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Common Core ELAKindergartenReading: Literature

RL.K.7: Match Illustrations to the Story

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7 · Cluster: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

All 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

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

What RL.K.7 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners look at a picture and match it to the words: which moment of the story is this? A picture of a girl under an umbrella in the rain, a duck at her feet, goes with the page where she shares, not the birthday page.

They also notice what a picture adds that the words skip, like the puddles or the duck’s grin. With help at first, they point to the clue that proves the match. In 1st grade children use pictures and words together to describe characters, setting and events (RL.1.7).

RL.K.7 I Can Statements

  • I can tell which part of the story a picture shows.
  • I can find the words that go with a picture.
  • I can tell what a picture shows that the words don’t.

RL.K.7 Worked Example

A four-part story, one picture described in words, and two answers to which moment it shows.

Read the Story
Lola got a yellow umbrella for her birthday.On Monday it was sunny, so the umbrella stayed by the door.On Tuesday it rained, and Lola and her umbrella went out at last.A wet little duck waddled over, and Lola shared.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: The picture shows Lola under her umbrella in the rain, with a duck beside her feet. Which part of the story does it show?
Not Yet“The birthday part, because she has the umbrella.”The umbrella is in the picture, but it is in every part of the story. The rain and the duck are the clues this answer missed.
Meets the Standard“The end. It’s raining and the duck is there, so it’s when Lola shares her umbrella.”It matches two details in the picture, the rain and the duck, to the words of one moment in the story.
Question Stems to Use
What do you see in this picture?Which part of the story is this?Which words go with this picture?What does the picture show that the words don’t?What happened right before this picture?

Common Mistakes with RL.K.7

Matching on a detail that never changes

“It’s the birthday, because there’s the umbrella.”

Try this: Ask what is in this picture that isn’t in the other pictures, and match the story moment on that detail.

Describing the picture but not the story

“A girl. A duck. Rain.”

Try this: Follow the list with “So which page is it?” and have the child flip to the words that match.

Hiding the pictures during the read-aloud

The book faces the reader, and children hear the words without ever seeing a picture

Try this: Pause on two or three spreads per book and let children say what the picture tells before turning the page.

Where RL.K.7 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.3Name the characters, setting and big events a picture can show.
AlongsideRL.K.6Say what the illustrator does to help tell the story.RI.K.7Say which person, place or thing in an informational book a picture shows.
Comes NextRL.1.7Use pictures and details together to describe characters, setting or events.

Practice RL.K.7

Quick Check

  1. What did Lola get for her birthday?
  2. Why did the umbrella stay by the door on Monday?
  3. A picture shows Lola’s umbrella leaning by the door in the sunshine. Which part of the story is it?

RL.K.7: Other Names

RL.K.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.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.