What the Picture Shows You
A 30-minute Kindergarten lesson on saying what an illustration in an information book shows and what part of the text it belongs to.
What the Picture Shows You is a free 30-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard RI.K.7 — say what a picture in a fact book is showing you. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Kindergarten
- Length:
- 30 minutes
- Standard:
- RI.K.7
Kindergarten · Reading: Informational Text
RI.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
Objective
Students will be able to say what a picture in an information text shows and which sentence it goes with.
Students are successful when they can
- Says what the picture shows.
- Matches it to a sentence.
- Says what a diagram would need to label.
What you need
- An information book with at least one labelled diagram
- A photocopy of the diagram with the labels covered
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — labels covered
4 min- Show the diagram with its labels covered. Ask what it is.
- Then uncover the labels. Ask what changed.
Teach — a picture with a job
10 min- Read a page and hold up the picture beside it. Ask which sentence it goes with.
- Do it again where two sentences nearly fit, and settle it by a detail in the picture.
- Turn to the diagram. Read each label aloud and point at what it names.
- Ask what would be lost if the labels went. They just saw the answer in the warm-up.
- Name the job: the picture shows what the words describe, and a label says which bit is which.
“The words tell you. The picture shows you. The label joins them up.”
Guided practice — where would the labels go?
8 min- Give pairs the unlabelled diagram and three label cards.
- They place the labels using what the text said.
- Check together against the real diagram.
Independent practice
6 min- Students complete the picture-and-text page.
- Read the passage aloud twice.
Close
2 min- Ask what a picture for this book would need to show, if it had one more.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Describes everything in the picture rather than what it is showing.
Why: 'What can you see' is the question they have been asked about pictures all their life.
Fix: Ask 'which sentence is this a picture of?' — a much narrower question with a checkable answer.
Ignores the labels and reads only the drawing.
Why: The labels are small text among a picture, which is not where reading is expected.
Fix: Read every label aloud while pointing. Once heard, they get looked at.
Thinks the picture is decoration.
Why: In storybooks it often nearly is, and that is where their experience comes from.
Fix: Do the covered-label warm-up. Losing information when the picture changes is the proof that it was carrying some.
If they are not there yet
- Match one picture to two sentences rather than four.
- Use a diagram with two labels rather than five.
If they finish early
- Draw and label a diagram for a page that has none.
- Ask which label is the hardest to place, and why.
- Ask what the picture does not show that the words do.
Exit ticket
What does this picture show? Which sentence does it go with?
What to look for: Both halves. A full description with no sentence means they are still describing rather than matching.
Printable practice for RI.K.7
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- What the Picture ShowsRead the text, then answer the questions.
Questions about What the Picture Shows You
How long does the What the Picture Shows You lesson take?
30 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 4 min, teach 10 min, guided practice 8 min, independent practice 6 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does What the Picture Shows You teach?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7 — RI.K.7, Reading: Informational Text for Kindergarten: “With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).” In plain terms, say what a picture in a fact book is showing you.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
An information book with at least one labelled diagram, a photocopy of the diagram with the labels covered and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: describes everything in the picture rather than what it is showing; ignores the labels and reads only the drawing and thinks the picture is decoration. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “What does this picture show? Which sentence does it go with?.” Both halves. A full description with no sentence means they are still describing rather than matching. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with What the Picture Shows You?
Yes — 1 printable RI.K.7 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is What the Picture Shows You free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to RI.K.7 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.