CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1
The Standard
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn 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 identify what an informational text states directly and what can be reasonably inferred. They support each analysis with relevant quotations or paraphrased details from the text.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can make an accurate claim about a text and choose strong evidence for it. They explain how each quotation or paraphrased detail supports an explicit idea or inference.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may give an opinion without evidence or choose a detail that is related but does not support the claim. They may also treat an inference as a direct statement or copy a quotation without explaining its connection.
How to Assess It
- Give students a one-page article and ask: “What can you infer about the author’s main concern? Cite two details that support your answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed article and two highlighters to mark direct facts in yellow and evidence supporting an inference in blue.
After reading a short article, ask, “What can we infer about the author’s concern, and which two details support that inference?”
Play Evidence Match: teams pair claim cards with quotation cards, then reject one tempting detail that does not support each claim.
Use a school lunch menu and nutrition note to infer the cafeteria’s priorities, citing two details for each conclusion.
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Printable RI.6.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1, 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
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What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.1
The 6th Grade version of this standard.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.1
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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