Overview of the Span
T
he first years of schooling are critical ones. In transitional kindergarten through grade one,
children acquire the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that establish the foundation for a
lifetime of learning. They develop new understandings about how the world works, and they
begin to build autonomy in their own learning. Children
experience and thoughtfully engage with a range of high-
quality literary and informational texts. They comprehend
and use increasingly varied vocabulary, grammatical
structures, and discourse practices as they share with
one another their understandings and ideas about texts
and other learning experiences. They learn about the
English written system and acquire the foundational
skills that enable them to interact independently with
print as readers and writers in the years ahead. Children
achieve these skills and understandings through carefully
specified and strategically sequenced instruction and rich,
authentic experiences in a developmentally appropriate
environment that recognizes and responds to their social-
emotional, physical, and cognitive needs, all of which
are critical to long-term literacy development (Dickinson,
McCabe, and Essex 2006; see also the position statement on developmentally appropriate practice
by the National Association for the Education of Young Children 2009 at http://www.naeyc.org/files/
naeyc/file/positions/PSDAP.pdf).
Children who are English learners (ELs) participate fully in the ELA and other content curricula
at the same time as they are learning English as an additional language. In transitional kindergarten
through grade one, EL children, too, learn to interact in meaningful ways with texts and with others.
They learn to collaborate with peers, exchanging information about the texts they are listening to
or reading and contributing their ideas and opinions in conversations. They produce language in an
increasing variety of ways through writing and discussing, and they develop an awareness about
how language works. They make great strides during the grade span by participating in a carefully
designed instructional program that immerses them in rigorous and meaningful content. It is important
to note that, even as children are learning English as an additional language, California values the
primary languages of its students and encourages their continued development. This is recognized by
the establishment of the State Seal of Biliteracy. (See the introduction to this ELA/ELD Framework.) In
addition, and as discussed in chapters 2 and 9, California takes
an additive stance to language development for all children.
This ELA/ELD Framework views the nonstandard dialects of
English (such as African American English or Chicana/Chicano
English) that linguistically and culturally diverse students may
bring to school from their homes and communities as valuable
assets—resources in their own right and solid foundations to
be built upon for developing academic English.
California’s diverse population includes children
with disabilities. These children also participate in the
rigorous ELA/literacy curriculum. Expectations are high,
but accompanying high expectations are appropriate instruction (including collaborations among
specialists, teachers, and families) and supports and accommodations that allow for students’
Children achieve these skills and
understandings through carefully
specified and strategically
sequenced instruction and
rich, authentic experiences in a
developmentally appropriate
environment that recognizes and
responds to their social-emotional,
physical, and cognitive needs, all
of which are critical to long-term
literacy development.It is important to note that,
even as children are learning
English as an additional
language, California values
the primary languages of
its students and encourages
their continued development.132 | Chapter 3 Transitional Kindergarten to Grade 1