CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3
The Standard
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in 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 explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts from an informational text. They use specific details to tell what happened, how it happened, and why.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students explain what happened, how a process works, or why an idea matters in a clear order. They select specific text details that show causes, effects, steps, or connections.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may retell every detail instead of explaining the key event, procedure, idea, or concept. They may give a reason from prior knowledge rather than cite information from the text, or confuse sequence with cause and effect.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short informational paragraph and ask, “What happened, and why did it happen? Use two details from the text in your answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs event, cause, and effect cards from a short article, then have them arrange the cards and justify each match.
After reading a science passage, ask students to write: “How does the process work, and which details prove your explanation?”
Play Cause or Sequence by reading text details aloud while students hold up labeled cards and explain their choices.
Use assembly instructions for a simple paper object, then have students explain each step and why the order matters.
Free download
Printable RI.4.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3, 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.WHST.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3
Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
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