Reading Worksheet · Grades 4–6
Ivan the Terrible Worksheet
A printable reading comprehension worksheet for grades 4-6 on Ivan IV of Russia. Students read a one-page biography covering his coronation as the first crowned tsar, the successful first half of his reign, the 1564 abdication threat that won him absolute power, and the oprichniki, then answer four multiple-choice questions, six true-or-false statements, and six fill-ins. A complete answer key is included.
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Subject
Reading
Grades
Grades 4–6
Skill Focus
Ivan the Terrible, informational text
Lesson Length
40 minutes
Learning Objective
Students will read a biography of Ivan IV and explain how he gained absolute power, what the oprichnina was, and where his nickname comes from.
Lesson Overview
About this worksheet
Ivan IV was three years old when he became Grand Prince of Moscow, and sixteen when he was crowned tsar in 1547, the first Russian ruler to take that title in an official coronation. This worksheet follows him from that coronation to his death in 1584, through the half of his reign that worked and the half that did not.
The passage spends a paragraph on the nickname, because it is the most misread thing about him. In Russian he is Ivan Grozny, and grozny means formidable, fearsome, awe-inspiring. When it was first put into English, “terrible” carried that older sense of something that fills you with terror. The English word has since drifted toward “of poor quality,” so a student today reads the name as something closer to “Ivan the Awful” unless someone tells them otherwise. A word whose meaning has shifted under a reader’s feet is worth teaching in its own right.
The rest is the history: the zemsky sobor and the capture of Kazan in 1552, St. Basil’s Cathedral going up between 1555 and 1561, the Livonian War that ran twenty-five years and was lost, and the startling move in December 1564 when Ivan left Moscow, announced he was giving up the throne, and returned only on the condition that he could punish anyone he named a traitor. What followed was the oprichnina, the oprichniki in their black clothes with a broom and a dog’s head on the saddle, and the destruction of Novgorod in 1570.
Page 2 has sixteen questions in three forms: multiple choice, true or false, and fill in the missing word. Page 3 is a complete answer key with a short reason recorded beside every false statement. For other biographies at this level, see the Frederick Douglass Worksheet and the Abraham Lincoln Worksheet.
How to Use This Lesson
Read the passage on page 1.
Answer the four multiple-choice questions in Section A.
Mark each Section B statement TRUE or FALSE, and be ready to say why.
Write the missing word in each Section C sentence.
Use the answer key on page 3 for self-check or grading.
Discuss why a translated nickname can mislead a reader four centuries later.
Printable Resource
A classroom-ready PDF with everything in one printable resource.
Free Member Resource · Printable PDF · 3 pages · Answer Key
Ivan the Terrible Worksheet
A printable reading comprehension worksheet for grades 4-6 on Ivan IV of Russia. Students read a one-page biography covering his coronation as the first crowned tsar, the successful first half of his reign, the 1564 abdication threat that won him absolute power, and the oprichniki, then answer four multiple-choice questions, six true-or-false statements, and six fill-ins. A complete answer key is included.
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