Kindergarten ELA Washington Standards

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Print many upper- and lowercase letters.

Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.

Form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/ (e.g., dog, dogs; wish, wishes).

Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).

Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.

Recognize and name end punctuation.

Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).

Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.

Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).

Use the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-, -ful, -less) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.

With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Sort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.

Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites (antonyms).

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at school that are colorful).

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action (e.g., walk, march, strut, prance) by acting out the meanings.

Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.

Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

Recognize and produce rhyming words.

Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.

Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonent-vowel-consonent, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).

Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.

Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

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.

Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.

Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

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

Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).

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.

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Language Standards

Comprehension and Collaboration

(Begins in grade 2)

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Writing Standards

Knowledge of Language

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Reading Standards: Foundational Skills

Craft and Structure

Conventions of Standard English

Phonics and Word Recognition

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

Knowledge of Language

Conventions of Standard English

Speaking and Listening Standards

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Range of Writing

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading

Key Ideas and Details

Production and Distribution of Writing

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

(Not applicable to literature)

(Begins in grade 3)

Text Types and Purposes

Range of Writing

Comprehension and Collaboration

Key Ideas and Details

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Print Concepts

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Reading Standards for Informational Text

(Begins in grade 3)

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

(Begins in grade 4)

Reading Standards for Literature

Craft and Structure

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language

Fluency

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Craft and Structure

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Text Types and Purposes

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Key Ideas and Details

Production and Distribution of Writing

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Phonological Awareness

Writing Purposes and Products

Plan and Generate Ideas

Media Literacy and Critical Thinking

Speaking, Listening, and Digital Forums

Research and Inquiry

Analyzing, Evaluating and Using Texts

Structure and Function of English

Draft and Establish Voice

Reading

Knowledge of Language

Public Speaking and Presentations

Share and Publish

Voice

Research and Media Literacy

Revise and Edit

Writing

Collaboration

Comprehending and Interpreting Texts

Print Environment and Foundational Skills

Discussion

Language

Students notice when and why language is used differently at school, at home, and with peers.

Name familiar objects and topics as said at school, at home, and with peers.

Identify when a word, phrase or sentence best answers a question.

Not in K.

Students produce and expand complete sentences in group and individual activities in the context of conversations and writing about experiences, events, and kindergarten content.

Produce simple sentences.

Expand simple sentences by adding information or details that clarify the message.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Recognize and name end punctuation.

Students use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and being read to.

Determine or clarify the meaning of new and multiple-meaning words and phrases.

Understand and use high frequency nouns, verbs, and prepositions.

Understand and use question words.

Form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/.

Capitalize the pronoun I.

Students explore word relationships and distinguish shades of meaning in the context of kindergarten conversations and reading about experiences, events, and ideas.

Use the most frequently occurring affixes as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use by sorting common objects into categories to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.

Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites.

Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action.

Students develop command of the English language to speak and write clearly, and to comprehend more fully when reading, listening, or viewing.

Students identify the effects and parts of media messages and people who provide information.

Students interact with and explore texts in a language-rich environment.

Select texts that interest them and/or that are recommended by peers and adults.

Spend time holding, looking at, reading and/or listening to texts.

Make connections, tell stories and/or explain information based on imagination, images, and/or words they recognize in texts.

Students know and apply the basic features of print and how it is organized.

Distinguish drawings from letters and words in a print-rich environment.

Follow a text from top to bottom, left to right, and page by page.

Identify front and back covers, titles, and the title page of printed books.

Recognize, name, and print the lowercase and uppercase letters and the sounds they represent with automaticity.

Recognize that spoken words are represented by specific sequences of letters in print.

Recognize that spoken words are separated by spaces in print.

Students know and apply how concepts of sounds, syllables, words, and silence function in speech (phonological awareness).

Recognize, pronounce, separate, blend, and count the syllables in spoken words.

Recognize, pronounce, isolate, blend, and count initial, medial, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.

Blend and segment onsets and rhymes of single syllable spoken words.

Recognize and produce rhyming words.

Add, delete, or substitute individual spoken sounds (phonemes) in simple words to form new words.

Parse individual words within spoken phrases and sentences.

Students decode words with accuracy and fluency using grade-level word analysis skills.

Demonstrate knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondence by producing the most common sounds for each consonant.

Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings for the five major vowels.

Add, delete or substitute letters and/or syllables in printed words to form new words.

Recognize, pronounce, separate, blend, and count the syllables in printed words.

Decode words using letter-sound correspondence and regular spelling patterns.

Read common high-frequency words by sight.

Read connected words in a sentence.

Students comprehend and interpret texts during shared reading, read alouds, and independent reading, using a variety of strategies.

Reflect on their purpose for reading.

Preview the text by noting author, illustrator, title, topic, genre, and images.

Visualize to make sense of what is in the text.

Make predictions and check them against what is in the text.

Use a variety of strategies that encourage and maintain motivation to engage with a text.

Re-connect when the flow of reading is interrupted using a variety of strategies.

Tell how the visual elements in a text represent and/or add to its meaning.

Ask and answer questions about a text’s topic, characters, setting, and/ or major events.

Retell familiar stories in their own words and/or say what they learned from a text.

Students describe how the author, illustrator, and/or creator shape meaning and affect a reader’s experience of the text.

Reflect on what the text makes them feel, think, and/or want to do.

Describe the effect of images and specific words on the reader’s understanding.

Identify and compare choices made by authors, illustrators and creators of multimodal texts to show emotions, places, objects, movement, action, and/or information.

Students evaluate texts.

Say what they may or may not like about a text and why.

Students use texts they have read for purposes relevant to them.

To better understand themselves and others, explore characters’ thoughts, and feelings.

To develop imagination and social reasoning, say what they would think, feel, and/or do in situations similar to those they have read about.

Use information or examples from texts for discussions and projects. [See W.K3 and SLDF.3.]

Use choices made by authors, illustrators, and creators of multimodal texts as ideas for their own multimodal compositions. [See W.K4b.]

Not in K.

Students ask questions about a provided topic or things that make them curious.

Students seek answers from provided information sources.

Discuss where they might find answers to their questions.

Identify a variety of print and digital information sources and where to find them, including libraries.

Observe adults using digital search tools.

Talk with adults or peers about the topic.

Students identify relevant information from their searches.

Students use and/or share new learning.

Students identify the effects of media messages.

Identify how media messages make them feel.

Not in K.

Students identify characteristics of different parts of media messages.

Identify facts and opinions within media messages.

Identify what’s realistic and what’s pretend within media messages.

Identify images within media messages.

Students identify people who provide information.

Identify who decided what to include in a particular information source.

Identify people who are experts on a particular topic and could provide information about it.

Not in K.

Students read, comprehend, interpret, use, analyze, and appreciate fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and multimodal texts from a broad range of genres, cultures, and media through shared reading and read alouds in the context of grade-level content to understand themselves, others, and the world.

Students ask questions, seek answers from a variety of sources, and use their learning.

Students listen, respond respectfully, and contribute during discussions.

Identify expectations and roles within the community, changing them when needed.

Answer questions about what was said in previous conversations to continue the discussion.

Ask questions about the topic and others’ observations and opinions.

Draw on experience, observation, and prior learning to answer questions.

Restate what they heard others say to build common understanding, asking and answering questions to clarify something they didn’t understand.

Connect statements to others’ contributions to build community and propel conversation.

Identify points of agreement or disagreement.

Ask questions to explore why someone else may relate or think differently.

Identify opinions or understandings that have changed.

Review memorable and/or important moments or ideas.

Starts in 3rd.

Students collaborate on projects and tasks.

Identify expectations and roles, changing them when needed.

Connect the project to their interests, experiences, and/or community needs.

Review progress and discuss what needs to happen next.

Students express experience, positions, ideas, findings, and creative work.

Identify topics from the situation, experience, imagination, reading, group research (see RMLK.4), media, conversations, and/or products from WK.1.

Develop content by considering what they want to communicate within the situation.

Use images, media, and artifacts in presentations to clarify content.

Students determine how to present themselves and their ideas.

Express voice by building on strengths and personality.

Determine how to respond to others given the expectations of the community, their role, and how they wish to express themselves and their ideas.

Determine which language and/or languages support their purpose.

Determine what they want or do not want to share and why.

Students use an audible voice, gesture, and pacing to illuminate the content.

Students comprehend, engage in, and learn from collaborative discussions, presentations, and public speaking in a variety of genres in the context of grade-level content, in person and/or through teacher-moderated digital forums.

Students compose to make personal sense of information, ideas, opinions, emotions, and/or experiences. [Not all products from WK.1 must be taken through the writing process in WK.2 – WK.10.]

Students share and publish compositions in person and/or on digital or non-digital platforms for known and trusted audiences.

Students compose multimodal texts in a variety of genres to communicate with others.

Describe experiences, ideas, and imaginings.

Inform others about their observations and explanations of the world.

Express their opinions and/or preferences.

Persuade others to consider new options, resolve conflicts, and create and strengthen communities.

Tell the story of a single event or several loosely linked events.

Students plan and complete writing projects.

Connect the prompt to their interests, perspectives, and/or experiences.

Determine the process or steps needed to complete the project.

Students generate and gather ideas, including appropriate use of tools.

Identify topics and ideas from experience, imagination, reading, media, conversations, products from WK.1, and/or desire to communicate.

Determine which features and/or genre conventions to follow or adapt from mentor texts.

Answer questions about what the writer knows that the audience does not.

Choose facts from group research (see RMLK.4), images, and/or other media that illustrate and support their ideas.

Students draft content.

State some information about the topic.

Tell events in stories in order.

Illustrate and/or approximate some text features and/or formatting they notice in mentor texts.

Students compose introductions.

Name topics.

Starts in 1st grade.

Students discuss their compositions with others.

Re-read to determine whether the draft says what they want it to say.

Describe what their composition means and/or represents to an adult or peer.

Ask an adult or peer to describe their perceived meaning of the composition.

Students revise their compositions.

Add or change words or details to better communicate and represent meaning.

Students compose multimodal texts through drawing, visually representing, dictating, and writing in a variety of genres in the context of grade level content.