Chapter 12: English Language Arts/Literacy and English Language Development in Transitional Kindergarten Through Grade One
Overview of the Span
The first years of schooling are a profoundly important time on the pathway to literacy, and the quality of the curriculum and instruction offered to children in the transitional kindergarten through grade one span has long lasting implications.
During these crucial years, instruction focuses on children’s acquisition of the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that establish the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Special attention is given to ensuring children’s progress in the foundational skills. Instruction is carefully specified and strategically sequenced and rich. Authentic experiences are provided in a developmentally appropriate environment that recognizes and responds to children’s social-emotional, physical, and cognitive needs, all of which are critical to long-term literacy development. Young learners move and explore, engage in hands-on investigations, and interact freely and in structured ways with a range of peers and adults on interesting topics. They participate in self-directed and teacher-directed learning experiences.
Content and pedagogy in the grade span include the following:
Meaning Making: Children engage meaningfully with others and with a range of texts as listeners, writers, and readers. They learn to ask and answer questions to clarify and convey meaning. They are introduced to comprehension strategies and a variety of text structures, and they participate in conversations to share understandings about texts and topics. Teachers share and talk about texts to support meaning, and they establish an engaging and motivating context in which to teach and foster reading and listening comprehension.
Language Development: Because language is acquired largely through exposure to and purposeful use of language in a range of meaningful contexts, teachers establish language-rich environments. They model broad vocabulary and varied grammatical and discourse structures as they interact with children, deliver instruction, facilitate learning experiences across the curriculum, and discuss classroom routines. They read aloud texts that expand children’s language, engage children in genuine discussions about a range of topics using academic language, and provide stimulating social learning activities and investigations that fuel extended conversations.
Effective Expression: Children express themselves in writing by dictating their ideas to adults and by using pictures, marks, and their emerging knowledge of the alphabetic system. They learn how to participate in discussions (taking turns and listening attentively to the perspectives of others) and how to express their ideas more formally, such as through “show and tell” and other presentations. Their knowledge of language conventions expands through rich exposure to and regular reflections on language.
Content Knowledge: Children engage in many hands-on explorations, participate in shared research projects, and interact with informational text as listeners and beginning readers. Although there are many opportunities to pursue topics of personal interest, teachers also ensure that knowledge is built systematically by providing text sets (several books on a topic under investigation) and conceptually coherent curriculum so that concepts and domain-specific language are repeated and built upon. Children gain literary and cultural knowledge as they are exposed to a wide range of texts, including—importantly—those that reflect the diversity of humankind. All content areas (e.g., science, social studies, the arts) are considered crucial parts of the curriculum, and every child participates in all subject matter instruction.
Foundational Skills: Children manipulate and reflect on the sounds of spoken language as they are provided explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and, as they sing, engage with books that draw attention to the sounds of words, and play language games. They become increasingly familiar with the alphabetic system, learning letter-sound and spelling-sound correspondences. They apply their knowledge as they learn to decode words consisting of regular patterns and read simple text consisting of regular patterns and as they write for their own purposes. They learn relevant sight words in meaningful contexts. This grade span is a crucial period for acquiring the foundational skills, which must be given high priority to best position children for success with written language.
Students who are English learners engage with the same intellectually stimulating content through careful scaffolding (planned and “just-in-time”) and guidance provided by the ELD Standards. At the same time, they are learning English as an additional language and are receiving instruction that attends to their steady progress along the ELD continuum. The cultural and language resources young children bring to the classroom are recognized as assets and are capitalized on in all instruction. Special attention is given to oral language development during this grade span. Learning about language occurs in meaningful, relevant contexts during both integrated and designated ELD instruction. Daily engagement with a range of language and literacy tasks (including singing, being read to, exploring books with peers, engaging in extended conversations, retelling stories and events, and many other learning tasks) is important for all children.
Synchronous and Asynchronous Instruction. Teachers should carefully consider which learning experiences are given priority during synchronous instruction. Some lessons are best conducted when teachers can make “in-the-moment” decisions about next instructional moves based on children’s performance as they engage in the lesson. For example, teachers introduce Elkonin boxes in small group synchronous settings to teach phoneme segmentation. They model, guide, observe, repeat instruction or provide scaffolds as needed, and decide when to advance the lesson. Teachers’ presence enables them to adjust instruction and ensure children’s understanding without delay.
Other learning activities can occur effectively without the teacher available in real-time. For example, bulleted comments in several charts in the following areas state that children should be exposed to a range of literature. Often this can occur asynchronously. Teachers might create video recordings of themselves reading books aloud. Depending on their purpose, teachers can pause during the read aloud and comment on interesting (and possibly unknown) words, highlighting word meanings in the text and commenting on other contexts in which the children might hear the words. Or teachers can pause during their reading to think aloud about a character’s motives or to make a prediction about what is ahead in the text. Depending on children’s technology skills and access and adult participation, children might be invited to leave an audio or video recording in response to the read aloud.
Standards for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grade one are provided in this chapter.
Transitional Kindergarten
Transitional kindergarten programs capitalize on young children’s active, social, and inquisitive natures. Teachers draw on the California Preschool Learning Foundations1 and, as appropriate, the ELD Standards to support all children’s progress toward the kindergarten ELA/literacy standards. Language development is a crucial focus of the ELA/literacy curriculum this year, and children participate in numerous language exchanges daily. They learn to listen attentively to their peers and adults as well as to express their own thoughts. They use language purposefully, and they notice language as they make language choices and witness the impact of their words on others, learn new words, and are exposed to longer, syntactically complex sentences.
Foundational skills development receives high priority attention during this year. Instruction ensures children make great strides in learning the symbols of the written system (i.e., the alphabet) and acquiring phonemic awareness, and that they make progress in learning letter-sound correspondences. Instruction also ensures that children have many opportunities to interact with print in meaningful contexts—print that answers their questions (e.g., paper and digital text on a topic of interest), serves a purpose (e.g., labels, instructions), and is a written record of their ideas (e.g., a caption for a painting dictated to an adult). Teachers create print-rich environments, and children find print—and the tools to generate their own printed messages—in virtual and classroom activities and spaces.
Transitional kindergarteners also have conceptually coherent experiences with content (e.g., science, the arts, social studies) that build knowledge appropriate for their age, backgrounds, and interests and that expose them to a range of human experiences and perspectives.
Standards and instructional considerations for transitional kindergarten follow. Selected Preschool Foundations are included as they are drawn upon in transitional kindergarten. Many ELA/literacy standards can be addressed across the curriculum, that is, as a part of science, social studies, arts, and other subjects. ELA/literacy and content area instruction are mutually supportive, and to treat them as distinctly separate areas of instruction is to miss opportunities to enhance progress in both ELA/literacy and other subjects. The language arts complement and contribute to content instruction; they do not replace inquiry and other content approaches. The ELD standards promote progress for EL children in all curricular areas.
In distance learning settings, teachers should carefully consider which learning experiences are given priority during synchronous instruction. Guidelines are presented in Chapter 10 and also addressed in the Overview of the Span in this chapter. Refer to Developmental Considerations in Chapter 1 to learn about strategies for technology support for younger students.
Some key standards are included in more than one theme. For example, SL.K.1 is crucial in meaning making, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge. Thus, it is included in four theme charts that follow. In each case, the repeated standard is highlighted in pink to make the repetition obvious. Likewise, RL/RI.K.10 appears in several charts, and so a different color (in this case, orange) is used to highlight the repetition. Presented first is a chart depicting the standards for transitional kindergarten at a glance followed by detailed charts for each theme.
Critical Areas of Instructional Focus: At a Glance
RF.K.1d,2,3a,b,c,4; W.K.1-3; L.K.2c Preschool R. 2.1,3.1,2,3; W.1.2 ELD.PI.K.10.Ex
RI.K.5; RF.K.1,3d; L.K.2dPreschool R.1.1,1.2
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Meaning Making
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
Preschool R.4.1 Demonstrate knowledge of details in a familiar story, including characters, events, and ordering of events through answering questions (particularly summarizing, predicting, and inferencing), retelling, reenacting, or creating artwork. ELD.PI.K.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Text-dependent questions prompt children to attend closely to texts. Questions support young listeners’ understanding of characters, settings, and major events in stories (RL.K.3,9); the main topic, key ideas, events, ideas, and information in informational text (RI.K.2,3,7); and the contributions of both text and illustrations to meaning (RL/RI.K.7). Questions also guide children to compare and contrast adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories and to identify basic similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic (RL/RI.K.9; ELD.PI.K.6.Ex).
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about a text or information presented orally or through other media. Comprehension monitoring is evident when they pose questions to clarify meaning; engagement is evident when they question a character’s behavior or ask about information provided in a text or otherwise presented (SL.K.3).
All children participate in teacher read-aloud experiences with increasingly complex texts (i.e., those in the grades 2–3 complexity band). Questions guide and build children’s comprehension, preparing children for future independent reading of challenging texts.
Children engage with a variety of text types, including an equal balance of narrative and informational texts. Exposure to a wide range of texts contributes to children’s literary, cultural, and domain knowledge as well as their familiarity with various text structures and features (RL/RI.K.5, ELD.PII.K.1.Ex)—all of which contribute to meaning making.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. Activate relevant prior knowledge and use illustrations and context to make predictions.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support. ELD.PI.K.11.Ex Offer opinions and provide good reasons and some textual evidence or relevant background knowledge.
All children have many opportunities to participate in group read-aloud activities with a range of texts, with special and increasing attention to complex texts (i.e., for transitional kindergarteners, those in the grades 2–3 band or higher).
Activities may take many forms, such as retellings, discussion, writing, dramatic play, and drawing—all of which support and reveal children’s understanding of text (RL/RI.K.2;SL.K.5).
Teachers identify and talk about the roles of authors and illustrators of the books they share with children (RL/RI.K.6).
Teachers create opportunities for all children to select texts to read for study and enjoyment.
Teachers ensure that all children see themselves in texts.
Children have access to text in their home languages.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text and narrative.
Preschool W.1.2 Write letters or letter-like shapes to represent words or ideas. Preschool R.1.2 Understand that print is something that is read and has specific meaning. ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children use writing to communicate meaning (opinions, information, narratives), not simply to copy text or practice printing. They learn that writing is a meaning making process as they work to express themselves using written language.
Writing is an authentic, daily activity and occurs both in virtual and in-class settings. Children are prompted to write about what they care about. At the same time, teachers provide a stimulating environment that expands children’s interests and knowledge and exposes them to different purposes for writing (i.e., to communicate opinions, information, and stories).
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Preschool LS.1.1 Use language to communicate with others for a variety of basic and advanced purposes, including reasoning, predicting, problem solving, and seeking new information. ELD.PI.K.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Children have multiple daily opportunities to engage in brief and extended conversations with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes in both virtual and in-class settings. Conversations include ones in which children share opinions, experiences, and information; respond to texts and learning activities; and listen to and ask questions of others. Children’s understandings of topics and texts are enhanced through engagement with others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. They gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), signaling that all children’s contributions matter to the group.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Language Development
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Teachers ask questions not to quiz children on their knowledge but to guide children in noticing words and their impact on meaning (ELD.PI.K.7,8.Ex) and to model and prompt an enthusiastic interest in learning and sharing new words. They help children clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and support exploration of word relationships and nuances in meaning (L.K.4,5). As appropriate, teachers support children in using new words in novel contexts.
Read-alouds especially can provide opportunities to expand children’s vocabulary and are selected, in part, on the basis of the richness of the language.
Multiple texts on the same topic (e.g., informational texts about frogs) maximize students’ exposure to domain-specific vocabulary.
Teachers leverage EL students’ experiences and native language to support vocabulary development.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Texts are a key source of language and teachers share a wide variety of texts, particularly those that use rich vocabulary and complex sentence structures. Teachers ensure that all children engage with texts daily whether in virtual or in-class settings.
Discussions related to texts provide opportunities to talk about and use new vocabulary and sentence structures.
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Preschool LS.1.1 Use language to communicate with others for a variety of basic and advanced purposes, including reasoning, predicting, problem solving, and seeking new information. ELD.PI.K.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions; offer opinions in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Opportunities to use language contribute to language development. Children engage in brief and extended conversations daily with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes in both virtual and in-class settings. Conversations include ones in which children share opinions, experiences, and information; respond to texts and learning activities; and listen to and ask questions of others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. They gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), signaling that all children’s contributions matter to the group.
L.K.1f Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities. Preschool LS 1.4 Use language to construct extended narratives that are real or fictional. Preschool LS.3.1 Understand and use increasingly complex and longer sentences. ELD.PII.K.4,5.Ex Expand noun phrases in a growing number of ways; expand sentences with prepositional phrases in shared language activities guided by the teacher and with increasing independence.
Teachers prompt children to provide detail and “say more,” demonstrating sincere interest in what children say (SL.K.4). They encourage children to retell stories (RL.K.2) and share their opinions, experiences, and knowledge with others.
L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. Preschool LS 2.1 Understand and use an increasing variety and specificity of accepted words for objects, actions, and attributes encountered in both real and symbolic contexts. ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Teachers model, scaffold (planned and “just-in-time”), and prompt the use of target words, especially those encountered in a text and discussions, in multiple contexts. Multiple daily opportunities to use language are crucial for language development.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Effective Expression
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.7.Ex Describe the language an author uses to present an idea, with prompting and moderate support.
Children listen to stories, poetry, and informational texts that are models of effective expression. Teachers guide children in identifying language or structures that evoke responses and emotions (e.g., laughter, surprise) or vivid mental images, provide clear explanations or interesting organization (e.g., use of a familiar pattern, such as days of the week, to develop a story or present information), or in some way capture readers’ or listeners’ attention (e.g., use of alliterations). Children become increasingly aware of the author’s craft.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text, and to narrate.
ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Teachers express interest and ask questions to prompt clear communication when taking children’s dictation while also honoring children’s ideas and language. Teachers encourage children to add details and to share with others and respond to suggestions (W.K.5). Teachers encourage children’s interest in and enthusiasm for one another’s written efforts.
Authentic written expression opportunities are provided frequently. Children are prompted to write about what they care about. At the same time, teachers provide a stimulating environment—both in virtual and in-class settings—that expands children’s interests and prompts their use of different text types.
When teachers compose with children, they model conventions (e.g., capitalization, punctuation) and selectively draw attention to them (L.K.2).
Teachers foster children’s identities as authors, and they talk about the authors and illustrators of the books they share with children (RL/RI.K.6).
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Preschool LS 1.1 Children extend their understanding and usage of language to communicate with others effectively. ELD.PI.K.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions; offer opinions in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Children learn to listen carefully to others and to communicate their ideas clearly as they work to continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. They learn—with teacher guidance—to stay on topic and to ask and answer clarifying questions or seek help or information (SL.K.3).
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), communicating that all children’s contributions matter to the group. When appropriate, teachers prompt children to provide detail in descriptions of people, places, things, and events (SL.K.4).
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Content Knowledge
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
ELD.PI.K.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Informational texts that build children’s knowledge are a crucial component of literacy programs at every grade level, including transitional kindergarten. Text sets on a given topic contribute to building knowledge. Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
Text selections are based on grade-level content standards and learning experiences in different subject areas (e.g., science, social studies), children’s interests, and cultural experiences.
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about the text. Expressions of interest and curiosity—when pursued—lead to more knowledge building.
Teachers guide children to identify reasons an author gives to support points in a text (RI.K.8; ELD.PI.K.7.Ex). In doing so, they are laying the groundwork for children’s ability to critically evaluate and build arguments from evidence in future grades.
RI.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Many words in informational text, in particular, are domain-specific; as children learn this vocabulary, they build knowledge. Importantly, vocabulary is learned in a meaningful context, and children have opportunities to use newly acquired vocabulary as they engage in content-related activities and investigations.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Group reading activities ensure that children are exposed to a high volume of wide-ranging content-rich texts. This expands their knowledge of the natural and social world and, likely, broadens their interests.
Instructional units are organized around conceptually related topics so that knowledge and related vocabulary are built.
Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
W.K.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects. ELD.PI.K.2,10.Ex Collaborate with the teacher and peers on joint composing projects of informational and literary texts; draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children have many opportunities to convey what they are learning about topics of interest and topics under study in grade-level investigations.
Children pursue their interests and build content knowledge. Instruction also piques children’s interest in new topics. Teachers ensure that children experience a coherent curriculum in science, social studies, the arts, and all content areas.
Children are guided and supported to recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question (W.K.8).
Children work cooperatively, in both virtual and in-class settings, to explore topics of common interest. They build knowledge and increasingly effective communication skills as they have many opportunities to share their ideas with one another.
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Preschool LS 1.1 Children extend their understanding and usage of language to communicate with others effectively. ELD.PI.K.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Conversations contribute to knowledge building. Children regularly share existing and new knowledge with one another in discussions before, during, and after engaging with texts and participating in investigations.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), communicating that all children’s contributions matter to the group. When appropriate, teachers prompt children to provide detail in descriptions of people, places, things, and events (SL.K.4).
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Foundational Skills
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RF.K.1d Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet. Preschool R.3.2 Match more than half of uppercase letter names and more than half of lowercase letter names to their printed form.
Each of the print concepts identified in RF.K.1 (e.g., directionality, print is used to convey language) as well as the ability to identify the front and back covers and the title page of a book (RI.K.5; Preschool R.1.1,1.2) is important, but priority instructional time is given to ensuring that TK children make considerable progress in recognizing and naming the upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet. Attention is drawn to the use of these symbols in multiple meaningful contexts (e.g., children’s names).
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
RF.K.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). Preschool R.2.1 Orally blend and delete words and syllables without the support of pictures or objects. Preschool R.2.2 Orally blend the onsets, rimes, and phonemes of words and orally delete the onsets of words, with the support of pictures or objects.
Especially important is that children develop phonemic awareness, specifically that they can isolate and pronounce the initial, medial, and final sounds in three-phoneme (CVC) spoken words and blend two to three phonemes into words. TK children make progress toward this skill.
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.K.3a,b Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sounds or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant and associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings for the five major vowels. Preschool R.3.3 Begin to recognize that letters have sounds. L.K.2c Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds.
Transitional kindergartners make progress learning letter-sound correspondences.
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
Some transitional kindergarten children may start to spell simple words phonetically, drawing on existing knowledge of sound-letter relationships (L.K.2d; RF.K.3d). This is modeled and encouraged (e.g., as a teacher records a child’s thoughts on a painting) but not demanded.
RF.K.3c Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does). Preschool R.3.1 Recognize own name or other common words in print.
In transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, regularly spelled words (e.g., she, my) may be taught as sight words. However, in subsequent grade-levels, only irregularly spelled words are taught as sight words. [Note: Here a “sight word” is a word that does not reflect common letter-sound or spelling-sound correspondences (e.g., of) and so must be learned by sight rather than through decoding.]
RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
Children have many opportunities to handle and examine a variety of books, both familiar and unfamiliar. Access in virtual settings needs to be ensured. Children may engage in pretend reading; some may begin to attend closely to print and recognize or ask questions about letters or words.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text, and to narrate.
Preschool W.1.2 Write letters or letter-like shapes to represent words or ideas. ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children are encouraged to apply their emerging knowledge of the code to write on their own. Their efforts will contribute to their understanding of the alphabetic principle. An overemphasis on accuracy by the teacher or child may inhibit children’s insights into the code and their willingness to compose.
Some transitional kindergarten children start to spell simple words phonetically, drawing on existing knowledge of sound-letter relationships (L.K.2d). This is modeled and encouraged but not demanded.
Class Spotlight
All 23 transitional kindergarten students are logged into the video conference and are greeting each other. Ty Jenkins is ready to start the synchronous session with a class routine that focuses on the ELA/literacy and ELD themes of meaning making and language development. During this time and the read aloud that follows, Mr. Jenkins is building his students’ background knowledge and vocabulary. He joins the children’s conversation saying, “Hello, busy bees! I’m super excited to see you all this morning. I think we’re ready for See It, Say It Time!” Several students clap, and others make happy noises. Jiovanni says, “He called us bees, so I think the picture will be a bee.” Mr. Jenkins responds, “Maybe. Let’s look.” He shares his screen, and the students see an image of a girl covered in paint. The paint is all over the living room, and there are paint footprints on the floor. Mr. Jenkins says, “Let’s look carefully at this picture. We’re going to use our sentence frame ‘I see ….’ When you are ready, let me know.” Clarissa says, “Mr. Jenkins, Clarissa.” The teacher responds, “Yes Clarissa, go.” She responds, “I see a girl who was painting. She painted herself.” “Mr. Jenkins, Paul.” “Yes Paul, go.” “I see white paint on the floor like her foot.” Mr. Jenkins says, “I see that, too. Those are called footprints. Can you all say footprints?” The students continue until Mr. Jenkins says, “Okay, we’re ready to talk about emotions. What emotions do you see? What emotions do you think others in the apartment might have?” “Mr. Jenkins, Ashley.” “Yes Ashley, go.” “I think she is happy. She is happy because of her smile, and it looks fun.” “Mr. Jenkins, Mario.” “Yes Mario, go.” “I think that her mom will get mad because there is a mess.” The students continue discussing emotional reactions, and then Mr. Jenkins asks, “What happened five minutes before this picture was taken?” The students theorize about adults leaving the room, something burning in the kitchen, a baby that needs to be taken care of, a dad who had to go to the bathroom, and so on. Later, Mr. Jenkins asks the students what will happen next, and they talk about cleaning up the room, showering, and one student says, “I think that they will have to move because they are gonna get in a lot of trouble.” In addition to supporting the children’s meaning making and language development, he is also providing them a safe place to talk and share their experiences. Each picture is connected with a book that he will read aloud to his class later in the day. Today’s read-aloud will be Louisa Loves Art (Light, 2015) about a little boy who paints over his older sister’s artwork.
Prominent ELA/Literacy/ELD Themes: Meaning Making, Language Development
Kindergarteners learn through play, social interactions, and teacher-directed instruction. Children increase their understanding of the purposes of print as they engage daily with a wide variety of texts and in their own daily attempts to express their ideas and knowledge in writing. Instruction includes a significant focus on how print works, and teachers ensure that kindergarten children make considerable progress in understanding the logic of the alphabetic code. They give priority attention to letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, and, for many children, initial decoding of simple, regular words.
Reading aloud to children from high-quality texts occurs regularly in that it serves to broaden children’s language and their knowledge of the natural and social world, while also stirring their imaginations and igniting their curiosity. Teachers engage in thinking aloud about texts to model reading as a meaning making experience, and children talk a great deal with one another about texts and other learning experiences.
Standards and instructional considerations for kindergarten follow. Many can be addressed across the curriculum, that is, as a part of science, social studies, arts, and other subjects. ELA/literacy and content area instruction are mutually supportive, and to treat them as distinctly separate areas of instruction is to miss opportunities to enhance progress in both ELA/literacy and other subjects. The language arts complement and contribute to content instruction; they do not replace inquiry and other content approaches.
Teachers should carefully consider which learning experiences are given priority during synchronous instruction. Guidelines are presented in Chapter 10 and also addressed in the Overview of the Span in this chapter.
Some key standards are included in more than one theme, or critical area of instructional focus. For example, SL.K.1 is crucial in meaning making, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge. Thus, it is included in four theme charts that follow. In each case, the repeated standard is displayed with a pink background to make the repetition obvious. Likewise, RL/RI.K.10 appears in several charts, and so a different color (in this case, orange) is used to highlight the repetition. Presented first is a chart depicting the standards for kindergarten at a glance followed by detailed charts for each theme.
Critical Areas of Instructional Focus: At a Glance
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Meaning Making
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
ELD.PI.K.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Text-dependent questions prompt children to attend closely to texts (ELD.PI.K.6.Ex). Questions are developed to support young listeners’ understanding of characters, settings, and major events in stories (RL.K.3,9); the main topic, key ideas, events, ideas, and information in informational text (RI.K.2,3,7); and the contributions of both text and illustrations to meaning (RL/RI.K.7). Questions also guide children to compare and contrast adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories and to identify basic similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic (RL/RI.K.9).
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about a text or information presented through other media. Comprehension monitoring is evident when they ask questions to clarify meaning; engagement is evident when they question a character’s behavior, for example, or ask about information provided in a text or otherwise presented (SL.K.3).
All children participate in teacher read-aloud experiences with increasingly complex texts (i.e., those in the grades 2–3 complexity band). Questions guide and build children’s comprehension, preparing children for future independent reading of challenging texts.
Children engage with a variety of text types, including an equal balance of narrative and informational texts. Exposure to a wide range of texts contributes to children’s literary, cultural, and domain knowledge as well as their familiarity with various text structures and features (RL/RI.K.5; ELD.PII.K.1.Ex)—all of which contribute to meaning making.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. Activate relevant prior knowledge and use illustrations and context to make predictions.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support. ELD.PI.K.11.Ex Offer opinions and provide good reasons and some textual evidence or relevant background knowledge.
All children have many opportunities to participate in group read-aloud activities with a range of texts, with special and increasing attention to complex texts (i.e., for kindergarteners, those in the grades 2–3 band or higher).
Activities may take many forms, such as retellings, discussion, writing, dramatic play, and drawing—all of which support and reveal children’s understanding of text. (RL/RI.K.2; SL.K.5).
Teachers identify and talk about the roles of authors and illustrators of the books they share with children (RL/RI.K.6).
Teachers create opportunities for all children to select texts to read for study and enjoyment.
Teachers ensure that all children see themselves in texts.
Children have access to text in their home languages.
RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
As they learn foundational skills and begin to engage with books as readers, children are prompted to read with purpose and understanding, not just focus on accurate pronunciation of words. Children understand that we read texts to gain meaning.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text, and narrative.
ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Students write to communicate meaning (opinions, information, narratives), not simply to copy text or practice printing. They learn that writing is a meaning making process as they work to express themselves using written language.
Writing is an authentic, daily activity and occurs in both virtual and in-class settings. Children are prompted to write about what they care about. At the same time, teachers provide a stimulating, content rich environment that expands children’s interests and knowledge and exposes them to different purposes for writing (i.e., to communicate opinions, information, and stories).
Writing about texts deepens comprehension. Children also write in response to a range of learning activities across the curriculum.
Children are provided opportunities to explore and, with support, use a variety of digital tools to individually and collaboratively produce and publish writing (W.K.6).
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.K.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Children have multiple daily opportunities to engage in brief and extended conversations with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes in both virtual and in-class settings. Conversations include ones in which children share opinions, experiences, and information; respond to texts and learning activities; and listen to and ask questions of others. Children’s understandings of topics and texts are enhanced through engagement with others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), communicating that all children’s contributions matter to the group. When appropriate, teachers prompt children to provide detail in descriptions of people, places, things, and events (SL.K.4).
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Language Development
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Teachers ask questions not to quiz children on their knowledge but to guide children in noticing words and their impact on meaning (ELD.PI.K.7,8.Ex) and to model and prompt an enthusiastic interest in learning and sharing new words. Teachers support children to use new words in novel contexts. They help children clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and support exploration of word relationships and nuances in meaning (L.K.4,5).
Read-alouds especially can provide opportunities to expand children’s vocabulary and are selected, in part, on the basis of the richness of the language.
Multiple texts on the same topic (e.g., informational texts about sea turtles)—and talking about key words (e.g., carapace)—will maximize children’s exposure to domain-specific vocabulary.
When addressing multiple-meaning words, meaning making is crucial as it is the context in which a multiple-meaning word occurs that determines its meaning (e.g., to tie a bow on a gift vs. to tie a rope to the bow of the boat).
Teachers leverage all children’s experiences and EL students’ native language where possible (e.g., highlighting cognates) to support vocabulary development.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Texts are a key source of language and teachers share a wide variety of texts, particularly those that use rich vocabulary and complex sentence structures. Teachers ensure that all children engage with texts daily whether in virtual or in-class settings.
Discussions related to texts provide many opportunities to talk about and use new vocabulary and sentence structures.
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.K.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions and offer opinions in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Opportunities to use language contribute to language development. Children engage in brief and extended conversations daily with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes in both virtual and in-class settings. Conversations include ones in which children share opinions, experiences, and information; respond to texts and learning experiences throughout the curriculum; and listen to and ask questions of others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), signaling that all children’s contributions matter to the group.
L.K.1f Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities. ELD.PII.K.4,5.Ex Expand noun phrases in a growing number of ways and expand sentences with prepositional phrases in shared language activities guided by the teacher and with increasing independence.
Teachers prompt children to provide detail and “say more,” demonstrating sincere interest in what children say (SL.K.4). They encourage children to retell stories (RL.K.2) and share their opinions, experiences, and knowledge with others.
L.K.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Teachers model, scaffold (planned and “just-in-time), and prompt the use of target words, especially those encountered in a text and discussions, in multiple contexts. Multiple daily opportunities to use language are crucial for language development.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Effective Expression
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.7.Ex Describe the language an author uses to present an idea, with prompting and moderate support.
Children listen to stories, poetry, and informational texts that are models of effective expression. Teachers guide children in identifying language or structures that evoke responses and emotions (e.g., laughter, surprise) or vivid mental images, provide clear explanations or interesting organization (e.g., use of a familiar pattern, such as days of the week, to develop a story or present information), or in some way capture readers’ or listeners’ attention (e.g., use of alliterations). Children become increasingly aware of the author’s craft.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text, and to narrate.
ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Teachers express interest and ask questions to prompt clear communication when taking children’s dictation while also honoring children’s ideas and language. Teachers encourage children to add details and to share with others and respond to suggestions (W.K.5). Teachers encourage children’s interest in and enthusiasm for one another’s written efforts.
Writing is a daily activity (writing volume contributes to progress) and an authentic one. Children are prompted to write about what they care about. At the same time, teachers provide a stimulating, content rich environment that expands children’s interests and prompts their use of different text types.
Exemplar texts conveying opinions, information, and stories are used at times as models of excellent writing. Teachers draw explicit attention to different types of texts and provide guidance in group and individual writing projects.
Teachers foster children’s identities as authors, and they talk about the authors and illustrators of the books they share with children (RL/RI.K.6).
W.K.5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
Sharing writing with an audience contributes to children’s understanding of the clarity and impact of their written communication.
Teachers selectively focus on conventions (L.K.1,2).
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.K.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions; offer opinions in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Children learn to listen carefully to others and to communicate their ideas clearly in order to continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. They learn—with teacher guidance—to stay on topic and to ask and answer clarifying questions or seek help or information (SL.K.3).
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), communicating that all children’s contributions matter to the group. When appropriate, teachers prompt children to provide detail in descriptions of people, places, things, and events (SL.K.4).
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Content Knowledge
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
ELD.PI.K.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Informational texts that build children’s knowledge are a crucial component of literacy programs at every grade level, including kindergarten. Text sets on a given topic and volume of exposure to texts, in addition to information presented by orally or through other media, contribute to building knowledge. Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
Book selections are based on grade-level content standards and learning experiences in different subjects (e.g., science, social studies), children’s interests, and cultural experiences.
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about the text. Expressions of interest and curiosity—when pursued—lead to more knowledge building.
Teachers guide children to identify reasons an author gives to support points in a text (RI.K.8; ELD.PI.K.7.Ex). In doing so, they are laying the groundwork for children’s ability to critically evaluate and build arguments from evidence in future grades.
RI.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
ELD.PI.K.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Many words in informational text, in particular, are domain-specific; as children learn this vocabulary, they build knowledge. Importantly, vocabulary is learned in a meaningful context, and children have opportunities to use newly acquired vocabulary as they engage in content-related activities and investigations.
RL/RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
ELD.PI.K.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Group reading activities ensure that children are exposed to a high volume of wide-ranging content-rich texts. This expands their knowledge of the natural and social world and their vocabulary and, likely, broadens their interests.
Instructional units are organized around conceptually-related topics so that knowledge and related vocabulary are built.
Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
W.K.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects. ELD.PI.K.2,10.Ex Collaborate with the teacher and peers on joint composing projects of informational and literary texts; draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children have many opportunities to convey in written form what they are learning about topics of interest and topics under study in grade-level investigations across the curriculum (e.g., science, social studies, the arts).(W.K.8)
Children pursue their interests and build content knowledge. Instruction also piques children’s interest in new topics. Teachers ensure that children experience a coherent curriculum in science, social studies, the arts, and all content areas.
Children are guided and supported to recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question (W.K.8).
Children work cooperatively, in both virtual and in-class settings, to explore topics of common interest. They build knowledge and increasingly effective communication skills as they have many opportunities to share their ideas with one another.
SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.K.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Conversations contribute to knowledge building. Children regularly share existing and new knowledge with one another in discussions before, during, and after engaging with texts and participating in investigations.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to conversations. Teachers gently guide children to speak audibly, and to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly (SL.K.6), communicating that all children’s contributions matter to the group. When appropriate, teachers prompt children to provide detail in descriptions of people, places, things, and events (SL.K.4).
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Foundational Skills
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RF.K.1d Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
Each of the print concepts identified in RF.K.1 (e.g., directionality, print is used to convey language) as well as the ability to identify the front and back covers and the title page of a book (RI.K.5) are important, but priority attention is given to ensuring that children learn to recognize and name all upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet. Attention is drawn to the use of these symbols in multiple meaningful contexts (e.g., in their names, on labels, in books).
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
RF.K.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
Especially important is that children develop phonemic awareness, specifically that they can isolate and pronounce the initial, medial, and final sounds in three-phoneme (CVC) spoken words (RF.K.2d) and blend two to three phonemes into words (RF.K.2f).
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.K.3a,b Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sounds or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant and associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes for the five major vowels. L.K.2c Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes.).
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
L.K.2d Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships. RF.K.3d Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
Children have many opportunities to use what they are learning about sound-letter relationships and the phonological structure of spoken language (especially phonemic awareness) to generate the spellings for simple words.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent may influence phonetic spelling. Teachers handle this respectfully, affirming children’s matches between sounds and symbols while supporting recognition of differences.
RF.K.3c Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
In kindergarten regularly spelled words (e.g., she, my) may be taught as sight words. However, in subsequent grade-levels, only irregularly spelled words are taught as sight words. [Note: Here a “sight word” is a word that does not reflect common letter-sound or spelling-sound correspondences (e.g., of) and so must be learned by sight rather than through decoding.]
It is important for future reading progress that more emphasis is placed on learning the logic of the code than memorizing long lists of words. However, learning some words by sight is important as this will open opportunities for children to engage with texts that contain words with patterns they have not yet learned.
RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
Ample time to practice reading with books that reflect what children are learning about printed language (i.e., decodable books) is crucial for learning. However, children also are thoughtfully exposed to orthographic diversity—that is, the variation in letter-sound and spelling-sound correspondences (e.g., the letter “s” may be pronounced /s/ or /z/). In the years ahead, children are taught to try different reasonable pronunciations and determine which one results in a real word (e.g., the “ow” spelling in row and cow) or, if both pronunciations result in real words (e.g., to bow to the audience and to put a bow on a gift), determine which one makes sense in the context.
Even when accuracy and fluency are the primary focus of a lesson or activity, teachers ensure meaning making and understanding of vocabulary.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
W.K.1-3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces, informative/explanatory text, and to narrate.
ELD.PI.K.10.Ex Draw, dictate, and write to compose short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children are encouraged to apply their emerging knowledge of the code to write on their own. Their efforts will contribute to their understanding of the alphabetic principle. An overemphasis on accuracy—whether by children or the teacher—may inhibit children’s insights into the code and their willingness to compose.
Some kindergarten children start to spell simple words phonetically, drawing on existing knowledge of sound-letter relationships (L.K.2d). This is modeled and encouraged but not demanded.
Class Spotlight
Erica Williams knows that phonemic awareness development plays a crucial role in literacy development, and she ensures regular practice and close monitoring of her kindergarteners’ progress on this foundational skill. During a synchronous online learning session with a small group, she reminds the children that they have been focusing on individual sounds they hear in spoken words. As a warmup, she asks children to think about the sound at the beginning of their names and asks volunteers to share with the group. Jenny indicates that she will share. “My name starts like this: /j/!” “Yes, says Ms. Williams, ‘Jenny begins with /j/.’ Let’s all move our mouths to make that sound–/j/.” The children look into their cameras and shape their lips into the /j/ position, then they giggle at their silly faces. Berto speaks next, saying “/b/ for me!” “Yes! Berto begins with /b/.” Again, the children move their mouths into position to make the /b/ sound. After each child shares, Ms. Williams reminds them that they have also worked on identifying all the sounds in some words, not just the initial sound. “Cat consists of the sounds /c/-/a/-/t/ and ship consists of the sounds /sh/-/i/-/p/.” The children nod. Then, she shares her screen to display a Google Drawing of three Elkonin boxes side by side. Below the Elkonin boxes are several round disks. The children recognize the items and are ready to participate. “Listen and watch,” Ms. Williams says. “My word is man. Say man.” Then, she segments the word into its three sounds and moves a disk into a box as she says the sound: “/m/” (moving a disk into the far left box), “/a/” (moving a second disk into the middle box, “/n/,” moving a third disk into the far right box). Then, she says the sounds blended into the word, “man!” She models several more words. Next, she asks children to click on the link to the Google Drawing she shared with the children so they can manipulate the disks. She asks Aubrie to take control and repeat the process with one of the words she modeled, man. Ms. Williams is mindful that speaking clearly is important when addressing phonemic awareness—especially in a distance context. She also ensures that she uses words that are in the children’s speaking vocabulary, and when a word contains a sound that is not in the native language of some of her students, she gives the sound special emphasis, momentarily stopping from sharing her screen so the children can watch her mouth closely as she says the sound. She shares her screen again and continues the activity with several other three-phoneme words, giving different children the opportunity to move the disks. Once Ms. Williams is confident that her students can do the task, she will give all children their own Google Drawing with the Elkonin boxes and disks and will post on the class site a set of familiar pictures (all three-phoneme words that they have reviewed and can name, such as fan, rug, bug, mitt, pig) so that they may practice on their own.
Remarkable advances in literacy, language, and content knowledge acquisition occur during this grade. Children continue to learn skills that enable them to read and write with increasing independence. Special attention is given to ensuring that they are phonemically aware, know letter-sound and common spelling-sound correspondences, can accurately decode (sound out) regularly-spelled one- and two-syllable printed words, and develop automaticity with the alphabetic system through ample practice of new learning in meaningful contexts. In addition to using their growing knowledge of the alphabetic system to read, children harness their understandings of the alphabetic code to share their own ideas and knowledge in writing. Initially, they spell words phonetically; as they progress, they employ common spelling patterns they are learning.
At the same time that foundational skills are being developed, meaning making is addressed; in fact, it undergirds all learning. Children engage with a range of high-quality texts as listeners and readers. They participate in thoughtful discussions about texts and topics, learning how to build on the comments of others and to ask questions to clear up confusion or gather additional information. Ample time is devoted to enriching children’s language and supporting their ability to express themselves effectively. Vocabulary development is given considerable attention. Concurrently, children have extended—not superficial, single-lesson—experiences in the content areas that expand their language and their knowledge of the world as well as the range of human experiences and perspectives.
Standards and instructional considerations for grade one follow. Many can be addressed across the curriculum, that is, as a part of science, social studies, arts, and other subjects. ELA/literacy and content area instruction are mutually supportive, and to treat them as distinctly separate areas of instruction is to miss opportunities to enhance progress in both ELA/literacy and other subjects. The language arts complement and contribute to content instruction; they do not replace inquiry and other content approaches.
In distance learning settings, teachers should carefully consider which learning experiences are given priority during synchronous instruction. Guidelines are presented in Chapter 10 and also addressed in the Overview of the Span in this chapter.
Some key standards are included in more than one theme, or critical area of instructional focus. For example, W.1.1-3 appear as key standards in the following charts: Meaning Making (as children use writing to convey meaning), Effective Expression (as they begin to work toward using precise language and conventions to craft their thoughts in writing), Content Knowledge (as they consolidate understandings of topics under exploration by writing about them), and Foundational Skills (as they apply and integrate their expanding knowledge of the code). In each case, W.1.1-3 is displayed with a purple background to make the repetition obvious. Likewise, SL.1.1 is crucial as teachers support children’s meaning making, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge. Thus, it is included in four theme charts, with a different color (in this case, pink) used to highlight the repetition. Presented first is a chart depicting the standards for grade one at a glance followed by detailed charts for each theme.
Critical Areas of Instructional Focus: At a Glance
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Meaning Making
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.1.2Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
ELD.PI.1.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Text-dependent questions prompt children to attend closely to texts; questions are developed to support children’s understanding of the central message, characters, settings, and major events in stories (RL.1.2,3,7,9) and the main topic, key ideas, events, ideas, and information in informational text (RI.1.2,3,6,7), including identifying basic similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic (RI.1.9). (ELD.PI.1.6.Ex).
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about a text or information presented through other media. Comprehension monitoring is evident when they ask questions to clarify meaning; engagement is evident when they question a character’s behavior or ask about information provided in a text or otherwise presented.
All children participate in teacher read-aloud experiences with increasingly complex texts (i.e., those in the grades 2–3 complexity band). Questions guide and build children’s comprehension, preparing children for future independent reading of challenging texts.
Children engage as listeners and readers with a variety of text types, including an equal balance of narrative and informational texts, as well as other sources of information. Exposure to a wide range of texts contributes to children’s literary, cultural, and domain knowledge, as well as their familiarity with various text structures and features (RL/RI.1.5; ELD.PII.1.1.Ex)—all of which contribute to meaning making.
RL/RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose, poetry, and informational texts of appropriate complexity for grade 1. Activate relevant prior knowledge and confirm predictions made about what will happen next in a text.
ELD.PI.1.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support. ELD.PI.1.11.Ex Offer opinions and provide good reasons and some textual evidence or relevant background knowledge.
Children read and discuss texts of different types, sometimes drawing to share or clarify their ideas, thoughts, and feelings (SL.1.5). Special attention given to books with appropriate complexity for grade one. Teachers ensure that all students read daily; volume of reading contributes to reading development. Children’s awareness of the organization and basic features of print expands with instruction and exposure (RF.1.1).
Teachers support children in meaning making, including by guiding them to draw on prior knowledge, make and confirm predictions about what happens next in a text, and distinguishing between information provided in illustrations and text (RI.1.6).
Teachers create opportunities for all children to select texts to read for study and enjoyment.
Teachers ensure that all children see themselves in texts.
RF.1.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Attention is given to meaning making as the reason for developing the foundational skills. This is also the reason that children use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Teachers ensure that children become accurate decoders and that they build automaticity quickly so that decoding efforts are not so demanding that they prevent meaning making.
W.1.1-3 Write opinion pieces, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives.
ELD.PI.1.10.Ex Write short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
The understanding that meaning is conveyed through writing is crucial, and children learn that writing takes different forms depending on an author’s purpose. Experiences listening to and reading different types of texts contribute to their understanding of differences among text types and progress in writing different text types (RL.1.5; ELD.PII.1.1.Ex).
Writing is an authentic, daily activity and occurs in both virtual and in-class settings. Children are prompted to write about what they care about. At the same time, teachers provide a stimulating environment that expands children’s interests.
Writing about texts read or listened to can deepen comprehension. Children also write in response to learning activities across the curriculum.
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.1.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Children have daily opportunities to engage in conversations with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes. Conversations include sharing opinions, experiences, and information; responding to texts and learning experiences; and listening to and asking questions of others. Children’s understandings of topics and texts are enhanced through engagement with others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to discussions.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Language Development
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
ELD.PI.1.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Words are drawn from texts (or other media and contexts) with which the children are engaged rather than a list divorced from any context.
Teachers ask questions not to quiz children on their knowledge but to guide children in noticing words and their impact on meaning (RL/RI.1.4; ELD.PI.1.7-8.Ex) and to model and prompt an enthusiastic interest in learning and sharing new words. Teachers support children in using new words in novel contexts (L.1.6).
Read-alouds especially can provide opportunities to expand children’s vocabulary and are selected, in part, on the basis of the richness of the language. Read-alouds include books in the grades 2-3 complexity band or higher.
Teachers guide children in understanding nuances in word meanings (L.1.5; ELD.PI.1.8).
When addressing multiple-meaning words (L.1.4), meaning making is crucial as it is the context in which a multiple-meaning word occurs that determines its meaning (e.g., to tie a bow on a gift vs. to tie a rope to the bow of the boat).
Children learn to use different strategies to determine word meanings, including sentence-level context and word parts, such as affixes and roots (L.1.4).
Teachers leverage all children’s experiences and EL students’ native language where possible (e.g., highlighting cognates) to support vocabulary development.
RL/RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose, poetry, and informational texts of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
ELD.PI.1.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Texts, including those read independently, by groups of children, and read aloud by a teacher, are a key source of language. Teachers ensure that all children engage with language-rich texts daily, whether in virtual or in-class settings.
Discussions related to texts provide opportunities to talk about and use new vocabulary and sentence structures.
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.1.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions and offer opinions and negotiate with others in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Opportunities to use language contributes to language development. Children engage in brief and extended daily conversations with a range of others in a range of contexts for a range of purposes. Conversations include sharing opinions, experiences, and information; responding to texts and learning experiences; and listening to and asking questions of others.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to discussions.
L.1.1j Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts. ELD.PII.1.4,5.Ex Expand noun phrases in a growing number of ways, and expand sentences with prepositional phrases in shared language activities guided by the teacher and with increasing independence.
Teachers guide students to produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation (SL.1.6). They selectively draw children’s attention to complex sentences in texts, guiding children’s reflections on the components of the sentences, and encouraging their use of increasingly complex sentences. They guide deconstruction and construction of complex sentences for understanding their structure and meaning making.
Other substandards within L.1.1 support children’s knowledge of the conventions of Standard English (e.g., matching nouns and verbs, using determiners) and although these conventions are addressed, more attention is given to expanding children’s vocabulary and use of complex sentence structures.
L.1.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because). ELD.PI.1.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Teachers model, scaffold (planned and “just-in-time”), and prompt the use of target words, especially those encountered in a text and discussions, in multiple contexts. Opportunities to use language are crucial for language development.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Effective Expression
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose, poetry, and informational texts of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
ELD.PI.1.7,8.Ex Describe the language writers or speakers use to present or support an idea, with prompting and moderate support and distinguish how two different words with similar meaning produce shades of meaning and a different effect on the audience.
Children read and are read stories, poetry, and informational texts that are models of effective expression. Teachers guide children in identifying language or structures that evoke responses and emotions (e.g., laughter, surprise) or vivid mental images, provide clear explanations or interesting organization (e.g., using a familiar pattern, such as days of the week, to develop a story or present information), or in some way capture readers’ or listeners’ attention (e.g., use of alliterations). Children also can identify who is telling the story at various points in the text and determine how an author provides this information (RL.1.6). Children become increasingly aware of the author’s craft (RL.1.4,5).
RF.1.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Teachers model reading aloud fluently a variety of text types. They vary their pace and use expression appropriate for the text. They also share other effective models of fluent reading using different media sources.
Children have regular opportunities to read aloud individually and chorally after rehearsal. Reading aloud is treated as a joyful, community-building process, as children share their own work or engage in a performance (e.g., readers theatre) for others in virtual or in-class settings (SL.1.4).
W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure. W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, included some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
ELD.PI.1.10.Ex Write short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children use writing for different purposes: to convey their opinions, information, and narratives.
Children write daily and are given explicit guidance on how to effectively construct and develop different types of texts (ELD.PII.1.1.Ex). Exemplar texts are shared as models.
Sharing writing with an audience contributes to children’s understanding of the clarity and impact of their written communication. Oral reading of their work provides children an authentic reason for rehearsal, which contributes to fluent presentation (RF.1.4).
Motivation is crucial; children write about what interests them, and teachers create learning contexts that expand their interests.
Children become more skilled at writing as volume and range of writing increase.
Teachers prompt children to use new vocabulary they are acquiring to communicate their thoughts more effectively and with increasing precision (L.1.6).
Children are provided opportunities to use a variety of digital tools to individually and collaboratively produce and publish writing (W.1.6).
W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
Children’s writing receives regular feedback from an interested audience, so children become more effective at expressing their opinions, information, and narratives.
Feedback is expressed in positive, encouraging ways to ensure motivation and enthusiasm for creating written work are maintained. Teachers engage students in self-assessment and goal setting.
Teachers selectively focus on conventions as appropriate (L.1.1,2).
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.1.1,3.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions; offer opinions and negotiate with others in conversations using an expanded set of learned phrases as well as open responses.
Children learn to listen carefully to others and to communicate their ideas clearly. In asking and responding to questions focused on clarifying any confusion, children learn—with teacher guidance—that how they (and others) express themselves impacts communication (SL.1.3).
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to discussions.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Content Knowledge
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RL/RI.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
ELD.PI.1.5.Ex Demonstrate active listening to read-alouds and oral presentations by asking and answering questions, with oral sentence frames and occasional prompting and support.
Informational texts that build children’s knowledge are a crucial component of literacy programs at every grade level, including the primary grades. Texts sets on a given topic and volume of reading contribute to building knowledge.
Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
Some books are selected on the basis of grade-level content standards and learning experiences in different subjects (e.g., science, social studies), and—importantly—children’s interests, and cultural experiences.
Teachers guide children to identify reasons an author gives to support points in a text (RI.1.8; ELD.PI.1.7.Ex). In doing so, they are laying the groundwork for children’s ability to critically evaluate and build arguments from evidence in future grades.
Children not only answer questions posed by the teacher, but they are also encouraged to ask questions about a text or information presented orally or through other media. Expressions of interest and curiosity—when pursued—lead to more knowledge building.
RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
ELD.PI.1.12b Use a growing number of general academic and domain-specific words.
Many words in informational text, in particular, are domain-specific; as children learn this vocabulary in context, they build knowledge.
Importantly, vocabulary is learned in a meaningful context, and children have opportunities to use newly acquired vocabulary as they engage in content-related activities and investigations.
RL/RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose, poetry, and informational texts of appropriate complexity for grade 1. Activate relevant prior knowledge and confirm predictions made about what will happen next in a text.
ELD.PI.1.6.Ex Describe ideas, phenomena, and text elements in greater detail based on understanding of a variety of grade-level texts and viewing of multimedia, with moderate support.
Children independently and with others read and discuss texts of different types daily, including a high volume of content-rich texts. Importantly, independent engagement with texts is enabled by their progress in foundational skills (RF.1.1-4).
At times, children create drawings or other visual displays to share their understandings and ideas (SL.1.5). This expands their knowledge of the natural and world, vocabulary, and familiarity with various text structures and features (RI.1.5, ELD.PII.1.1.Ex).
Children have access to informational text in their home languages to amplify domain knowledge and support meaning making.
W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions). ELD.PI.1.10.Ex Write short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with an adult, with peers, and with increasing independence.
Children have many opportunities to write about what they are learning as they pursue their interests and engage in grade-level investigations.
Children are provided access to multiple sources of information on a topic (W.1.8).
Children pursue their interests and build content knowledge. Instruction also piques children’s interest in new topics. Teachers ensure that children experience a coherent curriculum in science, social studies, the arts, and all content areas.
Children are guided and supported to recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question (W.1.8).
Children work cooperatively, in both virtual and in-class settings, to explore topics of common interest. They build knowledge and increasingly effective communication skills as they have many opportunities to share their ideas with one another.
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
ELD.PI.1.1.Ex Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions.
Conversations contribute to knowledge building. Children regularly share existing and new knowledge with one another in discussions before, during, and after engaging with texts and participating in investigations.
Teachers ensure a community culture in which all children feel comfortable contributing to conversations, are encouraged to do so, and feel heard and respected by others. Agreed-upon discussion norms are established (e.g., listening with care, valuing contributions, speaking one at a time, asking questions). Teachers ensure equitable opportunities for all learners to contribute to discussions.
Critical Area of Instructional Focus: Foundational Skills
Key ELA/Literacy & ELD Standard(s)
Related Standards and Instructional Considerations
RF.1.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
Especially important is that children orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes, including consonant blends) (RF.1.2b) and segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes) (RF.1.2d).
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.1.3a Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.1.3b Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words. L.1.2d Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns. L.1.2e Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
Children are guided to use what they are learning about letter-sound relationships and the phonological structure of spoken language (especially phonemic awareness) to read untaught words and to generate spellings of words that reflect the letter-sound and spelling-sound correspondences they have been taught.
Children have many opportunities to practice regularly spelled one-syllable words in a variety of contexts.
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.1.3c Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
RF.1.3e Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words in syllables.
Children see many examples of what they learn in a variety of contexts. However, children also are thoughtfully exposed to orthographic diversity—that is, the variation in letter-sound and spelling-sound correspondences (e.g., the vowel combination “ea” may be pronounced as a long or short e sound as in bead and bread). Children are taught to try different pronunciations and determine which one makes sense in the context.
Instruction in English for EL students capitalizes on similarities between the native language and English and highlights differences between the languages.
A strong foundation in letter-sound, spelling-sound, and decoding regularly spelled one-syllable words is important. Children also learn to decode words with inflectional endings (RF.1.3f).
Children learn that every syllable has a vowel sound (RF.1.3d), and using their phonological awareness, they can identify the number of syllables in spoken words.
Word analysis skills are used to decode two-syllable words. Children develop automaticity with them after ample practice decoding them. (It is only irregularly spelled words that are taught as sight words from this grade forward.)
RF.1.3g Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. L.1.2d Use conventional spelling for frequently occurring irregular words.
Teachers help children identify the spellings in the words that are regular (e.g., “fr” and “m” in from) and those that are not (e.g., the “o” in from). Few words are entirely irregularly spelled; “of” is one of them.
Multiple exposures in a variety of contexts are needed for children to build rapid recognition of these words.
RF.1.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Teachers model fluent reading, and children are given ample time to practice reading with attention to accuracy in order to develop automaticity with decoding. Volume of reading contributes significantly to progress.
Even when accuracy and fluency are the primary focus of a lesson or activity, teachers ensure meaning making and understanding of vocabulary.
Pronunciation differences due to native language, dialect influences, or regional accent should not be misunderstood as decoding difficulties.
W.1.1-3 Write opinion pieces, informative/explanatory texts, and narratives.
> ELD.PI.1.10.Ex Write short literary texts and informational texts, collaboratively and with increasing independence.
Children are provided ample writing opportunities to use their developing knowledge of the code to convey their opinions, knowledge, and narratives. Children are prompted to use phonics and word analysis skills they have learned. However, children are not expected to accurately spell words containing sound-spelling patterns they have not yet been taught. Their best attempts, drawing on their phonemic awareness and their existing knowledge of the code, are encouraged.
Class Spotlight
As part of their asynchronous learning time, the students in Paul Lomelo’s class read aloud to their stuffed animals and pets, using decodable texts that have been sent home. The parents in Mr. Lomelo’s class record their child reading once per week for about three or four minutes and share the videos with him. Mr. Lomelo uses these videos to analyze his students’ fluency and accuracy in decoding. He uses this information to form small groups for needs-based instruction in foundational skills. In addition, Mr. Lomelo reads texts to his students during synchronous lessons. During these read-alouds, Mr. Lomelo asks text-dependent questions that require his students to use their listening comprehension skills. He knows that meaning making is another important instructional theme that should be given attention daily. After reading Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar a second time, Mr. Lomelo asked students which foods made the caterpillar sick. The students used the hand-raise function to let him know that they wanted to share. Later, Mr. Lomelo asked the students if the caterpillar was telling the story or a narrator. He called on Cassie first to respond. She said, “It’s a narrator.” Mr. Lomelo asked how she knew, but she was not sure. Mr. Lomelo called on Adam next, who responded, “I think maybe because it says he?” Mr. Lomelo responded, “We are learning a lot about texts and if they are real or not. We can’t always be sure, but sometimes there are good clues, right readers?” Jessie asked to talk next and said, “If it was the caterpillar it would say I, like he was talking.” Mr. Lomelo said, “I think all of these clues help us know that it’s not the caterpillar that is telling the story, right? But does that mean it is true or probably not true?” The students are all talking at once, saying that it’s not true because caterpillars don’t talk. To follow-up the discussion, Mr. Lomelo asks students to retell the information from the text on video and to load the video in their learning management system.
Prominent ELA/Literacy/ELD Themes: Foundational Skills, Meaning Making