About this book
Give your fourth grader the confidence to succeed on the California CAASPP Grade 4 English Language Arts test.
This Smart Stars practice book provides five full-length, standards-aligned practice tests that mirror the length, item mix, and question types of the real CAASPP English Language Arts/Literacy assessment. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built around the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts at Grade 4 — the standards California students are actually taught and tested on.
Take a look inside
CAASPP — the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress — is given by the California Department of Education to public-school students in Grades 3-8 and 11.
- Delivery: its English language arts portion is the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment.
- Format: an untimed, computer-adaptive test paired with a Performance Task.
- Reporting areas: four — Reading, Writing, Listening, and Research.
- Each practice test here: 40 questions plus one Performance Task, 200 questions and 5 Performance Tasks across the book — to build true test-day stamina.
What’s inside
- Five full-length practice tests, each with 40 questions and a Performance Task, followed by detailed Answers and Explanations
- Original passages in every CAASPP genre — literary stories, poems, informational text, and paired texts
- All four Smarter Balanced ELA areas: Reading, Writing (opinion, informative, and narrative), Listening, and Research
- Every CAASPP item format rendered for paper: multiple choice, multiple select, two-part evidence-based questions, hot-text and matching/sort tasks, short constructed-response, and the full-write Performance Task
- A read-aloud Listening section: each Listening set is a short script a parent or helper reads aloud, since the real test’s audio cannot be printed — noted in the book and the family letter
- Full lined writing space after every Performance Task, plus explanations that cite the text evidence and end with a labeled Tip, Strategy, or Reading move
- A combined Quick Answer Key after each test, and a family letter, test-taking tips, and Grade 4 ELA study reference page up front
Topics covered
- Reading literature: theme, character, plot, point of view, and figurative language in stories, drama, and poetry
- Reading informational text: main idea and supporting details, text structure, author’s purpose, and text features
- Comparing and combining information across two or more texts on the same topic
- Vocabulary in context: multiple-meaning words, prefixes, suffixes, root words, similes, metaphors, and idioms
- Language and conventions: complete sentences, run-ons and fragments, subject-verb and pronoun agreement, verb tense, commas, apostrophes, and capitalization
- Editing and revising a student writing sample for grammar, usage, and clarity
- Opinion, informative, and narrative writing built on clear reasons, facts, and text evidence
- Research and inquiry: choosing useful sources, matching facts to sources, and combining two sources into one response
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Educator-authored: Every question is written and reviewed by classroom-experienced educators.
- Mirrors test day: Each practice test matches the official CAASPP shape, item mix, and Smarter Balanced question formats, with a read-aloud Listening section that keeps the same skill off-screen.
- Built for California: Aligned to the California Common Core State Standards for ELA at Grade 4, with original passages, grade-appropriate contexts, and a diverse cast of student names.
- Explanations teach the why: Every Answers and Explanations entry points to the text evidence and ends with a labeled Tip, Strategy, or Reading move.
- Varied and graduated: Passages, question types, answer positions, and contexts rotate test-to-test, and the five tests step up in difficulty so no two feel the same.
