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

Students answer questions about a story, like who is in it and what happens. A teacher or parent helps them find the answer in the words or pictures.

Students retell a story they know by naming who was in it and what happened. A teacher or parent helps them remember the key parts.

Students name who is in a story, where it takes place, and what happens. A teacher may help by asking guiding questions.

Students stop at unfamiliar words while reading and ask what they mean. They use clues from the story or pictures to figure out the answer.

Students learn to tell the difference between a storybook and a poem. A storybook tells a story with characters and events; a poem looks and sounds different, often with short lines and rhythm.

Students learn who wrote a story and who drew the pictures, and what each person's job is. The author made up the words; the illustrator made the art.

Students look at the pictures in a book and explain what's happening in the story at that moment. A teacher or adult helps them make the connection between what they see and what the words are telling them.

Students look at two stories they know and talk about how the characters' experiences are alike and different. A teacher or parent helps guide the conversation.

Students listen to and talk about books read aloud as a group, following along with a clear reason in mind, not just waiting for the story to end.

With a little help from a teacher, students ask and answer simple questions about a book or passage. They point to details in the text that back up their answers.

A teacher or adult reads an informational book aloud, then helps students name what the book is mostly about and recall a few important facts from it.

With a teacher's help, students explain how two things in a nonfiction book are related. For example, they might say why rain makes plants grow, or how one event leads to another.

Students learn to stop and ask what an unfamiliar word means while reading a nonfiction book. A teacher or adult helps them find clues in the text.

Students learn where a book starts, where it ends, and where the title page sits. They practice this with real books, pointing to each part by name.

Students learn who wrote a book and who drew the pictures, then explain what each person's job was in putting the book together.

Students look at a picture in a book and explain what it shows about the words on the page. A teacher or adult may help them find the connection.

Authors write to make a point, and they give reasons to back it up. Students learn to spot those reasons in a nonfiction book or passage, usually with a teacher's help.

Students look at two books about the same topic and notice what matches and what differs. A teacher helps them spot those connections, whether in the pictures, the words, or the steps each book shows.

Students listen to and talk about nonfiction books read aloud in class, staying focused and making sense of what the book is saying.

Books have a front and back, words run left to right, and spaces separate one word from the next. Students learn how a page of print is organized before they start reading sentences on their own.

Reading moves left to right and top to bottom, just like following a path down the page. Students learn that books work in that order, 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.

Spaces between words are what break a sentence into separate pieces. Students learn to point to each word as they read, recognizing that the white space on the page shows where one word ends and the next begins.

Students name every letter of the alphabet, both capital and lowercase, when they see it on the page.

Students learn that spoken words are made of smaller parts: syllables you can clap and individual sounds you can say in sequence. This is the foundation for learning to read.

Students listen to pairs of words and decide if they rhyme, then come up with their own rhyming words. Think "cat, hat, bat", students hear the pattern and keep it going.

Students clap out or count the syllable beats in spoken words, then blend those beats back together or break them apart again.

Students break a spoken word into its starting sound and the rest of it, then put those pieces back together. For example, they hear /c/ and /at/ and blend them into "cat."

Students listen to a short word like "cat" and say each sound separately: the first sound, the middle vowel, and the last sound.

Students swap or add a single sound in a short word to make a new word. Change the "c" in "cat" to "b" and get "bat."

Students use what they know about letters and sounds to figure out unfamiliar words on the page. This is the core decoding work of kindergarten reading.

Students learn that each consonant letter makes a specific sound, like the "b" in "ball" or the "s" in "sun." They practice saying the right sound when they see each letter.

Students learn that each vowel (a, e, i, o, u) makes two sounds: a short sound like the "a" in "cat" and a long sound like the "a" in "cake." They practice matching the sound to the letter on the page.

Students recognize and read common short words, like "the," "you," and "she," without sounding them out. These words appear so often in books that reading them on sight helps students move through sentences more smoothly.

Students look at two words that share most of the same letters, like "cat" and "cut," and figure out which letters sound different. That one different sound is what makes the words mean different things.

Students read simple beginner books out loud with meaning, not just word by word. They understand what the words say, not just how to say them.

Students pick something they like, such as a book or an animal, and share their opinion about it by drawing a picture, telling an adult what to write, or writing words themselves.

Students pick a topic and share what they know about it by drawing a picture, telling their idea out loud, or writing words on the page. The goal is to name the topic clearly and give at least one fact or detail about it.

Students draw, dictate, or write about something that happened, keeping events in the order they occurred. They also share how they felt or what they thought about it.

Students revise their writing by listening to a classmate's question or suggestion and adding a detail that answers it. A teacher or adult helps guide the process.

With a teacher's help, students use computers or tablets to write and share their work, sometimes alongside a classmate.

Students work with the class to explore a topic or a set of books together, then share what they noticed or think about them.

Students answer a simple question by drawing on something they saw or did, or by looking through a book or other source a teacher provides. The thinking is their own; the adult just helps them find what they need.

Students take turns talking and listening in small groups or whole-class discussions about books and topics. They practice sharing ideas with classmates and adults without interrupting.

Students learn to take turns talking and listen while others speak during class conversations.

Students take turns talking and listening in a back-and-forth conversation, not just saying one thing and stopping. They keep the exchange going by responding to what the other person said.

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

Students ask questions when something is confusing and answer questions when others ask them. This is how they get help, find out more, and make sure they understand what's going on.

Students describe people, places, and things they know, then add more detail when a teacher asks a follow-up question.

Students pair a drawing or simple image with what they say or describe to help listeners understand the idea more clearly.

Students practice saying their thoughts out loud in a voice the whole class can hear. The goal is to speak clearly enough that others can follow what they mean.

Kindergartners learn the basic rules of English: how to say a complete sentence out loud, use the right words in the right order, and put those habits into early writing.

Students practice writing both capital and lowercase letters by hand. The goal is to print many different letters, not just a few.

Students name everyday people, places, and things, and pair them with action words to build simple sentences.

Students learn to turn one thing into many by saying the right ending out loud: one dog becomes dogs, one wish becomes wishes.

Students learn the question words (who, what, where, when, why, how) and use them to ask real questions out loud and in writing.

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

Students practice building complete sentences out loud, adding words to make each thought longer and clearer. This happens as a group activity, with the teacher guiding the conversation.

Students practice the basic rules of written English: starting sentences with a capital letter, ending them with a period or question mark, and spelling simple words correctly.

Students learn that every sentence starts with a capital letter and that the word I is always capitalized. They practice spotting and fixing lowercase mistakes in their own writing.

Students learn that a sentence can end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. They practice spotting those marks and naming them by sight.

Students hear a sound in a word and write the letter that makes it. This covers the main consonant sounds and short vowel sounds like the "a" in "cat" or the "i" in "big."

Students sound out simple words and write the letters they hear. This is early spelling: not memorizing words yet, but listening for sounds and writing down the letter that matches each one.

When students come across a word they don't know, they use clues from the sentence or picture to figure out what it means. Some words mean more than one thing, and students practice sorting that out too.

Words can mean more than one thing. Students learn that a familiar word like "duck" can also be a verb (duck your head!), then practice using both meanings correctly in speech or writing.

Word endings and beginnings like -ed, -s, re-, or un- give students a clue about what a new word means. Students learn to use those small word parts to figure out unfamiliar words on their own.

Students learn that words connect to each other and that small differences in meaning matter. A teacher helps them see why "big" and "huge" are not quite the same, or why a cat and a dog are both animals.

Students group everyday things by what they have in common. A tomato, a carrot, and an apple all go in the "food" pile. Sorting helps students see how words and ideas connect.

Students learn that words have opposites: fast/slow, hot/cold, happy/sad. They practice matching common action words and describing words to their antonyms.

Students connect words to real life by matching them to things they can see or touch. For example, they find something "soft" in the classroom or name a place that is "noisy."

Students learn that words like "walk," "march," and "strut" all mean moving on foot but feel different. They act out each word to feel the difference in their bodies.

Students use new words they picked up from books, class conversations, and read-alouds when they talk and write. The goal is to actually use those words, not just recognize them.