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Common Core ELA5th GradeReading: Informational

RI.5.6: Compare Accounts of the Same Event

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.5.6 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders read two or more accounts of one event and work out where each writer stands. A park biologist and a nearby rancher can describe the same wolves in Yellowstone, agree on some facts and still see them very differently.

Fourth graders (RI.4.6) compared a firsthand and a secondhand account, looking at focus and information. Fifth grade asks about point of view: what each writer values. Sixth grade (RI.6.6) narrows to one author’s point of view or purpose and how the text conveys it.

RI.5.6 I Can Statements

  • I can read two accounts of one event and compare them.
  • I can tell where two accounts agree and where they differ.
  • I can explain the point of view behind each account.

RI.5.6 Worked Example

Two accounts of the same event, written for this page, and the weak answer flattens them into for and against.

Read the Story
In 1995, wolves were brought back to Yellowstone National Park, about 70 years after the last wolves there had been killed.A park biologist’s account: “Since the wolves returned, elk no longer stand for hours grazing along the streams. Willows have grown back on the banks, and beavers have returned to use them. The whole valley is healthier.”A nearby rancher’s account: “Wolves don’t know where the park ends. Some years I’ve lost calves to them, and the payments for those losses don’t cover what a calf is worth. The park may be healthier, but my herd isn’t safer.”
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Both accounts describe the wolves’ return. Where do they agree, and how do their points of view differ?
Not Yet“The biologist likes wolves and the rancher hates them.”Neither account says that, and the answer skips the part where they agree. The rancher even admits the park “may be healthier.”
Meets the Standard“They agree the wolves changed things: the biologist says ‘The whole valley is healthier,’ and the rancher grants that ‘The park may be healthier.’ They differ in what each one is watching. The biologist looks at the whole valley, from elk to willows to beavers. The rancher looks past the park’s edge at his calves and says ‘my herd isn’t safer.’”It finds real common ground, then explains each point of view by what the writer pays attention to, with a quotation from each account.
Question Stems to Use
Who wrote each account, and what does each writer care about?What do both accounts agree on?What does one account include that the other leaves out?Why might this writer see the event this way?Which words show each writer’s point of view?

Common Mistakes with RI.5.6

Flattening points of view into for and against

“The biologist is for wolves and the rancher is against them.”

Try this: Ask what each writer pays attention to and why, and require a quotation that shows it before students name a side.

Finding differences but no similarities

A Venn diagram full on both sides with an empty middle

Try this: Start with the middle: have students find at least one thing both accounts agree on before they list a single difference.

Deciding which account is true

“The rancher is wrong because the biologist is a scientist.”

Try this: Remind students that both accounts can be accurate, then ask what each writer would see from where they stand.

Where RI.5.6 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.4.6Compare a firsthand and a secondhand account of the same event, looking at focus and information.
AlongsideRL.5.6Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view shapes how events are told.RI.5.9Combine information from several texts on one topic to write or speak about it.
Comes NextRI.6.6Determine an author’s point of view or purpose and explain how the text conveys it.

Practice RI.5.6

Quick Check

  1. When were wolves brought back to Yellowstone, and how long had they been gone?
  2. What changes does the biologist describe since the wolves returned?
  3. What does the rancher agree with the biologist about, and what worries him?

RI.5.6: Other Names

RI.5.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.