4th Grade CCSS: Reading: Informational Text

For fourth graders, this Common Core area helps students gain mastery of the deeper tasks involved in reading a non-fiction text. No matter what they are reading, the standards require students to increase the complexity in the texts they read and deepen their understanding of the connections within and between texts. Among the complete standards for this grade, fourth graders will be asked to: explain what a text says, draw inferences from it, and refer to key details of the text, state the main idea of the text and how the details support it, describe the overall structure of events or information in a text, understand and differentiate between first- and second-hand accounts of the same events in a text, use and understand visual elements in a text like diagrams, time lines, or digitally interactive elements, synthesize information from two texts on the same topic, read informational texts at grade band level, increasing in complexity throughout the year.

African American Inventors: Elijah McCoy

Comprehension is strengthend through practice. Here is a worksheet about Elijah McCoy for students to read and answer the questions.

African American Inventors: George Washington Carver

Born into slavery, it was not until the end of the Civil War in 1865 that George became free. Students will read and answer questions based on George Washington Carver in this worksheet.

African American Inventors: Granville T. Woods

Granville Woods died in 1910. He contributed much to the electrical world with his inventions, ideas, and devices. Students will read about his life and answer questions in this comprehension activity.

African American Inventors: Lewis Latimer

Students can learn about African American inventor Lewis Latimer with this worksheet. First, they will read an excerpt and then answer questions to test comprehension.

African American Inventors: Patricia Bath

Here is a reading activity for students to learn about Patricia Bath. Following the reading, students will answer a few questions to help comprehension.

Cause and Effect: Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland

An excerpt from Alice in Wonderland is a great tool to help students understand cause and effect. Not only will they enjoy reading, but when you print out this activity they will also identify the cause and effect. Have tehm share with the class when yhey are finished!

Cause and Effect: Match Them!

Matching cause and effect make this worksheet a valuable resource for your students. Several examples are given. Your students will match each effect with the correct cause with this free printable worksheet.

Classifying Triangles

Week 17 Reading Comprehension (C-17). Passage and questions about equilateral, isosceles, and scalene triangles. Cross-Curricular Focus: Mathematics.

Competing for Resources

Week 13 Reading Comprehension (C-13). A reading passage that describes how plant and animals compete for limited resources. Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science.

Evaluating in Math

Week 3 Reading Comprehension (C-3). A reading passage and questions about the meaning of “Evaluate” when it is used in mathematics. Cross-Curricular Focus: Mathematics.

Find the Cause and Effect

An important part of learning is knowing the difference between cause and effect. You also need to know how they relate to each other. Print out this free worksheet for students to practice recognizing the cause and effect in each example.

First American Woman in Space: Sally Ride

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Read about her journey and answer the questions following the article.

Geometric Shape Names

Week 15 Reading Comprehension (C-15). A reading passage and questions about how geometric shape names use number prefixes. Cross-Curricular Focus: Mathematics.

Habitat Destruction

Week 12 Reading Comprehension (C-12). A short passage about human impact on plants and animals. Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science.

In danger of Extinction

Week 14 Reading Comprehension (C-14). A passage about the Koala and how it faces possible extinction. Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Science.

Kinds of Angles

Week 18 Reading Comprehension (C-18). A description and comprehension questions about the different types of angles. Cross-Curricular Focus: Mathematics.

Location, Location, Location

Week 29 Reading Comprehension (C-29). A brief passage about a location’s resources, climate and terrain affect livability. Cross-Curricular Focus: History / Social Sciences.

Main Idea Graphic Organizer

Learning how to properly structure an essay can be difficult. With this Main Idea Tree, students will create an outline that allows them to better understand the different parts of a five paragraph essay. Students will be asked to write their introduction, a main idea, three topic sentences, three supporting details for each topic sentence, and a conclusion.

Main Idea Tree

Use this image of a large tree to help your students understand the components of a paragraph. With this worksheet, students will be asked to write a main idea and follow it with three supporting details. What a great way for students to visualize the importance of the main idea in a paragraph!