Kindergarten
Listening
- Follows one to two simple directions in a sequence
- Listens to and understands ageappropriate stories read aloud
- Follows a simple conversation
Speaking
- Is understood by most people
- Answers simple yes or no questions
- Answers open-ended questions (What did you learn at school today?)
- Retells a story or talks about an event
- Participates appropriately in conversations
- Shows interest in and starts conversations
Reading
- Knows how book works (read left to right and top to bottom)
- Understands that spoken words are made up of sounds
- Identifies words that rhyme
- Compares and matches words based on their sounds
- Understands that letters represent speech sounds and match sounds to letters
- Identifies upper and lower case letters
- Recognizes some words by sight
- “Reads” a few pictures books from memory
- Imitates reading by talking about pictures in a book
Writing
- Prints own first and last name
- Draws a picture that tells a story and labels and writes about the picture
- Writes upper and lower case letters (maybe not clearly)
1st Grade
Listening
- Remembers information
- Responds to instructions
- Follows two- to threestep directions in a sequence
Speaking
- Is easily understood
- Answers more complex yes or no questions
- Tells and retells stories and events in a logical order
- Expresses ideas with a variety of complete sentences
- Uses most parts of speech (grammar) correctly
- Asks and respond to "w" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
- Stays on topic and take turns in conversation
- Gives directions
- Starts conversations
Reading
- Creates rhyming words
- Identifies all sounds in short words
- Blends separate sounds to form words
- Matches spoken words with print
- Knows how a book works (e.g., read from left to right and top to bottom in English)
- Identifies letters, words, and sentences
- Sounds out words when reading
- Has a sight vocabulary of 100 common words
- Reads grade-level material fluently
- Understands what is read
Writing
- Expresses ideas through writing
- Prints clearly
- Spells frequently used words correctly
- Begins each sentence with capital letters and uses ending punctuation
- Writes a variety of stories, journal entries, or letters and notes
2nd Grade
Listening
- Follows three to four oral directions in a sequence
- Understands direction words (e.g., location, space, and time words)
- Correctly answers questions about a grade-level story
Speaking
- Is easily understood
- Answers more complex "yes or no" questions
- Asks and answers "w" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
- Uses increasingly complex sentence structures
- Clarifies and explains words and ideas
- Gives directions with three to four steps
- Uses oral language to inform, to persuade, and to entertain
- Stays on topic, takes turns, and uses appropriate eye contact during conversation
- Opens and closes conversation appropriately
Reading
- Has fully mastered phonics or sound awareness
- Associates speech sounds, syllables, words, and phrases with their written forms
- Recognizes many words by sight
- Uses meaning clues when reading (e.g., pictures, titles and headings, information in the story)
- Rereads and self-corrects when necessary
- Locates information to answer questions
- Explains key elements of a story (e.g., main idea, main characters, plot)
- Uses own experience to predict and justify what will happen in grade-level stories
- Reads, paraphrases or retells a story in a sequence
- Reads grade-level stories, poetry or dramatic text silently and aloud with fluency
- Reads spontaneously
- Identifies and uses spelling patterns in words when reading
Writing
- Writes legibly
- Uses a variety of sentence types in writing essays, poetry, or short stories (fiction and nonfiction)
- Uses basic punctuation and capitalization appropriately
- Organizes writing to include beginning, middle, and end
- Spells frequently used words correctly
- Progresses from inventive spelling (e.g., spelling by sound) to more accurate spelling
3rd Grade
Listening
- Listens attentively in group situations
- Understands grade-level material
Speaking
- Speaks clearly with an appropriate voice
- Asks and responds to questions
- Participates in conversations and group discussions
- Uses subject-related vocabulary
- Stays on topic, uses appropriate eye contact, and takes turns in conversation
- Summarizes a story accurately
- Explains what has been learned
Reading
- Demonstrates full mastery of basic phonics
- Uses word analysis skills when reading
- Uses clues from language content and structure to help understand what is read
- Predicts and justifies what will happen next in stories and compare and contrast stories
- Asks and answers questions regarding reading material
- Uses acquired information to learn about new topics
- Reads grade-level books fluently (fiction and nonfiction)
- Rereads and corrects errors when necessary
Writing
- Plans, organizes, revises and edits
- Includes details in writing
- Writes stories, letters, simple explanations and brief reports
- Spells simple words correctly, corrects most spelling independently, and uses a dictionary to correct spelling
4th Grade
Listening
- Listens to and understands information presented by others
- Forms opinions based on evidence
- Listens for specific purposes
Speaking
- Uses words appropriately in conversation
- Uses language effectively for a variety of purposes
- Understands some figurative language
- Participates in group discussions
- Gives accurate directions to others
- Summarizes and restate ideas
- Organizes information for clarity
- Uses subject area information and vocabulary (e.g., social studies) for learning
- Makes effective oral presentations
Reading
- Read for specific purposes
- Read grade-level books fluently
- Use previously learned information to understand new material
- Follows written directions
- Takes brief notes
- Links information learned to different subjects
- Learns meanings of new words through knowledge of word origins, synonyms, and multiple meanings
- Uses reference materials (e.g., dictionary)
- Explains the author's purpose and writing style
- Reads and understands a variety of types of literature, including fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, and poetry
- Compares and contrasts in content areas
- Makes inferences from texts and paraphrases content, including the main idea and details
Writing
- Writes effective stories and explanations, including several paragraphs about the same topic
- Develops a plan for writing, including a beginning, middle, and end
- Organizes writing to convey a central idea
- Edits final copies for grammar, punctuation, and spelling
5th Grade
Listening
- Listens and draws conclusions in subject area learning activities
Speaking
- Makes planned oral presentations appropriate to the audience
- Maintains eye contact and uses gestures, facial expressions and appropriate voice during group presentations
- Participates in discussions across subject areas
- Summarizes main points
- Reports about information gathered in group activities
Reading
- Reads grade-level books fluently
- Learns meanings of unfamiliar words through knowledge of root words, prefixes, and suffixes
- Prioritizes information according to the purpose of reading
- Reads a variety of literary forms
- Describes development of character and plot
- Describes characteristics of poetry
- Analyzes author's language and style
- Uses reference materials to support opinions
Writing
- Writes for a variety of purposes
- Uses vocabulary effectively
- Varies sentence structure
- Revises writing for clarity
- Edits final copies
|