Ohio State Standards for Language Arts: Kindergarten

OH.1. Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency: Students in the primary grades learn to recognize and decode printed words, developing the skills that are the foundations for independent reading. They discover the alphabetic principle (sound-symbol match) and learn to use it in figuring out new words. They build a stock of sight words that helps them to read quickly and accurately with comprehension. By the end of the third grade, they demonstrate fluent oral reading, varying their intonation and timing as appropriate for the text.

1.A. Use letter-sound correspondence knowledge and structural analysis to decode words.

1.B. Demonstrate fluent oral reading, using sight words and decoding skills, varying intonation and timing as appropriate for text.

1.1. Grade Level Indicator: Read own first and last name.

1.2. Grade Level Indicator: Identify and complete rhyming words and patterns.

1.3. Grade Level Indicator: Distinguish the number of syllables in words by using rhythmic clapping, snapping or counting.

1.4. Grade Level Indicator: Distinguish and name all upper- and lower-case letters.

1.5. Grade Level Indicator: Recognize, say and write the common sounds of letters.

1.6. Grade Level Indicator: Distinguish letters from words by recognizing that words are separated by spaces.

1.7. Grade Level Indicator: Hear and say the separate phonemes in words, such as identifying the initial consonant sound in a word, and blend phonemes to say words.

1.8. Grade Level Indicator: Read one-syllable and often-heard words by sight.

1.9. Grade Level Indicator: Reread stories independently or as a group, modeling patterns of changes in timing, voice and expression.

OH.2. Acquisition of Vocabulary: Students acquire vocabulary through exposure to language-rich situations, such as reading books and other texts and conversing with adults and peers. They use context clues, as well as direct explanations provided by others, to gain new words. They learn to apply word analysis skills to build and extend their own vocabulary. As students progress through the grades, they become more proficient in applying their knowledge of words (origins, parts, relationships, meanings) to acquire specialized vocabulary that aids comprehension.

2.A. Use context clues to determine the meaning of new vocabulary.

2.B. Read accurately high-frequency sight words.

2.C. Apply structural analysis skills to build and extend vocabulary and to determine word meaning.

2.D. Know the meaning of specialized vocabulary by applying knowledge of word parts, relationships and meanings.

2.E. Use resources to determine the meanings and pronunciations of unknown words.

2.1. Grade Level Indicator: Contextual Understanding: Understand new words from the context of conversations or from the use of pictures within a text.

2.2. Grade Level Indicator: Conceptual Understanding: Recognize and understand words, signs and symbols seen in everyday life.

2.3. Grade Level Indicator: Conceptual Understanding: Identify words in common categories such as color words, number words and directional words.

2.4. Grade Level Indicator: Tools and Resources: Determine the meaning of unknown words, with assistance, using a beginner's dictionary.

OH.3. Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies: Students develop and learn to apply strategies that help them to comprehend and interpret informational and literary texts. Reading and learning to read are problem solving processes that require strategies for the reader to make sense of written language and remain engaged with texts. Beginners develop basic concepts about print (e.g., that print holds meaning) and how books work (e.g., text organization). As strategic readers, students learn to analyze and evaluate texts to demonstrate their understanding of text. Additionally, students learn to self-monitor their own comprehension by asking and answering questions about the text, self-correcting errors and assessing their own understanding. They apply these strategies effectively to assigned and self-selected texts read in and out of the classroom.

3.A. Establish a purpose for reading and use a range of reading comprehension strategies to understand literary passages and text.

3.B. Make predictions from text clues and cite specific examples to support predictions.

3.C. Draw conclusions from information in text.

3.D. Apply reading skills and strategies to summarize and compare and contrast information in text, between text and across subject areas.

3.E. Demonstrate comprehension by responding to questions (e.g., literal, informational and evaluative).

3.F. Apply and adjust self-monitoring strategies to assess understanding of text.

3.1. Grade Level Indicator: Concepts of Print: Demonstrate an understanding that print has meaning by explaining that text provides information or tells a story.

3.2. Grade Level Indicator: Concepts of Print: Hold books right side up, know that people read pages from front to back and read words from left to right.

3.3. Grade Level Indicator: Concepts of Print: Know the differences between illustrations and print.

3.4. Grade Level Indicator: Comprehension Strategies: Visualize the information in texts, and demonstrate this by drawing pictures, discussing images in texts or dictating simple descriptions.

3.5. Grade Level Indicator: Comprehension Strategies: Predict what will happen next, using pictures and content as a guide.

3.6. Grade Level Indicator: Comprehension Strategies: Compare information (e.g., recognize similarities) in texts using prior knowledge and experience.

3.7. Grade Level Indicator: Comprehension Strategies: Recall information from a story by sequencing pictures and events.

3.8. Grade Level Indicator: Comprehension Strategies: Answer literal questions to demonstrate comprehension of orally read grade-appropriate texts.

3.9. Grade Level Indicator: Self-Monitoring Strategies: Monitor comprehension of orally read texts by asking and answering questions.

3.10. Grade Level Indicator: Independent Reading: Identify favorite books and stories and participate in shared oral reading.

OH.4. Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text: Students gain information from reading for purposes of learning about a subject, doing a job, making decisions and accomplishing a task. Students need to apply the reading process to various types of informational texts, including essays, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, consumer and workplace documents, reference materials, multimedia and electronic resources. They learn to attend to text features, such as titles, subtitles and visual aids, to make predictions and build text knowledge. They learn to read diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and displays in text as sources of additional information. Students use their knowledge of text structure to organize content information, analyze it and draw inferences from it. Strategic readers learn to recognize arguments, bias, stereotyping and propaganda in informational text sources.

4.A. Use text features and structures to organize content, draw conclusions and build text knowledge.

4.B. Ask clarifying questions concerning essential elements of informational text.

4.C. Identify the central ideas and supporting details of informational text.

4.D. Use visual aids as sources to gain additional information from text.

4.E. Evaluate two- and three-step directions for proper sequencing and completeness.

4.1. Grade Level Indicator: Use pictures and illustrations to aid comprehension.

4.2. Grade Level Indicator: Identify and discuss the sequence of events in informational text.

4.3. Grade Level Indicator: Tell the main idea of a selection that has been read aloud.

4.4. Grade Level Indicator: Identify and discuss simple maps, charts and graphs.

4.5. Grade Level Indicator: Follow simple directions.

OH.5. Literary Text: Students enhance their understanding of the human story by reading literary texts that represent a variety of authors, cultures and eras. They learn to apply the reading process to the various genres of literature, including fables, folk tales, short stories, novels, poetry and drama. They demonstrate their comprehension by describing and discussing the elements of literature (e.g., setting, character and plot), analyzing the author's use of language (e.g., word choice and figurative language), comparing and contrasting texts, inferring theme and meaning and responding to text in critical and creative ways. Strategic readers learn to explain, analyze and critique literary text to achieve deep understanding.

5.A. Compare and contrast plot across literary works.

5.B. Use supporting details to identify and describe main ideas, characters and setting.

5.C. Recognize the defining characteristics and features of different types of literary forms and genres.

5.D. Explain how an author's word choice and use of methods influences the reader.

5.E. Identify the theme of a literary text.

5.1. Grade Level Indicator: Identify favorite books and stories.

5.2. Grade Level Indicator: Identify the characters and setting in a story.

5.3. Grade Level Indicator: Retell or re-enact a story that has been heard.

5.4. Grade Level Indicator: Distinguish between fantasy and reality.

5.5. Grade Level Indicator: Recognize predictable patterns in stories.

OH.6. Writing Process: Students' writing develops when they regularly engage in the major phases of the writing process. The writing process includes the phases of prewriting, drafting, revising and editing and publishing. They learn to plan their writing for different purposes and audiences. They learn to apply their writing skills in increasingly sophisticated ways to create and produce compositions that reflect effective word and grammatical choices. Students develop revision strategies to improve the content, organization and language of their writing. Students also develop editing skills to improve writing conventions.

6.A. Generate ideas for written compositions.

6.B. Develop audience and purpose for self-selected and assigned writing tasks.

6.C. Use organizers to clarify ideas for writing assignments.

6.D. Use revision strategies and resources to improve ideas and content, organization, word choice and detail.

6.E. Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar and usage.

6.F. Apply tools to judge the quality of writing.

6.G. Publish writing samples for display or sharing with others, using techniques such as electronic resources and graphics.

6.1. Grade Level Indicator: Prewriting: Generate writing ideas through discussions with others.

6.2. Grade Level Indicator: Prewriting: Choose a topic for writing.

6.3. Grade Level Indicator: Prewriting: Determine audience.

6.4. Grade Level Indicator: Drafting, Revising and Editing: Organize and group related ideas.

6.5. Grade Level Indicator: Drafting, Revising and Editing: Write from left to right and top to bottom.

6.6. Grade Level Indicator: Drafting, Revising and Editing: Use correct sentence structures when expressing thoughts and ideas.

6.7. Grade Level Indicator: Drafting, Revising and Editing: Reread own writing.

6.8. Grade Level Indicator: Drafting, Revising and Editing: Use resources (e.g., a word wall) to enhance vocabulary.

6.9. Grade Level Indicator: Publishing: Rewrite and illustrate writing samples for display and for sharing with others.

OH.7. Writing Applications: Students need to understand that various types of writing require different language, formatting and special vocabulary. Writing serves many purposes across the curriculum and takes various forms. Beginning writers learn about the various purposes of writing; they attempt and use a small range of familiar forms (e.g., letters). Developing writers are able to select text forms to suit purpose and audience. They can explain why some text forms are more suited to a purpose than others and begin to use content-specific vocabulary to achieve their communication goals. Proficient writers control effectively the language and structural features of a large repertoire of text forms. They deliberately choose vocabulary to enhance text and structure their writing according to audience and purpose.

7.A. Compose writings that convey a clear message and include well-chosen details.

7.B. Write responses to literature that demonstrate an understanding of a literary work.

7.C. Write friendly letters and invitations complete with date, salutation, body, closing and signature.

7.1. Grade Level Indicator: Dictate or write simple stories, using letters, words or pictures.

7.2. Grade Level Indicator: Name or label objects or places.

7.3. Grade Level Indicator: Write from left to right and from top to bottom.

7.4. Grade Level Indicator: Dictate or write informal writings for various purposes.

OH.8. Writing Conventions: Students learn to master writing conventions through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. Writing conventions include spelling, punctuation, grammar and other conventions associated with forms of written text. They learn the purpose of punctuation: to clarify sentence meaning and help readers know how writing might sound aloud. They develop and extend their understanding of the spelling system, using a range of strategies for spelling words correctly and using newly learned vocabulary in their writing. They grow more skillful at using the grammatical structures of English to effectively communicate ideas in writing and to express themselves.

8.A. Print legibly using appropriate spacing.

8.B. Spell grade-appropriate words correctly.

8.C. Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work.

8.D. Use grammatical structures in written work.

8.1. Grade Level Indicator: Handwriting: Print capital and lowercase letters, correctly spacing the letters.

8.2. Grade Level Indicator: Handwriting: Leave spaces between words when writing.

8.3. Grade Level Indicator: Spelling: Show characteristics of early letter name-alphabetic spelling.

8.4. Grade Level Indicator: Spelling: Use some end consonant sounds when writing.

8.5. Grade Level Indicator: Punctuation and Capitalization: Place punctuation marks at the end of sentences.

OH.9. Research: Students define and investigate self-selected or assigned issues, topics and problems. They locate, select and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference and technological sources. Students use an appropriate form to communicate their findings.

9.A. Generate questions for investigation and gather information from a variety of sources.

9.B. Retell important details and findings.

9.1. Grade Level Indicator: Ask questions about a topic being studied or an area of interest.

9.2. Grade Level Indicator: Use books or observations to gather information, with teacher assistance, to explain a topic or unit of study.

9.3. Grade Level Indicator: Recall information about a topic, with teacher assistance.

9.4. Grade Level Indicator: Share findings visually or orally.

OH.10. Communications: Oral and Visual: Students learn to communicate effectively through exposure to good models and opportunities for practice. By speaking, listening and providing and interpreting visual images, they learn to apply their communication skills in increasingly sophisticated ways. Students learn to deliver presentations that effectively convey information and persuade or entertain audiences. Proficient speakers control language and deliberately choose vocabulary to clarify points and adjust presentations according to audience and purpose.

10.A. Use active listening strategies to identify the main idea and to gain information from oral presentations.

10.B. Connect prior experiences, insights and ideas to those of a speaker.

10.C. Follow multi-step directions.

10.D. Speak clearly and at an appropriate pace and volume.

10.E. Deliver a variety of presentations that include relevant information and a clear sense of purpose.

10.1. Grade Level Indicator: Listening and Viewing: Listen attentively to speakers, stories, poems and songs.

10.2. Grade Level Indicator: Listening and Viewing: Connect what is heard with prior knowledge and experience.

10.3. Grade Level Indicator: Listening and Viewing: Follow simple oral directions.

10.4. Grade Level Indicator: Speaking Skills and Strategies: Speak clearly and understandably.

10.5. Grade Level Indicator: Speaking Applications: Deliver informal descriptive or informational presentations about ideas or experiences in logical order with a beginning, middle and end.

10.6. Grade Level Indicator: Speaking Applications: Recite short poems, songs and nursery rhymes.