CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3
The Standard
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
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 build a detailed description of a character, setting, or event. They select specific text details and explain what those details reveal, rather than simply listing or copying them.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students give a clear description and support it with accurate details from the text. They explain how a character’s thoughts, words, or actions reveal traits, or how details shape a setting or event.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often retell the plot instead of explaining a character, setting, or event. They may name a trait such as “brave” without evidence, or copy details without explaining what those details show.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short passage and ask, “What kind of person is Lena? Name one trait and explain how two details from the passage show it.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups cards showing a character’s thoughts, words, and actions, then have them sort the cards and choose a supported character trait.
Ask students to write: “How does the setting affect what happens in this scene? Use two details from the text.”
Play Detail Detective, where pairs match character traits, setting descriptions, or event claims with evidence cards from a shared story.
Compare a story’s playground setting with your school playground, using three text details and three observed details.
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Printable RL.4.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3, 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.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3d
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
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