What does a student learn in StateAlaska,GradeKindergarten,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Students listen to a story and answer questions about it, like who was in it or what happened. They also learn to ask their own questions about what they heard.

With a little help, students retell a story they know by sharing the key details: who was in it, what happened, and how it ended.

Students name who is in a story, where it takes place, and what happens. With a little help, they can also spot the problem a character faces and how it gets solved.

Students stop at words they don't know and ask what they mean. This skill builds the habit of figuring out unfamiliar words while reading a story.

Students learn to tell different kinds of books and writing apart: a storybook, a poem, a song. They start to notice that not everything they read or hear works the same way.

Students learn who wrote a book and who drew the pictures, then explain what each person's job is. The author makes up the words and story; the illustrator creates the pictures that bring it to life.

Students look at the pictures in a book and talk about what moment in the story each picture shows. They can also use the pictures alone to tell the story back in their own words.

This standard doesn't apply to literature. Schools use it for nonfiction reading, where students learn to spot details an author uses to support a point.

Students look at two familiar storybook characters and talk about how their adventures are alike and how they are different. A teacher helps guide the conversation.

Kindergartners listen to and talk about stories from many cultures. The focus is on reading together as a group, with the teacher guiding students toward understanding what a story means.

Students ask and answer simple questions about a nonfiction book or passage, using details from the text to back up their answers. A teacher may help guide them to the answer.

Students name what a nonfiction book is mostly about and share a few key details they remember. A teacher or adult helps by asking guiding questions.

Students look at a book about the real world and explain how two things in it go together. A teacher might ask guiding questions to help them find the connection.

Students learn to stop and ask about words they don't know in a nonfiction book. A teacher or parent helps them figure out what those words mean.

Students learn the parts of a book: the front cover, back cover, and title page. They can point to each one by name.

Students learn who wrote a book and who drew the pictures, then explain what each person's job was. The author put the ideas into words; the illustrator made pictures to show those ideas.

Students look at the pictures in a nonfiction book and explain how each picture connects to the words on the page. A teacher or adult helps them talk through what the picture is showing.

Students pick out what the author thinks or believes in a book or article, not just facts the author states. A teacher helps them notice when a writer is sharing an opinion.

Students look at two books or pictures about the same topic and point out what is the same and what is different. A teacher helps guide the comparison.

Teachers read nonfiction books aloud with kindergartners, covering topics like animals, weather, and how things work. Students follow along, ask questions, and build the habit of reading to learn.

Students learn that print works left to right and top to bottom, that spaces sit between words, and that letters group together to form those words.

Reading goes from left to right and top to bottom, just like following a path. Students learn that a book's words flow in that same direction, one page at a time.

Letters on a page stand for the sounds in spoken words. Students learn that every word they say can be written down using letters in a specific order.

Words on a page are not one long string of letters. Students learn to spot the spaces between words and understand that each chunk of letters is its own word.

Students name every letter of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, when they see it. This is one of the first building blocks of learning to read.

Students learn to hear how spoken words are built from smaller pieces. They practice breaking words into syllables, pulling apart individual sounds, and putting sounds back together.

Students listen to pairs of words and decide if they rhyme, then come up with their own rhyming words. This is an early step in learning how spoken language works before reading begins.

Students clap out the parts of a spoken word, like "pen-cil" or "ba-na-na," and put those parts back together again. This is an early step toward reading and spelling.

Students pull apart a one-syllable word into its opening sound and the rest of it, then push those pieces back together. For example, splitting "cat" into /k/ and "at," then blending them back into "cat."

Students listen to a simple word like "cat" and say each sound separately: the first sound, the middle vowel, and the last sound. It's the building block for sounding out words when reading begins.

Students swap or add one sound in a short word to make a new word. Change the first sound in "cat" and it becomes "bat." Change the last sound and it becomes "can."

Students use what they know about letters and sounds to figure out unfamiliar words. This is the foundation of reading: seeing a word on the page and sounding it out.

Each letter makes a sound. Students learn the sound most consonants stand for, like the "b" in "ball" or the "s" in "sun."

Students learn that each vowel (a, e, i, o, u) can make two sounds. They practice hearing the difference between the short sound in "cat" and the long sound in "cake," then connect those sounds to the letters on the page.

Students recognize common short words like "the," "you," and "is" on sight, without sounding them out. These words show up on almost every page, so reading them instantly helps students keep up with a sentence.

Students look at two words that are almost identical (like "cat" and "cut") and figure out which letter sounds are different. This builds the habit of reading carefully, letter by letter.

Reading short beginner books out loud with meaning, not just sounding out words. Students show they understand what they read, not just that they can get through the page.

Students pick a favorite topic or part of a story and explain why they like it, using pictures, spoken words, or writing to share their opinion.

Students pick a topic, then explain it by drawing a picture, telling a sentence out loud, or writing words on the page. The goal is to share real information, not tell a made-up story.

Students draw pictures and write or dictate words to tell a story, real or made up, in the order things happened. They finish with an ending or a feeling about what occurred.

This standard doesn't apply in Kindergarten. Writing production and distribution skills covered by this code start in third grade.

Adults and classmates give feedback, and students use those comments to add details that make their writing clearer or more complete.

With a teacher's help, students use a computer, tablet, or other device to write and share their work, sometimes alongside a classmate.

Kindergartners join a group project where they look through several books or sources together, then help put what they learned into a shared piece of writing.

Students answer a simple question by drawing on something they remember or by looking through books and materials a teacher provides. The thinking is theirs; the adult helps them find and use what they need.

This standard doesn't apply in Kindergarten. Writing research skills using sources start in 4th grade.

This standard doesn't apply to kindergarten. Writing range expectations start in third grade.

Talking and listening with classmates and adults about books and topics covered in class. Students take turns, stay on topic, and practice the back-and-forth of a real conversation.

Students listen while others talk and wait their turn to speak during class conversations. Taking turns and following basic discussion rules starts here.

Students take turns talking with a partner, listening to what the other person says and responding to it, keeping the conversation going for more than one exchange.

After a teacher reads a story or plays a video, students ask questions about what they heard and answer questions about the important parts. If something is confusing, they speak up and ask for help understanding it.

Students ask questions to get help or find out more, and they answer questions others ask them. This is how they start to have real back-and-forth conversations in class.

Students describe people, places, and things they know, like a family member or a favorite spot. With a little help from the teacher, they add a detail or two to make the description fuller.

Students pair a drawing or picture with their words to help listeners understand what they are describing.

Students practice speaking in full sentences loud enough for others to hear. The goal is saying what they mean clearly, not just in one or two words.

Students learn the basic rules of grammar and how to use words correctly when they write or talk. Think of it as the building blocks: using the right words in the right order so ideas come out clear.

Students practice writing both capital and lowercase letters by hand. The goal is to write many of them accurately, not just a few.

Students name everyday things (like a dog or a chair) and action words (like run or eat) in their speaking and writing.

Students practice saying the plural form of everyday words out loud, learning that most words just need an "s" at the end (dog, dogs) and some need "es" (wish, wishes).

Students learn that words like who, what, where, when, why, and how start questions. They practice using those words to ask about things they see, hear, and read.

Students learn words that show where things are or how they relate, like "in," "on," "by," and "with." These small words help sentences make sense.

Students practice saying complete sentences out loud, then stretch those sentences by adding more detail. This happens in group activities where the teacher and class build sentences together.

Students learn when to use a capital letter, where to put a period, and how to spell simple words correctly when they write sentences.

Students learn which words get a capital letter: the first word in a sentence, their own name, and the word I.

Students learn that a sentence can end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. They practice spotting those marks on the page and saying what each one is called.

Students hear a sound in a word and write the letter that makes it. This focuses on consonants and short vowel sounds, like the "a" in "cat" or the "b" in "bag."

Students sound out simple words and write the letters that match each sound, such as writing "cat" as c-a-t. This is how early spelling works before rules and patterns are fully learned.

This standard doesn't apply in Kindergarten. It starts in second grade, when students begin making deliberate choices about how to write and speak clearly.

Students figure out what an unfamiliar word means by looking at the words and pictures around it. This skill covers words that show up in stories, classroom talk, and everyday reading.

Words can mean more than one thing. Students learn that a familiar word like "duck" can also be a verb, then practice using the new meaning correctly in speech or writing.

When students meet an unfamiliar word, they use word parts like -ed, -s, un-, or -ful to figure out what it means. A word ending in -less or starting with re- is a clue worth reading.

Students learn that words connect to each other and that small differences in meaning matter. A teacher helps them notice that a dog and a puppy are related, or that "cold" and "freezing" feel different.

Students group everyday things by what they have in common. A dog and a cat go together; a carrot and an apple go together. Sorting this way helps students understand what makes a category, like animals or foods.

Students learn words by pairing them with their opposites: hot and cold, fast and slow, happy and sad. This builds everyday vocabulary by showing how words relate to each other.

Students connect words to real things they see every day. For example, they might hear the word "bumpy" and picture the playground blacktop, or hear "loud" and think of the cafeteria.

Students learn that words like walk, march, strut, and prance all describe moving on foot but feel different. They act out each word to show how the meaning changes.

Students practice using new words they pick up from books, conversations, and class discussions. The goal is simple: when they learn a word, they use it.