CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.10
The Standard
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4—5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
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 read grade-level stories, plays, and poems independently and explain key events, character choices, and themes. They use text details and context to understand challenging language and structure.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an unfamiliar grade-level text, students summarize it accurately and answer literal and inferential questions. They explain character choices or themes using specific details from the text.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may retell every event but miss the central conflict or theme. They may ignore stage directions, read poems only literally, or guess unfamiliar words without checking context.
How to Assess It
- Give students a one-page unfamiliar literary passage. Ask: What is happening, what theme is developing, and which two details support your answer?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut a short story into six event cards; pairs sequence them, then attach evidence slips explaining each placement.
Read a poem aloud twice, then write and discuss: What changes between the beginning and end, and which words reveal it?
In teams, draw question cards labeled character, setting, theme, vocabulary, or inference, then answer using a cited line.
Compare a scene from a children's play with a filmed performance, noting how stage directions shape action, mood, and meaning.
Free download
Printable RL.4.10 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.10, 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.6.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6—8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffold...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6—8 text complexity band independently a...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2—3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as n...
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