Mississippi Standards
Mississippi 4th Grade ELA Standards
All 43 Mississippi English language arts standards for 4th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Mississippi Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
43 standards
Reading Literature
9 standardsRL.4.1
Back up what you say about a story with its own details and examples, both for what the story states plainly and for what it only hints at.
RL.4.2
Work out the theme of a story, play or poem, such as kindness is repaid, from the details in it, then retell the whole in a short summary.
RL.4.3
Describe a character, setting or event in a story or play in depth, using specific details such as what the character thinks, says and does.
RL.4.4
Work out what words and phrases mean in a story, including ones that nod to characters from myths, such as a Herculean effort.
RL.4.5
Explain how poems, plays and prose differ, and use terms like verse, rhythm and meter for poems and cast, dialogue and stage directions for plays when discussing a text.
RL.4.6
Compare the points of view from which different stories are told, including an I narrator telling his own story versus a narrator outside it.
RL.4.7
Connect a story or play to a film, audio or stage version of it, pointing out where each version follows the text’s descriptions and stage directions.
RL.4.9
Compare how stories, myths and folktales from different cultures handle a similar theme, like good versus evil, or a pattern of events, like a quest.
RL.4.10
Read and understand stories, plays and poems in the grades 4 to 5 difficulty range by year’s end, with help as needed at the top of the range.
Reading Informational Text
10 standardsRI.4.1
Back up what you say about a story with its own details and examples, both for what the story states plainly and for what it only hints at.
RI.4.2
Say in one sentence what an informational text is about, explain which key details support that idea, and summarize the text in your own words.
RI.4.3
Explain what happened and why in a history, science or how-to text, such as the steps of an experiment, using the specific facts the text gives.
RI.4.4
Work out what academic and subject-specific words mean in a fourth grade nonfiction text, like erosion in a science article.
RI.4.5
Describe how a text or a section of it is organized, such as in time order, as a comparison, as cause and effect or as a problem and its solution.
RI.4.6
Compare a firsthand account, like a diary entry, with a secondhand account, like a textbook page, of the same event, noting what each focuses on and tells.
RI.4.7
Explain what charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines or interactive web features show and how that information helps readers understand the text.
RI.4.8
Explain how an author backs up each point in an informational text with reasons and evidence, such as a fact or a statistic.
RI.4.9
Put together facts from two texts on the same topic, such as two articles on volcanoes, so you can write or speak about it with real knowledge.
RI.4.10
By year's end, read and understand history, science and technical texts written for grades 4 and 5 on their own, with help on the most challenging ones.
Reading Foundational Skills
2 standardsRF.4.3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
RF.4.4
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Writing
10 standardsW.4.1
Write an opinion piece that introduces the topic, states the opinion, gives reasons backed by facts, links them with phrases like for instance, and closes.
W.4.2
Write an informative piece that introduces a topic, groups related facts and definitions, links them with words like also, and closes with a final sentence.
W.4.3
Write a story, real or made up, that sets the scene, introduces the characters, uses dialogue and time words like later, and ends with a sense of closure.
W.4.4
Write clearly, shaping and organizing the piece for its task, purpose and reader, like a how-to for younger students versus a book review for the class.
W.4.5
Plan, revise and edit drafts with help from classmates and adults to make writing stronger, applying fourth grade grammar and spelling.
W.4.6
Use technology and the internet with some adult help to write, publish and work with others, and type well enough to do so.
W.4.7
Do a short research project that looks into different sides of a topic, such as a state’s history, land and people, to build knowledge about it.
W.4.8
Pull facts from memory, books and websites, take notes, sort them into categories, and list where they came from.
W.4.9
Use evidence from stories and informational texts in writing, like details that show a character in depth or the reasons an author gives for a point.
W.4.10
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening
6 standardsSL.4.1
Join partner, group and class discussions on fourth grade topics prepared, follow rules and roles, ask and answer questions, and explain their own ideas.
SL.4.2
Restate in your own words part of a text read aloud or information from a video, a chart or a speaker.
SL.4.3
Pick out the reasons and evidence a speaker gives to support each point, such as the facts behind a classmate’s case for a longer recess.
SL.4.4
Report on a topic or book, tell a story or recount an experience in an organized way, with facts and vivid details, speaking clearly at a pace listeners can follow.
SL.4.5
Add an audio recording or a visual display, such as a poster or slide, to a presentation when it helps develop the main ideas.
SL.4.6
Tell when a setting calls for formal English, like a presentation, versus casual talk, like a small group chat, and use formal English when needed.
Language
6 standardsL.4.1
Use fourth grade grammar, like who and whose, progressive tenses, can and must, adjective order, prepositional phrases, fixing run-ons, and to, too and two.
L.4.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.4.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
L.4.4
Work out an unknown word on a grade 4 topic from context clues, from Greek and Latin roots like graph in telegraph, or by checking a dictionary or thesaurus.
L.4.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
L.4.6
Learn and use grade 4 school and subject words, including precise verbs for actions and feelings like quizzed, whined and stammered, and topic words like conservation.
The official Mississippi documents
- 2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for English Language Arts · adopted 2025 · required since 2025-26
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Mississippi's standards, not the official wording, which Mississippi Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.