Free printable STAAR practice test for Grade 4

Reading Language Arts

Circle the letter of the best answer, and one letter in each row of a table and for each numbered blank. No time limit.

1. The Two-Paddle Problem

   Jada and her cousin Marcus had each paddled a canoe before, but never together. On the first morning of their family's camping trip in northern Minnesota, they carried a green canoe down to the edge of Loon Lake. The water was smooth as glass. A small island covered with tall pines sat in the middle of the lake.

   "Let's paddle to the island," said Marcus. "We can eat lunch there."

   Jada climbed into the front, and Marcus took the back. They pushed off from the dock. Then everything went sideways.

   Jada paddled hard on the left. Marcus paddled hard on the left too. The canoe swung to the right and kept turning until they were facing the dock again. Jada switched to the right side. At the same moment, so did Marcus. The canoe spun the other way.

   "You're doing that on purpose!" Jada said.

   "I am not! You keep switching!" said Marcus.

   Somewhere out on the water, a loon called. It sounded a lot like laughing.

   For ten minutes they turned in slow circles. Their arms ached, and the island looked just as far away as before. Finally, Jada laid her paddle across her knees. "This isn't working," she said. "We need a plan."

   Marcus was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Aunt Bea told me the person in the back is supposed to steer. What if you paddle on one side and I paddle on the other? I'll watch where we're going and fix our direction."

   "And we count strokes together," Jada added, "so we pull at the same time."

   They tried it. "One, two. One, two." Jada pulled on the right. Marcus pulled on the left. When the front of the canoe drifted, he held his paddle still in the water to bring it back. Slowly, the canoe straightened out. Then it began to glide.

   The island grew larger. Soon they could see pine needles on the ground and a flat rock that was perfect for sitting. They ate their sandwiches there and watched the loon dive and pop up far away.

   On the trip back, they hardly needed to count. Their paddles dipped at the same time, as if the canoe had only one pair of arms.

   At the dock, Aunt Bea waved. "I saw you two out there, spinning like a top," she called. "What changed?"

   Jada and Marcus looked at each other and grinned. "We started talking," Jada said, "instead of just paddling."

   1.

   Which sentence best summarizes the story?

   1. ATwo cousins struggle to steer a canoe until they make a plan and work together.
   2. BJada teaches Marcus how to paddle a canoe by himself.
   3. CAunt Bea paddles the cousins out to an island for lunch.
   4. DA family goes camping and spends the day watching loons.
2. 2.

   Why did the canoe keep turning in circles at first?

   1. AThe canoe was too heavy for two people.
   2. BBoth cousins paddled on the same side at the same time.
   3. CA loon kept swimming in front of the canoe.
   4. DThe wind kept pushing the canoe back toward the dock.
3. 3.

   How does Jada change from the beginning of the story to the end?

   1. AShe goes from being calm to being angry with Marcus.
   2. BShe goes from steering the canoe to sitting in the back.
   3. CShe goes from blaming Marcus to working with him.
   4. DShe goes from wanting lunch to wanting to go home.
4. 4.

   Aunt Bea says the cousins were "spinning like a top." What does this comparison show?

   1. AThe canoe was moving fast in a straight line.
   2. BThe cousins were playing with toys in the canoe.
   3. CThe canoe kept turning around and around.
   4. DThe lake was full of small, choppy waves.

5. Two Brothers and a Flying Machine

   Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in the late 1800s. When they were boys, their father brought home a toy helicopter made of cork, bamboo, and paper. A twisted rubber band made it fly. The brothers played with it until it broke, and then they built their own. They never forgot how it felt to watch something fly.

   As young men, the brothers opened a bicycle shop. They sold, repaired, and built bicycles. The work taught them how to use tools, how to make machines that were light but strong, and how a rider keeps balance. Those lessons would turn out to be important.

   In the 1890s, the brothers began reading everything they could find about flight. Other inventors had built gliders, but no one had found a good way to control a flying machine in the air. The Wrights watched birds closely. They noticed that a bird tilts the tips of its wings to turn and to stay steady. The brothers designed wings that could twist a little at the ends in the same way.

   Next, they needed a place to test their gliders. They wanted strong, steady winds and soft sand for landing. They chose Kitty Hawk, a windy spot on the coast of North Carolina. From 1900 to 1902, they flew gliders there again and again. When their gliders did not lift as well as they had hoped, they went home and built a wind tunnel, a long wooden box with a fan at one end. Inside it, they tested about two hundred small wing shapes to find the best ones.

   By 1903, they were ready to add an engine. They could not find one that was light enough, so they built their own with the help of a mechanic from their shop. They also carved their own propellers.

   On the cold, windy morning of December 17, 1903, Orville lay on the lower wing of their airplane while Wilbur ran alongside. The machine rose into the air and flew for 12 seconds, traveling 120 feet. For the first time, an airplane with an engine had carried a pilot through the air under his control. The brothers took turns and made three more flights that day. The longest, with Wilbur at the controls, lasted 59 seconds.

   Only five other people watched those first flights. Within a few years, though, the whole world knew the names of the brothers from the bicycle shop.

   5.

   How did the wind tunnel most likely help the brothers?

   1. AIt made the winds at Kitty Hawk stronger.
   2. BIt kept them warm during the winter.
   3. CIt let them test many wing shapes without building a whole glider each time.
   4. DIt gave their engine more power.
6. 6.

   How does the author mostly organize this passage?

   1. AAs a set of steps for building a glider
   2. BBy comparing the Wright brothers with other inventors
   3. CAs a list of problems that were never solved
   4. DIn time order, from the brothers' childhood to their first flights
7. 7.

   (1) ______ is a robin in the birdbath.

   Which word best completes the sentence?

   (1)	AThey're	BThere	CTheir	DThier

8. 8.

   Mayor Ortiz, I believe our town pool should stay open until Labor Day. The pool is the only place in town where many kids can cool off in summer. However, it closes in early August, while the weather is still hot. Keeping it open a few more weeks would give kids a safe place to play. Please keep our pool open longer, Mayor Ortiz.

   Who is the writer most likely writing this paragraph for?

   1. Athe owner of a bakery
   2. Ba newspaper in another country
   3. Cthe town's mayor
   4. Da group of second graders
9. 9.

   The pencil with the purple stripes ______ to me.

   Which word or words best complete the sentence?

   1. Abelongs
   2. Bwere belonging
   3. Chave belonged
   4. Dbelong
10. 10.

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    1. Ainteristing
    2. Binteresting
    3. Cintristing
    4. Dintresting