K Expectations

LITERACY

By the end of Kindergarten, students should be able to fluently identify all letters and letter sounds.  In addition, students should be able to independently segment sounds and blend them together to read & write simple words. Here are some examples of simple words that students should be able to independently read & write by the end of Kindergarten: CVC words (such as rag, let, pin, hop, mud), CCVC words (such as thin, shut, chop, grab, plug).

Students will also practice fluently reading "nonsense words." These are CVC words that are not real words, but help students to build a strong phonics foundation. All nonsense words have a short vowel sound in the middle. Click here for examples of nonsense words to practice each month.

WRITING

By the end of Kindergarten, students should be able to write 2 or more sentences to express their ideas.  It is expected that the above Kindergarten sight words are spelled correctly (I call this "book spelling") in writing, but students are encouraged to simply write all the sounds they hear ("sound spelling") when writing unfamiliar words.  

Perfect Book Spelling (NOT expected in Kindergarten!): I went to the party with my friends and we played games.

**Sound Spelling (with book spelling for sight words): I went to the prde with my frs and we playd gams.

Sound Spelling (with limited sight word knowledge): I w to the prde w my frs and we plad gams.

**The middle example of sound spelling is in line with what we would expect to see by the end of Kindergarten**

By the end of the year, students should also have legible letter formation, use adequate spaces between words, begin sentences with capital letters, and end sentences with punctuation. 

ASSESSMENTS

We will be administering DIBELS literacy assessments in the Fall, Winter, & Spring. 

This year, we will begin using iReady to assess students' progress in literacy and math. 

Various other formal and informal assessments are used throughout the year to gauge students' progress.