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Common Core ELAKindergartenLanguage

L.K.2: Capitals, End Marks and Sound Spelling

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2 · Cluster: Conventions of Standard English.

Make a Sentence ScrambleAll 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

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

Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.K.2 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners start a sentence and the word I with a capital, can point to a period or a question mark and name it, and spell by sound. Writing about a dog in the mud, a child writes “I se a dog,” with a letter for every sound they hear.

Sound spelling is the goal here, not an error to fix: se for see shows a child hearing both sounds, and kat for cat is a kindergarten success. In 1st grade (L.1.2) students capitalize dates and names, use end punctuation and spell common patterns correctly.

L.K.2 I Can Statements

  • I can start my sentence with a capital letter.
  • I can name a period and a question mark.
  • I can write a letter for each sound I hear.

L.K.2 Worked Example

One sentence about a drawing, a first try and a second, and what improves has nothing to do with perfect spelling.

Prompt

Write a sentence about your drawing of a dog playing in the mud.

Not Yeti c a dg in mudA lowercase i at the start, where it is both the first word and the word I, no end mark, and dg with no letter for the short o the child can hear in the middle.
Meets the StandardI se a dog. It is in the mud.Capital I, a capital on It, a period after each sentence, and a letter for every sound in dog and mud. Se for see is spelled by sound, exactly what part d asks for.
Moves to Use
Start every sentence with a capital letter.The word I is always a capital.Stretch the word slowly and write a letter for each sound.A period ends a telling sentence, a question mark ends an asking one.

Common Mistakes with L.K.2

Lowercase i for me

“my mom and i went to the store”

Try this: Circle every I in the morning message together, and have students check that each one stands tall as a capital.

Waiting for the right spelling

“How do you spell elephant?” and a blank page until someone answers

Try this: Say the word slowly together, stretching each sound, and accept the letters the child hears: lefnt is a fine kindergarten spelling.

Only the first letter of each word

“I l t g t t p” for I like to go to the park

Try this: Hold up a finger for each sound in a short word like mud, and have the child write one letter per finger.

Where L.K.2 Fits

Comes BeforeRF.K.2Hear the first, middle and last sounds in a word like cat, the ear that spelling by sound depends on.
AlongsideRF.K.3Know the main sound of each consonant and the short vowel sounds.L.K.1Print many upper- and lowercase letters and speak in complete sentences.
Comes NextL.1.2Capitalize dates and names, use end punctuation and spell common patterns correctly.

Practice L.K.2

Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolMixed-up sentences where the words keep their capitals and periods, so the capital word goes first and the period goes last.KindergartenCapitals as cluesCut and glue
Make a Scramble

Quick Check

  1. In “I se a dog,” which word is spelled by sound, and what is the standard spelling?
  2. Name the two capitals in the strong example and say why each one is a capital.
  3. What letter is missing from dg, and what sound does it stand for?

L.K.2: Other Names

L.K.2CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.