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Common Core ELAKindergartenReading: Informational

RI.K.5: Find the Front Cover, Back Cover and Title Page

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.5 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

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

What RI.K.5 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners hold a book the right way up, point to the front cover, turn it over for the back cover and open to the title page. In a book about diggers, the title page repeats the title and names who made the book, before any digger facts start.

Knowing the parts gives children a way into every book they pick up. RI.K.6 uses the title page to name the author and illustrator, and in 1st grade (RI.1.5) children use headings, tables of contents and glossaries to find facts inside a book.

RI.K.5 I Can Statements

  • I can show the front cover of a book.
  • I can find the back cover of a book.
  • I can find the title page inside a book.

RI.K.5 Worked Example

The covers and first pages of a short book about digging machines, in the order a child meets them, and one question about the title page.

Read the Story
Front cover: Big Machines at Work, with a photo of a yellow digger scooping dirt.Title page: Big Machines at Work. Written by Rosa Diaz. Photos by Ben Carter.Page 2: A digger has a long arm and a bucket with teeth. It scoops dirt to make holes for new buildings.Back cover: Dig, lift and push! Meet the machines that build the places we live.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Can you show me the title page? How do you know that is the one?
Not Yet“This one.” The child opens to page 2, the first page with lots of words.Page 2 is where the facts start, so it looks important. But it does not show the title, and it is already teaching about diggers.
Meets the Standard“This page, right after the cover. It says Big Machines at Work again, and who made the book.”The child names the two things that make a title page: the title, repeated, and the names of the people who made the book. The facts come on the pages after it.
Question Stems to Use
Show me the front of the book.Where is the back cover?Where else can we find the title?What does the back cover tell us?How did you know which way is the front?

Common Mistakes with RI.K.5

Calling the first page of facts the title page

The child opens straight to page 2, where the digger facts begin

Try this: Hunt for the title together: find it on the front cover, then turn pages until it shows up again inside.

Mixing up the front and back cover

“This is the front,” holding up the back cover with the short blurb on it

Try this: Show that the front has the title and the big picture, then flip the book over and read the back cover aloud.

Holding the book upside down or backward

The book opens from the back, with the spine on the right

Try this: Teach a quick check before reading: spine on the left, picture right side up, then open the front cover.

Where RI.K.5 Fits

Comes BeforeRF.K.1Follow print left to right, top to bottom and page by page.
AlongsideRI.K.6Name the author and illustrator, whose names are on the cover and title page.RL.K.5Recognize common kinds of texts, like storybooks and poems.
Comes NextRI.1.5Use headings, tables of contents, glossaries and on-screen menus to find facts in a text.

Practice RI.K.5

Quick Check

  1. What is the title of the digger book?
  2. Which part of the book tells who wrote it and who took the photos?
  3. Where would you find the words “Dig, lift and push!”?

RI.K.5: Other Names

RI.K.5CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.5

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.