Texas 4th Grade ELA Standards

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1-5 Developing and sustaining foundational language skills

• 1 Listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking–oral language. The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.
  • A listen actively, ask relevant questions to clarify information, and make pertinent comments;
  • B follow, restate, and give oral instructions that involve a series of related sequences of action;
  • C express an opinion supported by accurate information, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, and the conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively; and
  • D work collaboratively with others to develop a plan of shared responsibilities.
• 2 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking–beginning reading and writing. The student develops word structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and spell.
  • A demonstrate and apply phonetic knowledge by:
    • i decoding words with specific orthographic patterns and rules, including regular and irregular plurals;
    • ii decoding multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables;
    • iii decoding words using advanced knowledge of syllable division patterns such as VV;
    • iv decoding words using knowledge of prefixes;
    • v decoding words using knowledge of suffixes, including how they can change base words such as dropping e, changing y to i, and doubling final consonants; and
    • vi identifying and reading high-frequency words from a research-based list;
  • B demonstrate and apply spelling knowledge by:
    • i spelling multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables; VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-controlled syllables; and final stable syllables;
    • ii spelling homophones;
    • iii spelling multisyllabic words with multiple sound-spelling patterns;
    • iv spelling words using advanced knowledge of syllable division patterns;
    • v spelling words using knowledge of prefixes; and
    • vi spelling words using knowledge of suffixes, including how they can change base words such as dropping e, changing y to i, and doubling final consonants; and
  • C write legibly in cursive to complete assignments.
• 3 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking–vocabulary. The student uses newly acquired vocabulary expressively.
  • A use print or digital resources to determine meaning, syllabication, and pronunciation;
  • B use context within and beyond a sentence to determine the relevant meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple-meaning words;
  • C determine the meaning of and use words with affixes such as mis-, sub-, -ment, and -ity/ty and roots such as auto, graph, and meter; and
  • D identify, use, and explain the meaning of homophones such as reign/rain.
• 4 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking–fluency. The student reads grade-level text with fluency and comprehension. The student is expected to use appropriate fluency (rate, accuracy, and prosody) when reading grade-level text.
• 5 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking–self-sustained reading. The student reads grade-appropriate texts independently. The student is expected to self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.

6 Comprehension skills

• 6 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
  • A establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts;
  • B generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information;
  • C make, correct, or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures;
  • D create mental images to deepen understanding;
  • E make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society;
  • F make inferences and use evidence to support understanding;
  • G evaluate details read to determine key ideas;
  • H synthesize information to create new understanding; and
  • I monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.

7 Response skills

• 7 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.
  • A describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts;
  • B write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing and contrasting ideas across a variety of sources;
  • C use text evidence to support an appropriate response;
  • D retell, paraphrase, or summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order;
  • E interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating;
  • F respond using newly acquired vocabulary as appropriate; and
  • G discuss specific ideas in the text that are important to the meaning.

8-9 Multiple genres

• 8 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts–literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.
  • A infer basic themes supported by text evidence;
  • B explain the interactions of the characters and the changes they undergo;
  • C analyze plot elements, including the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution; and
  • D explain the influence of the setting, including historical and cultural settings, on the plot.
• 9 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts–genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.
  • A demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children’s literature such as folktales, fables, legends, myths, and tall tales;
  • B explain figurative language such as simile, metaphor, and personification that the poet uses to create images;
  • C explain structure in drama such as character tags, acts, scenes, and stage directions;
  • D recognize characteristics and structures of informational text, including:
    • i the central idea with supporting evidence;
    • ii features such as pronunciation guides and diagrams to support understanding; and
    • iii organizational patterns such as compare and contrast;
  • E recognize characteristics and structures of argumentative text by:
    • i identifying the claim;
    • ii explaining how the author has used facts for an argument; and
    • iii identifying the intended audience or reader; and
  • F recognize characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

10 Author’s purpose and craft

• 10 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors’ choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author’s craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.
  • A explain the author’s purpose and message within a text;
  • B explain how the use of text structure contributes to the author’s purpose;
  • C analyze the author’s use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes;
  • D describe how the author’s use of imagery, literal and figurative language such as simile and metaphor, and sound devices such as alliteration and assonance achieves specific purposes;
  • E identify and understand the use of literary devices, including first- or third-person point of view;
  • F discuss how the author’s use of language contributes to voice; and
  • G identify and explain the use of anecdote.

11-12 Composition

• 11 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts–writing process. The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and uses appropriate conventions.
  • A plan a first draft by selecting a genre for a particular topic, purpose, and audience using a range of strategies such as brainstorming, freewriting, and mapping;
  • B develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing by:
    • i organizing with purposeful structure, including an introduction, transitions, and a conclusion; and
    • ii developing an engaging idea with relevant details;
  • C revise drafts to improve sentence structure and word choice by adding, deleting, combining, and rearranging ideas for coherence and clarity;
  • D edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
    • i complete simple and compound sentences with subject-verb agreement and avoidance of splices, run-ons, and fragments;
    • ii past tense of irregular verbs;
    • iii singular, plural, common, and proper nouns;
    • iv adjectives, including their comparative and superlative forms;
    • v adverbs that convey frequency and adverbs that convey degree;
    • vi prepositions and prepositional phrases;
    • vii pronouns, including reflexive;
    • viii coordinating conjunctions to form compound subjects, predicates, and sentences;
    • ix capitalization of historical periods, events, and documents; titles of books; stories and essays; and languages, races, and nationalities;
    • x punctuation marks, including apostrophes in possessives, commas in compound sentences, and quotation marks in dialogue; and
    • xi correct spelling of words with grade-appropriate orthographic patterns and rules and high-frequency words; and
  • E publish written work for appropriate audiences.
• 12 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts–genres. The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful.
  • A compose literary texts such as personal narratives and poetry using genre characteristics and craft;
  • B compose informational texts, including brief compositions that convey information about a topic, using a clear central idea and genre characteristics and craft;
  • C compose argumentative texts, including opinion essays, using genre characteristics and craft; and
  • D compose correspondence that requests information.

13 Inquiry and research

• 13 Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.
  • A generate and clarify questions on a topic for formal and informal inquiry;
  • B develop and follow a research plan with adult assistance;
  • C identify and gather relevant information from a variety of sources;
  • D identify primary and secondary sources;
  • E demonstrate understanding of information gathered;
  • F recognize the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials;
  • G develop a bibliography; and
  • H use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.