Introduction to Kindergarten

Students in kindergarten learn concepts of print, recognize individual sounds in words, write their first and last names, and recognize all letters in the alphabet. Students share personal interests, listen to others, and engage in collaborative conversations. Kindergarten students begin to identify authors and illustrators of books and describe characters and settings. They ask and answer basic yet relevant questions about texts, retelling facts and details. Students begin drawing, labeling pictures, or writing to tell a story or share information. They expand their grade-level vocabularies and apply their knowledge of those words as they communicate through speaking, drawing, and writing. Kindergarteners begin to write simple sentences that begin with a capital letter and conclude with an end mark. They also use props, illustrations, or movements to express themselves. Students participate in read-alouds, developing stamina for listening.

2021 Resources

Literacy Progressions

Student skill levels for each objective from the standards are shown at the developing, approaching, understanding, and extending stages.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework for improving student learning experiences and outcomes through careful instructional planning focused on the varied needs of all students, including students with visible and non-visible disabilities, advanced and gifted learners, and English learners.

Some general ideas for implementing the UDL lens in an ELA lesson, PK-12, are provided in this chart.

These exemplar lesson plans showcase best practices for English language arts. These lessons are aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards and bundle together multiple objectives to showcase the recursive nature of ELA. Each lesson plan includes helpful explanations about the instructional plan and steps. Teachers can review these sample lessons on their own, with a colleague, and/or with their professional learning community, to reflect on the highlighted ELA practices and how they mesh with their own current classroom practices.

Lesson plans are available for each grade featuring texts from the following genres: fiction, nonfiction, & poetry.

Moreover, an exemplar lesson plan sequence regarding Standard 6 research is available for each grade band.

This suite of writing resources includes:

• student-friendly checklists for the narrative, informative, argumentative, and research modes
• editing checklists for the beginning and middle of the school year
• examples of teacher feedback on student writing
• a peer feedback lesson plan with a slideshow and handout

• Engagement Strategies
• Family Guide
• Kindergarten ELA Standards (pages 16-23)