To help fourth grade readers develop strong comprehension skills, focus on narrative text activities as part of the curriculum. For example, students can compare the similarities and differences of characters in a story in the context of a grid or checklist.
Next, ask students to list the events of a story in sequential order. Students can use a graphic representation to help organize the story for this activity -- such as a paper with blocks connected by arrows -- which list problem > event > event > event and then the resolution of the problem.
Provide students with a story and instruct them to mark the text, indicating areas of importance. For instance, have students highlight all parts of the text which are considered details; such as names, places, descriptions, times and actions. Instruct the class to cross-out details that won't make any difference to the outcome of the story; as these are unimportant. Then have students look at the areas they highlighted, and circle those details which are necessary to understand the story; and are therefore important.
Provide your students with a variety of reading materials and have them indicate the title of the text and whether that text is fiction or nonfiction.
Teach students to recognize the difference between fact and opinion. Make a statement and ask the class to decide whether what you said is an example of an opinion or a fact. Then provide handouts of text and direct the students to circle certain statements. Ask the students to decide whether the statements are examples of facts or opinions. Have students color opinions with a yellow highlighter, and facts with a blue highlighter.
Lead the class in a prediction activity. Break up a story into two parts. The first section will lead up to a problem in the story. At this point in the text, insert a stop sign with a blank space for the student to write down what they think will happen next. The student will make a prediction based on what has been read thus far, and on life or other stories they have read. Next, the student will read-on and find out whether or not the prediction was realized. At the end of the text, have the student write about whether or not the prediction was correct. If the student made an incorrect prediction, have the student look back in the story to look for clues that they may have missed.