Kindergarten
Kindergarten is a highly anticipated year by many
children and their families. It is a time of hope and
expectation, much of it centered on gaining independence
with written language. The kindergarten ELA/literacy
program is designed to facilitate children’s acquisition
of the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that set them
on the path to become lifelong readers and writers and
effective communicators in the global 21st century. The CA
ELD Standards provide additional guidance to teachers for
supporting EL students as they learn the range of subject
matter and develop proficiency in English.
In kindergarten, children learn the purposes of print through engagement with a wide variety of
texts across content areas and in their own attempts to express their ideas and knowledge in writing.
They recognize that reading is a meaning-making act and are provided instruction in comprehension
that promotes literal and higher-level thinking about texts and topics. They make great advances in
the acquisition of vocabulary and in the understanding and use of varied and increasingly complex
sentence structures, and they use their developing language to share ideas about texts and topics
under study. Instruction includes a significant focus on how print works, and kindergarten children
make considerable progress in understanding the logic of the alphabetic code. At the same time,
children have rich exposure to excellent literature that stirs their imaginations and ignites their
curiosity about their worlds. ELA/literacy and ELD instruction are part of a much broader kindergarten
program that provides rich, engaging, hands-on learning experiences that build content knowledge in
science, social studies, mathematics, health, the arts, and more.
This grade-level section provides an overview of the key themes of ELA/literacy and ELD
instruction and then focuses on ELD instruction. Snapshots and longer vignettes bring several of the
concepts to life.
Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction in
Kindergarten
Kindergarten ELA/literacy and ELD instruction should be age-appropriate, carefully sequenced,
thoughtfully planned, and focused on clear objectives and needs. Furthermore, instruction should
occur in an environment that is responsive to the social, emotional, physical, linguistic, and
cognitive needs of young children as it conveys the thrill of becoming literate. This section includes
discussions of the key themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD instruction as they apply to kindergarten:
Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective Expression, Content Knowledge,
and Foundational Skills. (See figure 3.20.) These themes are
situated in a motivating, engaging, respectful, and intellectually
challenging context, and they are integrated across the curricula.
Children’s achievement of the grade-level standards reflected
in these themes are a preliminary—and essential—step toward
their ultimate realization of the overarching goals of ELA/literacy
and ELD instruction: Students develop the readiness for college,
careers, and civic life; attain the capacities of literate individuals;
and acquire the skills for living and learning in the complex,
information and technologically rich, and global world of the 21st
century. Moreover, the ELA/literacy instruction called for in this
In kindergarten, children
learn the purposes of print
through engagement with a
wide variety of texts across
content areas and in their own
attempts to express their ideas
and knowledge in writing.Kindergarten ELA/literacy
and ELD instruction
should be age-
appropriate, carefully
sequenced, thoughtfully
planned, and focused
on clear objectives and
needs.Kindergarten Chapter 3 | 201