The first reading literature standard is a great one to start with at the beginning of the school year. It’s one of the easiest skills your students need to learn, and it can be taught with almost any picture book. Here are some tips for teaching asking and answering questions about literature.
Breaking Down the Standard
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The first thing we need to do is to break down the standard at the different grade levels. It is really helpful to know what your students are expected to do in the grade level before yours and the grade level after yours. This allows you to differentiate your lessons and meet the needs of all your students.
For all of this information on one convenient page, head over to the Rock the Reading Workshop Facebook Group to download the Standard Quick Guide. They are available for grades 1-6.
First Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 – Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
Important Skills to Teach:
- What a question is
- The difference between a statement and a question
- How to write a question
- How to look back into the text to find the answer to a question
I Can Statements:
- I can ask questions about a book.
- I can use details from a book to answer questions about it.
Download a free week of 1st grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a free digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Second Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 – Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Important Skills to Teach:
- What words we use to ask questions
- How to ask important questions about a text
- How to use text evidence to answer questions
I Can Statements:
- I can use a variety of question words to ask questions about a book.
- I can use details from a book to answer questions about it.
Download a free week of 2nd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a free digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Third Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1 – Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Important Skills to Teach:
- The difference between thick and thin questions
- How to ask a question that requires more than a one-word answer
- How to use text evidence to support your answer to a question
I Can Statements:
- I can ask thick and thin questions about a book.
- I can use text evidence to support my answers to questions about a book.
Download a free week of 3rd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a free digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fourth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1 – Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Important Skills to Teach:
- The difference among “Right There,” “Think and Search,” and “Author and You” questions
- How to make inferences
- How to use text evidence to support your answer to a question
I Can Statements:
- I can ask different types of questions about a book.
- I can make inferences and use text evidence to answer questions about a book.
Download a free week of 4th grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a free digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fifth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1 – Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Important Skills to Teach
- The difference between “In the Text” and “Beyond the Text” questions
- How to use evidence from the text, including direct quotes, to support your answer to a question
- How to make inferences to answer a question and use quotes from the story to support it
I Can Statements:
- I can ask higher-level questions about a book.
- I can make inferences about a book by using my background knowledge and text evidence.
- I can quote directly from a text to support my answers to questions.
Download a free week of lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a free digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Suggested Books
The nice thing about this standard is that you can teach it with almost any book. For my reading workshop mini lessons, I use picture books to teach the standards, but you could definitely use a novel as well. Since I teach this standard first, I use the picture books I love to share with my class at the beginning of the year. These are some of my favorite books to use to teach this standard.
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
Tips for Teaching Asking and Answering Questions in Literature
- Use partner work. Have the students read picture books and write questions about them. Have them trade books with a partner, and they can answer each other’s questions. The students can act as the teacher and check their partner’s answers.
- Use post-its. Have your students write questions before they start reading a book. As they read, they should use post-its to mark where they found the answers to their questions. Then, they can go back and find text evidence to support their answers.
- Practice during read aloud time. If you are reading a chapter book with your class, practice asking and answering questions as you read it. Ask your students questions about the story, and have them find text evidence to support their answers. You can also have them practice asking questions about the book.
Other Helpful Resources
If you have students who are struggling with this standard, strategy groups and one-on-one conferences are a great way to differentiate and help all your students master it. These assessments will show you which students have mastered the standards and which students need extra practice.
1st Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
1st Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
Get all the lesson plans you need to teach every Common Core Reading Standard for your grade level.
1st Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
2nd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
3rd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
4th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
5th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
For more tips on teaching the reading standards, join the Rock the Reading Workshop Facebook Group. While you’re there, don’t forget to download the Standard Quick Guides.
What Do You Think?
What are your best tips for teaching asking and answering questions in literature?
Let us know in the comments.
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