In Grade 4, students spend significant blocks of time engaged in reading and writing independently. Fourth grade students are critical listeners and analyze a speaker's intent such as to entertain or to persuade. When speaking, they adapt their language to the audience, purpose, and occasion. Students continue to read classic and contemporary selections. Fourth grade students read with a growing interest in a wide variety of topics and adjust their reading approach to various forms of texts. Students expand their vocabulary systematically across the curriculum. Students read for meaning and can paraphrase texts. Students are able to connect, compare, and contrast ideas. Fourth grade students can identify and follow varied text structures such as chronologies and cause and effect. Students produce summaries of texts and engage in more sophisticated analysis of characters, plots, and settings. Fourth grade students are able to select and use different forms of writing for specific purposes such as to inform, persuade, or entertain. Their writing takes on style and voice. Fourth grade students write in complete sentences. Students vary sentence structure and use adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and conjunctions. Fourth grade students are proficient spellers. Students edit their writing based on their knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language. Students can produce a final, polished copy of a written composition. Fourth grade students understand and use visual media and can compare and contrast visual media to print.