Common Core ELAKindergartenReading: Informational

RI.K.1: Ask and Answer Questions About Key Details

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

The Official Wording

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

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

What RI.K.1 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners listen to a nonfiction read-aloud and, with the teacher prompting, answer and ask questions about the facts that matter. After a penguin book, “Where does the dad keep the egg?” gets “On his feet,” and children start asking their own: “What does he eat?”

This is where questioning a nonfiction book starts, and the prompting fades over the year. In 1st grade (RI.1.1) children ask and answer the same questions on their own, and in 2nd grade (RI.2.1) the questions widen to who, what, where, when, why and how.

RI.K.1 I Can Statements

I can answer questions about the facts in a book.
I can ask a question about something I want to know.
I can show the page where I found my answer.

RI.K.1 Worked Example

A four-line penguin read-aloud, one question asked after the reading, and two answers: one from the page and one from what the child already knew.

Read the Story

Emperor penguins live in a place covered in ice and snow.The mom penguin lays one egg. Then she walks all the way to the sea to catch fish.The dad keeps the egg on top of his feet. A warm flap of skin covers it like a blanket.He stands with the egg for about two months and eats nothing at all until the chick hatches.

A short passage written for this page.

Question: Where does the dad penguin keep the egg?

Not Yet“In a nest.”Lots of birds keep their eggs in a nest, so it sounds right, but this book never says nest. The answer comes from what the child already knew, not from the page.

Meets the Standard“On his feet! And skin goes over it like a blanket.”Both parts come straight from the third line. When the teacher asks “How do you know?”, the child can flip back to that page and point.

Question Stems to Use

Who is this page about?Where does the…?What does the … do?How do you know? Show me on the page.What do you wonder about…?

Common Mistakes with RI.K.1

Answering from what they already know

“In a nest.” Birds have nests, but this book never says so.

Try this: Ask “Did the book say that?” and reread the page together so the child hears the real answer in the author’s words.

Answering a different question

Asked where the dad keeps the egg: “The mom goes to the sea.”

Try this: Repeat the question with the question word stressed and have the child say it back before answering, so they know what is being asked.

Answering every question but never asking one

The child answers well but has no questions of their own

Try this: Model one “I wonder” question per page, then pause on the next page and invite a partner to ask one instead.

Where RI.K.1 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.K.3Ask a question to get help or find something out, the habit RI.K.1 carries into a book.

AlongsideRL.K.1The same questions about key details, asked about a story.RI.K.2Name what the whole book is mostly about and retell some of its facts.

Comes NextRI.1.1Ask and answer questions about key details without the teacher’s prompting.

Practice RI.K.1

Quick Check

Where does the mom penguin go after she lays the egg?
She walks all the way to the sea to catch fish.
Where does the dad keep the egg?
On top of his feet, with a warm flap of skin over it like a blanket.
What does the dad eat while he waits for the chick to hatch?
Nothing at all. The last line says he eats nothing until the chick hatches.

RI.K.1: Other Names

RI.K.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1