If you’re a bit overwhelmed by the fourth grade reading standards, not to worry! I created this handy guide to all of the standards for both fiction and nonfiction text. Each page of this guide includes the following components to help you understand the standards better.
The Fourth Grade Reading Standard:
The top left portion of the pages within this guide includes the Common Core reading standard for fourth grade. This is the central piece of information of each page; the more you review the other components, the better you will understand the standard.
The Anchor Standard:
The top right portion of the pages includes the anchor standard. Anchor standards are not grade-specific; they are the same for each grade level (K-12). They provide a big-picture or universal goal and correspond to the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards. Anchor standards are overreaching; while the actual standards offer grade-level specificity–that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.
Fourth Grade Reading Key Words:
Each standard lends itself to a specific set of keywords and phrases. These are included to help guide instruction and keep you, and your students focused within a standard. These lists are not exhaustive (you may find several others that fit a standard), nor are they exclusive to a standard (you will notice overlap between some standards).
Fourth Grade Reading Essential Skills:
Essentials skills are specific examples of what students should be able to do within a particular standard. These are observable behaviors that should guide assessment and thus drive instruction. When planning a shared or guided reading lesson, these are the behaviors you will want to model for your students.
Fourth Grade Reading Question Stems:
Each standard has a list of question stems. You can apply these general questions to almost any text. They are a helpful starting point when creating standards-based tasks for your students. Keep these handy during guided reading and shared reading lessons.
Fourth Grade Reading Matriculation Reference:
The bottom of each page includes the same standard from the previous grade and the subsequent grade. The previous grade-level standard allows you to see what skills your students should have mastered to be successful. This is helpful when working with below grade level students. The subsequent grade level standard will help guide your instruction at the end of the school year and will allow you to differentiate for students who are performing above grade level. BONUS: If you ever have matriculation meeting with the teachers of the grade level below or above fourth grade, this part of the guide comes in handy.
