writing about their reading, students will write narrative, informative, and persuasive pieces based on texts that they are reading or have read while in fourth grade.

Mathematics

Our math curriculum is organized into five standards:

(1) Number and Operations; (2) Measurement; (3) Geometry; (4) Data Analysis and Probability; and, (5) Algebra. Problem-solving strategies are embedded into each of the 5 strands. 4th grade students are able to perform mathematical tasks and to use models to demonstrate their understanding. They are confident in exploring new concepts with concrete materials because they have had repeated opportunities to experiment with manipulatives.

Social Studies

Fourth grade students proceed from studying their community to a study of the state of North Carolina. Students learn about the characteristics of North Carolinians, who we are and where we came from. The geographic regions, landforms, climate, and resources are explored. The social, economic, and political institutions are studied as students develop a broad context of the southeast, the nation, and the world economy.

Science

Students in fourth grade study electricity, magnetism, properties of matter, energy conversion and transfer, Earth’s history, ecosystems, and food and nutrition.  Students are engaged in hands on learning and explore concepts firsthand.  Learning is extended with focused questioning that requires explanation and elaboration of discoveries made.