5th Grade Reading Check-Up

• 5th grade
• 16 questions, about 15 minutes
• Free, nothing saved

Sixteen questions that show where your child is with the big 5th grade reading skills: Greek and Latin roots, figurative language and word relationships, theme and inference in a story, and how a nonfiction passage is organized. Your child reads on their own. It takes about 15 minutes.

Before you start

• Sit with your child. Let your child read everything on their own, including both passages. You can tap the speaker for a question, but not for the passages.
• Don't help with answers. The point is to see what your child can do alone. "Do your best" is the only hint.
• Skip is fine. If your child doesn't know, leave it blank. Blank counts as "practice next," which is useful to know.
• Keep it light. Call it a game, not a test. Stop and come back later if your child gets tired.

This check-up covers what most children can do by the end of 5th grade. Early in the year, lower scores in roots and text structure are expected.

The check-up

What the check-up covers

Each section matches part of the Common Core 5th grade English Language Arts standards, which most US states use: foundational skills, language, literature and informational text.

• Roots and affixes (RF.5.3a, L.5.4b): By 5th grade, most new words in school reading are built from Greek and Latin parts.
• Word meanings (L.5.4a, L.5.5a, L.5.5c): 5th graders need to read figurative language and use context to pin down the exact meaning of a word.
• Reading a story (RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3): 5th graders should quote details to support an inference and explain how characters respond to a challenge.
• Reading nonfiction (RI.5.1, RI.5.3, RI.5.5): 5th graders explain how ideas in a text connect and how it's organized: in order, as cause and effect, or as problem and solution.

What to practice next

The results show a practice link for every section your child found hard. Here they all are in one place:

• Roots and affixes: greek and latin roots and root words.
• Word meanings: context clues and similes and metaphors.
• Reading a story: theme and making inferences.
• Reading nonfiction: text structure and summarizing.

Practice one area at a time, about 10 minutes a day, and take the check-up again in three or four weeks. See the full year on the 5th grade skills page.

Other grades

If this check-up was very easy or very hard, try the grade above or below.

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026

Questions parents ask