What Reading Skills Should a Fourth Grader Have?
Fourth grade is a period of great importance in a child's academic life. By the end of fourth grade, a child should be able to read fluently, so that he or she is fully prepared for fifth grade.
During fourth grade, a child needs to read a lot fiction as well as nonfiction books to build higher level reading skills.
While not all students have a similar learning pace, there are some standards that should be met when the child has reached the fourth grade. By fourth grade, a student is done learning basics of the language and is slowly progressing towards learning the complexities. Hence, here are some reading skills that all fourth graders should have:
Comprehension Reading
When a child has reached fourth grade, he or she should be able to completely understand comprehensions in the English language. Comprehensions are not detailed stories about a specific topic. They contain brief information regarding a subject. A fourth grader should be able to read and understand comprehensions. He or she should also have the ability to find out the answers to different questions from the comprehension. Comprehension reading also includes guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words with the help of context clues, affixes and root words.
Exploring Non-fiction and Fiction
A fourth grader is assumed to have some beginner level knowledge about the literary world. He or she must be able to differentiate between fiction and non-fiction. A fourth grader should also be encouraged to read both fiction and non-fiction. Both of these genres have different things to teach to the child. It is important for them to pay attention to both the genres in order to learn as much as they can.
Decoding and Fluency
Fourth graders should have the necessary skills to decode words quickly so that they can read with good fluency. This skill is the most important reading skill for a fourth grader because as the child is progressing, he or she must be able to understand things on time.
Locating Compound Words, Suffixes, Prefixes
A fourth grader must be able to locate and understand compound words while reading. He or she should also be able to locate the prefixes and suffixes.
Noticing Homographs
While reading, fourth graders should be able to locate homographs and should be able to draw out the accurate meaning of such words from the sentences.
Having Knowledge of Syllables
In case of words that fourth graders find difficult to read, they should know how to divide such words into different portions and then read them. This is better than seeking help from anyone or trying to pronounce the word alphabet by alphabet.
Accurate Pronunciation
While reading, fourth graders should be able to pronounce common difficult words. If one finds it difficult to pronounce words accurately, they should try consulting with their parents or teachers for help.
Great Books for Fourth Graders
Here are some of the greatest books for the fourth graders to read:
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The island of the blue dolphins is a story that revolves around a young and beautiful girl who is left alone on the island to survive. Her community left the island for better without her. This book is great for fourth graders because it is not too complex or very simple. It will ignite their imagination. This book will take them to the island. It is not only a great time pass, but this book also has a lot to teach about life. This story about the lone girl surviving on the island covers many important aspects of human life like heartbreak, complexities, hardships, adventure and survival. Children will learn how to tackle tough situations in life.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
This is a very interesting and adventurous book that every kid will love. All fourth graders are at that time of their age when they want to be free and wild in the outside world. They crave adventure. This book will give them exactly what they want. The story revolves around Claudia and her little brother. One day they both decide to run away from their home and secretly live in the museum of New York. You will experience the adventure of surviving alone in a museum. Your interest will spark when you will read how these two naughty little kids try to escape and hide from the security of the museum. This book is very thrilling to read with an element of adventure and independence.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Another interesting book for fourth graders is hatchet. This book revolves around the story of a young man whose plane crash leaves him in the wilderness of Canada. He is lost. You will get to experience his transformation from being scared to becoming strong. This is an epic adventure novel for any kid who loves survival stories.