Common Core: Main Points & Key Ideas

Since reading standards can be such a drag, I’ve come up with some easy-to-read tables that make them seem almost friendly. Here’s an example:

Key Ideas and Details #1
Kindergarten	Grade 1	Grade 2
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.	Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.	Ask and answer such questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.	Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.	Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

Key Ideas and Details #2
Kindergarten	Grade 1	Grade 2
With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.	Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.	Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.	Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.	Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

You can find similar tables for the other K-5 Reading Informational Text (RI) standards on my pinterest page. I like them because they show how skills scaffold from one grade level to the next.

The tables above highlight the first two Common Core for ELA RI standards. Basically, they say that after reading a nonfiction book, your kiddos should be able to identify the main topic and key details in of the text.

This certainly isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s pretty basic. What’s the point of reading if you don’t understand or remember the content? But as we know, this isn’t always easy for kids, especially beginning readers.

One great way to help students build their fluency and comprehension is Reading Buddies. You can find a comprehensive article about the benefits of programs with multi-age reading partners here, but here's my special twist: Instead of using books at the younger child’s reading level, use books with layered text.

 

The simpler text is perfect for the young child, and the more complex text will challenge the older child. So both students are learning. And after they finish reading a spread, they can discuss the art and content—a practice that will certainly address CCSS for ELA RI #1 and #2.

My new book No Monkeys, No Chocolate is perfect for this kind of Reading Buddies program. Here are some other books with layered text. They are also good choices for a Reading Buddies program in which both students participate fully.

Actual Size by Steve Jenkins

Beaks by Sneed B. Collard (illus. by Robin Brickman)

The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre (illus Patricia J. Wynne)

A Butterfly is Patient by Diana Hutts Aston (illus. Sylvia Long)

An Egg is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston (illus. Sylvia Long)

Here Come the Humpbacks! by April Pulley Sayre (illus. Jamie Hogan)

Meet the Howlers by April Pulley Sayre (illus. Woody Miller)

Move! by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

My First Day by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

A Place for Fish by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

A Place for Frogs by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart (illus by Higgins Bond)

Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins

A Rock Is Lively by Diana Hutts Aston (illus. Sylvia Long)

A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston (illus. Sylvia Long)

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (illus. by Mary Azarian)

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

When the Wolves Returned  by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (photos Dan and Cassie Hartman)

Wings by Sneed B. Collard (illus. by Robin Brickman)