Fourth Grade Reading Level: How to Help Your 4th Grader Read Better

Teaching Reading to a Fourth Grade Child

What a Fourth Grader Must Learn

Although the fourth grade core learning standards can vary from school to school and location to location, there are usually strong similarities. Reading fluency and comprehension are both important in the fourth grade. Your child will most likely be expected to distinguish between a variety of genres, like poetry, drama and mysteries. He or she will also analyze and compare different texts to one another.

Practice Fluency

Reading fluency is an integral aspect of a fourth grader's ability to read all kinds of texts. Fluency is how smoothly a child can read without making mistakes. Repetition and memorization tend to be the keys to increasing fluency. Use flash cards to help your child remember common sight words, like 'be' and 'the'. Have your child read the same text aloud multiple times until he or she can read it easily and without errors.

Increase Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a gauge of how well a child's able to understand and interpret texts that he or she reads. Sit with your child and read texts for school and for fun. You can help your child increase his or her comprehension by discussing the text. Ask your child to predict what might happen next and what he or she thinks of certain characters and events.

Teaching your child to use context clues will also help with comprehension. Context clues are the words surrounding a new vocabulary word that indicate what the new word means. Cover up the new word and help your child use the surrounding words to determine what it might mean.

Reading at Home

Reading frequently is one of the most effective ways your child can improve her or his fluency and comprehension skills. Set aside at least 30 minutes each evening in your household for reading and join your child. Leading by example can be very effective.

If a book is too easy, some kids get bored and don't want to read; if it's too hard, some get frustrated and give up. Ask your child's teacher or the school librarian for book recommendations at a fourth grade reading level. Teachers and librarians are a great resource because they can customize their recommendations to your child's interests.