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Common Core ELA1st GradeReading: Literature

RL.1.4: Feeling Words and Sense Words

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 41 1st Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

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

What RL.1.4 Means in Plain English

First graders find the exact words in a story or poem that let them hear, smell, taste, touch or see something, or that show how someone feels. In a campfire poem, crackle and snap are sounds, smoky is a smell, gooey is touch, and so glad is a feeling.

The skill is pointing to the word, not just knowing the feeling. Kindergartners asked about words they didn’t know (RL.K.4); here they notice words chosen to make readers feel. In 2nd grade they hear how beats, rhymes and repeated lines add rhythm and meaning (RL.2.4).

RL.1.4 I Can Statements

  • I can find words that tell how a character feels.
  • I can find words that help me hear, smell or taste.
  • I can point to the exact words in the poem.

RL.1.4 Worked Example

A four-line poem with sense words and a feeling in it, then two answers about them.

Read the Story
Crackle, snap! The campfire glows.Smoky air tickles my nose.Gooey marshmallow, sweet and hot.I’m so glad, I love this spot!
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Which words help you hear, smell, taste or feel the campfire? Which words tell how the child feels?
Not Yet“Campfire and marshmallow.”These name things in the poem. Neither says how anything sounds, smells, tastes or feels, and the feeling is left out.
Meets the Standard“Crackle and snap help me hear the fire. Smoky is how it smells, sweet is how the marshmallow tastes, and gooey is how it feels. So glad shows the child is happy.”Each word is matched to its sense, and the feeling comes from the poem’s own words, not a guess.
Question Stems to Use
I can hear…I can smell…I can taste…I can feel…The words that show a feeling are…This word makes me think of…

Common Mistakes with RL.1.4

Picking the things, not the describing words

“Marshmallow and fire.”

Try this: Ask “How does it sound, smell or feel?” and underline only the word that answers, like gooey, not marshmallow.

Guessing the feeling instead of finding it

“They’re scared of the fire.”

Try this: Ask “Which words tell you that?” If none do, have the child reread and find the line that names the feeling.

Matching a word to the wrong sense

“Smoky is a sound.”

Try this: Make a five-senses chart with an ear, nose, tongue, hand and eye, and have children touch the body part as they sort each word.

Where RL.1.4 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.4Ask and answer questions about words they don’t know in a story.
AlongsideL.1.5Act out how look, peek and stare differ, the shades of meaning that make feeling words precise.RL.1.10Read poems written at a 1st-grade level, with help where needed.
Comes NextRL.2.4Describe how beats, rhymes and repeated lines give a story, poem or song its rhythm and meaning.

Practice RL.1.4

Quick Check

  1. Which words help you hear the campfire?
  2. Which word tells how the air smells?
  3. How does the child feel, and which words show it?

RL.1.4: Other Names

RL.1.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

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.