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Common Core ELAKindergartenReading: Informational

RI.K.2: Name the Main Topic and Retell Key Details

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

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

What RI.K.2 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners say what a nonfiction book is mostly about, then retell a few of its facts, with the teacher prompting. After a book on firefighters, “fire trucks” names one page, while “firefighters and how they keep us safe” covers the whole book.

In kindergarten the topic is a few words that cover every page. In 1st grade (RI.1.2) children name the topic and retell its key details on their own, and in 2nd grade (RI.2.2) they find the topic of a longer text and what each paragraph is about.

RI.K.2 I Can Statements

  • I can tell what a book is mostly about.
  • I can retell some facts I learned from the book.
  • I can say the topic in just a few words.

RI.K.2 Worked Example

A five-line read-aloud about firefighters, one question, and two answers: one that names a single page and one that covers the book.

Read the Story
Firefighters help keep our town safe.At the fire station, their boots, coats and helmets wait right next to the truck, so they can get dressed fast.Their thick coats and helmets keep the heat of a fire away from their bodies.The truck carries long hoses for spraying water and tall ladders for reaching high windows.Firefighters also visit schools to teach children what to do if there is a fire.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What is this book mostly about? What did it teach you?
Not Yet“Fire trucks.”The truck is on one page, and probably on the cover, so it is the first thing a child remembers. It leaves out the coats, the school visits and the people the book is really about.
Meets the Standard“Firefighters, and how they keep us safe. They get dressed fast, their coats keep the heat away, and they have hoses and ladders.”The topic covers every page, and the facts that follow come from three different parts of the book.
Question Stems to Use
What is this book mostly about?Is that the whole book, or one page?Tell me one thing you learned.What else did the book teach us?Which page told us that?

Common Mistakes with RI.K.2

Naming one page as the topic

“Fire trucks.”

Try this: Flip through every page together and ask “Is this page about fire trucks?” until the child notices the topic needs to be bigger.

Adding facts the book never gave

“Firefighters slide down a pole.”

Try this: Ask “Did our book tell us that?” and keep a two-column chart: what the book said, and what we already knew.

Retelling the whole book page by page

A retell that starts at the cover and stalls halfway when the child loses track

Try this: Hold up three fingers and ask for three facts only, one per finger, after the topic is named.

Where RI.K.2 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.K.1Answer questions about single facts in a book, the pieces a retell is built from.
AlongsideRL.K.2Retell a familiar story with its key details.W.K.2Draw, tell and write to name a topic and share a few facts about it.
Comes NextRI.1.2Name the main topic and retell key details without the teacher’s prompting.

Practice RI.K.2

Quick Check

  1. What is the firefighter book mostly about?
  2. Why do firefighters keep their boots and coats next to the truck?
  3. Name two things the fire truck carries.

RI.K.2: Other Names

RI.K.2CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2

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.