How to Teach Fourth Grade Math

Being a successful math teacher starts with getting organized and planning year-long goals. When the structure is in place, the daily lesson plans can be completed. The strategies for teaching include group work, inquiry-based activities, discovery, direct instruction and other approaches to teaching math.

Things You'll Need

• Year-long planner, from August to August State math standards

Instructions

How to Teach Fourth-Grade Math

1. Download your state's Department of Education content standards for math. Even though you are teaching fourth grade, study all of the grade-level standards and benchmarks. Doing so gives you an idea of what students coming into your class should already know and what they need to know when they leave your class.

2. 

   Update your planner to include your school and district's calendar of events. Be sure to include the end of each quarter, semester, trimester or however your school divides the school year.

3. If your school uses textbooks, compare the state standards to the content that is included in the textbook. You are responsible for teaching the state standards, so you must cover that material by the end of the year. Some material in the textbook may prove to be unnecessary if it is not in the fourth-grade standards. You may find a need to supplement the textbook with other resources if a standard is not covered by the textbook.

4. Organize the standards and/or chapters in the textbook into a logical sequence. The content should build upon the previous unit.

5. Decide what the essential question is for each chapter. Center the lessons around the main concepts students should master.

6. Plan the number of days needed for each lesson in a unit. Challenging concepts may require two to three days of instruction, while less difficult concepts may require only a day. Be realistic. The unit plan should include a day for review and tests, as well as any quizzes or projects you want to assign.

7. Write down your year-long plan for each unit in your planner. Within each unit, write the title of each lesson, as well as classwork and homework. Write everything in pencil because plans may change throughout the year when unexpected issues arise.

8. 

   Create lessons for units one at a time. Don't plan the individual lessons too far ahead in case you need to change the course of action based on your students' understanding of the concepts.

9. Check that each lesson addresses the state math standards. Teach the appropriate vocabulary and any other background information the students need in order to understand the lesson.

10. Decide what style of teaching, activities and strategies you want to use for each lesson. Some lessons may be appropriate for hands-on learning and group discovery, while others may be more effective when taught through questioning techniques.

11. Be fair with your quizzes and tests. Check that the questions on the assessments do reflect what you taught the students. Don't assume that because you taught them the basics, they should be able to take it beyond.

12. Reflect on how students performed on the assessments. Decide whether there are concepts that you need to review or teach again. If a large portion of students do poorly on the same question, the wording may be confusing. If a large portion of the class performs poorly on the overall assessment, this may indicate a need for spending additional time on the material.

13. Keep notes about each unit and/or lesson throughout the year. Write down any problems you encountered or strategies that worked well. At the beginning of the following year, review these notes before you complete your year-long plan.

Tips & Warnings

• Share ideas with your colleagues and be receptive to their ideas. Arming yourself with a variety of activities and strategies will give you the opportunity to try new lessons.

References

• Assist Beginning Teachers