ARM 10.53.415. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND LITERACY STANDARDS FOR KINDERGARTEN

(1) Foundational reading standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) understand print concepts by: (i) following words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page; (ii) recognizing the distinguishing features of a sentence; (iii) locating essential text features of a book; (b) understand phonemic awareness by: (i) identifying initial, final, and medial phonemes in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words with automaticity; (ii) orally blending phonemes in CVC words with automaticity; (iii) orally segmenting phonemes in CVC words with automaticity; (c) demonstrate decoding skills by: (i) naming and producing the most common sounds for all consonants; (ii) demonstrating knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships between consonant graphemes and their most commonly occurring phonemes; (iii) demonstrating knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships between vowel graphemes and short vowel phonemes; (iv) decoding words using one-to-one phoneme-grapheme correspondences in VC and CVC words with accuracy; (v) reading decodable texts accurately; and (d) demonstrate encoding skills by: (i) encoding words using one-to-one phoneme-grapheme correspondences in VC and CVC words with accuracy; (ii) printing many upper and lowercase letters. (2) Vocabulary standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) use word learning strategies to determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases; (b) develop and apply expanding word knowledge through shared reading and classroom conversation; and (c) with prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text, including those with cultural significance to Montana Indigenous Peoples. (3) Fluency standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) read common high-frequency words with accuracy and automaticity. (4) Reading comprehension standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) with prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in text read aloud and presented through other media, including texts by and about Montana Indigenous Peoples; (b) retell a familiar story; (c) with prompting and support, participate in discussions about the central idea and key details in a text, including those by and about Montana Indigenous Peoples; (d) during or after a shared reading or listening experience, identify elements within stories and describe connections between events or ideas in an informational text; (e) identify whether a text is telling a story or sharing information; and (f) identify who is telling the story at various points in a shared reading of a literary text, including texts by and about Montana Indigenous Peoples. (5) Writing standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) state a personal opinion orally, visually, or in written form; (b) make an informative statement about a topic and offer one or two details about the topic, orally, visually, or in written form; (c) tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, orally, visually, or in written form; (d) in a shared setting, develop and strengthen writing by using a process including planning and drafting; (e) with prompting and support, form and expand simple sentences orally and in writing; and (f) demonstrate grade-level appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (6) Research and inquiry standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) with guidance, participate in shared research and writing projects, finding at least one topic to learn more about; (b) with guidance, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources on a topic; and (c) with guidance, participate in shared research, using grade-appropriate sources and diverse cultural perspectives, including those by and about Montana Indigenous Peoples. (7) Speaking and listening standards for kindergarten are that each student will be able to: (a) participate in structured discussions and routines with a variety of partners, speak clearly, and practice taking turns and listen to others; and (b) demonstrate grade-level appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar when speaking.