CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.7

ELA3rd GradeIntegration of Knowledge and Ideas

The Standard

Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

What This Standard Means

Students need to pull meaning from both the words and the visuals in an informational text. They should use maps, photos, diagrams, captions, and labels to explain what happened, where it happened, when it happened, why it happened, or how something works.

Mastery looks like a student saying, “The text says the storm moved north, and the map shows it reached the coast.” Students often treat pictures as decoration, skip captions, or repeat one source only. Push them to connect text evidence with visual evidence.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a short article with a map or photo, then have them highlight one text clue and circle one visual clue that explain the same idea.
Ask students to write: How did the picture, map, or diagram help you understand something the words did not explain fully?
Show a page with text and a visual, then ask students to answer one where, when, why, or how question using both sources.
Use a weather map and a short forecast, then have students explain where the storm is going and how they know.