Fourth Grade - Development of 9 & 10 Year-Olds

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  Better coordination is evident in most all physical activity
• Like to push their physical limits, but tire easily
• Restless; can't sit still for long
• With better fine motor coordination and control, show more interest in producing detailed drawings and illustrations, scientific notation, comic strips, and graphic novels
• Benefit from practice with a variety of fine motor tools and tasks (weaving, knitting, carving, drawing, etc.) to increase manual dexterity
• May twist hair, bite nails, or purse lips to relieve tension

• 
  More individualistic; caught up in trying out new ways of dressing and grooming and trying on different personas
• Impatient and easily frustrated; often say "I hate it" or "It's boring" when work is difficult or repetitious; adult encouragement helps them persevere
• Often feel worried or anxious; complain of and sometimes exaggerate physical hurts; needed adult lightheartedness and humor to relieve their anxiety and somberness
• very critical of self and others (including adults); often complain about fairness issues
• can be selling, moody, aloof, and negative 1 minute and goofy and fun-loving the next
• Like to work with a partner of their choice
• Have a sense of who is and who is out of certain groups in the lunchroom or on the playground; clicks may be problematic
• Very competitive; can work in groups but with lots of arguing
• Like to negotiate; this is the age of "Let's make a deal"
• Need adults to be patient and explain clearly, but concisely

• 
  Love descriptive language, wordplay, and new vocabulary; short dramatic skits or role-plays are popular
• Sometimes revert to baby talk when feeling anxious or silly
• Enjoy exaggeration, inappropriate jokes, and graffiti; adults need to be vigilant about how students are talking about marginalized people and what students are learning from the adults in their lives or online that reinforces stereotypes
• Enjoy and use technology and a range of social media to express ideas and thoughts

• 
  Industrious and intellectually curious, but less imaginative than at eight; focus more on the "real" world; look hard (often anxiously) for explanations of facts, how things work, why things happen as they do
• Have trouble understanding abstractions, such as large numbers, long periods of time, or vast areas of space
• Beginning to be more aware, wondering about and exploring a bigger world of ideas, including issues of fairness and justice
• Able to manage more than one concept at a time (for example, when studying history, they can understand both "long ago" and "far away")
• Often ask, "Why do we have to do this?" and need homework related specifically to the next day's work
• Reading to learn instead of learning to read; most ready to read for information in books and newspapers and on websites
• Take pride in attention to detail and finished work, but may jump quickly between interests
• Able to copy from the board, recopy assignments, and produce visually attractive final drafts

Reading - Provide opportunities for children this age to:

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  Continue working in reading groups with a focus on comprehension and interpretation
• Tackle assignments that involve beginning research tasks and use of related reading material
• Intensively develop dictionary skills introduced at earlier ages
• Volunteer to read orally during read-aloud
• Explore poetry seriously throughout the year as readers and writers

Writing - Expect from children this age:

• Writing: Readiness for emphasis on the first draft and revision process; ability to utilize teachings about descriptive writing, character development, plot, cohesiveness, and believability; frequent episodes of "writer's block"
• Spelling: Improving use of dictionary skills; improving first-draft spelling; fewer mistakes with spelling in journals and subject writing; readiness for weekly spelling tests; mastery of basic capitalization and punctuation
• Writing Themes: Moving away, divorce, death, disease, and other worries; world issues; poetry about feelings and darker themes

Across the Curriculum - Provide opportunities for children this age to:

• Use and practice fine motor skills through printing, drawing, and crafts that require fine motor coordination
• Work with a partner of their choice some of the time; balance this with structures that help them work and play with all classmates, not just best friends
• Use drama to play with language and practice new vocabulary (for example, they could present a biographical sketch of a famous person and dress up in costume)

• 
  Large muscles for jumping, running, and other big movements are developing quickly, although upper body strength is usually underdeveloped
• Need a great deal of outdoor time with physical activity and challenge for large muscles; without adequate exercise, energy may spill over into acting out in the classroom
• Often write more sloppily than at nine because they are in a hurry
• As control of small muscles improves, they continue to enjoy precision tasks such as tracing, copying, making maps, and drawing cartoons
• Ready to start using tools such as compasses, protractors, rulers, and templates
• Frequent snacks and rest periods benefit rapidly growing bodies

• 
  Generally happy and friendly; enjoy family, peers, and teachers
• Quick to anger and to forgive
• Usually truthful; developing a more mature sense of right and wrong; able to learn peer mediation or problem-solving
• Highly sensitive to and able to resolve friendship and fairness issues
• Basically cooperative and flexible; do well with group activities and games, collaborative learning, and building a sense of whole-class cohesion
• Benefit from class problem-solving meetings, committee work to plan a field trip, and conducting school surveys
• Eager to reach out to others, such as through community service or tutoring younger children
• Appreciate being noticed and rewarded for their efforts

• 
  Listen well; enjoy talking and explaining, and can appreciate others' perspectives
• Read voraciously; important that their daily schedule has as much time for independent reading as for homework

• 
  Very good at memorizing poetry, songs, times tables, geography, and mathematical steps and formulas
• Increasingly able to think abstractly
• Take great pleasure in collecting, classifying, and organizing
• Can concentrate for longer periods
• Take pride in schoolwork; pay close attention to form, structure, directions, and organization
• Usually conscientious with homework
• Very eager to learn
• Enjoy rules and logic; good at solving problems
• Can pay attention to spelling, dictation, and penmanship simultaneously, but work may be somewhat sloppy as they learn to integrate these skills
• Enjoy choral reading, singing, poetry, and plays

Reading - Provide opportunities for children this age to:

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  Read, memorize, and recite poetry, do choral readings, and put on plays
• Read trade books centered on themes
• Read independently and indulge their desire to devour one book after another; read more and do fewer book projects
• Enjoy comic books and appropriate graphic novels

Writing - Expect from children this age:

• Writing: Readiness to write lengthy stories, longer poems, first research papers, and pieces about famous people -- usually filled with light and descriptive language; more frequent use of humor; more use of dialogue; realistic descriptions of interactions between characters
• Spelling: Memorizing the spelling of difficult words, and using the words, properly spelled, in day-to-day writing
• Writing Themes: Friends, friends, and more friends in many adventures; time travel; letters to request information; notes to friends; reports

Across the Curriculum - Provide opportunities for children this age to:

• Get plenty of exercise
• Do precision tasks, such as drawing maps and using protractors
• Take part in clubs, activities, group games, and team sports
• Participate in class problem-solving meetings and take part in planning for whole-class events
• Reach out to others in the community through service projects or assisting younger grades
• Memorize, classify, organize, and solve logic problems