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Common Core LiteracyGrades 6–8Science & Technical

RST.6-8.10: Read Grades 6-8 Science Texts Independently

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.10 · Cluster: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

All 29 Grades 6–8 Literacy Standards

The Official Wording

By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-8, Reading: Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RST.6-8.10 Means in Plain English

By the end of 8th grade students read science textbooks, lab procedures and technical articles written for grades 6 to 8 on their own. A passage on how a broken bone heals, packed with terms like osteoblast and callus, should not need a teacher to decode it.

Fifth graders (RI.5.10) read informational texts, science among them, at the top of the grades 4 to 5 band. This strand begins in grade 6 and builds stamina across three years. In ninth and tenth grade (RST.9-10.10) students read science texts in the grades 9 to 10 band.

RST.6-8.10 I Can Statements

  • I can read a science textbook passage on my own.
  • I can use definitions the text gives to learn new terms.
  • I can follow a process through several stages in a dense text.

RST.6-8.10 Worked Example

A dense passage with five new terms and a timeline, and the weak answer falls back on a belief the passage corrects.

Read the Story
A broken bone begins repairing itself within hours. Blood vessels torn by the fracture leak into the gap, and the blood clots into a mass called a hematoma, which seals the break and signals repair cells to gather.Over the next two or three weeks, those cells build a soft callus, a bridge of cartilage and tough fibers that holds the broken ends together but cannot yet bear weight.Bone-building cells called osteoblasts then replace the soft callus with a hard callus of spongy new bone, a stage that can last two to three months. An X-ray taken during this stage shows a visible lump around the break.Finally, during remodeling, bone-dissolving cells called osteoclasts carve away the extra bone while osteoblasts lay down dense bone along the lines of greatest stress. Remodeling can take months or even years, and in children it can straighten a bone that healed at a slight angle.A cast does not speed any of this up. It keeps the broken ends lined up and still, because movement can tear the soft callus and let the bone heal crooked.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: A student’s cast comes off after six weeks, and her doctor tells her to wait another month before playing soccer. Using only the passage, explain why the bone is not finished healing when the cast comes off.
Not Yet“Because the bone is still a little broken. Casts make bones heal faster, so once the cast is off it is mostly done.”It contradicts the passage, which says a cast does not speed healing, and it never uses the stages the text lays out to explain what is still happening inside the bone.
Meets the Standard“At six weeks the bone is probably in the hard callus stage, which can last two to three months, so the break is held by spongy new bone, not dense bone. The cast only kept the ends lined up and still; it did not speed anything up. Remodeling, when osteoclasts carve away extra bone and osteoblasts lay down dense bone along the lines of stress, has barely begun and can take months or years. A hard tackle could damage bone that is still spongy.”It places six weeks on the passage’s timeline, uses hard callus, osteoblast and osteoclast correctly, and corrects the idea that a cast speeds healing, all from the text alone.
Question Stems to Use
What process does this passage describe, from start to finish?Which terms are defined in the same sentence where they appear?What happens at each stage, and how long does it take?Which sentence corrects something people often believe?Which part did you need to reread, and what did it say?

Common Mistakes with RST.6-8.10

Reading the hard text aloud first, every time

The teacher reads every science passage to the class before students try it

Try this: Let students make a first pass alone with a stated purpose, then reread together only the parts that stalled them.

Skipping the terms the text defines

Reading past “hematoma” and “soft callus” without noticing the definitions right beside them

Try this: Have students box every new term and underline the words beside it that define it before they answer anything.

Losing the order of a long process

Placing remodeling before the hard callus stage

Try this: Have students build a timeline of the stages with the time each one takes before answering any question about the process.

Where RST.6-8.10 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.5.10Read informational texts, including science, at the high end of the grades 4 to 5 band on your own.
AlongsideRH.6-8.10Read history and social studies texts in the grades 6 to 8 band on your own by the end of grade 8.RI.8.10Read literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6 to 8 band on your own by the end of the year.
Comes NextRST.9-10.10Read science and technical texts in the grades 9 to 10 band on your own by the end of grade 10.

Practice RST.6-8.10

Quick Check

  1. What is a hematoma?
  2. What do osteoclasts and osteoblasts each do during remodeling?
  3. What does a cast do, according to the passage?

RST.6-8.10: Other Names

RST.6-8.10CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.10

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.