Common Core ELA6th GradeReading: Informational

RI.6.7: Combine Words, Charts and Numbers on One Topic

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

The Official Wording

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.6.7 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders build one understanding of a topic from text, visuals and numbers together. An article may warn that fresh water is scarce, and a pie chart may show that lakes and rivers hold 1 percent of it. Neither source alone explains why a watery planet runs short.

Fifth graders (RI.5.7) searched several print and digital sources to find answers fast. Sixth grade asks students to combine what each format shows into one explanation. Seventh grade (RI.7.7) compares a text with an audio or video version, such as a speech read and a speech heard.

RI.6.7 I Can Statements

I can explain what a chart or graph adds to an article.
I can connect a number in a chart to a claim in the text.
I can combine every source into one clear explanation.

RI.6.7 Worked Example

The article makes a claim without numbers and the charts give numbers without a claim, so the strong answer has to use both.

Read the Story

Source A, from an article: Seen from space, Earth looks like a water planet, and it is. Yet most of that water cannot be used for drinking or farming, and most of the fresh water sits where people cannot easily reach it.Source A: Cities and farms draw what they need from rivers, lakes and wells. When a dry year shrinks a river, there is no ocean-sized backup to switch to.Source B, a pie chart titled “All of Earth’s Water”: salt water, 97 percent; fresh water, 3 percent.Source B, a second pie chart titled “Earth’s Fresh Water”: ice caps and glaciers, about 69 percent; groundwater, about 30 percent; lakes, rivers and swamps, about 1 percent.

A short passage written for this page.

Question: Using both sources, explain why a planet covered in water can still run short of water for people. What does each source add?

Not Yet“97 percent of Earth’s water is salt water, and only 3 percent is fresh water.”It copies one chart and stops. The article’s point about reach, the second chart and the question of why people run short are all missing.

Meets the Standard“The article says most fresh water sits ‘where people cannot easily reach it’ but never says how much. The charts supply the numbers: only 3 percent of Earth’s water is fresh, and about 69 percent of that is frozen in ice. The rivers and lakes that cities and farms draw on hold about 1 percent of the fresh water. That is why, as the article warns, a dry year leaves ‘no ocean-sized backup.’”Each source does a job: the article gives the claim, the charts give the scale, and the last sentence joins them into one explanation neither could give alone.

Question Stems to Use

What does the chart show that the words do not?Which sentence in the text does this number support?What would you misunderstand if you read only one source?How do the two charts work together?Can you explain the topic in one paragraph that uses every source?

Common Mistakes with RI.6.7

Reading only the words

An answer built from the article with no numbers at all

Try this: Require every answer to quote at least one number from the chart and one line from the text, then connect them.

Copying the chart without meaning

“Ice caps 69 percent, groundwater 30 percent, lakes 1 percent.”

Try this: Ask students to turn each number into a sentence that says what it means for people who need water.

Mixing up the two charts

“Only 1 percent of all Earth’s water is in lakes and rivers.”

Try this: Have students read each chart’s title aloud before using its numbers, and write “percent of what?” next to every figure.

Where RI.6.7 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.5.7Draw on several print and digital sources to find an answer quickly.

AlongsideSL.6.2Explain what a chart, video or speech adds to the topic under study.RST.6-8.7Connect technical information in a text to the same information shown in a graph, diagram or table.RH.6-8.7Combine maps, charts and photographs with the print sources in a history unit.

Comes NextRI.7.7Compare a text with an audio or video version and how each portrays the subject.

Practice RI.6.7

Quick Check

What does the article claim about Earth’s fresh water?
That most of it sits where people cannot easily reach it, and that there is no backup when a dry year shrinks a river.
According to the charts, where is most of Earth’s fresh water?
In ice caps and glaciers, which hold about 69 percent of it.
Is it true that 1 percent of all Earth’s water is in lakes, rivers and swamps? Explain.
No. The 1 percent is of the fresh water, which is only 3 percent of all Earth’s water, so the true share is far smaller.

RI.6.7: Other Names

RI.6.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7