Descriptions of the Tested Topics Grades 3–4

Below are descriptions for all the tested topics in Reading and an activity that you can do with your child to address each topic.

Word Analysis Skills and Strategies

Words are the building-blocks of everything students read. To truly understand a word, readers need to figure out both what it means and how it is used. Students should be able to use parts of a word to figure out its meaning. This will help them figure out the meanings of new words with similar parts. They should also be able to use clues from the word’s context to figure out its meaning.

While reading with your child, find a word that he or she doesn't know and make it the Word of the Week. Look it up in the dictionary; then write the word and its definition on a card that you post on the refrigerator. Use the word as much as possible to help your child learn it. After a few weeks, your child will have a list of new words that he or she knows and uses.

Read to Comprehend, Interpret, and Evaluate Literature

By reading, watching, and listening to plays, poems, and stories, students connect their own lives to literature. Students should think about and discuss characters, settings, plots, conflicts, and resolutions. When reading poetry, students should pay attention to the musical and visual qualities of descriptive language. Students should also understand how an author’s background, environment, and history influence the author’s writing.

When reading poetry with your child, call attention to rhyming patterns. For example, the first and third lines may rhyme (ABAC), or perhaps the first line rhymes with the second and the third line rhymes with the fourth (AABB). Challenge your child to complete a rhyme scheme. For example, you can say: The sky is so blue / What should I do? / Lie in the sun / Or go have some _____. Encourage your child to read carefully for rhyme and other literary devices that authors use.

Read to Comprehend, Interpret, and Evaluate Informational Text

Informational texts present ideas and opinions that are based on real-life events. Students often use informational texts for research. When they read informational texts, students should think about and discuss the main ideas, important details, visual features, and organization. They should also make conclusions about the uses and purposes of information within different texts.

When you receive an offer for a product or service in the mail, take a moment to look at it with your child. Read and discuss the details of the offer. Where are they located? How are they presented? What does a reader have to know in order to determine what is being offered? Once you have carefully investigated the details, discuss with your child whether his or her first impression of the offer has changed after reading more about the offer. Why is it important to read the fine print?

Forming an Initial Understanding

When readers form an initial understanding, they are able to understand the basic facts of what they read. Understanding the basic facts is an important first step for more complex understanding. Some people call questions that address this topic “find and point” questions, because the answers are right in the text.

As you read together, help your child locate important information in a text by playing a game of "pop quiz." Occasionally stop the reading and ask your child a quick detail question that can be answered by finding the right information in the text. For example, ask a question about the setting or about another piece of factual information from the text. Have your child point to the evidence as he or she answers the question.

Developing an Interpretation

When readers develop an interpretation, they have a more complete understanding of what they read. They can connect information across parts of a text, and they can also focus on details in a text. Questions that address this topic ask students to “read between the lines.”

As you read together, stop in the course of your reading and ask your child what he thinks will happen next. Encourage your child to support his ideas with evidence drawn from what you have already read. Once you have finished reading, talk about how the action or the events of the story unfolded. Do certain kinds of events always happen in the same way? Highlight how some kinds of events can cause other events, and describe the idea of cause and effect.

Determining a Critical Stance

When readers determine a critical stance, they are able to ask questions, form opinions, and make decisions about what they read. Students might be asked to evaluate a text’s quality and appropriateness, the information the author includes, the way the text is organized, and how it compares to other texts. Questions that address this topic ask students to “read beyond the lines.”

As you read together, you and your child can explore the choices authors make when they write. Encourage your child to think about the title, setting, and language authors use. Would it make a difference if a story had a different title, or was set in a different time or place? Why did the author include some details and not others? Does the author's language make your child feel a certain way? You can even talk about how your child would change the text to make it better. These types of questions help strengthen your child's critical thinking skills.