Summarize an Information Text is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on summarizing without copying the opening sentence, aligned to Common Core standard RI.4.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 19 of them with different questions, so no two students 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.
19 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two students have the same paper in front of them.
Summarize an Information Text
RI.4.2
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Longitude Problem
A ship's latitude — how far north or south it is — can be found from the height of the sun at noon. Sailors could do that for centuries.
Longitude, how far east or west, was the problem. It has no natural marker.
The solution was known in principle: compare the time on board with the time at a fixed place. The Earth turns fifteen degrees an hour, so every hour of difference is fifteen degrees of longitude.
That required a clock that stayed accurate on a rolling, salty, temperature-swinging ship. No such clock existed.
John Harrison, a carpenter, spent forty-three years building four. The fourth, finished in 1759, was the size of a large pocket watch and lost five seconds in eighty-one days at sea.
1. Summarize this text.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Why Clocks Agree
Until the 1840s, every British town kept its own time, set by the sun. Noon in Bristol was about ten minutes after noon in London.
That was no problem while the fastest thing on the road was a horse.
The railways changed it. A schedule cannot work if every station measures noon differently, and trains sharing a track need to agree about when.
So the railway companies imposed London time on their whole network. People called it railway time. Some towns kept two minute hands on the town clock for years, one local and one railway.
In 1880 Parliament made a single time legal across the country. The sun had been overruled by the schedule.
1. Summarize this text.
LessonPrint · RI.4.2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Summarize an Information Text
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Latitude was easy and longitude had no natural marker; comparing times would give it, and Harrison spent forty-three years building a clock accurate enough at sea.
2.1. Every British town kept its own sun time until railway schedules made that impossible, so railway companies imposed London time and Parliament made it law in 1880.
Questions about Summarize an Information Text
What does the Summarize an Information Text worksheet cover?
It practices summarizing without copying the opening sentence — 2 questions for Grade 4, all on Common Core RI.4.2: State the main idea, show the details behind it, and summarize. The instruction to students is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Summarize an Information Text practice?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2 — RI.4.2, under Reading: Informational Text for Grade 4. The published standard reads: “Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Summarize an Information Text is written for Grade 4, typically ages 9-10. It is one of the sheets on RI.4.2, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Summarize an Information 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 Summarize an Information Text can I print?
25 versions, of which 19 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two students still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Summarize an Information Text free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Summarize an Information 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.
More practice for RI.4.2
State the main idea, show the details behind it, and summarize.