CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.6

ELAKindergartenCraft and Structure

The Standard

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

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

What This Standard Means

Students need to name who wrote the words and who made the pictures in a story. They also need to explain what each person does. The author tells the story with words. The illustrator helps tell the story with pictures.

Mastery looks like a student pointing to the cover, naming the author and illustrator, and saying each role in their own words. Students often mix up the two jobs, skip the cover page, or say the illustrator “colored” without connecting pictures to story meaning.

Ways to Teach It

  • Give pairs a picture book, sticky notes, and labels that say author and illustrator, then have them tag the names on the cover.
  • Ask, “What did the author do, and what did the illustrator do to help us understand this story?”
  • Show a book cover and ask students to point to the author, point to the illustrator, and tell one job for each.
  • Connect to class-made books by having students write one sentence and draw one picture, then label themselves author and illustrator.

Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.6

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What This Unlocks

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

Related Standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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