4th Grade Reading Skills
Author’s Purpose
What is It?
An author may write to persuade, to inform, to entertain, or to express a mood or
feeling. Readers can infer an author’s purpose from text features and from specific
language the author uses. At Grade 4, students learn to set/adjust their rate of reading
based on their predictions of author’s purpose. Evaluating an author’s purpose also helps
students develop comprehension and appreciation of what they read.
How Good Readers Use the Skill –
Students know that they read different kinds of selections for different reasons.
Teachers can build on these experiences by introducing specific purposes for writing and
helping readers classify things they read. At first, students learn that authors write to
inform or entertain. More sophisticated readers learn other purposes; they learn that an
author may have several purposes. Eventually we want readers to preview a selection for
hints to author’s purpose, for example, graphics, dialogue, and sample text. They also think
critically about whether an author met his or her purpose.
Cause and Effect
What is It?
A cause is why something happens. An effect is the result of the cause. Not all
causal relationships are stated directly or signaled by clue words, such as because,
so, and since. In these cases, students must infer either cause or effect, using
information in the text and their prior knowledge. At Grade 4, readers use the terms
cause and effect in their analysis of text.
How Good Readers Use the Skill Students experience cause-and-effect relationships every day. To be successful, they
need to recognize these relationships in fiction as well
as in all content areas. The ability to do so will help them increase their understanding
when dealing with longer, more difficult texts. Readers begin their understanding of causal
relationships by thinking : What happened? Why did it happen? Students then learn that a
cause may have multiple effects and one effect can have many causes and that sometimes
clue words signal causal relationships.
Compare and Contrast
What is It?
Comparing and contrasting means finding likenesses and/or differences between two
or more people, places, things, or ideas. At Grade 4, students are using clue words such as
like, but, unlike, and as to help identify likenesses and differences in text, but they are
also seeing likenesses and differences in text without clue words. They understand that
looking for comparisons can help them remember what they read.
How do Good Readers use the SkillComparing and contrasting are basic reasoning devices. We try to understand an
unknown by using the known. At first, students notice likenesses and differences. Older
students begin to use clue words as signals for comparisons. They learn about similes and
metaphors, which are literary comparisons. Students learn that authors can sometimes
use comparison and contrast as a way to organize their writing.
Draw Conclusions
What is It?
A conclusion is a decision a person makes after thinking about some facts and details.
Drawing conclusions means figuring out something by thinking about it. Drawing
conclusions allows readers to go beyond the literal meaning of a text and put information
together in order to make decisions about what they are reading. At Grade 4, students are
drawing conclusions about fiction and nonfiction texts. They are using evidence and prior
knowledge to support their conclusions.
How Good Readers use the Skill –
Drawing conclusions, also called making inferences, is fundamental in reading and
listening comprehension. When readers draw conclusions, they synthesize and evaluate
information from stories and informational articles as they bring their own life
experiences and prior knowledge to the text. The result is a deeper understanding of what
they are reading.
Fact and Opinion
What is It?
A statement of fact tells something that can be proved true or false. A statement of
opinion tells a person’s ideas or feelings and cannot be proved true or false. At Grade 4,
students are explaining the difference between facts and opinions and identifying them in
their reading.
How Good Readers use the Skill –
Students meet statements of fact and statements of opinion throughout their day. We
want to teach them how to distinguish the two and understand ways to check the veracity
of factual statements and be able to judge statements of opinion thoughtfully. Evaluating
statements of fact and statements of opinion boosts students’ comprehension and helps
them avoid being misled.
Generalize
What is It?
A generalization is a specific kind of conclusion. It is a broad statement or rule that
applies to many examples. Clue words can signal generalizations made by authors. Students
make generalizations using prior knowledge and information from the text. At Grade 4,
students make and support generalizations based on their reading and their own
experiences. They understand the difference between valid and faulty generalizations.
How Good Readers Use this Skill –
Students generalize to help them comprehend and summarize texts. They need to
understand generalizations to identify and evaluate an author’s generalizations and to
make and support their own conclusions. Generalizations need to be supported by facts and
logic. Students begin making generalizations by recognizing similarities and differences
about ideas, authors, or genres. Students then make judgments on the validity of
generalizations. They learn that faulty generalizations may indicate bias.
Graphic Sources
What is It? –
Graphic sources, including charts, maps, diagrams, graphs, and time lines, provide
information visually using few words, symbols, and/or numbers. Graphic sources accompany
science, math, and social studies texts, as well as some fiction. At Grade 4, students draw
conclusions about graphics and make comparisons between graphics in a text.
How Good Readers Use this Skill –
Students see different kinds of graphics—maps, charts, diagrams, and so on—in many
situations. In their reading, graphics provide lots of information in a visual way. Students
first use graphics such as maps and diagrams to preview and make predictions about what a
text will be about. They then understand that graphic sources aid in their comprehension
of text. Students also learn to create graphics from their reading. Older readers
interpret and create more sophisticated graphic aids, matching them to text. They learn
to compare and evaluate how well different +graphic sources communicate and synthesize
information
Literary Elements
What is It? –
Literary elements include the characters, setting, plot, and theme of a fictional piece
of writing. At Grade 4, students learn that the elements of a story are often related.
They make inferences about one element to understand others. Students learn to identify
plot elements, such as conflict and rising action. Students read pieces with no directly
stated theme.
How Good Readers Use this SkillStudents need experience in understanding the relationships between characters and
setting and how they impact plot and theme. Identifying these elements is the first step.
Readers ask questions, such as What is the character’s goal? Does he or she achieve it?
What message might the author have for me, the reader? Students learn to use the
literary elements and language in a story to preview and make connections as they read.
Understanding theme is a way readers connect a story to their own experiences or those
of others. Older readers connect themes within stories and make connections between
stories that share similar themes.
Main Idea and Details
What is It?
The main ideas of a piece of writing are what it is mostly about. By Grade 4,
students are reading nonfiction that may have several main ideas and they are finding the
main ideas of an article or a longer passage. Sometimes a main idea is stated in a single
sentence within a paragraph or article; at other times, readers must infer the main ideas
and put them in their own words. Students learn to locate details that support the main
idea.
How Good Readers Use this SkillIdentifying and stating main ideas is a critical skill for readers because it helps them
determine the important information in a text. At first, students think about what the
selection is mostly about. They go on to select a statement of main idea, from a choice of
statements or from the selection itself. They begin to identify supporting details as pieces
of information that enlarge on the main idea, help clarify the main idea, or give examples.
Older readers are able to identify main ideas, stated or implied, and are able to frame
main ideas in their own words.
Sequence
What is It?
Sequence means the order in which things happen. Sequence can also mean the
steps we follow to make or do something. Understanding sequence, or time
relationships, is important in understanding certain genres, such as historical fiction
and biography. Social studies and science texts use sequence to describe events and
processes. At Grade 4, when clue words are not used to explicitly point out sequence,
readers need to think about the order in which events occur
How Good Readers Use this Skill –
Students experience time relationships every day. Teachers can build on these
experiences and help students connect them to reading. At first, students understand
sequence as the order of what happens first, next, and last in a selection. Students can
then move on to use clue words to decipher more complicated sequence relationships, such
as flashbacks and simultaneous events.
4th Grade Reading Strategies
Inferring
Understanding the Strategy
Inferring means using what the author tells you and what you already know to explain
something that is not stated in the text. Readers go beyond the literal meaning of a text
and put information together to make decisions about events and ideas that are not stated
in the text.
Monitor and Clarify
Understanding the Strategy
A good reader knows that reading has to make sense and is aware that the text
is making sense or has ceased to make sense. Good readers monitor and have
strategies to clarify problems with comprehension. These strategies include using
background knowledge, adjusting reading rate, reading on, rereading, taking notes, and
seeking help
Predict and Set Purpose
Understanding the Strategy
To predict means to tell what you think might happen next in a story or what the author
may tell you next. Predicting goes hand-in-hand with previewing, which involves looking at
text features and language to get an overview of a piece of writing. Before reading,
previewing and predicting helps readers access what they already know about the topic and
so set a purpose to guide reading.
Story Structure
Understanding the Strategy
Story structure refers to how a story is arranged. This means understanding the basic
elements of a story—characters, setting, and plot—and how the author presents them.
Recognizing story structure helps readers understand, recall, and appreciate stories.
Questioning
Understanding the Strategy
Questioning is asking good questions about important text information. Good readers
ask and answer questions to preview, set purposes, construct meaning, clarify text, locate
specific information, interpret text, and evaluate text.
Summarize
Understanding the Strategy
Summarizing means picking out the important ideas in a story or an article and
restating them in your own words. Summarizing enables readers to organize information
and evaluate the importance of what they read.
Text Structure
Understanding the Strategy
Text structure refers to how a nonfiction article is organized. Externally, nonfiction
articles include titles, subheads, graphics, and so on. Internally, a nonfiction article is
organized in a way that best presents the content. This organization may be sequential,
comparative, explanatory (cause-effect), or descriptive. Recognizing text structure helps
readers understand and recall ideas
Visualize
Understanding the Strategy
Visualizing means creating pictures in the mind. These pictures are created by
combining what readers already know with descriptive words in a text. Visualizing involves
all the senses, not just sight.
Important Ideas
Understanding the Strategy
Important ideas in text are the ones the author wants the reader to remember. In
nonfiction, readers need to distinguish important ideas from information that is
interesting but not that important. Text features can help readers determine important
ideas.
Background Knowledge
Understanding the Strategy
Background knowledge is what a reader knows about a given topic, gathered from
reading and from personal experiences. Active readers connect what they know to text to
help them comprehend it. Students who can activate background knowledge approach
reading confidently. They engage before they begin reading because they are already
thinking about what they know about the topic.