What a 4th grader learns in math and reading

4th grade · the Common Core skills, in plain words · updated 2026-11-02

This is the whole list: 28 math skills and 21 reading skills a 4th grader is expected to learn, with the Common Core code next to each one. In math, 4th grade is mostly fractions, measurement and data, numbers in base ten. In reading, the weight is on language and literature.

Math: 4th grade

Operations and algebraic thinking

• Times as many 4.OA.A.1 — Times as many means groups of. How many groups?
• Times as much 4.OA.A.2 — Times as much means multiply.
• Many-step stories 4.OA.A.3 — Do one step at a time. Think about what is left over.
• Factors 4.OA.B.4 — Find pairs that multiply to the number. Count each number once.
• Growing patterns 4.OA.C.5 — Write the numbers out one at a time.

Numbers in base ten

• Ten times the place 4.NBT.A.1 — Each place to the left is worth ten times more.
• Big place value 4.NBT.A.2 — From the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands.
• Rounding big numbers 4.NBT.A.3 — Find the place. Look one digit to its right. 5 or more rounds up.
• Adding and taking away big numbers 4.NBT.B.4 — Line up the places. Start on the right.
• Two-digit times two-digit 4.NBT.B.5 — Split one number into tens and ones. Multiply each part, then add.
• Dividing big numbers 4.NBT.B.6 — Start at the front. How many times does it fit?

Fractions

• Equal fractions 4.NF.A.1 — What did the bottom number get times-ed by? Do the same on top.
• Comparing unlike fractions 4.NF.A.2 — Make the bottoms the same first. Then compare the tops.
• Adding fractions, same bottom 4.NF.B.3 — The bottom stays the same. Add or take away the tops.
• Fractions times whole numbers 4.NF.B.4 — Multiply the top. Keep the bottom.
• Tenths and hundredths 4.NF.C.5 — One tenth is ten hundredths.
• Decimals and hundredths 4.NF.C.6 — Tenths get one digit after the dot. Hundredths get two.
• Comparing decimals 4.NF.C.7 — Think in hundredths. 0.4 is 40 hundredths.

Measurement and data

• Changing units 4.MD.A.1 — Big unit to small unit? Multiply.
• Measuring stories 4.MD.A.2 — Put everything in the same unit first.
• Area backwards 4.MD.A.3 — Area is length times width. Divide to find the missing side.
• Line plots with fractions 4.MD.B.4 — Count in quarters. Four quarters make one.
• Angles as turns 4.MD.C.5 — A full turn is 360°. Share it into equal parts.
• Reading a protractor 4.MD.C.6 — One side sits on 0. Follow the other side to its number.
• Angles that add up 4.MD.C.7 — A right angle is 90°. A straight line is 180°. Take away the part you know.

Geometry

• Lines and angles 4.G.A.1 — A right angle is a square corner. Smaller is acute, wider is obtuse.
• Sorting shapes 4.G.A.2 — Look at the corners and the sides. Which ones are square? Which run side by side?
• Symmetry 4.G.A.3 — Fold it in your head. Do the two halves match?

Reading: 4th grade

Reading foundations

• Reading long words RF.4.3a — Find the prefix, the root and the suffix. Read each part.

Language

• Relative pronouns L.4.1a — who is for people. which is for things. that can be either.
• Progressive tenses L.4.1b — was walking, is walking, will be walking: an action going on over time.
• Can, may, must L.4.1c — can means able to. may means allowed to. must means has to.
• Order of adjectives L.4.1d — Opinion, then size, then age, then color: a small old red wagon.
• Prepositional phrases L.4.1e — A preposition tells where or when: under the bed, after lunch.
• Complete sentences L.4.1f — A complete sentence has a who or what and a what happened.
• Confusing words L.4.1g — Sound the same, spelled differently: to, too, two.
• Homophones L.4.1g — Think about the meaning, not the sound.
• Punctuating speech L.4.2b — Quotation marks around the spoken words. A comma before the closing mark.
• Commas with joining words L.4.2c — Put the comma before and, but or so when joining two full sentences.
• Greek and Latin roots L.4.4b — tele means far. graph means write. So telegraph is writing from far away.
• Similes and metaphors L.4.5a — A simile uses like or as. A metaphor says one thing is another.
• Idioms L.4.5b — An idiom means something different from its words: piece of cake means easy.
• Synonyms and antonyms L.4.5c — A synonym means the same. An antonym means the opposite.

Literature

• Theme RL.4.2 — The theme is the big idea about life, not just what happens.
• Reading between the lines RL.4.1 — Use clues in the story plus what you already know.
• First or third person RL.4.6 — First person uses I. Third person uses he, she, they.

Informational text

• Main idea RI.4.2 — Ask: what is this whole text about in one sentence?
• Text structure RI.4.5 — Cause and effect? Problem and solution? Compare? Order in time?
• Reasons and evidence RI.4.8 — Which sentence gives proof for the point?

Reading practice includes 30 short texts at this level, among them 6 science and 6 history passages, with questions that check understanding.

How Teach Me uses this list

The check asks a few questions from this grade and the ones around it to find where your child really is, which is often not the grade on the door. Each day's set then comes from the skills they have not got yet. A skill counts as known when they get it right on their own, more than once. Parents see which skills are open and which are solid, and can point the practice at any topic above.

Teach Me is free. It follows the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts; high school math follows California's traditional pathway (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus).

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