Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.4.2
The Standard
Analyze how the central ideas are reflected in a text, and cite relevant implicit and explicit evidence from the text.
Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Key Ideas and Details
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students name the central ideas in an informational text and show where each appears across the text. They cite stated facts and use text clues to support ideas the author suggests but does not say outright.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name more than one central idea when the text supports it. They cite details from different paragraphs and explain how stated facts and reasonable inferences support each idea.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a topic, such as “beavers,” instead of an idea, such as “beaver dams change river habitats.” They may choose a striking detail that does not support their claim or make a guess without a text clue.
How to Assess It
- After reading an article, ask: “State one central idea. Copy a fact that supports it, then cite a different clue and explain what that clue suggests about the idea.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a beaver article; have them mark one central idea and color-code stated facts and clues from separate paragraphs.
Ask partners, “What does the article suggest about how beaver dams affect other animals, and which detail led you there?”
Make cards with two central ideas and six article details; teams match each idea to facts and clues, then explain their choices.
Read a park flyer about stream cleanup; students name its central idea and cite a stated fact and a clue that supports it.
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Printable RI.4.2 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- RL.4.2
Analyze how the theme is reflected in a text, and cite relevant implicit and explicit evidence from the text, including but not limited to poems, stories and dr...
- RI.5.2
Analyze how the central ideas are reflected in a text, and cite relevant implicit and explicit evidence to support thinking.
- RL.5.2
Analyze how the theme is reflected in the text, including but not limited to poems, stories and dramas, and cite relevant implicit and explicit evidence to supp...
- RI.3.2
Identify implicit and cite explicit information from an informational text to determine the central idea of a text.
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