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Word Search for 4th Graders

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Twelve 13-by-13 word searches built from 4th grade vocabulary in reading, writing, science, social studies and math, each with an answer key.

Download the word search worksheets

Reading and writing word searches

Figurative language, reading skills, grammar, and writing process words.

Science word searches

Energy and electricity, rocks and the Earth, the water cycle, and animal structures.

Social studies word searches

Regions of the United States and state government.

  • Preview of the printable “Regions of the united states word search” worksheet: reading and finding region and geography words (Northeast, Midwest, plateau)View all 2 pages

    Regions of the united states word search

    Reading and finding region and geography words (Northeast, Midwest, plateau)

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages47 KB

  • Preview of the printable “State government word search” worksheet: reading and finding state government words (governor, legislature, veto)View all 2 pages

    State government word search

    Reading and finding state government words (governor, legislature, veto)

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages47 KB

Math word searches

Fourth grade math and geometry vocabulary.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these word search worksheets

A word search for 4th graders should do more than fill time. These puzzles use the words children meet across the fourth grade year: figurative language terms like hyperbole and onomatopoeia, grammar words like preposition and progressive, science words like kinetic, sediment and condensation, and math words like quotient, protractor and perpendicular.

Each puzzle is a 13-by-13 grid with 14 words that run across, down, or on a slant, so it takes real scanning and a careful eye for spelling. Every word appears exactly once, and the filler letters are checked so no unwanted words turn up by accident.

Every puzzle has an answer key on page 2. Use them as early finisher work, a review before a unit test, or a quiet start to the morning.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.6Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that pertain to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

How to use them

  1. Pick the puzzle that matches the unit you are teaching, and read the word list aloud together first.
  2. Ask your child to say what each word means before checking it off.
  3. For a challenge, have your child choose five words from the list and use each one in a sentence.
  4. Use the answer key on page 2 to check, or let children check each other's puzzles.

Teaching tips

  • Long words are easiest to find first. Look for an unusual letter pair, like "ph" or "qu", and search for that.
  • Words can go on a slant, so check the diagonals after the rows and columns.
  • Keep a finger on the grid and move it row by row instead of jumping around.
  • Words only run forward (left to right and top to bottom), never backward.

Questions teachers and parents ask

How hard are these word searches?

Each grid is 13 by 13 with 14 words that go across, down, or on a slant. That is a good level for most fourth graders: hard enough to need careful scanning, but finished in about 15 minutes.

Do the puzzles have answer keys?

Yes. Page 2 of every puzzle is the answer key, with each word ringed in the grid.

Which subjects do the puzzles cover?

Reading, writing, grammar, figurative language, energy and electricity, rocks and the Earth, the water cycle, animal structures, regions of the United States, state government, math, and geometry.