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Similar Themes, Different Cultures is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on comparing how two texts treat one theme, aligned to Common Core standard RL.4.9. 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.

Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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All 25 sets ask different questions.

Similar Themes, Different Cultures

RL.4.9

NameDate

Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

1.Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

Text 1: Low Water

Stanza one: Twice a day the sea walks out and leaves the harbour standing, the boats set down on their own keels like birds that have stopped landing. Stanza two: The mud shines. Old anchors show, a bicycle, a broken chain, the whole forgotten underneath made briefly plain. Stanza three: Then, without a sound at all, it turns and starts to come. The bicycle goes under first. The harbour lifts. The boats go dumb.

  1. 1. How often does the sea go out?
2.Now read Text 2 and answer these questions about BOTH texts.

Text 2: The Quarry, Filled

Stanza one: They took the hill away in carts for ninety years, and then they stopped. The hole they left filled up with rain until the rain had reached the top. Stanza two: Now people swim where men once cut. The water hides the ledge, the crane, the drill-marks in the standing rock, the tracks, the shed, the loading lane. Stanza three: The children diving off the edge have never heard the word for it. They call it "the lake". They are not wrong. A thing becomes what people make of it.

  1. 1. How is its conclusion different from "Low Water"?
  2. 2. How does a poem's structure differ from a story's?
  3. 3. What does this poem share with "Daedalus and Icarus"?

LessonPrint · RL.4.9 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Similar Themes, Different Cultures

Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Twice a day.
  2. 2.1. "Low Water" watches the cycle; this one argues that the meaning has changed for good. 2. A poem uses stanzas and line breaks; a story uses paragraphs of continuous sentences. 3. Both are about rising and falling — Icarus climbing, the tide going out — and both end after the fall.

Questions about Similar Themes, Different Cultures

What does the Similar Themes, Different Cultures worksheet cover?

It practises comparing how two texts treat one theme — 2 questions for Grade 4, all on Common Core RL.4.9: Compare how different cultures handle the same theme or story pattern. The instruction to pupils is “Read Text 1 and answer the question under it”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.

Which Common Core standard does Similar Themes, Different Cultures practise?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9 — RL.4.9, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 4. The published standard reads: “Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.

What age or grade is this worksheet for?

Similar Themes, Different Cultures is written for Grade 4, typically ages 9-10. It is one of the sheets on RL.4.9, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.

Does Similar Themes, Different Cultures 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 Similar Themes, Different Cultures 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 Similar Themes, Different Cultures free to print and photocopy?

Yes. Similar Themes, Different Cultures, 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 RL.4.9?

Yes — “Patterns of Events Across Cultures” is a 40-minute Grade 4 plan for RL.4.9, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Similar Themes, Different Cultures is the practice that follows it.

More practice for RL.4.9

Compare how different cultures handle the same theme or story pattern.

Teaching this next? Patterns of Events Across Cultures is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.4.9 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.