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Common Core ELA4th GradeReading: Literature

RL.4.3: Describe a Character, Setting or Event in Depth

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 43 4th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.4.3 Means in Plain English

Fourth graders describe one character, setting or event in depth, not with a single word. For a character, they pull from three places: what she thinks, what she says and what she does. Each trait they name comes with the details that prove it.

In 3rd grade (RL.3.3) students described a character’s traits and how the character’s actions moved the plot. Fourth grade goes deeper into one character, setting or event. In 5th grade (RL.5.3) students compare two characters, settings or events, drawing on specific details.

RL.4.3 I Can Statements

  • I can describe a character using more than one trait.
  • I can use a character’s thoughts, words and actions as proof.
  • I can describe a setting or an event with specific details.

RL.4.3 Worked Example

A girl giving up something she wants without saying so. Her thoughts, her words and her actions each show a different side of her.

Read the Story
Paloma tied her little brother’s apron twice so it wouldn’t drag, then went back to wrapping sunflowers in brown paper, ten to a bundle, the way Mama liked them.From the flower stall she could see the ball field across the market, where her softball team was warming up without her.I could have pitched today, she thought. She folded the thought away with the paper scraps and smiled at the next customer.“Six sunflowers and the lilies,” she said, counting the change into the man’s hand. “I tucked in an extra stem for your daughter. She’s been staring at them.”When Mama said she could still make the second half, Paloma shook her head. “Saturday is our busiest morning,” she said. “You need me here.”
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What kind of person is Paloma? Describe her in depth, using what she thinks, says and does.
Not Yet“Paloma is nice. She works at a flower stall and she likes softball.”One vague trait and two facts the story states outright. It never shows how we know she is nice, and it misses what she gives up.
Meets the Standard“Paloma is responsible and generous, and she puts her family first even when it costs her. She ties her brother’s apron twice so it won’t drag and tucks in ‘an extra stem’ for a customer’s daughter. Her thought ‘I could have pitched today’ shows she wants to play, but she folds it away and tells Mama, ‘You need me here.’”It names more than one trait and proves them from all three places the standard lists: actions, a thought and her own words. The thought adds the depth, because it shows what her choice costs.
Question Stems to Use
What does the character do that shows what she cares about?What does she think that she never says out loud?What do her words to other characters show?Which two traits describe her best, and what proves each one?What does the character give up, and what does that show about her?

Common Mistakes with RL.4.3

One-word descriptions

“She’s nice.”

Try this: Ban nice, good and mean on the first draft, and ask for two precise traits, each followed by the detail that proves it.

Using only actions

“She ties the apron and wraps the flowers.”

Try this: Give students a three-column chart, thinks, says and does, and require one detail in each column before they write the description.

Missing what the character hides

“Paloma doesn’t care about softball.”

Try this: Point students to the gap between what a character thinks and what she says aloud, because that gap is usually where the depth is.

Where RL.4.3 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.3.3Describe characters’ traits, motivations and feelings, and how their actions move the events.
AlongsideW.4.9Write about a character in depth, drawing on specific details from the text.W.4.3Write stories that show how characters respond through dialogue and description.
Comes NextRL.5.3Compare and contrast two characters, settings or events, drawing on specific details.

Practice RL.4.3

Quick Check

  1. What can Paloma see from the flower stall?
  2. What does Paloma add to the customer’s order, and why?
  3. Why does Paloma say no when Mama tells her she can still make the second half?

RL.4.3: Other Names

RL.4.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3

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.