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Common Core ELA4th GradeReading: Informational

RI.4.4: Figure Out Academic and Subject Words

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

Get the Frayer ModelAll 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.4.4 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders work out two kinds of words in nonfiction: school words like majority or compare that show up in every subject, and subject words like veto or habitat that belong to one. A civics text calling a bill “a written plan for a law” hands them the meaning.

Third grade (RI.3.4) did this with grade 3 topics. Fourth grade keeps the skill and raises the words, drawn from state government, energy and earth science. Fifth grade (RI.5.4) does the same with grade 5 topics.

RI.4.4 I Can Statements

  • I can use clues in a sentence to work out a new word.
  • I can tell a subject word from a word used in every subject.
  • I can notice when a word means something different in one subject.

RI.4.4 Worked Example

Two everyday words take on a civics meaning here, and the weak answer reaches for the everyday one each time.

Read the Story
Every state has its own lawmakers, who meet in the state capitol to decide on new laws.A new law starts as a bill, a written plan for a law. A lawmaker brings the bill to the others, and they study it, argue about it and then vote.If a majority, more than half of them, vote yes, the bill moves on. In most states, it then goes through the same steps with a second group of lawmakers.Last, the bill goes to the governor. If the governor signs it, it becomes a law. The governor can also veto the bill, refusing to sign it and sending it back. The lawmakers can still pass it, but they need many more yes votes the second time, usually two out of every three.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What do the words “bill,” “majority” and “veto” mean in this passage? Which clues helped you?
Not Yet“A bill is the paper at a restaurant that says how much to pay. Majority means the most important lawmakers. Veto means a vote.”Each meaning comes from somewhere other than the passage: an everyday use of bill, a guess from major, a guess from the sound of veto. The clues sitting right beside each word go unread.
Meets the Standard“A bill is a written plan for a law. The text says so right after the word. Majority means more than half, and the clue is the phrase after the comma, ‘more than half of them.’ Veto means the governor refuses to sign the bill and sends it back. The sentence explains it right after the word, and the next sentence fits, because the lawmakers then need extra votes to pass it anyway.”Every meaning fits this passage, and the student names the clue for each one, including the support for veto that comes in the next sentence.
Question Stems to Use
What does this word mean in this text?Which words nearby help explain it?Does this word mean something different in other places?Is this a word for one subject, or one you see in every subject?Put your meaning back in the sentence. Does it make sense?

Common Mistakes with RI.4.4

Using the everyday meaning

“A bill is what you pay at a restaurant.”

Try this: Have students put their meaning back into the sentence and reread it. If the sentence stops making sense, the meaning is wrong.

Guessing from how a word sounds

“Majority means the most important ones, like major.”

Try this: Teach students to read past the word to the comma or the next sentence, where nonfiction writers often tuck the definition.

Skipping the general academic words

Vocabulary lists of only veto, governor and capitol, while majority goes unlearned

Try this: Keep a second word wall for school words like majority and process that students will meet again in math and science.

Where RI.4.4 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.3.4Work out general academic and subject words in a text on a grade 3 topic.
AlongsideL.4.4Use context, Greek and Latin word parts and dictionaries to work out unknown words.L.4.6Learn and use general academic and subject words, including words basic to a topic.
Comes NextRI.5.4Work out general academic and subject words in a text on a grade 5 topic.

Practice RI.4.4

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolEnter the unit’s words, from bill and veto to majority, and print a sheet where students match meanings and use each word in a sentence.Your word listDefinitionsSentences
Make a Worksheet

Quick Check

  1. What is a bill, according to the passage?
  2. What does majority mean in the passage, and which words tell you?
  3. What can lawmakers do after the governor vetoes a bill?

RI.4.4: Other Names

RI.4.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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.