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Common Core ELA2nd GradeReading: Literature

RL.2.7: Use Pictures and Words Together

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.2.7 Means in Plain English

Second graders use both the pictures and the words of a book or e-book to explain the characters, the setting and the plot. The richest pages are the ones where the two disagree: the words say she did it alone, the picture shows Dad helping.

In 1st grade (RL.1.7) children used pictures and details to describe characters, setting and events. Second grade adds digital texts and asks children to put both sources into one explanation. In 3rd grade (RL.3.7) they explain how a picture builds mood or draws attention to a character.

RL.2.7 I Can Statements

  • I can use the pictures to learn about the characters.
  • I can tell where a story happens from words and pictures.
  • I can explain what happened using both the words and the pictures.

RL.2.7 Worked Example

Two pages of a picture book, with each picture described in words, and two answers about what really happened.

Read the Story
Words: “I can carry it all by myself!” said Juno, and she marched up the hill to the picnic.Picture: Juno’s arms are piled high with a basket, a folding chair and a paper bag of peaches. Behind her, a trail of peaches rolls back down the hill.Words: At the top, Juno set everything down. “See?” she said proudly.Picture: At the bottom of the hill, Dad is laughing, his arms full of peaches.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Did Juno really carry everything by herself? Use the words and the pictures.
Not Yet“Yes. She said she could carry it all, and she did.”It trusts the words alone. The pictures show the peaches falling out and Dad picking them up, which changes what happened.
Meets the Standard“Not really. The words say she carried it all by herself, but the first picture shows peaches rolling down the hill behind her, and the second shows Dad at the bottom holding them. Juno is proud and wants to do it alone, but Dad helped without her knowing.”It puts the words and both pictures together to explain the plot and what Juno is like.
Question Stems to Use
What do the words tell us?What does the picture show that the words don’t?Where does this part happen? How do you know?What does the picture tell us about how the character feels?Put the words and the picture together: what really happened?

Common Mistakes with RL.2.7

Reading only the words

“Juno carried it all by herself.”

Try this: Cover the words and talk about the picture first, then read the words and ask what the picture added.

Describing the picture without connecting it

“There are peaches on the hill and a dad.”

Try this: Ask “So what does that tell us about the story?” after every picture detail, until the child links it to a character or event.

Skipping the pictures in e-books

Taps to the next screen as soon as the words are read

Try this: Turn off auto-play and add a pause on every screen: one thing the words say, one thing only the picture shows.

Where RL.2.7 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting or events.
AlongsideRI.2.7Explain how images, like a diagram, help explain an informational text.RL.2.3Describe how characters respond to major events and challenges.
Comes NextRL.3.7Explain how a story’s pictures add to its words, like creating mood or showing a character.

Practice RL.2.7

Quick Check

  1. Where does this part of the story happen?
  2. What do the pictures show that the words don’t?
  3. How does Juno feel at the top of the hill? Which words show it?

RL.2.7: Other Names

RL.2.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7

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.