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Free 4th grade reading worksheets

Written by Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — a dad of three who built this curriculum for his own kids.

50 questions with the answers, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. Each question sits with the short passage it is about, so every sheet works on its own. Comprehension, detail, inference and vocabulary.

Enjoy them. If you want more, or something we do not have yet, write to support@uponlylearning.com and ask — we read it.

Reading — Grade 4

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The Dust Bowl Years

In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work. Later, farmers planted rows of trees as windbreaks to hold the soil.

  1. 1. What struck the southern Plains in the 1930s?
    1. A. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains. ← Answer
    2. B. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
    3. C. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky.
    4. D. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
  2. 2. What had the farmers plowed up?
    1. A. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky.
    2. B. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work.
    3. C. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
    4. D. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place. ← Answer
  3. 3. What did the strong winds lift?
    1. A. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
    2. B. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work.
    3. C. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky. ← Answer
    4. D. Later, farmers planted rows of trees as windbreaks to hold the soil.
  4. 4. Where did many families go?
    1. A. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work. ← Answer
    2. B. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
    3. C. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains.
    4. D. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
  5. 5. What did farmers plant later?
    1. A. Later, farmers planted rows of trees as windbreaks to hold the soil. ← Answer
    2. B. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
    3. C. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
    4. D. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky.
  6. 6. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. The plowing left no topsoil at all on the southern Great Plains. ← Answer
    2. B. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work.
    3. C. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains.
    4. D. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
  7. 7. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains.
    2. B. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
    3. C. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky.
    4. D. The Dust Bowl was caused by floods that washed the deep soil away. ← Answer
  8. 8. Which detail from the text answers this question: What had the farmers plowed up?
    1. A. The storms stopped when the farmers planted rows of more wheat.
    2. B. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky.
    3. C. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place. ← Answer
    4. D. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains.
  9. 9. Which detail from the text answers this question: What did the strong winds lift?
    1. A. Farmers had plowed up the deep grass that once held the soil in place.
    2. B. Many families left their farms and traveled west looking for work.
    3. C. Strong winds lifted the dry topsoil into clouds that darkened the sky. ← Answer
    4. D. In the 1930s a long drought struck the southern Great Plains.

The Wright Brothers' Wind Tunnel

Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane.

  1. 10. Why did the brothers distrust their wing numbers?
    1. A. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
    2. B. Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust. ← Answer
    3. C. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders.
    4. D. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
  2. 11. Where did they build the wind tunnel?
    1. A. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. ← Answer
    2. B. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
    3. C. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
    4. D. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane.
  3. 12. What did they test inside it?
    1. A. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders. ← Answer
    2. B. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
    3. C. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
    4. D. Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust.
  4. 13. What two things did they measure?
    1. A. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.
    2. B. Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust.
    3. C. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged. ← Answer
    4. D. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
  5. 14. What did the data shape?
    1. A. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders.
    2. B. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
    3. C. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane. ← Answer
    4. D. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
  6. 15. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
    2. B. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.
    3. C. They trusted the wing numbers that the early glider tests gave them. ← Answer
    4. D. Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust.
  7. 16. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.
    2. B. Early glider tests left the Wright brothers with wing numbers they did not trust.
    3. C. The brothers tested model wings in a tank of water, not in a wind tunnel. ← Answer
    4. D. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane.
  8. 17. Which detail from the text answers this question: Where did they build the wind tunnel?
    1. A. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders.
    2. B. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane.
    3. C. In 1901 they built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. ← Answer
    4. D. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
  9. 18. Which detail from the text answers this question: What did they test inside it?
    1. A. The brothers built the wind tunnel after their first powered flight.
    2. B. They measured how each shape lifted and how much it dragged.
    3. C. Inside it they tested small model wings instead of full gliders. ← Answer
    4. D. The data from those tests shaped the wings of their 1903 airplane.

Coral Reefs and Bleaching

A coral reef is built by tiny animals called polyps. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.

  1. 19. What builds a coral reef?
    1. A. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make.
    2. B. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color.
    3. C. A coral reef is built by tiny animals called polyps. ← Answer
    4. D. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
  2. 20. What do the algae share with the polyps?
    1. A. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.
    2. B. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make. ← Answer
    3. C. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color.
    4. D. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
  3. 21. Where does the reef's color come from?
    1. A. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
    2. B. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.
    3. C. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out.
    4. D. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color. ← Answer
  4. 22. What happens when water stays too warm?
    1. A. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out. ← Answer
    2. B. A coral reef is built by tiny animals called polyps.
    3. C. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color.
    4. D. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make.
  5. 23. What does a bleached reef need to recover?
    1. A. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools. ← Answer
    2. B. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color.
    3. C. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out.
    4. D. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
  6. 24. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. A bleached reef turns black instead of losing its bright color. ← Answer
    2. B. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.
    3. C. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make.
    4. D. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out.
  7. 25. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.
    2. B. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make.
    3. C. A coral reef is built by small plants that grow in warm water. ← Answer
    4. D. When the water stays too warm, the polyps push the algae out.
  8. 26. Which detail from the text answers this question: What do the algae share with the polyps?
    1. A. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color.
    2. B. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
    3. C. Algae live inside the polyps and share the food they make. ← Answer
    4. D. A coral reef is built by tiny animals called polyps.
  9. 27. Which detail from the text answers this question: Where does the reef's color come from?
    1. A. A bleached reef looks white and can recover only if the water cools.
    2. B. A reef turns white because boats scrape the bright color off.
    3. C. A coral reef is built by tiny animals called polyps.
    4. D. The algae also give the reef most of its bright color. ← Answer

How a Seismograph Works

A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper. Larger waves make taller wiggles on the record. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began.

  1. 28. What does a seismograph record?
    1. A. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    2. B. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began.
    3. C. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    4. D. A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake. ← Answer
  2. 29. How does the heavy weight behave?
    1. A. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    2. B. A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake.
    3. C. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper.
    4. D. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes. ← Answer
  3. 30. What does the pen do?
    1. A. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    2. B. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper. ← Answer
    3. C. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    4. D. Larger waves make taller wiggles on the record.
  4. 31. What do larger waves look like on the record?
    1. A. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    2. B. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began.
    3. C. Larger waves make taller wiggles on the record. ← Answer
    4. D. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper.
  5. 32. What do three stations together reveal?
    1. A. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    2. B. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    3. C. Larger waves make taller wiggles on the record.
    4. D. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began. ← Answer
  6. 33. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake.
    2. B. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began.
    3. C. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    4. D. The heavy weight shakes harder than the frame of the seismograph does. ← Answer
  7. 34. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. A seismograph tells scientists when the next quake will come. ← Answer
    2. B. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    3. C. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper.
    4. D. Larger waves make taller wiggles on the record.
  8. 35. Which detail from the text answers this question: How does the heavy weight behave?
    1. A. A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake.
    2. B. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    3. C. Comparing records from three stations shows where the quake began.
    4. D. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes. ← Answer
  9. 36. Which detail from the text answers this question: What does the pen do?
    1. A. A seismograph measures the damage an earthquake does to buildings.
    2. B. A seismograph records the shaking of the ground during an earthquake.
    3. C. A heavy weight hangs so still that it barely moves when the frame shakes.
    4. D. A pen attached to the weight traces a line on moving paper. ← Answer

Harriet Tubman's Routes North

Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction. Later she served the Union Army as a scout and a nurse.

  1. 37. When did Harriet Tubman escape slavery?
    1. A. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day.
    2. B. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
    3. C. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom.
    4. D. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849. ← Answer
  2. 38. Why did she return to the South?
    1. A. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day.
    2. B. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849.
    3. C. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction.
    4. D. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom. ← Answer
  3. 39. When did the groups travel?
    1. A. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction.
    2. B. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
    3. C. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day. ← Answer
    4. D. Later she served the Union Army as a scout and a nurse.
  4. 40. How did Tubman keep her direction?
    1. A. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom.
    2. B. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction. ← Answer
    3. C. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
    4. D. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849.
  5. 41. What did she do for the Union Army?
    1. A. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day.
    2. B. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom.
    3. C. Later she served the Union Army as a scout and a nurse. ← Answer
    4. D. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
  6. 42. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849.
    2. B. Tubman never went back to the South after her own escape. ← Answer
    3. C. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction.
    4. D. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom.
  7. 43. Which statement is not supported by any detail in the text?
    1. A. The groups traveled only by daylight and rested at night. ← Answer
    2. B. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom.
    3. C. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction.
    4. D. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day.
  8. 44. Which detail from the text answers this question: Why did she return to the South?
    1. A. She returned to the South again and again to guide others to freedom. ← Answer
    2. B. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
    3. C. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849.
    4. D. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day.
  9. 45. Which detail from the text answers this question: When did the groups travel?
    1. A. Tubman led the groups north by following printed maps.
    2. B. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849.
    3. C. The groups traveled at night and rested in safe houses by day. ← Answer
    4. D. Tubman used the North Star to keep her direction.

The Locks of the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across a narrow country. A ship cannot sail straight through, because the land in the middle is higher. Locks work as water elevators that lift each ship step by step. Gravity moves the water, which flows in from a lake above the locks. At the far end the ship is lowered back down to sea level.

  1. 46. What does the Panama Canal join?
    1. A. Locks work as water elevators that lift each ship step by step.
    2. B. The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across a narrow country. ← Answer
    3. C. Gravity moves the water, which flows in from a lake above the locks.
    4. D. A ship cannot sail straight through, because the land in the middle is higher.
  2. 47. Why can a ship not sail straight through?
    1. A. A ship cannot sail straight through, because the land in the middle is higher. ← Answer
    2. B. Gravity moves the water, which flows in from a lake above the locks.
    3. C. At the far end the ship is lowered back down to sea level.
    4. D. Ships are lifted over the hills of Panama by cranes on the banks.
  3. 48. What do the locks do?
    1. A. Ships are lifted over the hills of Panama by cranes on the banks.
    2. B. The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across a narrow country.
    3. C. At the far end the ship is lowered back down to sea level.
    4. D. Locks work as water elevators that lift each ship step by step. ← Answer
  4. 49. What moves the water in the locks?
    1. A. Ships are lifted over the hills of Panama by cranes on the banks.
    2. B. Gravity moves the water, which flows in from a lake above the locks. ← Answer
    3. C. A ship cannot sail straight through, because the land in the middle is higher.
    4. D. The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across a narrow country.
  5. 50. What happens at the far end?
    1. A. At the far end the ship is lowered back down to sea level. ← Answer
    2. B. A ship cannot sail straight through, because the land in the middle is higher.
    3. C. Ships are lifted over the hills of Panama by cranes on the banks.
    4. D. Gravity moves the water, which flows in from a lake above the locks.
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · free to print and photocopy for your own studentsReading — Grade 4
UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · Reading Grade 4
From the workbook

A real page of Reading · Grade 4

Word Detectives: Cracking Long Words with Roots and Affixes

The child will use letter-sound knowledge, syllable division and word parts (roots, prefixes and suffixes) to accurately read unfamiliar multisyllabic words in and out of context. · 40 min

Warm-up — say this

“Long words can look scary, but they are usually just smaller parts glued together. Today we are word detectives.”

Worked example

Read and break apart the word reconstruct. What does it mean?

Answer: re-con-struct. The prefix re- means again and the root struct means build. Reconstruct means to build again, which is what the town did to the bridge post.

A mistake students make

If I don't recognize a long word, I should skip it or guess from the first letter.

How the book fixes it

Model the four-step strategy every time. Cover the prefix and suffix so only the root shows, read it, then add the parts back. Praise the effort of breaking it apart.

Note to the parent

Keep a running list of roots on the refrigerator. When your child meets a new long word anywhere, from cereal boxes to street signs, look together to see if a known root is hiding inside.

That is one topic of many. The free questions above check a skill; this is the part that teaches it.

Practice is not teaching. Reading · Grade 4 is the part that teaches.

These questions check a skill your student has already met. They do not explain anything, and they are not meant to — that is what the workbook is for, and it is the whole difference between the two.

  1. It teaches.Each topic is a forty-minute lesson that tells you what to say, in order: a five-minute warm-up, twelve minutes of teaching, ten minutes guided, ten minutes on their own, three minutes to close. Written for a parent who has never taught.
  2. It explains.Two worked examples per topic, and the two mistakes students actually make on that exact skill — named, with how to correct each one. When a student is stuck, the book already knows why.
  3. It reviews.Every answer comes with a short explanation, not just a key. And every topic has its own question bank, so a student who needs another go gets different questions rather than the same page again.
  4. It is a plan, not a pile.Every topic names the standard it addresses, in teaching order, so you can see the whole year before you start.
$9.99 Buy Reading · Grade 4 — $9.99 Read a free sample first Everything else we give away

Not sure which grade to start in? Write to support@uponlylearning.com and tell us about your student. We will tell you honestly, including if the answer is a grade below the one they are in.

Why this exists

I was spending thousands a month on tutors, and when I asked about enrolling a second or third child the answer was the same everywhere: that will be double. So I built the thing I could not find — nine subjects, kindergarten through grade 5, every topic in the order a student should actually meet it.

Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — Founder · Read the whole story

Other grades

KindergartenFree kindergarten reading questionsGrade 1Free 1st grade reading questionsGrade 2Free 2nd grade reading questionsGrade 3Free 3rd grade reading questionsGrade 5Free 5th grade reading questions

Grade 4, other subjects

MathFree 4th grade math questionsScienceFree 4th grade science questionsWritingFree 4th grade writing and grammar questions

Further reading

Reads the Words but Not the MeaningYour student can read but doesn't comprehend. Why decoding and comprehension are different skills, how to tell which one is missing, and what to do weekly.

Questions parents ask

Are these reading worksheets really free?

Yes. All 50 questions and their answers are on this page, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. There is no account, no email address and no card.

Can a teacher or a tutor use these with a class?

Yes. Print and photocopy them for the students you teach. The only thing we ask is that you do not republish them as your own or sell them.

Where are the answers?

Marked beside each question on this page, so it prints as its own answer key. If you want a clean copy for a student, print it and cover the answer column, or use the sample workbook instead.

What grade are these for?

Grade 4. Every other grade from kindergarten to grade 5 has its own page, linked at the foot of this one. If your student finds these hard, try the grade below — that is normal and it is not a problem.

What do the paid workbooks add?

These questions check a skill. The workbook teaches it: a forty-minute lesson that tells you what to say, two worked examples, the two mistakes students actually make on that skill and how to correct each one, and an explanation beside every answer rather than a bare key.