Kindergarten Language Arts FAQ

The kindergarten language arts block is 90 minutes long. This allows time for whole group instruction, teacher directed small group, independent work, and closure.

The model schedule, developed in collaboration with the Elementary Language Arts Office, uses a balanced literacy approach and takes into account the needs of our earliest learners. This schedule and associated expectations have been shared with administrators as well as teachers at our literacy workshops.

The expectation is that whole group and small group instruction occurs daily.

The Launching the Kindergarten ELA Block Schedule document offers a step-by-step breakdown for introducing small group rotations through a scaffolded approach. Note that at the beginning of the year, it is appropriate to plan for smaller chunks of time in order to meet the developmental needs and promote success with the model.

Whole group instruction, which includes opportunities for speaking and listening, shared & interactive read-alouds, shared & interactive writing, handwriting, foundational skills, community-building, and social foundations, is an important component of the early childhood classroom.

All components do not occur daily; rather, teachers plan an intentional balance of instruction according to student needs and standards.

Throughout the week, teacher-directed small group instruction includes a purposeful balance of the following, responsive to student need:

• Guided reading (e.g., lessons following the Jan Richardson's "Next Steps in Guided Reading" templates, etc.)
• Writing instruction (e.g., purposes of writing, writing in response to reading, read alouds, or shared reading, Kindergarten Writing Units of Study, etc.)
• Foundational skills and other targeted instruction(e.g., Words Their Way and other foundational skills, etc.)

Use Records of Reading Behaviors to Notice and Support and other data points to identify skills and behaviors appropriate to student developmental levels; please note that students of all developmental levels should receive instruction on guided reading, guided writing, and foundational skills.

Kindergarten teachers must intentionally model and teach instructional routines, procedures, and behaviors in whole group, small group, and independent settings. At the beginning of the year, children in kindergarten need to learn the habits of being a student. Getting them into the habit of small group work early helps develop muscle memory and the understanding that during instruction, students will spend time working with a teacher, working with friends or other adults, and working independently.

First Week

Meeting with small groups and building routines starts the first week of school. Students can participate in shared reading, shared writing, or oral language experiences, explore literacy manipulatives, and engage in other age-appropriate literacy activities as teachers observe students and collect data. 

First Three Weeks

During the first three weeks of school, kindergarten teachers meet with small groups to intentionally model and teach age-appropriate executive function skills and instructional routines, procedures, and behaviors. This is also a good time to get to know students as learners and observe for grouping needs. These include:

• expectations and procedures for group rotations and transitions such as clean up, retrieving and storing materials, etc.;
• community-building, emotional and behavior regulation, and other social emotional skills;
• procedures for using manipulatives such as magnetic letters, books, white boards and dry erase markers, picture cards, scissors, etc.;
• Cutting, sorting, and storage procedures (i.e., for teams using Words Their Way sorts);
• procedures such as "turn and talk," "thumbs up, thumbs down" and other EPR techniques, etc.;
• early literacy skills; 
• etc.

First Four Weeks

As routines and procedures are established, teachers begin teacher-directed small group instruction based on needs of individual students. Early small group experiences should be joyful, building confidence in young students as they learn to see themselves as readers and writers. Handwriting, shared reading, interactive writing, foundational skills, oral language games, etc. are a good starting point, but planning should be mindful of individual needs. Groups are formed based on ongoing observation, KRA, etc.

In most cases, the goal is to meet with each group daily. The purpose of meeting with each group is to ensure all students have equitable access to differentiated, small group balanced literacy instruction with a teacher at their developmental level (note this does not mean guided reading every day). Another purpose is to consider the needs of a five-year-old. Without small group instruction, a student could potentially be working alone for over an hour! When we consider that kindergarten is the first year of mandatory schooling, it is important for teachers to not only teach students the content but to also teach them to be students. Time with the teacher helps students to be members of the learning community, sets them up for success, and provides daily feedback for learning needs.

Groups should have no more than 6-7 students. Class sizes in kindergarten vary greatly. Three to four groups are suggested, which are flexible and based on current assessment data and student need. Students with greater need should be in smaller groups as much as possible.

The Pre-A Reading Behaviors Checklist was developed as an instructional and articulation tool for predominant use in prekindergarten. It could be used in kindergarten for a very small group of children to bridge the gap for those with very little readiness, but not for very long (typically one quarter). Using the Emergent Behaviors to Notice and Support checklist will still ensure instruction of beginning literacy skills. If teams need help using the Emergent Behaviors to Notice and Support checklist when planning for certain groups they should contact their Reading Support Teacher (RST) or the Office of Early Childhood Programs.

No! According to The Next Step in Guided Reading, “Once students know most of their letters and have enough English to understand simple directions, they are ready for emergent guided reading lessons” (Richardson, 2009, p. 59). Children in kindergarten that do not meet these criteria should receive teacher-directed instruction that includes use of the Pre-A guided reading lesson plans. These plans include targeted instruction on letters and sounds, writing, and within leveled text. They should also receive follow-up, guided instruction from another adult.

Students who cannot identify at least 40 upper- and lowercase letters in the alphabet (including both uppercase and lowercase), should trace an alphabet book with a “tutor” (e.g., paraeducator, 5th helper, parent volunteer, etc.) every day. These daily experiences should be brief. Directions and materials can be found in the Kindergarten Language Arts Canvas page, under Guided Reading.

Teachers should use a balance of informational and literature leveled text. Leveled texts have been purchased for all teams by the Office of Early Childhood Programs (See Inventory) and Elementary Language Arts (“Book Rooms”); many teams also use MOI funds to purchase additional titles.

Reproducible books (e.g. Reading A-Z) should not be used for guided reading instruction as children need opportunities to interact with and read real text. However, reproducible books can be used in book boxes or sent home for family use.

At beginning of year, it may take longer than the designated timeframe until routines are established. Teachers should be flexible with timing of lesson components based on the developmental needs of their students (e.g., 3 days v. 2 days), but should do all components in suggested order so as to establish routines and procedures. When planning guided reading lessons, consider how to best use the individual components and remember to keep a 50% rule in mind; that is, students should spend half of the guided reading lesson within text.

Please note there is a 10-min lesson plan in The Next Steps in Guided Reading book for struggling readers.

We do not recommend a “letter of the week” structure; this instructional approach slows down student learning and does not take into account the wide variety of letter knowledge that students bring to the classroom. Visit Reading Rockets Links to an external site. for a post about about letter of the week.

Children DO need direct instruction on phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics based on the Kindergarten ELA Standards and the Behaviors to Notice and Support Checklists. Those instructional components should be based on developmental reading levels and students should have time to practice these skills repeatedly following guided instruction.

Modeled, shared, interactive, guided, and independent writing are a part of balanced literacy. Various components of balanced literacy should be incorporated into the 90 minute language arts block according to student need and the current place in the instructional cycle. The writing genres and standards can be taught with whole group mini lessons and teacher directed small group instruction. Additionally, there may be times when the entire language arts block is devoted to writing, with opportunities for scaffolded instruction, feedback, and revision.

The Jan Richardson templates address guided writing in response to reading, and should be incorporated into guided reading instruction.

Yes! Instruction in proper letter formation helps focus mental resources on the process of writing, increases automaticity, and can support the letter-sound relationship. Brain science Links to an external site. suggests cognitive process of reading may be connected to the motor process of forming letters. Visit Reading Rockets Links to an external site. for further information about the importance of handwriting in the early grades.

Letter practice should be scaffolded to support the development of muscle memory with proper formation. A balance of whole group mini lessons and scaffolded independent practice should occur, but does not need to happen daily.

Depending on fine motor development, blank handwriting worksheets do not provide enough models of correct formation for some students. A balance of traceable letters alternating with opportunities for independent formation ensures students consistently have practice with correct formation. Use highlighter or gray marker for solid line traceables. Another option is configuration boxes. Scaffolds such as these can be removed as individuals progress.

Visit the Fine Motor Development module in Canvas for more resources and information.

Leveled text (independent level), big books, familiar stories (e.g., “Goldilocks and the Three Bears), poetry (pocket chart poems, poetry journals, poems on chart paper), “read around the room,” nursery rhymes, etc.

If after using observational data, running records, and any optional assessments, teachers feel they cannot give a benchmark for some students, they can mark the child's benchmark as Pre-A in Synergy. Please be aware of the end of quarter instructional expectations and providing children with daily, teacher-directed instruction and age-appropriate opportunities to develop mastery.

Children who are still working on Pre-A skills, i.e., using the Pre-A guided reading templates, should be marked as Emergent for their developmental level. Their benchmark should be marked as Pre-A. Pre-A is not a developmental level for reading; instead, it is a term used for non-readers who have not yet been able to demonstrate reading skills and strategies with emergent text.