CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.5
The Standard
Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Speaking and Listening Standards
What This Standard Means
Students need to use pictures, objects, or simple visual displays to make their spoken ideas clearer. They should choose a visual that matches what they are saying, then explain how it helps the listener understand the idea, detail, or feeling.
Mastery looks like a student giving a short description and pointing to a drawing, photo, chart, or object that adds useful information. Students often get stuck by drawing something cute but unrelated, adding too many details, or forgetting to talk about the visual during the presentation.
Ways to Teach It
- Have students describe a favorite place, then draw one detail that helps listeners picture it more clearly.
- Ask, “What could you show us so we understand your feeling better?” after a student shares a short story.
- After a one-minute share, ask classmates to give thumbs up if the visual matched and helped the description.
- Show a weather report clip, then have students name how the map or picture helped explain the speaker’s words.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.5
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What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.