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Common Core ELAKindergartenSpeaking & Listening

SL.K.5: Add Drawings to Show More Detail

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5 · Cluster: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas.

Start a Drawing TimerAll 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.K.5 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners add a drawing, a photo or another picture to something they are describing, so listeners see details the words alone leave out. Describing the park, a child points to the red twisty slide in their drawing, then to their dad pushing the swing.

“As desired” matters: the picture is the child’s choice and a helper for words, never a replacement for them. In 1st grade (SL.1.5) drawings and displays are added when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts and feelings, not only to show how things look.

SL.K.5 I Can Statements

  • I can draw a picture to show my idea.
  • I can point to my picture when I talk.
  • I can add details to my picture, like colors and people.

SL.K.5 Worked Example

The same drawing of the park, shared two ways, and the difference is whether the picture does any work.

Prompt

Draw your favorite place to play, then hold up your picture and tell us about it.

Not Yet“This is the park.” (The child holds up a green scribble and sits down.)The words and the drawing say the same small thing, and the child never points to the picture, so it adds no detail the class can see.
Meets the Standard“This is the park by my house. This is the big slide, see, it’s red and it goes round and round. And this is me on the swing, and this is my dad pushing me.” (The child points to each part while talking.)Every sentence points to something in the drawing, and the drawing shows what the words alone would not: how the slide twists, who was there and where everyone is.
Moves to Use
Draw the thing you want to tell about.Add the details: colors, people, what is happening.Point to each part of your picture as you talk.Use your picture to remember what to say next.

Common Mistakes with SL.K.5

The drawing replaces the talking

Holds up the picture, says “That’s it,” and waits for the class to work it out

Try this: Ask the child to touch one part of the picture and say a sentence about it, then touch another part and do it again.

Drawing time eats sharing time

Twenty minutes on one rainbow, and no time left to talk about it

Try this: Set a short drawing time on a timer everyone can see, and say up front that sharing starts when it ends.

A picture of something else

Describes a birthday party while holding up a dinosaur

Try this: Plan the talk before the crayons come out: ask “What will you tell us about?” and have the child draw that.

Where SL.K.5 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.K.4Describe familiar people, places, things and events, the descriptions a drawing adds to.
AlongsideW.K.2Draw, tell and write to share a few facts about a topic.W.K.3Draw, tell and write about an event in the order it happened.
Comes NextSL.1.5Add drawings or displays when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts and feelings.

Practice SL.K.5

Classroom TimerFree ToolFive minutes of drawing on the board, then the sharing starts, so the picture supports the talk instead of eating it.5 minutesDraw, then shareOn the board
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Quick Check

  1. Name two details the drawing shows in the strong example.
  2. What does the child do with the drawing while talking in the strong example?
  3. Does SL.K.5 require a drawing with every description?

SL.K.5: Other Names

SL.K.5CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5

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.