What does a student learn in StateMaryland,GradeKindergarten,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Students answer questions about a story by pointing to words or pictures in the book that back up what they said.

Students listen to a story and figure out what it is mostly about. Then they name the moments or details that show that idea.

Students name a character or event from a story and talk about what happened and why. They start to notice that one thing in a story can lead to another.

Students notice how individual words in a story change the feeling or meaning of what they read. A word like "crept" tells a different story than "walked."

Students notice the difference between a story and a poem. They see how a book is put together, from a single sentence to a whole page to the full book.

Students notice who is telling a story and how that shapes what gets said. A tale told by a bear feels different from the same tale told by the rabbit he scared.

Students look at pictures, photos, or illustrations in a book and talk about what the images add to the story. They connect what they see to what they hear read aloud.

Kindergartners are not expected to evaluate arguments in literary texts. This standard is typically assessed at higher grade levels and likely does not apply to Kindergarten Reading Literature.

Two stories can share the same idea or topic even when the words and pictures look different. Students listen to or read two books on the same subject and talk about what is alike and what each author does differently.

Students listen to and follow along with stories and simple books on their own, building the habit of reading a little further each time.

Students answer questions about a book by pointing to or talking about what the words on the page actually say. They back up their answers by going back to the book.

Students pick out the main idea of a nonfiction book and name the details that support it. Think of it as finding what a book is mostly about, then pointing to the parts that prove it.

Students look at a short book about the real world and explain how one thing leads to another. For example, why a frog grows from a tadpole, or what happens after a seed gets planted.

Students learn what unfamiliar words mean by looking at the words and pictures around them in a nonfiction book. They practice noticing how the author's word choices change the feel of the writing.

Students notice how a book is set up: where the beginning, middle, and end are, and how the sentences and pages work together to explain one idea.

Students notice that the person who wrote a book or article made choices about what to include and how to say it. They start to ask why the author told it that way.

Students look at a photo, chart, or drawing alongside a short text and talk about what both show together. The picture and the words each add something the other doesn't.

Students listen to a nonfiction book and decide whether the author's reason for a big idea actually makes sense. Does the proof match the point?

Two books can cover the same topic in different ways. Students look at two nonfiction books on the same subject and notice what each one teaches and how the authors chose to tell it.

Kindergartners listen to and make sense of books about real topics, like animals, weather, or how things work. Over the year, they build the reading habits needed to tackle harder books on their own.

Students learn that print works in a specific order: left to right, top to bottom, word by word. They also start to recognize where a book begins, where spaces fall between words, and what punctuation marks look like.

Students learn that spoken words are made of smaller parts. They practice breaking words into syllables and individual sounds, like hearing that "cat" has three sounds: /k/, /a/, /t/.

Students sound out simple words by matching letters to the sounds they make. This is the foundation of learning to read.

Students read simple words and short sentences out loud smoothly enough to understand what the words mean together, not just what each word says on its own.

Students pick a side and explain why, using words or pictures to back up what they think. This is the beginning of learning to argue with reasons, not just feelings.

Students pick a topic they know and write sentences that share real facts about it. The goal is clear, true information, not a story.

Students write short stories about things that happened to them or characters they make up. They put events in order and add details that help the story make sense.

Writing should match its purpose: a story reads differently than a list or a letter. Students learn to shape what they write based on who will read it and why.

Students practice making their writing better by planning what to say, fixing words or sentences, and trying again if something isn't working.

Students practice typing or dictating their writing on a computer or tablet, then share it with a teacher or classmate. This standard is about using simple tools to get writing in front of an audience.

Students pick a question they want to answer, find out what they can about it, and show what they learned. It's the first step toward knowing how to look something up and make sense of what they find.

Students pick a topic, find facts from books or websites, and put those facts into their own words. They learn to check whether a source can be trusted before using it.

Students point to a picture or sentence in a book to back up something they said or drew about it. This is the early habit of showing where an idea came from.

Students practice writing often, for different reasons: to tell a story, share an opinion, or explain something. Some pieces take a few days to finish; others are quick writes done in a single sitting.

Students take turns talking and listening in a group, adding on to what a classmate just said instead of waiting to say something unrelated. The goal is a real back-and-forth, not just a series of solo speeches.

Students watch, listen to, or look at something (a video, a picture, a song) and talk about what they learned from it.

Students listen to someone talk and think about whether what the speaker says makes sense and whether they have good reasons for saying it.

Students share an idea out loud and give a reason or detail that helps listeners follow along. The words and examples they choose fit the situation, whether talking to a partner, a small group, or the whole class.

Students add drawings or pictures to a presentation to help listeners understand what they are saying.

Students practice switching between everyday talk and more formal speech, like using complete sentences with a teacher instead of casual phrases with a friend.

Students learn the basic rules of English, like how to name things, ask questions, and put words in order that make sense. These habits show up in both talking and writing.

Students practice the basic rules of written English: capitalizing the first word in a sentence, adding a period at the end, and spelling simple words correctly.

Students learn that word choice matters. The same idea can sound different depending on who you're talking to, and picking the right words helps readers and listeners understand exactly what you mean.

When students hit a word they don't know, they look at the words around it, break it into parts, or check a reference like a picture dictionary to figure out what it means.

Words can mean more than they say. Students learn to notice when language is playful or unexpected, like "the wind is crying," and to see how words connect and differ in meaning.

Students learn and practice everyday school words like "compare," "describe," and "category" so they can use them correctly in conversation, reading, and writing. Building this shared vocabulary early makes every other subject easier to follow.