CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1
The Standard
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read an informational passage and ask questions about its facts and ideas. They answer using exact details from the passage, not guesses or outside knowledge.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions accurately. They point to a sentence or detail that directly supports each answer.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may answer from memory or personal opinion instead of using the passage. They may copy a sentence that does not support the answer or ask questions the text cannot answer.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Write one question the passage answers. Answer it, then underline the exact words that support your answer.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a short article and two highlighters, one for questions and one for details that answer them.
Ask students to write: Which detail best explains the main idea, and why?
Play Evidence Match by having students pair question cards with supporting sentence cards from a familiar passage.
Read a school lunch menu and ask students to answer questions by citing exact words from the menu.
Free download
Printable RI.3.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1, 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
See the whole path on the Reading: Informational Text progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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