Skip to main content
Wisconsin Standards

Wisconsin Kindergarten ELA Standards

All 33 Wisconsin English language arts standards for kindergarten, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's document, linked at the end of this page.

33 standards

Reading Foundational Skills

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 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.
Common Core RF.K.2
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 very simple beginner books with a purpose in mind and understand what they say.
Common Core RF.K.4

Reading

9 standards
R.K.1
Ask and answer questions about a story or a nonfiction book, with help from an adult.
R.K.2
Retell a familiar story and share the important details from a nonfiction book, with help.
R.K.3
Name the characters, setting, and big events in a story, or key facts in a nonfiction book, with help.
R.K.4
Point out words in a book that show feelings, like happy or scared, and words tied to its topic, with help.
R.K.5
Tell a storybook apart from a book that gives facts, like a fairy tale and a book about frogs.
R.K.6
Explain the job of the author and the job of the illustrator in sharing the ideas of a book.
R.K.7
Tell how the pictures in a book connect to the words on the page, with help from an adult.
R.K.8
Find facts in a nonfiction book that back up an idea it shares, with help from an adult.
R.K.9
Tell how two books are alike and different, with help, and notice that books can show your own culture and other cultures.

Writing

9 standards
W.K.1
Draw, tell, and write pieces that reflect, inform, or imagine, for both quick everyday tasks and bigger finished work.
W.K.2
Draw, dictate, and write to give an opinion about a book, share facts on a topic, or tell about events in order with a reaction.
W.K.3
Draw, dictate, and write pieces that try an opening, show some order, and use familiar words.
W.K.4
With adult help, draw, dictate, and write pieces whose ideas and order fit the task, the audience, and the writer's culture.
W.K.5
With an adult's help, listen to classmates' questions and ideas about a piece of writing and add details to make it better.
Common Core W.K.5
W.K.6
With adult help, try digital tools to share writing with classmates, and learn to write by printing letters, cursive, or typing.
W.K.7
Join class research and writing projects, like reading several books by a favorite author and sharing what you think of them.
W.K.8
With an adult's help, answer a question by remembering something that happened or by looking in books the teacher provides.
Common Core W.K.8
W.K.9
With adult help, recall facts about characters, setting, and key details from stories and nonfiction books to research a question.

Speaking and Listening

5 standards
SL.K.1
With help, join class talks by listening, taking turns, staying on topic, going back and forth, asking questions, and respecting others.
SL.K.2
With help, ask and answer questions about the important details in a read-aloud book, a video, or a spoken talk.
SL.K.3
Ask a question to get help, find something out or clear up something confusing, and answer questions from others.
Common Core SL.K.3
SL.K.4
With help, tell about people, places, things, and events you know well, like a pet or a trip to the park.
SL.K.5
With help, make a drawing or use a picture to add detail when describing something.

Language

6 standards
L.K.1
Learn that people speak in different ways across cultures and settings, and value the many languages heard among classmates and teachers.
L.K.2
Figure out unknown words by noticing that some words have two meanings, like duck, and using parts like un- and -ed as clues.
L.K.3
With adult help, ask about new words, sort objects into groups, learn verb opposites like push and pull, and act out verbs like walk and march.
L.K.4
Build vocabulary alone and with others when meeting new words, including school and topic words, and use words that fit the situation.
L.K.5
Use nouns, verbs, plurals, question words like who and what, and complete sentences correctly when speaking, and know when formal English fits.
L.K.6
Capitalize a sentence's first word, name common punctuation marks, and write letters for sounds to spell simple words like cat and sun.

The official Wisconsin documents

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