Core Content Connectors by Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts-Reading Standards for Literature Grades 6-8

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College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading Literary Texts

Key Ideas and Details

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Reading Standards for Literary Text

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.	1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.	1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCCs
6.RL.b2 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly.	7.RL.i1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly.	8.RL.i1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly.
6.RL.b3 Use specific details from the text (words, interactions, thoughts, motivations) to support inferences or conclusions about characters including how they change during the course of the story.	7.RL.i2 Use two or more pieces of textual evidence to support conclusions, or summaries of text.	8.RL.i2 Use two or more pieces of evidence to support inferences, conclusions, or summaries or text.
6.RL.b4 Use the specific details from the text to support inferences and explanations about plot development.		8.RL.i3 Determine which piece(s) of evidence provide the strongest support for inferences, conclusions, or summaries or text.

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.	2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.	2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCCs
6.RLc1 Select key details about a character and relate those details to a theme within the text.	7.RL.i3 Determine the theme or central idea of a text.	8.RL.j1 Determine the theme or central idea of a text.
6.RL.c2 Determine the theme(s) of a story, drama, or poem including how it is conveyed through particular details.	7.RL.j1 Analyze the development of the theme or central idea over the course of the text.	8.RL.j2 Analyze the development of the theme or central idea over the course of the text including its relationship to the characters, setting and plot.
6.RL.c3 Summarize a text from beginning to end in a few sentences without including personal opinions.		8.RL.j3 Provide/create an objective summary of a text.

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
3. Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.	3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).	3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
CCCs
6.RL.b1 Describe how the plot unfolds in a story.	7.RL.j2 Analyze the impact of story elements on the text (e.g., impact of setting on a character's choices, cause/effects within the text).	8.RL.j4 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character or provoke a decision.
6.RL.d1 Analyze a character's interactions throughout a story as they relate to conflict and resolution.	7.RL.k1 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).	8.RL.k1 Identify the use of literary techniques within a text.
		8.RL.k2 Explain how the use of literary techniques within a text advances the plot or reveal aspects of a character.

Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Reading Standards for Literary Text

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
4. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.	4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.	4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCCs
6.RWL.e3 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text including figurative (i.e., metaphors, similes, and idioms) and connotative meanings.	7.RWL.k4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text including figurative (i.e., metaphors, similes, and idioms) and connotative meanings.	8.RWL.k4 Identify and interpret an analogy within a text.
	7.RWL.l1 Identify alliteration within text.	8.RWL.k5 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text including figurative (i.e., metaphors, similes, and idioms) and connotative meanings.
	7.RWL.l2 Analyze how the use of rhymes or repetitions of sounds affect the tone of the poem, story, or drama.

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
5. Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.	5. Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.	5. Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
CCCs
6.RL.e1 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.	7.RL.l1 Examine how the structure of a poem or drama adds to its meaning.	8.RL.l1 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts.
		8.RL.l2 Explain how language use contributes to the meaning of a poem or drama.

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.	6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.	6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
CCCs
6.RL.f1 Determine the narrative point of view.	7.RL.m1 Compare and contrast the points of view of different characters in the same text.	8.RL.m2 Analyze how differences in points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) creates such effects as suspense or humor.
6.RL.f2 Identify and describe how the narrative point of view influences the reader's interpretation.	8.RL.m1 Compare and contrast the points of view of different characters in the same text.
6.RL.f3 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Reading Standards for Literary Text

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
7. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.	7. Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).	7. Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
CCCs
6.RL.e3 Compare the experience of reading a story or drama to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text.	7.RL.m2 Compare and contrast a story, drama, or poem when presented in two different mediums.	8.RL.m3 Compare and contrast content presented in text, media, and live performance.
	7.RL.m3 Compare and contrast different mediums that may be used to present literary materials to explore the techniques used in the various mediums.

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
8. Not applicable to literature	8. Not applicable to literature	8. Not applicable to literature
CCCs
N/A	N/A	N/A

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.	9. Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.	9. Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
CCCs
6.RL.e2 Compare texts from different genres that have a similar theme or address the same topic.	7.RL.m4 Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.	8.RL.m4 Compare modern works of literature to the texts from which they draw ideas.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Reading Standards for Literary Text

Grade 6 students:	Grade 7 students:	Grade 8 students:
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.	10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.	10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCCs
6.HD.a1 Read or be read to a variety of texts or adapted texts including historical novels, fantasy stories and novels, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction novels.	7.HD.g1 Read or be read to a variety of texts or adapted texts including historical novels, periodicals, dramas or plays, poetry (including soliloquies and sonnets), fiction and nonfiction novels.	8.HD.g1 Read or be read to a variety of texts or adapted texts including historical novels, periodicals, dramas or plays, poetry (including soliloquies and sonnets), fiction and nonfiction novels.
6.RL.a1 Use a variety of strategies to derive meaning from a variety of texts.	7.RL.h1 Use a variety of strategies to derive meaning from a variety of literary texts.	8.RL.h1 Use a variety of strategies to derive meaning from a variety of texts.