Reading — Kindergarten

In kindergarten, students understand and apply concepts of print, phonological, and phonemic awareness. They expand their oral language skills and gain meaningful vocabulary for reading. Students demonstrate comprehension through a variety of responses when listening to or viewing informational and literary text. They are interested in a variety of books.

EALR 1: The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.

1.1.1 Understand and apply concepts of print.

• Use directionality when listening to or following text.
• Identify front cover, back cover, and title of books.
• Recognize that print represents spoken language (e.g., environmental print and own name).
• Recognize letters and spaces between words.

1.1.2 Understand and apply phonological awareness and phonemic awareness.

• Substitute auditorially one phoneme for another to make a new word (e.g., beginning and ending sounds; oddity tasks).
• Discriminate auditorially rhyme and identify rhyming words in response to an oral prompt.
• Manipulate and segment words orally by onset and rime.
• Segment and blend two and three phoneme words orally.

1.1.3 Apply understanding of oral language skills to develop reading skills.

• Participate orally in discussions/interactions (e.g., contribute descriptions, explanations, and details) when listening to stories read aloud and/or during shared reading.

1.1.4 Apply understanding of phonics.

• Identify letters of the alphabet.
• Identify common consonant sounds and short vowel sounds.
• Use common consonant sounds with short vowel sounds to decode three- and four-letter words.
• Use knowledge of phonics to read unfamiliar words in isolation and in context.

1.2.1 Understand how to use resources to learn new word meanings.

• Use simple resources with teacher guidance (e.g., picture dictionaries).

1.2.2 Apply vocabulary strategies in grade-level text.

• Use oral language structure, letters, and pictures to predict and confirm word meaning with teacher guidance.
• Use prior knowledge and context in read aloud and/or shared reading to predict meaning of unfamiliar words.

Component 1.3 Build vocabulary through wide reading.

1.3.1 Understand and apply new vocabulary.

• Use oral vocabulary gained through listening to a variety of read alouds from informational/expository text and literary/narrative text, including text from a variety of cultures and communities.

1.3.2 Understand and apply content/academic vocabulary.

• Use content/academic vocabulary during class discussions.

Component 1.4 Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently.

1.4.1 Know common sight words appropriate to grade-level.

• Read selected sight words in isolation/lists.
• Recognize common sight words in text.

EALR 2: The student understands the meaning of what is read.

Component 2.1 Demonstrate evidence of reading comprehension.

2.1.1 Understand how to ask questions about text.

• Ask and answer questions before, during, and after read aloud and/or shared reading.

2.1.2 Understand how to create mental imagery.

• Compose visual images from what is read aloud and/or during shared reading. (e.g., draw a picture to represent something that was read in a story).

2.1.3 Understand that some parts of the text are more important than others.

• Identify important parts of informational/expository text and literary/narrative text in a group discussion.

2.1.4 Understand how to use prior knowledge.

• Make connections or identify similarities between self and text from a variety of cultures and communities after read alouds and/or shared reading.

2.1.5 Understand how to infer/ predict meaning.

• Use pictures and culturally relevant text read aloud and/or during shared reading to predict what will happen next; support predictions using information from the text.
• Make inferences orally before, during, and after hearing a story using prior knowledge, story structure, and prediction.

Component 2.2 Understand and apply knowledge of text components to comprehend text.

2.2.1 Understand story sequence.

• Retell familiar stories using a beginning, middle, and end. (Note: Story telling order can differ between cultures. For example, in some cultures the end of the story is told first. )

2.2.2 Understand features of printed text and electronic sources.

• Identify page numbers and titles in text.
• Identify and use icons.

2.2.3 Understand story elements.

• Identify story elements of character, setting, and important events with teacher guidance.

Component 2.3 Expand comprehension by analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing information and ideas in literary and informational text.

2.3.1 Understand similarities within and between informational/expository text and literary/narrative text.

• Identify similarities in characters and settings within and between culturally relevant literary/narrative texts read aloud and/or during shared reading.
• Identify common information about a topic within and between texts (e.g., all birds in the text build their nests on the ground).

2.3.2 Understand concept of categories.

• Sort objects by various attributes such as color, size, and purpose.
• Orally sort words by various attributes (e.g., food, animals, colors, shapes).

Component 2.4 Think critically and analyze author’s use of language, style, purpose, and perspective in informational and literary text.

2.4.1 Understand how to give personal responses and make connections to text.

• Generate a personal response or make connections to text based on a teacher prompt using information from a culturally relevant read aloud and/or shared reading.

2.4.2 Understand purposes of simple text.

• Identify the purpose of everyday printed materials (e.g., signs, labels, newspapers, story books, lists, etc.).

EALR 3: The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.

Component 3.1 Read to learn new information.

3.1.1 Understand that resources contain information needed to answer questions and solve problems.

• Listen to and talk about information from a variety of types of informational/expository text.
• Participate in whole-group discussions to generate questions and listen to informational/expository text for answers to those questions.

Component 3.2 Read to perform a task.

3.2.1 Understand that signs and labels convey information.

• Explain the meaning of labels and environmental print.

Component 3.4 Read for literary/narrative experience in a variety of genres.

3.4.1 Understand different perspectives of family, friendship, culture, and traditions found in literature.

• Listen to and discuss a variety of literature representing different perspectives of family, friendship, culture and tradition and generate a personal response.

3.4.2 Understand traditional and contemporary literature written in a variety of genres.

• Listen to and provide a personal response to literature including culturally relevant texts from a variety of genres by drawing, performing, and explaining.

3.4.3 Understand that literature represents different cultures and traditions.

• Identify and discuss the culture and/or traditions represented in a story (with teacher guidance).

EALR 4: The student sets goals and evaluates progress to improve reading.

Component 4.2 Develop interests and share reading experiences.

4.2.1 Understand how readers choose books.

• Choose books and share with others with teacher guidance.