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New York Standards

New York Kindergarten ELA Standards

All 28 New York English language arts standards for kindergarten, each explained in plain English. The official wording is one click away under each one.

28 standards

Reading Standards (Literary and Informational Text)

9 standards
Key Ideas and Details
KR1
Come up with questions about a story or a fact book and answer them, like asking who found the lost mitten.
Official wording
Develop and answer questions about a text. (RI&RL)
KR2
Tell a story again in your own words or share the important facts from a nonfiction book, like how bees make honey.
Official wording
Retell stories or share key details from a text. (RI&RL)
KR3
Point out the characters, the setting and the big events in a story, or the facts given in an information book.
Official wording
Identify characters, settings, major events in a story, or pieces of information in a text. (RI&RL)
Craft and Structure
KR4
Find words in a text that name feelings or how things look, sound, smell, taste or feel, like happy, crunchy or loud.
Official wording
Identify specific words that express feelings and senses. (RI&RL)
KR5
Tell whether a book is a story or a book that teaches facts, like a fairy tale compared with a book about frogs.
Official wording
Identify literary and informational texts. (RI&RL)
KR6
Say who wrote a book and who drew its pictures, and explain that the author tells the ideas in words while the illustrator shows them in pictures.
Official wording
Name the author and illustrator and define the role of each in presenting the ideas in a text. (RI&RL)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
KR7
Describe how a book's pictures connect to its words, like a drawing that shows the rainy day the sentence tells about.
Official wording
Describe the relationship between illustrations and the text. (RI&RL)
KR8
Point to the details in a book that back up its ideas, like the facts that show dogs can be good helpers.
Official wording
Identify specific information to support ideas in a text. (RI&RL)
KR9
Link a book to your own life and to the wider world, like remembering your first day of school when a character starts school.
Official wording
Make connections between self, text, and the world. (RI&RL)

Reading Standards: Foundational Skills

4 standards
Print Concepts
KRF1
Follow print left to right and top to bottom, know that letters in order make a word with spaces between words, and name every upper and lowercase letter.
Official wording
Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.aFollow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.bRecognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.cUnderstand that words are separated by spaces in print.dRecognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.eIdentify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
Common Core RF.K.1
Phonological Awareness
KRF2
Hear and make rhymes, clap syllables, say the first, middle and last sounds in a short word like cat, and swap a sound to make a new word, like cat to hat.
Official wording
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).aRecognize and produce spoken rhyming words.bBlend and segment syllables in spoken words.cBlend and segment onsets and rimes of spoken words.dBlend and segment individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken one-syllable words.eCreate new words by manipulating the phonemes orally in one-syllable words.
Common Core RF.K.2
Phonics and Word Recognition
KRF3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
Official wording
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.aDemonstrate one-to-one letter-sound correspondence by producing the primary sound or most frequent sound for each consonant.bDecode short vowel sounds with common spellings.cDecode some regularly spelled one-syllable words.dRead common high-frequency words by sight.
Common Core RF.K.3
Fluency
KRF4
Join in with beginning reader books and stories read aloud, and show what you understood, like retelling a favorite part.
Official wording
Will engage with emergent level texts and read-alouds to demonstrate comprehension.

Writing Standards

6 standards
Text Types and Purposes
KW1
Draw, talk, dictate or write to share an opinion about something familiar and give one reason for it, like liking recess best because you get to run.
Official wording
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, oral expression, and/or emergent writing to state an opinion about a familiar topic or personal experience and state a reason to support that opinion.
KW2
Draw, talk, dictate or write to name a topic you know well and tell some facts about it, like what a pet cat eats.
Official wording
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, oral expression, and/or emergent writing to name a familiar topic and supply information.
KW3
Tell about one event or a few in the order they happened by drawing, talking, dictating or writing, like a trip to the park.
Official wording
Use a combination of drawing, dictating oral expression, and/or emergent writing to narrate an event or events in a sequence.
KW4
Respond to a book, an author or something from your own life by making something, like acting out a scene, drawing a picture or making up a poem.
Official wording
Create a response to a text, author, or personal experience (e.g., dramatization, artwork, or poem).
Research to Present Knowledge
KW6
Ask questions and work with the class to explore and find answers, then share what was learned, like a class study of how seeds grow.
Official wording
Develop questions and participate in shared research and exploration to answer questions and to build and share knowledge.
KW7
Answer a question by remembering what you have seen or done or by using books the teacher provides, then show it in a drawing, by talking or in early writing.
Official wording
Recall and represent relevant information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question in a variety of ways (e.g., drawing, oral expression, and/or emergent writing).

Speaking and Listening Standards

6 standards
Comprehension and Collaboration
KSL1
Talk with classmates and adults in groups and at play, following rules like taking turns, keeping a back-and-forth going, and respecting how others talk.
Official wording
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse peers and adults in small and large groups and during play.aFollow agreed-upon rules for discussions, including listening to others, taking turns, and staying on topic.bParticipate in conversations through multiple exchanges.cConsider individual differences when communicating with others.
KSL2
Talk with others about what you notice in different kinds of texts and media, like the cover and pictures of a book or the labels on a poster.
Official wording
Participate in a conversation about features of diverse texts and formats.
KSL3
Ask and answer questions to understand what someone said, like asking a visitor to explain a part that was hard to follow.
Official wording
Develop and answer questions to clarify what the speaker says.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
KSL4
Tell about people, places, things and events you know well, adding details, like describing your grandma's kitchen.
Official wording
Describe familiar people, places, things, and events with detail.
KSL5
Make a drawing or use a ready-made picture or chart to help explain what you are describing, like a map of your street.
Official wording
Create and/or utilize existing visual displays to support descriptions.
KSL6
Speak up to share your thoughts, feelings and ideas, like telling the class how it felt to lose a first tooth.
Official wording
Express thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

Language Standards

3 standards
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
KL4
Learn and use new words, including ones with two meanings like duck the bird and duck down, and use word parts like -ed, un- and re- as meaning clues.
Official wording
Explore and use new vocabulary and multiple-meaning words and phrases in authentic experiences, including, but not limited to the following:aIdentify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).bUse the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-, -ful, -less) as a clue to the meaning of a word.
KL5
Explore word meanings by sorting objects into groups, pairing words with opposites like big and small, and acting out similar verbs like tiptoe, stomp and skip.
Official wording
Explore and discuss word relationships and word meanings.aSort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) for understanding of the concepts the categories represent.bDemonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites (antonyms).cUse words to identify and describe the world, making connections between words and their use (e.g., places at home that are colorful).dExplore variations among verbs that describe the same general action (e.g., walk, march, gallop) by acting out the meanings.
KL6
Use new words picked up from conversations, from books and from being read to when talking and responding to stories.
Official wording
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
Common Core L.K.6

The official New York documents

New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Learning Standards, Copyright 2017, New York State Education Department, used with permission.

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.