Skip to main content
Ohio Standards

Ohio Kindergarten ELA Standards

All 43 Ohio English language arts standards for kindergarten, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's document, linked at the end of this page.

43 standards

Reading Literature

9 standards
RL.K.1
Ask and answer questions about the important details in a story, play or poem that an adult reads aloud.
RL.K.2
Retell a story an adult reads aloud, including its important details, like who was in it and what happened.
RL.K.3
After hearing a story read aloud, name its characters and setting and list the major events that happen.
RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions to work out what new or important words mean in a story read aloud.
RL.K.5
Tell what kind of literary text is being read aloud, like a story or poem, and point out its front cover, back cover and title page.
RL.K.6
Find the author and illustrator of a story read aloud and describe how the words and the pictures each help tell it.
RL.K.7
Describe what the pictures in a story read aloud show or help explain, like which moment of the story a picture captures.
RL.K.9
Tell how characters in stories read aloud are alike and different in what they do and what happens to them.
RL.K.10
Use what you already know and things you have lived through to make sense of a story, poem or play read aloud.

Reading Informational

9 standards
RI.K.1
Ask and answer questions about the important details in a nonfiction text read aloud, like a book about animals or the past.
RI.K.2
Retell the main topic and the key facts and ideas from a nonfiction text an adult reads aloud.
RI.K.3
Tell how two people, events or ideas in a nonfiction text read aloud are connected, like how a storm leads to a flood.
RI.K.4
Ask and answer questions to figure out the meaning of new or key words in a nonfiction book read aloud.
RI.K.5
Point to the front cover, back cover and title page of a nonfiction book read aloud to show how books are put together.
RI.K.6
Find the author and illustrator of a nonfiction book read aloud and describe how the words and the pictures each share facts and ideas.
RI.K.7
Describe what the titles, headings and pictures in a nonfiction text read aloud tell the reader.
RI.K.9
With an adult's help, tell how two nonfiction texts about one topic are alike and different in their facts, pictures or features.
RI.K.10
With support, draw on what you already know and have lived through to understand a nonfiction text read aloud.

Reading Foundations

4 standards
RF.K.1
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.
Common Core RF.K.1
RF.K.2
Hear and say rhymes, syllables and single sounds in spoken words quickly, like splitting c-at, naming the middle sound in sun, or blending four sounds into a word.
RF.K.3
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.
Common Core RF.K.3
RF.K.4
Read simple decodable books built on phonics patterns already taught aloud, accurately, smoothly and with expression, to understand them.

Writing Foundations

3 standards
WF.K.1
Write all lowercase and most capital letters on your own, quickly and correctly, with proper strokes, shape, spacing, direction, line placement and pencil grip.
WF.K.2
Spell and print words of up to three sounds on your own when someone says them, like cat or sun.
WF.K.3
Print a simple sentence on your own using taught spellings and sight words, with capitals where needed, spaces between words and the right end mark.

Writing

7 standards
W.K.1
Draw, tell or write to share an opinion about a topic or book, like which story you liked best.
W.K.2
Draw, tell or write to give information or explain something about a topic, like how to plant a seed.
W.K.3
Draw, tell or write about one event or a series of events, like what happened on a trip to the park.
W.K.5
With an adult's help, answer questions and use suggestions to add details that make your writing stronger.
W.K.6
With an adult's help, try out different tools for making and sharing writing, sometimes working together with classmates.
W.K.7
With an adult's help, use your own experiences or sources you are given to find information that answers a question.
W.K.8
With an adult's help, take part in group research or writing projects on a topic that grow vocabulary, language and early writing skills.

Speaking and Listening

6 standards
SL.K.1
Join kindergarten discussions with a partner, small group or the class, following the rules by listening, taking turns, staying on topic and keeping the talk going.
SL.K.2
Answer questions about the key details in a text, a conversation or media like a video to show you understood it.
SL.K.3
Ask questions to get help, find information or understand something better about a topic or task.
SL.K.4
With an adult's help, add fitting details when describing familiar people, places, things and events out loud.
SL.K.5
Hold up pictures, objects or other visuals so listeners can better understand your ideas, thoughts and feelings.
SL.K.6
Say your thoughts, ideas and feelings in simple sentences that have a subject and a verb, like The dog runs.

Language

5 standards
L.K.1
Use correct grammar in speech and writing, like common nouns and verbs, plurals with s or es, question words, common prepositions, and growing short sentences as a class.
L.K.2
Recognize capital letters and end marks when sharing ideas, capitalizing the first word of a sentence and the word I, and naming end punctuation.
L.K.4
Figure out new and multiple-meaning words from read-alouds or talks, show them by using, acting out or drawing them, and use parts like -ed, -ing or un- as clues.
L.K.5
Sort objects or pictures into groups like foods, match common verbs and adjectives to their opposites, and act out similar verbs like walk and march.
L.K.6
Use words you have learned in new situations and show how they connect to real life, like pointing out colorful places around the school.

The official Ohio documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Ohio's standards, not the official wording, which Ohio Department of Education and Workforce publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.