CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.5b
The Standard
Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain what kind of thing a word names, then add details that distinguish it from similar things. They use accurate features such as appearance, parts, use, habitat, or behavior.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can define a familiar noun by naming its broader group and one or two accurate features. The details help a listener tell it apart from similar people, places, animals, or objects.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name only a feature, such as “it is furry,” without saying what kind of thing it is. They may repeat the word or give a personal fact, such as “I have one.” They may also choose details that do not separate the word from similar items.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: “Define a bicycle for someone who has never seen one. Name its group and give two details that identify it.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs toy animals to sort into groups, then have each pair define one animal using its group and one visible trait.
Ask, “How would you explain a mitten to someone who has never seen one?” Students write a group and two useful details.
Play Guess My Word: students give the larger group first, then add identifying clues while classmates guess.
Use grocery flyers to sort foods into groups, then write a definition for one item using features shown in the pictures.
Free download
Printable L.1.5b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.5b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
Keep exploring
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.5b
Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., cause/effect, part/whole, item/category) to better understand each of the words.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or s...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.5a
Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.4a
Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.