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Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on reading a whole information text and answering across it, aligned to Common Core standard RI.4.10. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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All 25 sets ask different questions.

Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text

RI.4.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How Penicillin Was Found

In 1928 Alexander Fleming went on holiday and left a stack of dishes on a bench. Each held a colony of bacteria. When he came back, one dish had a spot of mould on it. Around the mould was a clear ring where the bacteria had died. Fleming realised the mould was producing something that killed bacteria. He named it penicillin and published a paper. Almost nobody noticed. Ten years later, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain read that paper and tried to make penicillin in quantity. That turned out to be the hard part: it took two thousand litres of mould fluid to treat one patient. By 1944 the problem had been solved and penicillin was reaching soldiers in the field.

  1. 1. What overall structure does this text use?
  2. 2. How much mould fluid did it take to treat one patient?
  3. 3. What did he see around the mould?
  4. 4. Determine the main idea of this text and explain how key details support it.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Accidental Photograph

In 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen was working with a covered tube in a darkened room when he noticed a screen across the laboratory glowing. Something was passing through the cover and crossing the room. He did not know what it was, so he called it X — the unknown. He spent seven weeks alone in the laboratory testing it. He put wood, rubber and metal in the way. Metal stopped it; the rest did not. Then he asked his wife to put her hand between the tube and a photographic plate. The picture showed the bones of her hand and her wedding ring. Within a year, X-rays were being used in hospitals. Röntgen refused to patent them.

  1. 1. Why did he call them X-rays?
  2. 2. The text says Röntgen refused to patent X-rays. What does that suggest about him?
  3. 3. Determine the main idea of this text and explain how key details support it.
  4. 4. In what year did Röntgen notice the glow?

LessonPrint · RI.4.10 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Chronology — 1928, ten years later, and 1944. 2. Two thousand litres. 3. A clear ring where the bacteria had died. 4. Discovering penicillin was only the start — the details about Florey, Chain and two thousand litres show that making it usable was the real work.
  2. 2.1. Because X meant the unknown — he did not know what they were. 2. That he wanted them used freely rather than owned — it is stated as his choice. 3. An accidental observation became a medical tool within a year — supported by the seven weeks of testing and the hospital use. 4. 1895.

Questions about Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text

What does the Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text worksheet cover?

It practises reading a whole information text and answering across it — 2 questions for Grade 4, all on Common Core RI.4.10: Read and understand Grade 4-5 information texts by the year's end. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which Common Core standard does Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.10 — RI.4.10, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 4. The published standard reads: “By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text is written for Grade 4, typically ages 9-10. It is one of the sheets on RI.4.10, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text come with an answer key?

Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.

How many different versions of Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text can I print?

25 — one per pupil, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.

Is Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.

Is there a lesson plan to teach RI.4.10?

Yes — “Reading Grade 4 Informational Texts” is a 40-minute Grade 4 plan for RI.4.10, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Reading a Grade 4 Fact Text is the practice that follows it.

More practice for RI.4.10

Read and understand Grade 4-5 information texts by the year's end.

Teaching this next? Reading Grade 4 Informational Texts is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.4.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.