Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.4.6

ELA4th GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic.

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

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read two accounts of the same event, one by someone who was there and one by someone who learned about it from others. They compare what both accounts say and what each one adds or leaves out.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can tell which writer experienced the event and point to words that show it. They can name a shared fact and a difference, using details from both accounts.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think any sentence with “I” is firsthand, even when the writer says, “I heard about it later.” They may also assume a secondhand account is wrong because its writer was not there.
How to Assess It: Give students these lines: “I heard the alarm during math and walked to the field” and “The school newsletter reports that the alarm sounded during math.” Ask which writer was there, what both accounts tell us, and what only one tells us.

Lesson moves

Give pairs an eyewitness note and an interview-based recap of a class pet escape; highlight shared facts green and unique facts yellow.
Ask, “What does the student who caught the pet notice that the recap writer misses?” Have partners point to a line in each account.
Play source sort with cards reading “I watched the pet escape” and “A classmate told me it escaped”; sort and explain each choice.
Give students a spectator’s note about a school game and a recap written from the score sheet; ask which describes the crowd.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RI.4.6, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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