Reading comprehensionGrade 4
4th grade reading comprehension
Original stories and articles of about 190 words, each with three four-choice questions and two written questions. Built for fourth graders learning to explain and infer from what the text says.
- Fresh problems every time
- Answer key on its own page
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
On this page
Longer text, more reasoning
Fourth grade passages run about 187 to 196 words, mostly in four paragraphs. The print is smaller than in earlier grades, closer to what a student sees in a textbook. Questions ask about cause and effect, word meaning in context and the reason behind a character's feelings, not only a detail copied from one line. The vocabulary is a step up from grade 3. The passages are not tied to Lexile or any outside leveling system.
What prints
The header says "4th Grade Reading Comprehension". The instructions line sits above the bold passage title. After the text there are:
- three multiple-choice questions, each with four choices in two columns, marked with small lettered circles;
- a pair of open questions, each followed by ruled lines for a reply.
The key rings the right choices and gives a model for the written answers. Because there are only two lines per answer, a student should write one or two tight sentences.
The five passages
- The Mountain Trail, a story about two siblings on a hike when a storm moves in.
- How Bats Find Food, an article about echolocation.
- The Broken Violin, a story about a damaged instrument.
- Camels in the Desert, an article on how camels live in dry places.
- How Volcanoes Form, an article about how volcanoes build up and erupt.
The settings
- Grade starts on 4th grade. You may switch to 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th. Choosing new problems picks another 4th grade passage; the same one may return.
Worked example: The Mountain Trail
Nadia and her brother Sam hike alone because Uncle Raj has a cold. Their mother's rule is to go back at once if the weather turns bad. At the stream Nadia wants to push on to a lookout, but dark clouds arrive and Sam says to turn around. They reach the car just as rain starts.
The first question is "Why did Nadia and Sam hike without their uncle?" The answer is "He had a cold." The second asks what "breathtaking" means in the story, and the choices include "amazingly beautiful" and "very cold". Context decides it, since the sentence is about the view at the stream.
The written ones are "What rule did their mother give them?" and "Why was Nadia glad they turned around?" For the second, the model reads "A storm came, and they were safe at home." That asks the student to connect the lightning at the end back to the choice made earlier, which is a small inference.
Working with the sheet
Ask the student to name the sentence that proves each answer, and to underline it. The fourth grade reading standards call for referring to details and examples when explaining what the text says and when drawing inferences. If a child is stuck on a word, have them reread the sentences before and after it. For a step up, try 5th grade reading comprehension, or review word study with 4th grade spelling words.
Sources
- Common Core State Standards: Reading Literature, Grade 4 (RL.4.1) thecorestandards.org
- Common Core State Standards: Reading Informational Text, Grade 4 (RI.4.1) thecorestandards.org
- Institute of Education Sciences: Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (WWC practice guide) ies.ed.gov