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Common Core ELA4th GradeWriting

W.4.8: Take Notes, Sort Them and List Sources

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8 · Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

All 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

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

What W.4.8 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders gather facts from what they have seen and done and from books and websites, keeping only what fits their question. They jot short notes, sort them into categories they choose, like Body, Diet and Habitat, and finish with a list of every source used.

Third graders (W.3.8) take brief notes and sort them into categories the teacher provides. Fourth graders build their own categories and add a list of sources. Fifth grade (W.5.8) asks students to summarize or paraphrase, both in the notes and in the finished piece.

W.4.8 I Can Statements

  • I can gather facts that fit my question from several places.
  • I can sort my notes into categories I choose.
  • I can list every source I used, with its title.

W.4.8 Worked Example

Two students used the same two sources about narwhals. Only one set of notes is ready to turn into a report.

Prompt

Research question: How do narwhals survive in icy Arctic water? Take notes from the article “Tusks Under the Ice” in our class science magazine and the aquarium video on our class research page. Sort your notes into categories you choose, then list your sources.

Not YetNarwhals have a tusk, they live in cold water, they eat fish and they are my favorite animal. Source: the internet.The notes are one run-on list in the order the student found them, with an opinion mixed in that says nothing about survival, and “the internet” is not a source anyone could find again.
Meets the StandardBody: the tusk is a long tooth, up to about 10 feet, that may help them sense changes in the water. Thick blubber keeps them warm. Food: they dive deep for fish, shrimp and squid. Ice: in winter they breathe through cracks in the sea ice. Sources: “Tusks Under the Ice,” class science magazine, page 8, and the aquarium narwhal video on our class research page.Every note helps answer the survival question, in short phrases, and the student invented three categories that fit narwhals: body, food and ice. The source list names the article, where it is and the page, plus the video, so anyone could check a fact.
Moves to Use
Keep only notes that help answer the research question.Write short phrases, not copied sentences.Make your own categories once you see what the notes are about.Write each source’s title and where to find it as you go.

Common Mistakes with W.4.8

Notes in the order they were found

A tusk fact, a food fact, then another tusk fact, all in one list

Try this: Have students cut their notes into strips and physically sort them into piles before naming any category.

Everything goes in

“Narwhals are my favorite animal” in notes about how they survive

Try this: Write the research question at the top of the notes page and have students cross out any note that does not answer it.

A source list nobody can follow

“Sources: the internet, a book”

Try this: Make the title and location of each source the first line on every note page, so the list builds itself.

Where W.4.8 Fits

Comes BeforeW.3.8Take brief notes and sort them into categories the teacher provides.
AlongsideW.4.7Short research projects that look at different aspects of a topic.RI.4.2Find the main idea of a text and summarize it: the reading skill behind a good note.
Comes NextW.5.8Summarize or paraphrase in notes and in finished work, and list the sources.

Practice W.4.8

Quick Check

  1. Which three categories did the strong note-taker choose?
  2. Which note in the weak response does not help answer the research question?
  3. What makes the strong source list usable?

W.4.8: Other Names

W.4.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8

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.