CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.10

ELA5th GradeRange of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

The Standard

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4—5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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

What This Standard Means

Students need to read grade 5 informational texts on their own and understand what they read. That includes articles, textbook pages, science explanations, history passages, directions, charts, diagrams, captions, and domain words. They should be able to name the main idea, explain key details, use text features, and talk or write about what the text says.

Mastery looks like steady, independent reading of harder nonfiction without losing the thread. Students can handle unfamiliar words by using context, roots, glossaries, and rereading. Common sticking points are dense sentences, technical vocabulary, cause and effect chains, and pulling information from charts or sidebars into the main meaning.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a short science article with a diagram, then have them annotate main idea, key details, vocabulary clues, and text features.
Ask students to write: What part of this article was hardest to understand, and what did you do to make sense of it?
Use an exit ticket with one paragraph, asking for the main idea, two supporting details, and one word solved from context.
Bring in a youth news article about a current science discovery and compare its structure to a textbook section on the same topic.