Standard: K.RI.8 – With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
Grade level: Kindergarten
Subject: English Language Arts
Domain: Reading: Informational Text
Teacher Overview
This standard focuses on helping students identify the reasons an author provides to support points in a text. This skill is foundational for developing critical reading and thinking abilities, which are essential for understanding and analyzing informational texts. Students should know that texts have a purpose and be able to identify key details with support. They should also understand the basic structure of informational texts.
Students will advance to identifying and evaluating reasons and evidence in more complex texts, enhancing their critical thinking and analytical skills.
Common Misconception 1
Students may think that all details in a text are reasons. This misconception arises because young learners often have difficulty distinguishing between different types of information in a text.
Intervention 1
Implement activities where students highlight or underline reasons in one color and other details in another. This visual differentiation helps them understand the distinct role of reasons.
Common Misconception 2
Students might believe that reasons are the same as the main idea. This confusion occurs because both are central to understanding the text, but they serve different purposes.
Intervention 2
Use graphic organizers to separate the main idea from supporting reasons. This helps students visually and conceptually differentiate between the two.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Students should be familiar with basic concepts of print, including understanding that print carries meaning, recognizing basic text structures (beginning, middle, end), and identifying key details in a text with support.
Subsequent Knowledge
Students will develop the ability to independently identify and evaluate the reasons an author gives to support points in a text, and begin to distinguish between reasons and evidence in more complex texts.
Instructional Activities
- Read a simple informational text and ask students to point out reasons the author gives.
- Use a graphic organizer to list the main idea and supporting reasons from a text.
- Have students create a poster with the main idea and reasons from a class-read book.
- Conduct a group discussion where students share reasons from a text and explain why they are important.
