Grade 4 · Alberta
Grade 4: reading to learn
Grade 4 is where reading turns into a way of learning everything else. Decimals arrive, multiplication and division get written methods, and social studies becomes the history of Canada. This page is for the grown-up — what Alberta asks for, what the words mean, and what to do about it at home.
The five learning areas
Each one starts with what Alberta asks for, defines the words teachers use, and then gives you things to try at home.
English language arts and literature
Reading and writing
Reading aloud so it shows you understood, strategies for harder texts, writing to inform, using sources honestly, and saying it in fewer words.
Open reading and writing
Mathematics
Numbers to 10 000
Column arithmetic to 10 000 with decimals, the first written multiplication and division, sorting shapes by their measurements, area, and graphs.
Open numbers to 10 000
Science
Looking closely
Forces that act without touching, where waste goes, Earth's four connected systems, how animals' bodies fit their lives, the sky in daily life, design, and evidence.
Open looking closely
Social studies
Colonial Canada
How Canada came to be: First Nations and the fur trade, New France, the British, the Loyalists, the rebellions, and Confederation — and what citizens owe and are owed.
Open colonial canada
Physical education and wellness
Moving and feeling good
Building each part of fitness, combining movements, the right to a bully-free school, puberty, credible food information, consent, and spending decisions.
Open moving and feeling good
For the child
26 printable sheets
Printables
Reading with expression, strategies and sources, columns to 10 000, decimals, written multiplication and division, shapes and area, magnets, Earth's systems, and Canada from Cartier to Confederation.
Print a sheet
3 games
Games
Decimal Duel, Shape Detective, Which Came First? — decimals, shapes and Canada's history.
Play a game
What changes from Grade 3
Grade 4 is the first year of the new Grades 4–6 block, and four things change at once.
- Reading becomes a tool. The texts get longer and more factual, so the reading outcomes are about strategies for understanding them — and the writing outcomes add using other people's information honestly.
- Decimals arrive. They are added and subtracted in columns like everything else, once the decimal points are lined up. Money is the easiest way in.
- Multiplication and division get written methods. A three-digit number times or divided by a one-digit one, on paper, with carrying and remainders.
- Social studies becomes Canadian history. The new curriculum, mandatory from September 2026, replaces the old Alberta course with Canada from Jacques Cartier to Confederation. Most parents will not recognize it.
The subjects are the same six as every year: English language arts and literature, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education and wellness, and fine arts. Fine arts is not covered here.
How to use this
- Start with a learning area. Each one gives the actual expectations, then defines the words — paraphrase, quotient, non-contact force, responsible government — that teachers use and parents rarely hear explained.
- Try the home ideas. Several are specific to Alberta: Fort Edmonton, the northern lights, the great horned owl, the year Alberta joined Canada.
- Print a sheet when you want something on paper. Every one has a line of instructions for you at the top and an answer note underneath.
- Hand over a game when you need ten quiet minutes. No account, no advertising, nothing that asks for money.
The expectations above are paraphrased from Alberta Education's New K–6 curriculum fact sheets, which publish a snapshot of each grade rather than the complete program of studies. Alberta's full programs are at alberta.ca/curriculum.