To become college and career ready, students must grapple with works of exceptional craft and thought whose range extends across genres, cultures, and centuries. Such works offer profound insights into the human condition and serve as models for students’ own thinking and writing. Along with high-quality contemporary works, these texts should be chosen from among seminal U.S. documents, the classics of American literature, and the timeless dramas of Shakespeare. Through wide and deep reading of literature and literary nonfiction of steadily increasing sophistication, students gain a reservoir of literary and cultural knowledge, references, and images; the ability to evaluate intricate arguments; and the capacity to surmount the challenges posed by complex texts. (CCSS, 2010, p. 35)
Source: Adapted from Burke, J. (2013). The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6–8: What They Say, What They Mean, How to Teach Them. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Key Ideas and Details
Grades 3–5 Common Core Reading Standards: Key Ideas and Details
Reading 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Literature
3 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
4 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
5 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Informational Text
3 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
4 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
5 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Source: © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.
Grades 3–5 Common Core Reading Standard 1: What the Student Does
Literature
3 Gist: Students say what happens in the story or what the poem is about based on evidence from the text. They ask and answer questions of the text to build literal understanding before, during, and after reading.
They consider:
What happens in the story, play, or poem?
What is the setting?
Which words, pictures, and sentences help me know this?
How can I find the answer to words and sentences that confuse me?
Which details from the text can I point to in supporting my ideas?
4 Gist: Students explain—either verbally or in written form—the events of the story or what the poem says based on details and examples from the text. They provide specific examples from the text when making inferences.
They consider:
What happens in this story, play, or poem?
What is the setting? (time and place)
What is the author’s central message?
As I read, which details help me understand what is happening to these characters?
What inferences can I make and what specific details from the text led me to make each one?
5 Gist: Students explain—either verbally or in written form—the events of the story or what the poem says using specific, accurate quotes directly from the text. Provide quotes from the text to support inferences.
They consider:
What happens in this story, play, or poem?
Which specific details are most important?
What is the setting? (time and place)
What are the main events in the story or poem?
What direct, explicit quotes from the text support my understanding of the author’s meaning?
What direct quotes from the text support my inferences from the text?
Informational Text
3 Gist: Students say what happens in the text or what it’s about based on evidence from the text. Ask and answer questions of the text to build literal understanding before, during, and after.
They consider:
What happens or is said in this text?
Which specific details help me understand the main topic?
How can I look at words, pictures, and headings to help me understand?
Can I read more slowly, reread, or skim the text to find specific details that support my ideas about the text?
4 Gist: Students explain—either verbally or in written form—what the text is about, providing specific details and examples from the text. Provide specific examples from the text when making inferences.
They consider:
What is the purpose for reading?
What is the topic/subject—and what does the text say about that?
Which specific details are most important?
What is the setting? (time and place)
What evidence or examples support what I understand about the text?
What inferences can I make and what specific details from the text led me to make each one?
5 Gist: Students explain—either verbally or in written form—what the text is about, using specific, accurate quotes directly from the text. Provide quotes from the text to support inferences.
They consider:
What is the purpose for reading?
What is the topic/subject—and what does the text say about that?
Which specific details are most important?
What is the setting (time and place)?
What textual evidence supports my account of what the text says?
What evidence—a detail, quotations, or example—can I cite to support my inference or explanation of the literal meaning of the text?
Common Core Reading Standard 1: What the Teacher Does
To teach students