First Government Cloze

This worksheet supports students in Grades 4 and 5 as they build reading comprehension, vocabulary application, historical understanding, and context-clue reasoning through an informational cloze passage about the early United States. Students read a structured passage explaining why the Articles of Confederation were created, what they aimed to accomplish, and why they ultimately proved too weak, using a word bank to fill in missing terms accurately.

Key Learning Objectives

• Foundations of American Government (Grades 4-5) – Students understand the purpose and structure of the Articles of Confederation.
• Using Context Clues – Learners select correct vocabulary words by analyzing surrounding text and meaning.
• Government Structure Understanding – The activity highlights limits of power, leadership challenges, and national organization.
• Historical Reasoning – Students explain how early weaknesses influenced the push for a stronger federal government.

Instructional Support

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper-elementary social studies and ELA standards.
• Integrated Reading & Vocabulary – Combines informational text comprehension with targeted vocabulary practice.
• Flexible Use – Ideal for independent work, guided reading, homework, or assessment.
• Supports Developing Thinkers – Cloze format encourages careful reading and reinforces key concepts.
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready for classroom or homeschool use with minimal preparation.

This First Government Cloze worksheet helps students understand how the Articles of Confederation shaped early American government while strengthening vocabulary, comprehension, and historical thinking. By applying context clues and reflecting on governmental weaknesses, learners gain clearer insight into how foundational ideas led to lasting change. It’s a practical, engaging resource for both classroom and homeschool instruction.

This worksheet is part of our Articles of Confederation Worksheets collection.