Skip to main content
Common Core ELA1st GradeReading: Literature

RL.1.10: Read Stories and Poems at Grade Level

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.10 · Cluster: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

All 41 1st Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.

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

What RL.1.10 Means in Plain English

First graders read stories and poems at a 1st-grade level themselves and follow what they say, with an adult nearby to prompt when a word or line gets in the way. A six-line poem about a lost mitten, with one or two new words, is the right size.

Support means a prompt, not the answer: “Look at the picture,” “Go back and read it again.” Understanding is the test, so every read ends with a question. Kindergartners joined in on group reading (RL.K.10); in 2nd grade they read toward the grades 2 to 3 band (RL.2.10).

RL.1.10 I Can Statements

  • I can read a story or poem on my own.
  • I can use a picture or reread when I get stuck.
  • I can tell what the poem is about after reading.

RL.1.10 Worked Example

A six-line poem a 1st grader reads alone, with one prompt from the teacher, and two readings of it.

Read the Story
Two red mittens went out in the snow.One came back. Where did one go?I looked in my boot. I looked in my hat.I looked by the door, on the kitchen mat.Then I pulled on my coat, and what did I see?My mitten in the sleeve, waiting for me!
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Read the poem. Where was the lost mitten, and what did you do when a word was hard?
Not Yet“I don’t know where it was. I read all the words.”Every word may have been right, but the reading didn’t carry meaning. The poem answers its own question in the last line.
Meets the Standard“It was in the sleeve of my coat. Sleeve was hard, so I went back, read the line again, and then it made sense.”It answers the question the poem asks and shows the child using the teacher’s prompt, go back and reread, to get past a hard word.
Question Stems to Use
What is this poem about?Where did the mitten go?Go back and read that line again.What word would make sense there?Point to the line that tells you.

Common Mistakes with RL.1.10

Reading every word, understanding none

Reads all six lines, then says “I don’t know” about the mitten

Try this: Set the question before the first line, “Read to find where the mitten went,” and ask it again the moment reading stops.

Telling the word instead of prompting

The child pauses at sleeve and the adult says it right away

Try this: Wait three seconds, then give a prompt in order: look at the picture, get your mouth ready, reread the line.

Only stories, never poems

A whole term of stories, with poems saved for one week in April

Try this: Put a short poem into every week, read it daily, and ask the same what-is-it-about question you ask after stories.

Where RL.1.10 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.10Join in on group reading with purpose and understanding.
AlongsideRF.1.4Read grade-level text aloud accurately and with expression, rereading when it doesn’t make sense.RI.1.10Read informational books at a 1st-grade level, with help where needed.
Comes NextRL.2.10Read and understand stories and poems in the grades 2 to 3 band by the end of 2nd grade.

Practice RL.1.10

Quick Check

  1. How many mittens went out in the snow?
  2. Name two places the child looked.
  3. Where was the lost mitten?

RL.1.10: Other Names

RL.1.10CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.10

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.