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Common Core ELA1st GradeReading: Literature

RL.1.9: Compare Characters’ Adventures

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 41 1st Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.

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

What RL.1.9 Means in Plain English

First graders hold two stories side by side and say what the characters went through that matches and what doesn’t. A koala who climbs to see the sea and a walrus who swims to find a tree both set out to see something new, but only one finds it.

Experiences count too, so how each one felt belongs in the comparison: Koko grins, Wally sighs. Kindergartners compared adventures with the teacher leading (RL.K.9); now children do it on their own. In 2nd grade they compare versions of the same story, like two Cinderella tales (RL.2.9).

RL.1.9 I Can Statements

  • I can tell how two characters’ adventures are alike.
  • I can tell how two characters’ adventures are different.
  • I can use both and but to compare stories.

RL.1.9 Worked Example

Two tiny tales whose characters want opposite things, and two answers that compare them.

Read the Story
Story 1: Koko the koala wanted to see the sea, so she climbed the tallest tree.At the top she saw blue water far away, and she grinned.Story 2: Wally the walrus wanted to see a tree, so he swam to the shore.He found only rocks and sand. He sighed and swam home.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What do Koko and Wally both do? How do their adventures end differently?
Not Yet“Koko climbed a tree. Wally swam to the shore.”Two separate retellings side by side. Nothing says how the adventures are alike or how they differ.
Meets the Standard“They both wanted to see something new, and they both went to find it. But Koko saw the sea and grinned, and Wally found only rocks and swam home sad.”One way they are alike and one way they differ, about what happened and how each felt, joined with both and but.
Question Stems to Use
They both…In both stories…But…Koko felt… Wally felt…The ending is different because…

Common Mistakes with RL.1.9

Retelling each story instead of comparing

“Koko climbed a tree. Wally swam.”

Try this: Require a joining word: every answer must use both or but, so the two stories meet in one sentence.

Comparing looks, not adventures

“Koko is gray and Wally is brown.”

Try this: Ask “What happened to each one?” before “How are they alike?” so the comparison starts from events, not looks.

Leaving out how they felt

Compares what each did but never mentions that Koko grinned and Wally sighed

Try this: Add a feelings row to the chart, a face for each character at the end, and compare those faces too.

Where RL.1.9 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.9Compare characters’ adventures in familiar stories, with prompting and support.
AlongsideRI.1.9Spot how two books on the same topic are alike and different.RL.1.3Describe characters and major events, the pieces a comparison is built from.
Comes NextRL.2.9Compare two or more versions of the same story by different authors or from different cultures.

Practice RL.1.9

Quick Check

  1. What did Koko want to see?
  2. What is one way the two adventures are alike?
  3. How do the endings differ?

RL.1.9: Other Names

RL.1.9CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9

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.