Grade 4 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 social studies in the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Citizenship, power and governance. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the origins, functions, and sources of power, authority, and governance.
- Culture and diversity. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of culture, diversity, and world view, recognizing the similarities and differences reflected in various personal, cultural, racial, and ethnic perspectives.
- Individuals, societies and economic decisions. Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to make responsible economic decisions as individuals and as members of society.
- Interdependence. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interdependent relationship among individuals, societies, and the environment—locally, nationally, and globally—and the implications for a sustainable future.
- People, place and environment. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interactions among people, places, and the environment.
- Time, continuity and change. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past and how it affects the present and the future.
Easy ways to practise social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
Peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador
Practises the Indigenous peoples and the newcomers who have made their homes in Newfoundland and Labrador, and how cultures have shaped the province. The Indigenous content is light, in the present tense, and needs review by Innu, Inuit, Mi'kmaq and Southern Inuit partners.
Why People Explore
Grade 4 social studies asks what exploration is, why people have explored and what happened because of it. Ask your child what place they would most like to explore, and what they would need to bring.
Explorers’ Stories
Grade 4 social studies meets explorers from many places and times, from Marco Polo to Canadian astronauts. Ask your child which explorer they would like to have travelled with, and why.
Maps & Tools of Exploration
Grade 4 social studies uses maps, directions and scale, and compares the tools explorers used long ago with those used today. Ask your child to find north at home and to read a map legend together.
Provinces & Regions
Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories and their capitals, and its physical regions (like the Cordillera, Interior Plains and Canadian Shield) and their natural resources.
People & the Land
How rivers, deserts, mountains, forests and Arctic seasons shaped food, homes and travel for societies such as ancient Egypt, Greece, the Haudenosaunee and the Inuit, and how to investigate this with maps and evidence.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Not Yet Achieving
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Good
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Excellent
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Newfoundland and Labrador report card guide.
Common questions
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum Grade 4 social studies units include peoples of newfoundland and labrador, why people explore, explorers’ stories, maps & tools of exploration, provinces & regions, people & the land.
Free printable Grade 4 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.