Reading Comprehension for 4th and 5th Grade: How to Help

Many children in 4th and 5th grade read well aloud and still find the questions that follow a passage hard. That is normal. Reading words and understanding what they add up to are two different skills, and the second one grows with practice. This guide explains what 4th grade reading comprehension and 5th grade reading comprehension involve, and what you can do at home to help.

What 4th grade reading comprehension involves

In 4th grade (Class 4), children usually read longer passages on their own. Questions ask them to:

• say what the passage is mainly about;
• find the facts and details that answer a question;
• work out what a new word means from the sentence around it; and
• tell a fact from an opinion.

What 5th grade reading comprehension involves

In 5th grade (Class 5), the questions ask for more than copying a line from the passage. Children are often asked to:

• say why something happened, or what a character feels, even when the passage does not say so directly;
• find causes and effects, and problems and solutions;
• put events in order; and
• sum up a passage in a few sentences of their own.

Schools differ, so check your child’s textbook and teacher for what is taught in each class.

Strategies a child can use

1. Look before reading. Check the title and any picture, and guess what the passage is about.
2. Read with a pencil. Underline names and key words, and put a question mark by anything unclear.
3. Say it back. After each paragraph, tell the main point in one sentence.
4. Use the sentence around a new word. Ask what meaning would make sense.
5. Prove it. For every answer, point to the line in the passage that shows it.

How to help at home

• Keep it short and regular. One passage and its questions in a sitting, a few times a week, beats one long session.
• Mix the kinds of text. Stories, facts, a letter and a poem all ask for slightly different reading.
• Talk first, write second. Ask “What happened?” and “Why do you think that?” before the child writes an answer.
• Ask for the evidence. “How do you know?” is the most useful question in reading comprehension.
• Praise the method. “You went back and checked the paragraph” is worth saying.

Reading comprehension worksheets for 4th and 5th grade

Worksheets give a child a steady routine. The Reading comprehension booster for Classes 4-5 is a printable A4 PDF with 12 reading passages, including mysteries, animal and space facts, a fable, letters from camp and a poem. Each passage has 14 questions, from easy recall to deeper thinking, with difficulty stars on every question. Each worksheet is scored out of 20, and the pack has a full answer key with model answers and a marking scheme.

Browse by grade:

• 4th grade reading comprehension worksheets
• 5th grade reading comprehension worksheets

Getting ready for a test? Read reading comprehension test practice for grades 4 to 8, which includes a short sample passage with questions and answers. All our titles are listed on the reading comprehension worksheets page.