Core Content Connectors by Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts-Reading Standards for Literature Grades 3-5

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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 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.	1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.	1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCCs
3.RL.h1 Answer questions related to the relationship between characters, setting, events, or conflicts (e.g., characters and events, characters and conflicts, setting and conflicts).	4.RL.i1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly.	5.RL.b1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly.
3.RL.i2 Answer questions (literal and inferential) and refer to text to support your answer.	4.RL.i2 Refer to details and examples in a text when drawing basic inferences about a story, poem, or drama.	5.RL.b2 Refer to specific text evidence to support inferences, interpretations, or conclusions.
3.RL.i3 Support inferences, opinions, and conclusions using evidence from the text including illustrations.	4.RL.k1 Use details and examples in a text when explaining the author's purpose (e.g., what did the author use to scare you, surprise you?).

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.	2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.	2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCCs
3.RL.i1 Identify the central message (theme), lesson, or moral within a story, folktale, or fable from diverse cultures.	4.RL.i3 Use evidence from the text to summarize a story, poem or drama.	5.RL.c1 Summarize a portion of text such as a paragraph or a chapter.
3.RL.k1 Use details to recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures.	4.RL.k2 Determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem; refer to text to support answer.	5.RL.c2 Summarize a text from beginning to end in a few sentences.
3.RL.k3 Use information in the text to determine and explain a lesson learned by a character or theme within the story.		5.RL.c3 Determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic.

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.	3. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).	3. Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
CCCs
3.RL.h2 Explain how characters' actions contribute to the sequence of events/plot.	4.RL.h1 Answer questions related to the relationship between characters, setting, events, or conflicts (e.g., characters and events, characters and conflicts, setting and conflicts).	5.RL.d1 Compare characters, settings, events within a story; provide or identify specific details in the text to support the comparison.
3.RL.l1 Describe a character's traits in a story using details from the text and illustrations.	4.RL.l1 Describe character traits (e.g., actions, deeds, dialogue, description, motivation, interactions); use details from text to support description.	5.RL.d2 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
3.RL.l2 Explain a character's motivation in a story using the character's thoughts, words, and actions as evidence from the text.	4.RL.l2 Describe character motivation (e.g., actions, thoughts, words); use details from text to support description.
3. RL.l3 Explain a character's feelings in a story using the character's thoughts, words, and actions as evidence from the text.
3.RL.l4 Describe how a character changed in a story (e.g., different words, thoughts, feelings, actions).
3.RL.m1 Analyze how a character's point of view influences a conflict within a text.

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 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from non-literal language.	4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).	4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
CCCs
3.RWL.k2 Determine the meaning of literal and nonliteral words and phrases as they are used in a text.	4.RWL.j2 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.	5.RWL.e1 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
3.RWL.j4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
5. Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.	5. Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, setting descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.	5. Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.
CCCs
3.RL.j2 Identify how the structure of a poem is different than a story (e.g., rhyme shorter than stories; stanza instead of paragraph).	4.RL.j2 Identify how the structure of a poem is different than a story (e.g., identify rhyme, shorter than stories; stanza instead of paragraph).	5.RL.e1 Use signal words (e.g., meanwhile, unlike, next) to identify common types of text structure (e.g., sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, description) within a text.
3.RL.j3 Identify how the structure of a play is different than the structure of a story (e.g., text includes props; dialogue without quotation marks acts/scenes instead of chapter).	4.RL.j3 Identify how the structure of a play is different than the structure of a story (e.g., text includes props; dialogue without quotation marks acts/scenes instead of chapter).	5.RL.e2 Explain how a series of chapters fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular text.

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.	6. Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.	6. Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
CCCs
3.RL.j4 Identify narrator or character's point of view.	4.RL.m1 Determine the author's point of view (first- or third- person).	5.RL.f2 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
3.RL.j5 Identify own point of view.	4.RL.m2 Compare the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.	5.RL.f3 Explain how the description of characters, setting, or events might change if the person telling the story changed.
3.RL.j6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.		5.RL.g1 Interpret the meaning of metaphors and similes to help explain the setting within a text.
		5.RL.g2 Interpret the meaning of metaphors and similes to help determine the mood within 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 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
7. Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).	7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.	7. Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel; multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
CCCs
3.RL.i3 Support inferences, opinions, and conclusions using evidence from the text including illustrations.	4.RL.i4 Use evidence from both the text version and oral or visual presentation of the same text to support inferences, opinions, and conclusions.	5.RL.e3 Describe how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning or tone of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
3.RL.m2 Use descriptive words and illustrations/visuals from a story, read or viewed, to explain the mood in a given part of the story.	4.RL.m3 Make connections between the text of a story and the visual representations, refer back to text/illustrations to support answer.
	4.RL.m4 Make connections between the text of a play and the oral representations, refer back to text/illustrations to support answer.

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
8. Not applicable to literature	8. Not applicable to literature	8. Not applicable to literature
CCCs
N/A	N/A	N/A

Grade 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
9. Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).	9. Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.	9. Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
CCCs
3.HD.h2 Compare two or more texts or adapted texts on the same topic or by the same author.	4.RL.m5 Compare the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) in stories myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.	5.RL.d3 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
	4.RL.m6 Compare the treatment of patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

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 3 students:	Grade 4 students:	Grade 5 students:
10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.	10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4–5 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 poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCCs
3.HD.h1 Read or be read to and recount self-selected stories, fables, folktales, myths, and other types of texts or adapted text.	4.HD.h1 Read or be read to and recount self-selected stories, dramas, poetry and other types of text and adapted text.	5.HD.a1 Read or be read to a variety of texts or adapted texts including graphic novels, poetry, fiction and nonfiction novels.
		5.RL.a1 Use a variety of strategies to derive meaning from a variety of texts.