4th Grade Math Worksheets

How to make it

1. Choose the size of the numbersTop number 3 digits and bottom number 1 digit is preselected. Move to 4 digits by 1, then 2 digits by 2, as the year goes on.
2. Pick a layoutVertical stacks the numbers for the standard algorithm; horizontal writes them across for mental work and estimation.
3. Print the sheet and its keyTwenty problems print four to a row. The answer key follows on its own page; New variant deals new numbers with the same settings.

The big ideas of fourth grade math

Fourth grade turns single-digit facts into multi-digit arithmetic. The Common Core standard CCSS 4.NBT.B.5 asks children to multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit number and to multiply two two-digit numbers, using place value and the properties of operations. Division follows the same pattern: dividing up to four-digit numbers by a one-digit divisor, with remainders (CCSS 4.NBT.B.6).

Children also add and subtract multi-digit numbers with the standard algorithm (CCSS 4.NBT.B.4) and read, write and compare numbers in the hundred thousands and beyond (CCSS 4.NBT.A.2). Fractions become a major strand: equivalent fractions (CCSS 4.NF.A.1), comparing fractions with different denominators (CCSS 4.NF.A.2) and adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator (CCSS 4.NF.B.3). Those are the jobs most 4th grade math worksheets do, and each has a generator on the site.

The multiplication sheet on this page

The preset prints twenty vertical problems, a three-digit number over a single digit, such as 472 × 6, with an answer line under each and a gap between rows; carried digits go above the top number. The key gives the final product of each problem in pink in the same position. Multi-digit problems are chosen at random, so a sheet will usually mix problems with and without regrouping, which is what the standard algorithm needs to be tested on.

Change Top number to 4 digits for the upper end of the 4.NBT.B.5 range, or set both numbers to 2 digits for two-digit by two-digit problems such as 38 × 47. Ticking Facts practice switches the sheet back to single-digit facts, which some classes use as a warm-up before the long problems. The sheet prints the standard it practices in the footer for US browsers.

Area models, partial products and the algorithm

Most US classrooms teach fourth grade multiplication in stages. First comes the area model: 472 × 6 drawn as a rectangle split into 400, 70 and 2, each piece multiplied by 6 and the parts added. Then partial products in a column, the same three multiplications written one under the other. The standard algorithm, with its carried digits, comes last, once children can explain why it works.

Because the method is written by the child, not printed in advance, the same sheet suits all three stages; for the area model and partial products, give children scrap paper or graph paper for the working. A useful check at any stage is estimation: 472 × 6 is close to 500 × 6, so the answer should be a little under 3,000. Ask for an estimate in the margin before each problem on the first few sheets; it catches place-value slips that a key alone does not explain.

Other fourth grade math worksheets

For division, the long division worksheets use a bracket layout with room to work; choose a 3- or 4-digit dividend, a 1-digit divisor and With remainders for the 4.NBT.B.6 range. For multi-digit addition and subtraction, the addition and subtraction makers at 4 or 5 digits match 4.NBT.B.4.

For fractions, fraction worksheets in equivalent, compare and same-denominator add or subtract modes follow the three fourth grade fraction standards in turn. For place value, the place value maker at 5 or 6 digits asks for the value of an underlined digit, expanded form or a comparison. Teachers building free 4th grade math worksheets for a unit can print one page from each, each with its own key.

When the facts are not ready yet

Multi-digit multiplication goes wrong most often for a simple reason: a single fact inside it is slow or wrong. A child who stops at every 7 × 8 will lose the thread of a three-step problem. If the key shows errors scattered across different problems, look at which facts they share and give a few days to those facts on 3rd grade math worksheets, then come back here.

The other common slip is lining up: a carried digit written in the wrong column or a partial product shifted one place. Graph paper with 1 cm squares keeps digits in their columns; children copy the problems onto it, one digit per square, until the habit is steady.

Year 5 in England, Year 4 in Australia

US fourth graders are about nine to ten years old, the same age as Year 5 in England and Year 4 in Australia. In England, multiplying up to four digits by one or two digits with formal written methods is a Year 5 expectation, so the sheet fits there with the same settings, on A4 and without the US code.

Long division with two-digit divisors and fractions with unlike denominators come next, on 5th grade math worksheets. Students who finish early can try the same multiplication at 4 digits by 2 digits, which is a fifth grade problem written with fourth grade tools.

Common Core State Standards: © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.