This is a teaching guide for the Grade 4 Text Structure Assessment, available to assign to students on iPads. Use the website Frolyc.com and the free Activity Spot app to assign this to students and view student progress.

1. Grade 4 Text Structure Assessment
texts by Emily Kissner
Get the assessment and assign it to students
here: https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/503/
About this
assessment
This iPad-
ready assessment is
designed to assess
student knowledge
of text structure.
Students will read a
text, answer
multiple choice
questions, complete
a drag-and-drop
graphic organizer,
and compare
aspects of the texts.
Teachers can easily view student performance through
the teacher interface. Use the information from the
assessment to plan further instruction. Ideas and resources
are included at the end of this document!
Once you purchase the assignment and add it to your
library, it is yours forever. You can assign it to as many
students and classes as you like.
Common Core Standards addressed:
Reading for Information, 4.2: Determine the main idea of
a text and explain how it is supported by key details;
summarize the text.
Reading for Information, 4.3: Explain events, ideas,
procedures, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical

2. text, including what happened and why, based on specific
information in the text.
Reading for Information, 4.5: 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.
Assessment walk-through
“Passenger Pigeons”, an original text leveled at 700 Lexile,
is included with this assessment.
After reading the text, students answer eight multiple-
choice questions. The first set of four questions focuses on text
structure. The second set of questions explores the
relationships between main ideas and details. After rereading
a paragraph, students complete a drag-and-drop graphic
organizer to show causes and effects. Finally, students must
use information in the text to answer an open-ended.
Text includes
illustrations and
text-speech
capability.

3. Questions are
presented
individually.
Answer choices
are randomized.
Students receive
instant feedback
on their work.

4. Drag and drop sequence organizer for students
to match causes to effects.
Open-ended response requires students to draw
conclusions and make inferences based on details in the text.

5. Viewing student performance
You can easily view student performance through the
“Manage Activities” tab on Frolyc.com.
Each activity page is scored and reported separately. You
can see how students did on each set of questions and each
graphic organizer.
Next Steps
You can use the information from this assessment to
help you plan instructional groups and further activities.
Students who score from 75-100%
Based on the results from this assessment, these
students seem to be able to use the text structure of short
texts to make inferences and answer questions. These
students are ready for more complex texts and deeper
discussions.
Forgotten Fruits
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/275/
This cause and effect text explores how some fruits that used
to be common are not familiar today.

6. Happy Australia Day!
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/130/
This compare and contrast text explores Australia Day.
Invasive Species
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/142/
This text includes videos and text about invasive species.
Students who score from 50-75%
These students are interesting. They are obviously able to
answer some of the questions correctly, but have trouble with
others. Students with these scores can vary widely in their
comprehension. Some answer questions based on what they
think they know instead of looking carefully at the text. Others
may struggle with individual words, leading to a fragmented
comprehension. Still others may not fully engage with the
reading process and content themselves with a shallow
understanding of the text.
Often, it’s helpful to listen in on kids as they work with
partners to answer questions. Encourage students to talk
through their choices and their thinking. This kind of data
often proves far more valuable than any computer-generated
score!
Here are some activities that may help students at this
score range to extend their thinking and grow as readers.
Colonial Cooking: Problems and Solutions
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/37/
This text is organized as a problem and solution text. It
includes texts and videos to explain how colonial cooks solved
problems.
Measuring Intelligence
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/60/
This text explains how scientists learn about octopus
intelligence.
Peregrine Falcon: Sequence
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/15/

7. In this text, readers learn how baby peregrine falcons grow.
Students who score from 0-50%
These readers need significant support with grade level
text. When working with text structure, it may be helpful to
work with lower level texts so that these students can become
more confident with the thinking behind the text structures.
These students may also have decoding issues.
Encouraging students to read along with the voiceover or read
the same text on multiple occasions can help them to become
more fluent readers.
Black Bears and People
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/73/
This problem/solution text explains how people can help black
bears. A drawing activity helps to promote engagement.
Cheetah Cubs in Zoos
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/18/
Another problem/solution text, this activity includes an
engaging video selection to build student motivation.
The James River Ferry
https://www.frolyc.com/acdetails/8/
This text engages readers in thinking through the problems
and solutions of a ferry.
Questions? Comments? Please email me at
emily@frolyc.com