Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.1.4

ELA1st GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a grade-level text.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Craft and Structure

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students notice words or phrases they do not understand in a nonfiction text. They ask what those words mean, then use nearby words or pictures to answer.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student asks, “What does bark mean here?” They explain that it covers a tree’s trunk and point to words or a picture that helped them.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think bark means a dog’s sound, even in a text about trees. They may guess from the picture without checking the words, or repeat a sentence without explaining the word.
How to Assess It: Give students this sentence: “Bark covers a tree’s trunk and helps keep it safe.” Ask them to say a question about bark, answer it, and point to the words that helped.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a tree photo and a card reading “The trunk has rough bark”; have them ask what bark means and point to it.
Read “A tree’s roots soak up water from soil”; ask students to write a question about “soak up” and answer it.
Play clue hunt with short tree fact cards; partners take turns asking about a word, answering, and circling a helpful clue.
Show a plant care card reading “Keep soil moist. Water it when it feels dry”; ask what moist means and why.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RI.1.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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