Reading Comprehension District Wide Rubric – Using Informational Text
(Using Grade Level Text)*
Grade 4
2 - Developing
4 - Strong
3 - Proficient
Understanding:
Reader demonstrates an accurate
understanding of important information
in the text by focusing on the key ideas
presented explicitly and implicitly.
Understanding:
Reader demonstrates an accurate
understanding of important information
by focusing on many of the key ideas
presented explicitly or implicitly.
Understanding:
Reader demonstrates a somewhat accurate
understanding of the important
information by focusing on a few ideas
presented explicitly or implicitly.
1 – Emerging
Understanding
Reader demonstrates little or no
understanding of the text due to lack of
focus on key ideas presented explicitly
or implicitly.
What is the main idea of the selection? Identify the details or examples that support the point.
What are the facts/opinions in the selection?
Summarize the significant events of the selection? and provide evidence
What might be an alternative title for the selection?
Interpretation:
Reader uses information from the text to
interpret significant concepts or make
connections to other situations or
contexts logically through analysis,
evaluation, inference, or
comparison/contrast.
Interpretation:
Reader uses information from the text to
some extent to interpret significant
concepts or to make logical connections
to other situations or context.
Interpretation:
Reader uses information from the text to
make simplistic interpretations of the text
without using significant concepts or by
making only very limited connections to
other situation or contexts.
Interpretation:
Reader makes little or no
interpretation of the text. There are no
connections to other situations or
contexts.
How are ____and ____ alike? Different? Compare and Contrast.
What caused ___ to _____?
What effect did ____have on _____?
How did the author structure this piece of text? (cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast).
How do these ideas/characters interact or relate?
What words or phrases helped you determine the meaning of (this word)?
What is the author’s point of view?
Why did the author write this selection? What’s the author’s purpose?
How does this event relate to other events that you’ve read about?
Application
Reader uses relevant and accurate
references; most are specific and fully
supported.
Application
Reader uses relevant and accurate
references; some are specific; some may
be general and not fully supported.
Application
Reader uses irrelevant or limited
references.
Application
Reader uses no references and/or
references are inaccurate.
Reader integrates a balanced
interpretation of the text with textbased evidence.
Reader partially integrates
interpretation of the text with textbased evidence.
Reader generalizes without illustrating key
ideas; may have gaps in text-based support.
Reader uses generalizations that are
not related to the reading and may not
be supported with textual evidence.
What credibility does the author have?
How does another author who writes on this topic compare to this author’s approach?
What evidence makes the argument strong? (FIRES – facts, incidents, reasons, evidence, support)
How does the author use reasons and evidence to support the point?
What audience do you think the author is trying to reach? Provide evidence.
*Although this rubric is a common assessment for grade level text, this questioning should be used to guide instruction while extending thought/comprehension at both the independent and instructional levels.
Updated March 2013
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Reading Comprehension District Wide Rubric – Using Informational Text
(Using Grade Level Text)*
Grade 4
STANDARD: Reading 1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
4.2.1.1 – Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
STANDARD: Reading 2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas
4.2.2.2 – Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
STANDARD: Reading 3
Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
4.2.3.3 – Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
STANDARD: Reading 4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
4.2.4.4 – Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to grade 4 topic or subject area.
STANDARD: Reading 5
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g. a section, chapter, scene or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
4.2.5.5 –Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
STANDARD: Reading 6
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
4.2.6.6 –Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account, including those by or about Minnesota American Indians, of the same event or topic; describe the difference in focus and the information
provided.
STANDARD: Reading 7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
4.2.7.7 – Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g. in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information
contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
STANDARD: Reading 8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
4.2.8.8 – Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.
STANDARD: Reading 9
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
4.2.9.9 – Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
STANDARD: Reading 10
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
4.2.10.10 - By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
a. Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks.
STANDARD: Language 4
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
4.10.4.4 - Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
c. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases
STANDARD: Speaking, Viewing, Listening and Media Literacy 7
Critically analyze information found in electronic, print, and mass media and use a variety of these sources.
4.8.7.7 – Distinguish among, understand, and use different types of print, digital, and multimodal media.
a. Make informed judgments about messages promoted in the mass media (e.g., film, television, radio, magazines, advertisements, newspapers).
b. Locate and use information in print, non-print, and digital resources using a variety of strategies.
c. Check for accuracy of information between two different sources.
d. Recognize safe practices in social and personal media communications.
Updated March 2013
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