CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.4

ELAKindergartenCraft and Structure

The Standard

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students notice words they do not know while listening to or looking through a story. They ask what those words mean and answer using clues from the words, pictures, and discussion.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can point out a word they do not know and ask a clear question about it. The student can suggest a meaning, answer questions, and use the picture or nearby words as evidence.
Common Misconceptions: Students may skip an unfamiliar word or guess from the first letter alone. They may also ask what a word means without using the sentence or picture for clues.
How to Assess It: Read one page containing an unfamiliar word. Ask, "Which word is new to you, what do you think it means, and what clue helped you?"

Lesson moves

Give pairs a picture book and sticky flags to mark two unfamiliar words, then use pictures and nearby words to suggest meanings.
Read a sentence aloud and ask, "What could this new word mean, and which words or picture helped you think that?"
Play Word Detective by showing context cards and letting students match each unfamiliar word to one of three picture meanings.
Read a bakery story featuring "knead," then let students connect the word to how bakers press and fold dough.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Learning progression

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

Keep exploring

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