ela-2026:RL.3.7
ela-2026:RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations support or expand a literary text (e.g., emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Learning goal: This lesson teaches Ohio's 2026 standard RL.3.7, first implemented in 2027-28: explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations support or expand a literary text, for example by emphasizing aspects of a character or setting.
What an illustration does in a story. An illustration is a picture an artist made to go with a story. It is part of the text, so read it the way you read the words: slowly, and with a question in mind. A specific aspect is one part of the picture you can point to: a character's face or pose, an object, a color, where something is placed, what is large or small, what is light or dark. "The picture is nice" names no aspect. "Teo's eyes are wide open" names one.
Support: the picture shows what the words say. An illustration supports the words when it shows something the words already tell you. It helps you picture the scene and remember it. If the words say "Lina lifted the lantern higher" and the picture shows her arm raised with the lantern above her head, that aspect supports the sentence.
Expand: the picture adds what the words do not say. An illustration expands the story when it shows something the words never state: a detail of the setting, a character's expression, an object in the background. An expanding detail gives you new information, and you may use it as evidence as long as you say that it comes from the picture. To decide between support and expand, check the words: if the words say it, the aspect supports; if they do not, it expands.
Emphasize: the picture makes one aspect stand out. An artist can make a character or a setting stand out by making it large, bright, central or different from everything around it. Emphasis can come from supporting details, expanding details or both. It answers the question "What did the artist want me to notice most?"
Three steps to explain an aspect. (1) Point: name the specific aspect. (2) Check the words: find the sentence it matches, or notice that no sentence says it. Label it supports or expands. (3) Explain: say what the aspect helps a reader understand about a character or the setting.
A misconception to avoid. Some readers skip illustrations as decoration. Others treat the picture as the whole story and invent events from it. Both miss the illustration's job. This lesson's illustration shows one moment, so it cannot show what happens later at the river, and it cannot show a character's thoughts unless the artist draws a clue to them. (Some illustrations show several moments or scenes, or hint at what came before; check what each one actually shows.) When a detail comes only from the picture, say so, and never let a picture detail replace what the words actually say.
Original story — The Lantern Walk
On the night of the neighborhood lantern walk, Lina carried the paper lantern she had folded herself. It was shaped like a fish, orange with a crooked blue fin, and a small battery light glowed inside it. Her little brother, Teo, walked so close behind her that he stepped on her heels.
The streetlights on Hill Road were off for the walk. Past the bakery, past the fence where a gray cat blinked at them, the sidewalk sloped down toward the river path. Teo grabbed the edge of Lina's coat. "It's too dark," he whispered.
Lina lifted the lantern higher. "Stay close to the light," she said. She did not tell him he was being silly. She slowed down so he could keep up.
At the bottom of the hill, the river path was full of lanterns bobbing along in the dark: stars, moons, a green dragon with a long tail. Teo let go of Lina's coat. He stood very still and watched them.
"Can I hold the fish?" he asked.
Lina handed him the lantern. Teo held it with both hands, as carefully as if it were full of water, and walked in front of her all the way home.
The illustration. The picture with this lesson is the artist's illustration for the moment Teo grabs Lina's coat beside the fence. It is drawn with simple shapes, and five numbered callouts point to specific aspects. In a picture book, look for the same kinds of aspects in the artist's drawings.
Worked example 1 — An aspect that supports the words. Point: callout 1, Lina's raised arm holding the fish lantern. Check the words: "Lina lifted the lantern higher," and the lantern is "shaped like a fish, orange with a crooked blue fin." The picture shows the same things, so this aspect supports the words. Explain: seeing the lantern held up at the end of Lina's raised arm, higher than Teo's head, helps a reader picture why Lina lifts it: she is spreading the light so Teo can see.
Worked example 2 — An aspect that expands the setting. Point: callout 3, the moon half hidden behind a cloud. Check the words: the story says the streetlights were off, but it never mentions the moon or clouds. So this aspect expands the story. Explain: the covered moon adds a reason the street is so dark and tells the reader the sky is cloudy, which the words do not say. When you use this detail, say that it comes from the picture.
Worked example 3 — Two aspects that emphasize a character. Point: callout 2, Teo's hand gripping Lina's coat, and callout 4, Teo's wide eyes. Check the words: "Teo grabbed the edge of Lina's coat" matches callout 2, so it supports. The words say Teo "whispered," but they never describe his eyes, so callout 4 expands. Explain: together, the grip, the wide eyes and his small size beside his big sister make Teo's fear stand out. The words tell us he thinks it is "too dark"; the picture lets a reader see how scared he is.
Worked example 4 — An aspect that emphasizes the setting, and what the picture cannot show. Point: callout 5, the small circle of light around the children, with darkness everywhere else. Check the words: "The streetlights on Hill Road were off" and "It's too dark." The words say it is dark, so this aspect supports the words; the artist makes the darkness stand out by lighting only a small space. Explain: the picture shows how small the safe, lit space is, which helps explain why Teo stays so close. Limit: the picture shows one moment. It cannot show what happens at the river, when Teo lets go, asks to hold the fish and walks in front. Only the words tell that change.
Picture-and-words chart (record task): Make a chart with four columns: Aspect of the picture; What the words say (quote them, or write "not in the words"); Supports or expands; What it shows about a character or the setting. Fill in one row for each numbered callout and one row for the gray cat on the fence.
Picture walk with a partner: Choose an illustrated story from the classroom or library. Cover the words on one page and ask your partner to tell what the picture shows. Then uncover the words together and sort each detail your partner named into supports or expands.
Independent performance: Using a new illustrated story chosen with your teacher, choose one illustration. Write a paragraph that (1) names three specific aspects of the illustration; (2) for each, quotes the words it matches or says that it is not in the words, and labels it supports or expands; (3) explains how one aspect emphasizes a character and how one emphasizes the setting; and (4) names one thing the words tell that the picture cannot show. Success criteria: each aspect is something a reader can point to; each supports-or-expands label is checked against the words; each claim about a character or the setting uses the picture and the words together; and you do not invent events from the picture.
An adult may read the prompts aloud. Answer independently with words, objects, drawings or a demonstration before opening the answer guide. Award 1 point for a correct result or claim and 1 point for a matching explanation or demonstration; where a question asks only for a result (a corrected sentence, a spelling, a count), a fully correct result earns both points, and the answer guide shows what a complete response contains. Record prompting separately. The total (two points per question) is local practice feedback, not an Ohio proficiency level.
What is the difference between an illustration that supports a story and one that expands it?
An illustration supports a story when it shows something the words already say, which helps a reader picture it. It expands the story when it shows something the words do not state, which adds new information. To tell which, check the aspect against the words.
Callout 2 shows Teo holding Lina’s coat. Does this aspect support or expand the words? Quote the words that decide it.
It supports the words. The story says, “Teo grabbed the edge of Lina’s coat,” and the picture shows the same action.
Callout 3 shows the moon half hidden behind a cloud. Does it support or expand the story, and what does it add about the setting?
It expands the story, because the words never mention the moon or clouds. It adds that the sky is cloudy and gives a reason the street is so dark. A reader who uses this detail should say that it comes from the picture.
Name two aspects of the picture that emphasize Teo’s fear. For each, say whether it supports or expands the words.
Teo gripping Lina’s coat (callout 2) supports the words, which say he “grabbed the edge of Lina’s coat.” Teo’s wide eyes (callout 4) expand the story, because the words say he whispered but never describe his eyes. Standing small and close behind his sister also adds to it. Together they make his fear stand out.
How does the picture emphasize the setting? Which words does that aspect match?
Only a small circle around the children is lit, and everything outside it is dark (callout 5). It matches “The streetlights on Hill Road were off” and Teo’s words “It’s too dark.” The artist makes the darkness stand out by showing how small the lit space is.
A classmate says, “The picture shows the gray cat, so the cat must follow the children to the river.” Is that a good use of the illustration? Explain.
No. The cat on the fence supports the words, which say a gray cat “blinked at them” as they passed. But this picture shows one moment on the hill, and neither the picture nor the words say the cat follows them. The classmate invents an event the text does not give.
What important part of the story does the picture not show, and why does a reader need the words for it?
It does not show the end at the river, when Teo lets go of the coat, asks to hold the fish and walks in front of Lina all the way home. The picture shows only the scared moment on the hill, so only the words show that Teo changes from scared to brave.
Use the three steps (point, check the words, explain) to explain the fish lantern with the crooked blue fin.
Point: the orange fish lantern with a crooked blue fin (callout 1). Check the words: the story says it was “shaped like a fish, orange with a crooked blue fin” and that Lina “had folded herself,” so the picture supports the words. Explain: the crooked fin shows it is handmade, and the lantern held high shows Lina taking care of Teo by sharing the light.