Fourth-grade students will read a variety of fiction and nonfiction literature and will apply a variety of reading comprehension strategies to enhance understanding in all content areas. Students will continue to increase communication skills in large and small group settings. In addition, students will plan, draft, revise, and edit narratives and explanations and will use information resources and word references while writing. All aspects of literacy will be taught through a balanced literacy framework for instruction, enabling all students to become independent and strategic readers, writers, thinkers, and communicators.

Fourth-grade mathematics provides students with many opportunities to engage in experiences involving problem solving, data collection and analysis, and algebraic thinking. Major topics are double-digit multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and geometry.

The fourth-grade standards stress the importance of using information, analyzing data, and validating experimental results. Defining variables in experimentation is emphasized, and making simple predictions from picture, bar, and basic line graphs is underscored. Questioning and hypothesizing become more detailed at this level. Students are introduced to the basic principles of electricity and to the concept of motion. Students explore basic information about our solar system and investigate the interactions among Earth, the moon, and the sun. Students explore basic plant structures, plant adaptations, and investigate relationships among plants and animals and their environments. In examining weather phenomena and conditions, students identify various factors, make predictions and evaluate the results.

The fourth-grade students spend the year studying Virginia history, geography, and economics. They begin with a study of the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown and end at the Twentieth Century. Students will explore the geography of Virginia and the state’s resources, its economic systems, and cultural makeup. Reading and writing about famous Virginians and studying important historical documents and events that have influenced Virginia history will prepare students to develop problem solving and decision making skills.