Take a good look at the standards for your state in third and fifth grade math to get an idea of what your students should already know and what lessons you are preparing them for. Find these standards on your state Department of Education's Web site and compare topics like addition, fractions and decimals with the fourth grade standards.
Review the curriculum textbook alongside the fourth-grade math standards to see what material in the textbook is unnecessary or missing. Have a good idea of what is in the book to avoid focusing on chapters that the students will not be tested on, and learn ahead of time if you need to request additional workbooks or purchase extra worksheets to reinforce certain topics.
Set a basis for a schedule to be followed so your students know what to expect. Set tests on a particular day of the week like Fridays, and designate another day to break the class into small groups in which they will complete a worksheet or play a math game.
Create a planner with a general timeline for which the lessons will be taught. Make sure to leave a day or two unplanned for each block of weeks just in case a number of students did not get the concept and you need to set up a review day. Include a notes section after each major lesson or unit so you can keep notes on what worked and what needs to be improved for next year.
Use a combination of small group and whole group instruction when teaching a difficult lesson like pre-algebra skills or division. Students will benefit from working together and sharing ideas, and talking to the class as a whole can incorporate even more ideas into the mix. Make sure that each person in the small groups gets a chance to tackle the problem or task at hand.
Incorporate math games to get students thinking outside of the box and to introduce real-world applications of the lesson or standard of learning. Find fun games for a specific lesson like number sense and making graphs by searching online and talking to other teachers.
Use lots of word problems to add in more real-world applications for topics like fractions and geometry in your curriculum. Students will find it easier to relate to the material if they can understand how it can benefit them outside of the classroom, so use those related to money or sharing amongst friends if possible. Buy a group of exemplars with other teachers to make sure there are a variety of problems available.