CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1
The Standard
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
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 locate details and examples in an informational passage. They use that evidence to answer direct questions and support ideas that are not stated outright.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students answer questions with accurate details from the passage. They make reasonable inferences and explain how the chosen details support their thinking.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may answer from prior knowledge rather than from the passage. They may name a detail but fail to explain how it supports their inference.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short article and ask, “What can you infer about the topic? Use two details from the article to support your answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a short article and two highlighters to mark stated facts in one color and clues for an inference in another.
Ask students to write, “I infer ___ because the text says ___,” then explain why that detail supports their idea.
Play Evidence Match by having teams pair inference cards with supporting detail cards from a shared passage.
Read a weather report and ask students to recommend suitable clothing, using two details from the report as evidence.
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Printable RI.4.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1, 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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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1
The 4th Grade version of this standard.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
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