These Year 4 comprehension worksheets are all about the structure of non-fiction texts. There’s a short text for pupils to read, all about outer space.
Before reading it, remind children of reading strategies they can use for difficult words, including using context.
Ask children for their initial reactions to the text and specifically for any facts that have surprised or particularly interested them.
Discuss the structure of the text by identifying what each paragraph is about (for example, the first paragraph introduces the solar system and the main planets, the second focuses on the sun, the third focuses on Mercury, which is nearest to the sun).
What do the children think the next few paragraphs will be about and in what order (for example, about each planet in turn going out from Mercury)? Do they think this is a sensible structure for the author to have used?
Recap previous work on subject-specific vocabulary. Challenge children to identify the subject-specific vocabulary in this text. Check they understand what it means and ask them to use dictionaries for words they are not sure of.
Learning objectives
- Retrieve and record information from non-fiction
- Check that the text makes sense, discuss your understanding and explain the meaning of words
in context - Identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
- Read books that are structured in different ways
- Read for a range of purposes
Year 4 comprehension worksheets
First, there are two warm-up activities:
- Write a sub-heading for each of the three paragraphs
- If we needed a paragraph for each of the main planets, how many more paragraphs would we need?
After this, pupils need to answer three multiple-choice comprehension questions and find a fact from the report about the sun.
Finally, pupils are tasked with writing a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets in the solar system.
All the answers are in the download.
This is a six-page sample of Keen Kite’s Ready, Steady, Practise! – Year 4 Comprehension series.