Grade 4 English Language Arts

Decode unfamiliar multisyllabic words by combining letter-sound knowledge, syllable patterns, and morphology.

Read grade-level prose and poetry accurately, at an appropriate rate, with phrasing and expression; use context to self-correct.

Determine meanings of unknown and multiple-meaning words using definitions, examples, restatements, and surrounding context.

Use common Greek/Latin roots and affixes to decode and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Interpret simple similes, metaphors, idioms, adages, and proverbs in context.

Use grade-appropriate academic/domain vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms, and shades of meaning to express ideas precisely.

Encode grade-appropriate multisyllabic words, including common Latin roots, prefixes, suffixes, and spelling changes in affixed words.

Recognize independent clauses, use coordinating conjunctions, and repair fragments and run-ons.

Explain explicit meaning and draw supported inferences from stories, dramas, and poems using details and examples.

Determine a theme from details in a story, drama, or poem and summarize without adding opinions or minor details.

Describe characters, settings, and events in depth using thoughts, words, actions, and other specific textual evidence.

Distinguish prose, drama, and poetry and use structural elements such as verse, rhythm, casts, dialogue, and stage directions.

Compare first- and third-person narration and explain how different narrators focus on different information.

Connect specific descriptions and directions in a story or drama to visual or oral representations and identify faithful or changed details.

Compare how stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures treat similar themes, topics, or recurring event patterns.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases in literature, including grade-appropriate mythological or literary allusions.

Explain explicit information and draw inferences from informational text using specific details and examples.

Determine the main idea, explain how key details support it, and identify an objective summary.

Explain what happened and why in historical, scientific, or technical text, including steps, causes, and relationships.

Identify and use chronology, comparison, cause/effect, and problem/solution structures to understand information.

Compare accounts of the same event, noticing differences in focus, point of view, and information provided.

Interpret visual or quantitative information and explain how it supports or adds to the central ideas in a text.

Explain how an author uses facts, details, and explanations as reasons and evidence to support a point.

Integrate information from two texts on the same topic to build a fuller understanding without confusing or duplicating details.

Use relative pronouns/adverbs and, where required by California, interrogative pronouns correctly in sentences.

Form and use progressive verb tenses, common irregular verbs, and modal auxiliaries to express time, possibility, permission, and necessity.

Order adjectives conventionally, use adjectives/adverbs including comparative/superlative forms, and form prepositional phrases.

Use possessive nouns/pronouns and distinguish frequently confused forms such as there/their/they’re and to/too/two.

Apply capitalization, commas, quotation marks, title conventions, apostrophes, and commas before coordinating conjunctions.

Choose precise wording, punctuation for effect, and formal or informal English appropriate to context.

Group related ideas, choose topic sentences, order supporting details, use transitions, and close a paragraph or section coherently.

Expand, combine, reduce, and revise sentences to improve meaning, audience fit, fluency, and clarity while preserving intended content.

State an opinion, group related reasons, support them with facts/details, link ideas, and provide a related conclusion.

Write informative/explanatory text with grouped information, facts, definitions, concrete details, precise vocabulary, transitions, and a conclusion.

Orient the reader, introduce narrator/characters, sequence events naturally, use dialogue and description, add sensory detail, transitions, and a fitting conclusion.

Use a writing process appropriate to purpose and audience, incorporate feedback, and use digital tools to produce and publish clear multi-paragraph writing.

Conduct short research by narrowing a topic, asking useful questions, and selecting relevant print/digital sources.

Gather relevant information, take notes, paraphrase instead of copying, categorize information, list sources, and draw evidence from texts.

Prepare for collaborative discussions, follow roles/rules, ask and answer relevant questions, build on others’ ideas, paraphrase oral/media information, and identify a speaker’s reasons/evidence.

Report on a topic or text, tell a story or recount an experience in an organized manner, speak clearly, use formal English when appropriate, and add useful audio/visual displays.

Begin Grade 5 evidence work by selecting and using exact quotations to support an explicit statement or inference.

Begin Grade 5 work with theme/main idea and summaries that draw on several details and more complex text structure.

Begin explaining relationships among characters, settings, events, individuals, ideas, or concepts using multiple details.

Begin Grade 5 analysis of how structure or point of view shapes information in literary and informational texts.

Begin Grade 5 synthesis by combining information from multiple texts or text-and-visual sources on the same topic.

Begin Grade 5 analysis of how reasons and evidence support specific author points, including which evidence is strongest or insufficient.

Preview Grade 5 perfect verb tenses, verb-tense consistency, and correlative conjunctions through supported examples.

Preview Grade 5 opinion/informative organization with logically grouped reasons, evidence, quotations, linking language, and conclusions.