South Dakota ELA 4.RI.3

ELA4th GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

Explain the relationship between events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical procedures text, using evidence from the text.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how two events, ideas, or steps in an informational text connect. They use a detail from the text to support their explanation.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how cutting down trees increases soil runoff, rather than just naming both events. They point to the detail about roots holding soil in place.
Common Misconceptions: Students retell events in order without explaining the connection. They may say the second event caused the first or give a reason the text does not support.
How to Assess It: Write on the board: “Tree roots hold soil in place; after trees are cut down, rain carries more loose soil into streams.” Ask, “How does cutting down trees affect streams, and what detail supports your answer?”

Lesson moves

Give pairs sentence strips about rain, wet soil, and sprouting seeds; have them arrange the strips and draw arrows showing each connection.
After reading an article about the Underground Railroad, ask, “How did secret routes help travelers reach safety, and which detail supports your answer?”
Play Connection Match with water cycle event cards; students pair related events and find a sentence in the reading that explains the link.
Read the school’s fire drill directions; students explain how the alarm and exit steps connect, pointing to both steps on the page.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 4.RI.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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