CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.7
The Standard
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students notice details such as color, facial expression, size, and viewpoint in story illustrations. They explain how those choices shape mood or deepen understanding of a character, setting, or event.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an illustrated page, students point to a precise visual detail and connect it to the words. They explain how that detail shapes mood or adds information about the character or setting.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may describe the picture without explaining its effect on the reader. They may confuse a character’s feeling with the story’s mood or make claims without naming visual evidence.
How to Assess It
- Show one illustrated story page and ask: “Name one picture detail. How does it affect the mood or your understanding of the character or setting?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cover the words on a story page, have students mark visual clues with sticky notes, then reveal the text and compare meanings.
Ask students to write: “How do the illustrator’s colors and facial expressions change the way this scene feels?”
Play Illustration Detective by giving teams clue cards for color, size, expression, and viewpoint to find and explain in picture books.
Compare two movie posters and discuss how color, lighting, and character placement suggest different moods before viewers know the story.
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Printable RL.3.7 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.7, 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: Literature 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.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.7
Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration dep...
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