Maryland ELA RL.5.1
The Standard
Cite multiple pieces of textual evidence accurately when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain what a story says directly and what its details suggest. They use at least two accurate details from the text to support each explanation.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain an event and infer a character’s feeling, using two relevant details for each. They quote or paraphrase accurately and give page or paragraph numbers when available.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may present a guess as something the story states. They may use just one detail, or choose details that mention the character but do not support their claim.
How to Assess It
- Give students this passage: “Maya waited by the door for Dad, checked the clock twice, and watched the empty driveway; when his car arrived, she ran out without zipping her coat.” Ask: “What does Maya do while she waits, and how might she feel about Dad’s arrival? Give two details for each answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed story paragraph and sticky notes; have them mark two details that support an inference about a character.
Ask, “How do you know the character is nervous?” Have students write an answer and copy two supporting phrases from the page.
Play Evidence Match with claim cards and quoted lines from yesterday’s story; have teams discard a line that does not support each claim.
Read a fictional diary entry about a lost lunchbox; have students use two details to infer where the narrator last had it.
Free download
Printable RL.5.1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RL.5.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- RL.7.1
Cite multiple pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RL.6.1
Cite multiple pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RI.5.1
Cite multiple pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RI.7.1
Cite multiple pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson