Having your students be engaged in literary activities is a great way to get them excited about reading and answering questions. 4th grade students will enjoy creating or responding to these activities listed below. These projects can be altered depending on the questions you are working with, the books they are currently reading or the context you are hoping to use them in.
Using the same tools consistently will give the students an idea about what questions to expect, which always makes students more comfortable. You can more components to most of these activities or you can simplify them by eliminating certain sections.
1. Beach Ball Socratic Method
Using this fun and engaging activity will bring learning to life at a 4th grade level. You can also encourage your students to speak in full sentences by referring to these sentence stems. This activity can be done after a read-aloud.
Learn More: The Thrifty SLP
2. Roll and Retell
All that is required for this activity is a few dice. Students can work individually, in pairs, or in large groups to discuss different elements of the short story or book they are reading. Your 4th grade students will feel like they are playing a board game while they are learning.
Learn More: Apple For The Teach
3. Build and Explain
Simply cutting and pasting or drawing symbols directly onto these cups is a comprehension activity that makes use of images to prompt retelling. Students could design and create their own stack or you can have a class set. Alternatively, this activity would be effective with small groups as well.
Learn More: Teach Outside The Box
4. Reading Comprehension Bracelets
This reading comprehension activity is easy to customize. You can change up the color codes of the beads if you do not have these on hand or students can make a necklace instead of a bracelet, depending on their preferences. They can take it home or keep it at school.
Learn More: Growing Book By Book
5. Book Talks with Talking Points
Add these fun key-ring tools to your next book talk session. This aid will even be handy with 3rd grade kids or even older students. The students will answer questions based on the prompt they flip to. Each student could have their own copy or you could make only one.
Learn More: Teacher Stakeout
6. Reading Cootie Catcher
This idea is a fun spin and variation on an old favorite game that provokes nostalgia with many young students. They will begin by picking a color and then, the activity expands to having them answer multiple-choice and extended-response questions. Answering these questions is an essential skill.
Learn More: Classroom Game Nook
7. Yellow Brick Road
Students can create their own yellow brick road stones to discuss different components of a story, which is an essential skill or they can work on their inferencing skills. 1st graders, 2nd graders, and even 5th graders will understand the movie references hidden inside this game.
Learn More: Just Cara Carroll
8. Cheeseburger Book Report
One of the benefits of this activity is that the teacher can decide if they want students to add additional content by adding more condiments to their cheeseburger. Students can write in simple complete sentences, complex sentences, or point form.
Learn More: Unique Teaching Resources
9. Text Clues
Making predictions, using text clues, and making inferences based on the given information in a text are lifelong skills that students must master. Having them create this visual craft will assist them in writing down their thoughts and allow them to be creative with their project designs.
Learn More: Raise The Bar Reading
10. Asking Good Questions
Having students answer questions about the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a story is a reading skill that needs to be developed. Having them create and design this craft will make sure they don’t forget to answer any of these important questions when asked.
Learn More: Raise The Bar Reading
11. Acronyms | Context Clues
Fourth graders absolutely love acronyms. To be honest, when I’m teaching I sometimes still reference acronyms I was taught in elementary school. Using the IDEAS acronym to teach context clues can help readers to decipher different meanings throughout passages.
Learn More: Stellar Teacher
12. Close Readings
Close readings are essential to a classroom that’s trying to really use all of the different reading strategies. There are so many insightful and interesting reading passages available, meaning that your students will be excited about close readings.
Pro tip: These can be done collaboratively to enhance reading fluency and understanding.
Learn More: Demco Ideas
13. Reading Exit Tickets
Exit tickets are great because they can literally be tailored to almost anything you’re teaching. They also act as an informal assessment and being used as an exit to leave the classroom can be helpful in pushing kiddos to get them done.
Learn More: Primary Possibilities
14. Think, Mark, Chart
Having a Think, Mark, Chart anchor chart in the classroom can be very beneficial to readers of all levels. Create this chart together at the beginning of the year and keep it up all year! If students have questions during reading, it’s important to redirect their attention back to the chart and explain you’ll go through the passage together after.
Pro tip: Make this into small sheets of paper that students can keep on their desks or in their reading notebooks.
Learn More: Just a Primary Girl
15. Summarizing
Summarizing is so important for developing strong readers. When summarizing, teachers are getting students to break down what they read into smaller, more comprehensible pieces. In some cases, students will begin to automatically do this as they read, making their comprehension abilities much stronger.
Learn More: Mrs. Capulong’s Classroom
16. Breaking Down Reading Standards
Reading comprehension activities aren’t only helpful to students, but also helpful to teachers. If you’re new to fourth grade, you’ve noticed the intensity that the reading standards hold. Making it more important to have a complete understanding of them before being able to teach reading successfully.
Learn More: LiteracyTA
17. Vocabulary Builder Flip Book
My students absolutely love making flip books! Hidden inside these coloring pages are vocabulary words, figurative language, or really any skill your heart desires that students will reference time and time again.
Pro tip: Have students create their very own flipbooks with this video.
Learn More: Teacher Thrive
18. Main Idea and Details
Introduce or remind students about the main idea and details with this super simple web activity. Students will be hooked on how easy it is to decipher between the main ideas and the details and excited for whatever lesson you have planned next!
Learn More: La Bailey
19. Reading Levels
In grade 4, reading levels vary across the board. In some cases, readers are very advanced and above reading level, while on the other hand, some readers are quite far below the average fourth-grade reading level. Making sure that students know and understand their levels will help the child with comprehension.
Learn More: Scholastic
20. Strategy Mini Books
Teaching and helping students to integrate core comprehension skills into their daily reading should be top of the list. Using these little mini books that are filled with comprehension strategies, will help students to have a reference point when they are stuck or unsure. Not only fostering daily comprehension, but also independence.
Learn More: Teacher Thrive
21. Create a Story Map
Creating a story map will literally provide students with a visual of the story elements. This visual will help students to build background knowledge that is an essential tool in retelling the story.
Learn More: Two Apples a Day
22. What is Reading?
Across grade levels, it is essential that students fully understand what the purpose of reading is. At the 4th-grade level, students are beginning to pertain a deeper understanding of what they’re learning. An activity with this anchor chart can be a great way to really foster the total knowledge and understanding of reading.
Learn More: Teaching with Terhune
23. Jenga Story Retell
Turn Jenga into the perfect classroom version, good for a variety of subjects. Honestly, Jenga is one of the best games to integrate into your classroom. Whether you’re focusing on story retelling, vocabulary terms, spelling words, or comprehension topics, you can’t go wrong with this purchase.
Pro tip: Write the questions or tasks on a piece of paper and tape them to the blocks.
Learn More: Amazon
24. Heads Up
If you’ve heard of Heads Up, then you can imagine why this would be so much fun for 4th graders. Get rid of that boring old vocabulary worksheet and allow students to learn through play! You can simply write the vocabulary words on an index card and have them hold the cards up to their heads while other students act it out!
Learn More: Warner Bros. International Enterprises
25. Comprehension Short Stories
Youtube short stories are great for developing so many different reading skills. One of the best parts of this comprehension activity is hearing different voices and accents. Varying accents and voices will help students to be able to work with different listening skills.
Learn More: Making English Fun
26. Sight Words
Sight words only get more difficult as students get older, but they never lose their importance. For effective reading comprehension, students should have strong fluency skills. Working on 4th grade sight words can help to build those. Whether you use this as a whole class activity or in small centers, it is sure to help students with their sight word fluency!
Learn More: Teacher Calai
27. 4th Grade Read Alouds
Are you looking for stories that are great for 4th grade? Maybe an entire playlist for that matter? Read Alouds are extremely important for blossoming readers. This comprehension bundle can be used to simply enhance fluency or paired with a comprehension worksheet.
Learn More: YouTube
28. Making Connections
Making connections helps students to really delve deep and put meaning to the words they’re reading. This video will give students an overview of different strategies in order to make connections.
Learn More: Education Galaxy
29. Riddles
Riddles help students to think more in-depth about what they’re hearing or reading. Sometimes a simple Youtube video like this can spark kids to put on their thinking caps and be ready for a comprehension article or some graphic organizers.
Learn More: Mango Kids
30. Create a Game Show!
Creating a game show or matching games through Wordwall can be a great way to motivate your kiddos to want to read and have a deeper understanding of what they read. Whether you allow students to create their own game shows are you create them, they’ll always look forward to it!
Learn More: Worldwall
31. Create a Comprehension Video Lesson
Creating a comprehension video lesson is super simple and could be very beneficial without your kids even knowing! You can use Edpuzzle to create a video, including any of your own or sourced material online, and add questions or prompts. The best part is, if your kids want to keep watching, they’ll need to answer the questions to move on!
Learn More: YouTube
32. Reading Comprehension Cubes
Instead of printable worksheets this year in your centers, try out reading comprehension cubes! Students will love the hands-on rolling of these dice and love working collaboratively even more! Either have students record their answers in notebooks or aloud to each other.
Learn More: To Elementary and Beyond
33. Reading Response Options
Providing students with a variety of different response options is defiantly a go-to comprehension activity. This not only provides students with choices but also helps them to be more confident in effective reading comprehension.
Learn More: Ashleigh Education Journey
34. Book Club
Book clubs provide students with a place to hold discussions and comfortably ask and answer questions about a book they’re reading! Providing students with book club talking points can help students to ask important comprehension questions collaboratively.
Learn More: Falling in Love with 4th
35. Create Poetry Books
Poetry is a way to teach comprehension through short and often complex sentences. These sentences help students to build awareness around the many meanings found. A poetry book can go along with your poetry unit in fourth grade! Students will love decorating and creating these masterpieces.
36. Inference Detectives
Becoming inference detectives is a great way to help students learn how to make inferences and draw conclusions! These activities are packed with so much fun and students will absolutely love solving them. Don’t worry they all come equipped with an answer key to help save teachers’ prep time!
Learn More: Ashleigh Education Journey
37. Reading Quotes
A fourth-grade classroom is essential for reading comprehension and fluency. Having reading quotes around the room is one of the best ways to incline to students build a love for reading. One fun activity that my students love is creating posters of reading quotes! If we have some free time, I allow reading groups to choose a quote and create a poster.
Learn More: The Teacher Next Door
38. For the Love of Reading
Giving students different devices that will motivate them to read is a great way to really spice up their comprehension and fluency. These punch cards are super simple and can be so motivating to students and parents.
Final Thoughts
Having tools for students to access will allow them to visualize and better understand the story or book they are working with in your class. You can either create these resources yourself and make one copy of your entire class to use or you can have students work with their hands to design their own copy of these crafts that they can always keep with them to refer back to when you tell them to or when they feel they need to.
Giving your students the opportunity to access these supports will build them for success and give them ownership of their learning.
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