Boost Literacy with New Elementary Reading and Vocabulary Curriculum

Introducing Khan Academy’s new 4th and 5th grade reading and vocabulary courses

Elementary school educators, we’re excited to introduce Khan Academy’s new 4th- and 5th-grade reading and vocabulary courses! These thoughtfully designed courses are built to support your classroom with high-quality, standards-aligned, ELA instruction. Combining skill-building videos and articles, engaging grade-level texts, and targeted reading comprehension and vocabulary practice, these courses will help your students become confident and strategic readers while deepening their content knowledge across social studies, science, literature, and culture.

Build reading skills with engaging instruction and practice

Each course includes 155–160 short texts organized into 11 standards-aligned practice exercises, ensuring comprehensive coverage of key reading skills. Students read and analyze longer texts in 18 long-passage exercises that help build reading stamina and provide meaningful preparation for state assessments.

Literary and informational texts cover a range of high-interest topics that build students’ background knowledge, spark curiosity, and create excitement about reading. Students will read selections from classics like A Wrinkle in Time and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, plus compelling nonfiction texts like Packing for Mars for Kids and The Young Adventurer’s Guide to (Almost) Everything. They’ll also encounter popular contemporary authors like Jewell Parker Rhodes, Chris Grabenstein, and Erin Entrada Kelly.

To support reading comprehension, the courses include dozens of videos and articles that teach and model critical skills—and provide opportunities for low-stakes practice. Nine reading-strategy articles introduce and reinforce essential strategies that strong readers use naturally, including visualizing, making predictions, and using context clues.

Robust vocabulary development

Vocabulary instruction is a key part of each unit. Students are introduced to 24 high-frequency, high-utility words per course.Engaging vocabulary articles, videos, and interactive quizzes don’t just teach definitions; they also develop understanding of Greek and Latin roots, affixes, and morphology, helping students build transferable language knowledge. Students see and use vocabulary words in a range of contexts, including reading passages. This ensures they learn to use words meaningfully.

Why this matters for your classroom

Whether you’re preparing students for high-stakes tests or simply working to build lifelong literacy skills, Khan Academy’s new 4th- and 5th-grade ELA courses offer flexible, engaging, and rigorous resources you can trust. With thematic units like Heroes and Heroines, Inventors and Inventions, and Our Amazing Universe, the courses connect literacy learning to broader curricular goals and student interests.

These free, ready-to-use courses can be used in a range of classroom settings, including whole-group instruction, small-group intervention, or independent practice. Start our new 4th- and 5th-grade ELA courses today to give your students the tools they need to become thoughtful, skilled, and enthusiastic readers!

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