What Language Arts Should a 4th Grader Know?
By the end of fourth grade language arts, students should be able to:
Read with a higher level of fluency and expression.
Utilize root words, prefixes, suffixes, and context clues to analyze unfamiliar words.
Formulate multiple paragraph pieces that focus on a specific purpose or audience.
Apply comprehension strategies to literary and expository texts.
Identify and describe the theme of a story, as well as retell story elements with details.
Spell frequently used words correctly.
Write chronological pieces, pieces focusing on cause and effect and pieces that draw from personal experience.
First Grade Reading Goals/Objectives
Foundational skills for fourth grade readers involve making sure they are reading a wide variety of books and other written materials. They will be sharing what they are reading with others, both verbally and in writing. Your child should be reading fluently enough to read aloud comfortably as well.
Specifically, some of the objectives for this year’s reading instruction include:
Paying close attention to the key features of what is read, and being able to share details afterward
Comparing ideas, characters, events, and settings in stories
Gaining additional skills in reading comprehension including summarizing, predicting, visualizing, questioning, and clarifying details
Recognizing figurative language when reading (similes, metaphors, etc.)
Learning the difference between first and third person narration
Your fourth grader will become actively involved in the steps of the writing process this year. From prewriting to drafting to editing and revision, fourth graders will learn how to plan out their compositions and refine them.
Some of the specific writing goals our 4th grade language arts curriculum aims for this year include:
Using research tools to investigate and write about a specific topic.
Analyzing and interpreting a story they have read by writing about it.
Writing summaries or opinions of topics, using supporting details.
Writing an example news article.
Writing Goals/Objectives
Grammar Goals/Objectives
In fourth grade, students learn to apply what they have learned about grammar and mechanics as they write original compositions. Our 4th grade language arts curriculum lessons focus on parts of speech, similes and metaphors, punctuation, double negatives, and spelling.
Fourth graders will continue to review the grammar rules they have learned to this point, and will add new concepts such as:
Rules of spelling
Regular and irregular verbs
Proper and common nouns
Recognizing and avoiding double negatives
Correctly using commas in series, dates, addresses, and compound sentences
A 4th grade language arts program has two primary goals: making sure your child understands what he/she is reading and being able to communicate ideas clearly. Your fourth grader will be comprehending a wide range of written texts, from articles to poems. They will also learn to summarize what they have read and share it using supporting details, facts, and examples.