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Common Core ELA1st GradeReading: Literature

RL.1.1: Ask and Answer Questions About Key Details

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 41 1st Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 1, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.1.1 Means in Plain English

First graders ask their own questions about a story and answer them from what it says, without the teacher starting every question. After a story about a badger lost in the dark, a child might ask why he couldn’t get home and answer that the sky was dark.

Kindergartners did this with a teacher prompting them (RL.K.1); now the child starts the questions, and every answer has to come from the story, not from what they already know about badgers. In 2nd grade the questions widen to who, what, where, when, why and how (RL.2.1).

RL.1.1 I Can Statements

  • I can ask a question about a story.
  • I can answer a question with a detail from the story.
  • I can find the part of the story that answers my question.

RL.1.1 Worked Example

A short story about a badger, then the job: ask one question about it and answer it from the words.

Read the Story
Bo the badger played in the meadow until the sun went down.When he looked up, the sky was dark, and Bo could not see the path home.Then he heard his mom calling, “Bo! Supper time!”Bo followed her voice all the way to his door.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Ask a question about the story, then answer it using the story’s words.
Not Yet“What does Bo eat for dinner? Worms.”The story never mentions dinner, so the answer comes from somewhere else. A key-detail question is one the story itself can answer.
Meets the Standard“Why couldn’t Bo get home? The sky was dark and he couldn’t see the path. Then he heard his mom calling, and he followed her voice.”The question is about the story’s problem, and the answer uses two details the story gives: the dark sky and his mom’s voice.
Question Stems to Use
I wonder why…Who…?Where was…?What was the problem?What helped…?Where in the story does it say that?

Common Mistakes with RL.1.1

Asking what the story never says

“What does Bo eat for dinner?”

Try this: Sort questions into two piles, the story tells us and the story doesn’t say, and keep asking until one lands in the first pile.

Answering from what they already know

“Badgers sleep in the day, so he was tired.”

Try this: Ask “Which words told you that?” and reread the lines together; if no line says it, look for one that does.

Waiting for the teacher to ask

Answers every question well but never asks one, or only asks “Was it dark?”

Try this: Hand partners question-word cards, who, where and why, and have each child ask one question before the teacher asks any.

Where RL.1.1 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.1Ask and answer questions about key details, with the teacher prompting.
AlongsideRI.1.1The same skill with an informational book, like how many legs a spider has.SL.1.2Ask and answer questions about the key details of a read-aloud or a video.
Comes NextRL.2.1Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about key details.

Practice RL.1.1

Quick Check

  1. Where did Bo play until the sun went down?
  2. Why couldn’t Bo find his way home?
  3. What helped Bo get home?

RL.1.1: Other Names

RL.1.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1

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.