CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.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 Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to answer questions about a story using details from the text, not just memory or opinion. They should explain both what is clearly stated and what they figure out from clues. They need to point to words, actions, dialogue, or events that support their thinking.
Mastery looks like a student saying, “I think the character is nervous because she keeps looking at the door and whispers.” Common trouble spots are vague answers, unsupported guesses, and copying a quote without explaining how it proves the idea.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs sticky notes and have them mark one explicit detail and one clue-based inference in a short story passage.
- Ask students to write: What do you know for sure, and what can you infer, using two details from the text?
- Read one paragraph aloud, then ask students to answer one question and underline the exact sentence that supports it.
- Use a movie trailer still image, ask students what they know and what they infer, then connect that skill to reading.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
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.RI.5.1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
- 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.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.