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Common Core ELA4th GradeLanguage

L.4.4: Work Out Unknown Words

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Make a Vocabulary WorksheetAll 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

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.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.4.4 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders work out an unknown word three ways: clues in the sentence (a definition, an example, a restatement), Greek and Latin parts like tele, photo and graph, and a dictionary or glossary for the exact meaning and the pronunciation. They pick whichever strategy the word calls for.

Third graders (L.3.4) used sentence clues, common affixes like un- and -less, and known root words, as company helps with companion. Fourth grade adds Greek and Latin roots and the pronunciation guide. Fifth grade (L.5.4) adds cause-and-effect and comparison clues, with roots like photo in photosynthesis.

L.4.4 I Can Statements

  • I can use clues in the sentence to work out a word.
  • I can use Greek and Latin roots like graph and port.
  • I can check a dictionary for the meaning and how to say it.

L.4.4 Worked Example

One hard word in a sentence about old books, worked out from context, from its Latin roots and from a dictionary.

Prompt

What does manuscript mean in this sentence? “Before printing presses, monks copied every book by hand, and a single manuscript could take a year to finish.”

Not YetManuscript means a script for a man, like the lines in a play.The student split the word into English words they know, man and script, instead of its Latin parts, and never checked the guess against the sentence about copying books by hand.
Meets the StandardManu comes from the Latin word for hand, like in manual, and script means written, like in scribble. So a manuscript is something written by hand. That fits the sentence, because the monks copied every book by hand. The dictionary agrees: a book or paper written by hand, before printing. It’s said MAN-yuh-skript.It uses all three strategies: the roots manu and script, the context clue copied every book by hand, and a dictionary to confirm the meaning and the pronunciation. Each one checks the others.
Moves to Use
Look in the sentence for a definition, an example or a restatement: copied by hand.Split the word into Greek or Latin parts, not English words: manu plus script.Think of a word with the same part: manual, scribble, describe.Confirm in a dictionary or glossary, and use the pronunciation guide to say it.

Common Mistakes with L.4.4

Splitting into English words

“Manuscript is a man’s script,” or “carpet is a pet in a car”

Try this: Teach a small set of roots on cards (manu, script, port, graph, tele) and have students hunt for them before guessing.

Skipping the sentence

A student defines a word from its parts and never checks whether that meaning fits

Try this: Require one last step for every word: put the meaning back in the sentence and read it aloud to test it.

Taking the first dictionary meaning

For draft in “a cold draft came under the door,” a student copies “a first version of a piece of writing”

Try this: Have students read every numbered meaning and choose the one that fits the sentence, then say why it fits.

Where L.4.4 Fits

Comes BeforeL.3.4Use sentence clues, known affixes and root words, and beginning dictionaries.
AlongsideRI.4.4Work out academic and subject words in grade 4 texts, where these strategies get used.L.4.6Learn and use grade 4 academic and subject words accurately.
Comes NextL.5.4Use cause-and-effect and comparison clues, roots and reference books to pin down meanings.

Practice L.4.4

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolBuild a list around one root, like manu or graph, so students sort the words that share it and write what the root adds.Latin rootsGreek rootsGrade 4
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Quick Check

  1. What do the Latin parts manu and script mean?
  2. Which words in the sentence are the context clue?
  3. Use the root port to work out portable.

L.4.4: Other Names

L.4.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.