4th Grade Lessons

Here you will find lesson plans for 4th grade. With your dedication and creativity, these lessons will help inspire many students. The lessons cover multiple subject areas and objectives. The 4th grade lesson plan section will continuously grow as more teachers from our Teacher.org community submit their lesson plans. If you would like your lesson plans published as well, please contact us. You have the power to inspire our future!

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4th Grade Arts Lesson Plans

Camouflage and Environment

Length of Time: 30 Minutes

Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.

Christmas Around the World Part 1

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

This lesson combines Visual Arts with Social Studies. Students will read about how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world and draw a scene depicting that location.

Christmas Around the World Part 2

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

This lesson combines Music and Social Studies. Students will listen to and learn Christmas songs from around the world and analyze.

Kwanzaa Art

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

Students will discuss the 7 principals of Kwanzaa and then draw pictures of an example of each.

Making a Menorah

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

Students will make a beautiful vibrant menorah using art supplies while learning about the background.

Mini Diorama

Length of Time: Several Class Periods

This visual arts lesson will allow students to share some personal interests in the form of a diorama. Sample rubric included.

Theater in Action

Length of Time: About 2 Class Periods

Students will write and perform a scene from the story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Upside Down Art

Length of Time: 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on grade level

This lesson will allow students to practice creating art from a unique perspective while learning about Michelangelo.

4th Grade English/Language Arts Lesson Plans

Author's Purpose

Length of Time: 40-50 minutes

Students will have the opportunity to delve into the world of "Author's Purpose" with this engaging lesson. This lesson is aligned with 2nd grade standards and expectations.

Collaborative Questioning

Length of Time: About 60 - 90 Minutes

Students will read a teacher selected, standards-based science or history text. Students will then develop questions based on Costa’s levels of questioning to encourage collaborative discussion of the reading.

Discovering Adjectives

Length of Time: About 40 - 60 Minutes

Students will work in groups to describe various objects based on taste, smell, look, touch, and emotional feeling.

Explain Those Idioms

Length of Time: 30 - 40 Minutes

Students will recognize idioms for their actual as well as realized meaning.

Fable Lesson: What is a Fable?

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

In this  fable lesson, students will use Internet sources, graphic organizers and group activities to analyze and discuss the characteristics and story lines of two different fables, "The Owl and The Grasshopper" and "The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse." After students read and brainstorm story elements of the folktales, they will then write a fable of their own.

Hiding Homophones

Length of Time: 30 - 40 Minutes

This lesson offers a simple introduction or refresher course in homophones, words that are pronounced the same, but spell and mean differently. Students will create a visual reminder of some of the more common homophones.  

Main Idea

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to help students' comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text.

Moody Reading: Reading with Expression

Length of Time: Varied Depending on Usage

This lesson will be used to help students understand how to read with expression by choosing an expression to read with regardless of what is written.

Short Stories

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to help students ask questions and support answers by connecting prior knowledge with literal information found in, and inferred from, the text.

Tearing Into Vocabulary

Length of Time: 15-30 Minutes

This is a quick activity to allow students to work cooperatively while increasing awareness of vocabulary for a given lesson.

Theater in Action

Length of Time: About 2 Class Periods

Students will write and perform a scene from the story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Writing Main Idea

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to help student’s organization and focus their grade appropriate writing.

Writing Narratives

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

In this lesson, students will use a graphic organizer for narrative writing.

Writing to a Photograph

Length of Time: About 45-60 Minutes

Students will develop a plan for a fictional story based on a picture.

4th Grade Environmental Lesson Plans

Angles in Nature

Length of Time: 50 - 60 Minutes

Students will take a walk outside with their protractor and measure the angles in nature. They will record the angles that they find in branches, trees, bushes, flowers, etc… and then determine the supplementary angle.

Beach Day

Length of Time: 45 - 75 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to learn about the beach environment and experience working with sand.

Biosphere

Length of Time: 30 - 45 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to create a self sustaining biosphere.

Camouflage and Environment

Length of Time: 30 Minutes

Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.

Classroom Garden From Trash

Length of Time: 10-15 per day for several weeks

Students will create several plants (a garden) from parts of a plant that are normally thrown away.

Food Chain Tag

Length of Time: 20-40 Minutes

Students will learn a brief background about energy transfer between the sun, producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. ½ of the students are primary consumers (plants) and ¼ of the students are primary consumers (rabbits) and ¼ of the students are secondary consumers (hawks).

Ozone Layer

Length of Time: 1-2 Class Periods

Students will think about how people affect the environment and what they can do to help it and prevent further damage.

Rainfall Gauge

Length of Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to learn about the rain amounts in their area as well as offer a hands-on science experiment that could lead to discussions about the water cycle.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (In That Order)

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

Students will watch a video about reduce, reuse, and recycle and then complete a gallery walk to discuss ideas of other ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Save the World

Length of Time: Two 45 Minute Lessons

This lesson is intended to motivate students to become environmental superheroes.

We Must Recycle

Length of Time: About 20 Minutes

Students will use creativity to use something considered trash to create something new.

4th Grade Math Lesson Plans

Angles in Nature

Length of Time: 50 - 60 Minutes

Students will take a walk outside with their protractor and measure the angles in nature. They will record the angles that they find in branches, trees, bushes, flowers, etc… and then determine the supplementary angle.

Comparing Decimals Game

Length of Time: 40 - 60 Minutes

Students will play a game in which they choose cards and choose the best place to put the number they have chosen in order to get the highest answer possible.  This should not be the first introduction to the topic.

Comparing Multiplication Facts (Hey Tocayo!)

Length of Time: 30 - 40 Minutes

Students will be assigned a number that has various factors and they will find partners with different factors that have the same product.

Exchanging Time

Length of Time: 2-3 class periods

The lesson is used for students to practice basic time measurement, and understanding the basic units of time.

Feed the Gator

Length of Time: About 20 minutes (depends on # of problems)

Students will compare numbers with three or more digits using visual cues.

Fractions, Decimals, Percents, & Graphs

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to explore fractions, decimals, percent’s, and graphs with TRIX cereal.

Fun Fraction Pizza

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

Students will create a “pizza” from construction paper divided into 8 slices. They will decorate each slice and then exchange slices with classmates and then evaluate the fractions of slices that they have at the end. For example, 1/8 slices of my own pizza, 4/8 or ½ of pizza that was made by a female, 2/8 or ¼ that was made by my buddy.  Note: Students should have already had some lessons about simplification of fractions.

Order of Operations

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to help students solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.

Symmetry Search

Length of Time: 1-2 class periods

The students will locate manmade objects or things in nature that are symmetrical.

The Value of a Number

Length of Time: 1-2 Class Periods

The students will work in groups of 4-6 physically learning and reviewing place value.

4th Grade P.E. Lesson Plans

Aces and Exercise

Length of Time: 1 class period

Using a deck of playing cards, the students will pick the number of reps for various exercises.  

And Freeze!

Length of Time: As Desired

Students will practice listening skills and basic physical concepts as required in physical education class. Students will also work on balance and coordination.

Basketball Relay

Length of Time: As Desired

Students will practice teamwork, dribbling, and shooting a basketball.

Boom Over Movement Game

Length of Time: 15 - 20 Minutes

Students will play a game in which they need to change direction quickly. Students are to pretend that they are on a sailboat that is in the middle of a storm. They will have to run and change direction based on verbal commands and duck quickly to avoid being hit by the imaginary boom.

Coordination Course

Length of Time: 10-40 Minutes

This plan will allow students to practice coordination while staying physical.

Food Chain Tag

Length of Time: 20-40 Minutes

Students will learn a brief background about energy transfer between the sun, producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. ½ of the students are primary consumers (plants) and ¼ of the students are primary consumers (rabbits) and ¼ of the students are secondary consumers (hawks).

Music Movement

Length of Time: 1 class period

The students will move to the music based on its beat, words, tune, and other variables.

Pass It Off

Length of Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to practice passing, dribbling, and bouncing skills using basketballs

Race to the Answer

Length of Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to practice teamwork, basic math skills, and get exercise through a relay race. Note: Problems/difficulty level can be altered by grade

Trust Me

Length of Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

This lesson will allow students to practice teamwork and trust building, as well as working on directionality for younger students.

What Time is it FOX?

Length of Time: 20 - 40 Minutes

The students play a game where they practice different movements including jumping, galloping, skipping, running, jogging, leaping, and walking. Based on National Physical Education Standards, students should have been learning these skills for the last 4 years.

4th Grade Science Lesson Plans

Camouflage and Environment

Length of Time: 30 Minutes

Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.

Classroom Garden From Trash

Length of Time: 10-15 per day for several weeks

Students will create several plants (a garden) from parts of a plant that are normally thrown away.

Engineering Design

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Food Chain Tag

Length of Time: 20-40 Minutes

Students will learn a brief background about energy transfer between the sun, producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers. ½ of the students are primary consumers (plants) and ¼ of the students are primary consumers (rabbits) and ¼ of the students are secondary consumers (hawks).

Food Web

Length of Time: 20 - 30 Minutes

Students will create a food web with a partner.

Layers of the Earth

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

This lesson is designed to help students understand that the Earth has a layered structure.

Solar System

Length of Time: About 45 Minutes

The students will learn about the Solar System, the  order of the 8 planets, special words such as orbit and asteroid.

4th Grade Social Studies Lesson Plans

A Day in the Life of a Roman Girl and Boy

Length of Time: 3-4 Class Periods

Students will research the topic of daily life for children of ancient Rome.

Christmas Around the World Part 1

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

This lesson combines Visual Arts with Social Studies. Students will read about how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world and draw a scene depicting that location.

Christmas Around the World Part 2

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

This lesson combines Music and Social Studies. Students will listen to and learn Christmas songs from around the world and analyze.

History of Hanukkah

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

Students will read a passage about the history of Hanukkah and “talk to the text” to understand the story better. Students will answer questions individually and then with a partner to understand the text better.

The History of Thanksgiving

Length of Time: 30-40 Minutes

Students will research the history of Thanksgiving based on the perspective of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims and then interview each other to learn about each story.

We Must Recycle

Length of Time: About 20 Minutes

Students will use creativity to use something considered trash to create something new.

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