The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 3-5. Leslie Blauman

we use them interchangeably throughout this volume.)

      Summary: Identifies the key ideas, details, or events in the text and reports them with an emphasis on who did what to whom and when; in other words, the emphasis is on retelling what happened or what the text says with the utmost fidelity to the text itself, thus requiring students to check what they say against what the text says happened.

      Themes: The ideas the text explains, develops, and explores; there can be more than one, but themes are what the text is actually about. Themes can be the central message, the lesson, or what the author wants you to come away with. Common themes are survival, good versus evil, showing respect for others, adventure, love and friendship, and so on.

Planning to Teach: Reading Standard 2

      Whole Class

      Small Group

      Individual Practice/Conferring

Grades 3–5 Common Core Reading Standards

Key Ideas and Details

Reading 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

      Literature

      3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

      4 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).

      5 Compare and contrast two or more characters, setting, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

      Informational Text

      3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

      4 Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

      5 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

      Source: © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

      Grades 3–5 Common Core Reading Standard 3

      What the Student Does

      Literature

      3 Gist: Students reading for the characters describe traits, feelings, and motivations, noting how characters’ actions add to the plot and move along the sequence of events toward the ending.

      They consider:

      • What is the main character’s most important personality trait?

      • What does the main character need or want at the beginning of the story?

      • How does the main character try to solve her problem?

      • How do the other characters respond?

      • What is the sequence of important events in the story?

      4 Gist: Students reading for the elements use specific details from the text, such as a character’s thoughts or words or actions, and descriptions of place to describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama.

      They consider:

      • How does the main character behave at the beginning of the story? Why?

      • What bothers her most of all? Which details tell me this in these chapters?

      • How does the setting play a role in the story or the characters’ actions?

      • Why does the character’s behavior change from the beginning of the story to the end? What has she learned?

      • What are the important events that lead up to the resolution?

      • How do other characters help the main character or make the problem worse?

      5 Gist: Students reading for interactions between characters, settings, or events in a story or drama compare and contrast two or more of the above, using key details from the text.

      They consider:

      • What happens to the main characters in each chapter? By novel’s end? Why?

      • What does the main character have in common with another?

      • How are characters not alike?

      • Where and when is there the most tension? Why?

      • How can I use details to explain how the character is changing?

      • When I visualize the settings of important scenes, what does that reveal about the characters?

      Informational Text

      3 Gist: Students reading for information to describe the relationship between a series of events, ideas, concepts, or steps requires them to understand and use technical language. Having established this, students focus on time, sequences, and cause/effect to determine importance.

      They consider:

      • Does this text describe people and events in history?

      • Does it outline steps in a process like a recipe?

      • Does this text explain animals, nature, or another science topic?

      • What vocabulary words help me understand the topic?

      • How can I skim headings, photos, captions, and graphics to deepen my understanding of these pages?

      • Does the author use language and key words that identify time, sequence, or cause/effect?

      4 Gist: Students reading for information in historical, scientific, or technical texts use specific information directly from the text to recount what happened and why as they explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts.

      They consider:

      • How is this text organized? Does the author tell about a topic in a chronological sequence?

      • How can I “outsmart” the text by using features like the index, TOC, glossary, illustrations and photographs, bolded words, and headings to help me understand?

      • What happens in the text?

      • What specific information or key ideas explain why the event happened?

      • If I had to choose one specific piece of information from each page that best explains what or why something happens, what would it be?

      5 Gist: Students reading for information about the relationships between two or more people, events, ideas, or concepts first determine which people, events, ideas, or concepts play an influential role. Students then read the text almost like a scientist would observe an experiment, observing how various people, events, ideas, or concepts influence each other over time.

      They consider:

      • What type of