Oral language, vocabulary, reading habits and, in the early grades, phonics, spelling, fluency and handwriting: the building blocks of reading and writing.
K.1 Foundational skills: oral language — listening, talking and group discussion
K.1A Listen actively, pose questions to understand information, and reply to questions with multi-word answers
K.1B Restate and carry out spoken directions made of a short, linked series of actions
K.1C Speak audibly and clearly to convey information and ideas, following language conventions
K.1D Collaborate with others by following agreed discussion rules, including taking turns
K.1E Build social communication, such as introducing oneself, using common greetings, and stating needs and wants
K.2 Foundational skills: beginning reading and writing — sounds in words, print concepts, phonics and word parts for decoding and spelling
K.2A Show phonological awareness: spot and produce rhymes; notice spoken alliteration (shared first sounds); pick out words in a spoken sentence; find syllables in spoken words; blend and split syllables in longer words; blend onsets and rimes into simple words; blend phonemes into one-syllable words; manipulate syllables in a longer word; split one-syllable words into phonemes
K.2B Show and apply phonics knowledge: identify and match the common sounds that letters stand for; decode with letter-sound relationships, including words with VC, CVC, CCVC or CVCC patterns; see that changing, adding or removing letters makes new words, for example it, pit, tip, tap; and identify and read 25 or more high-frequency words drawn from a research-based list
K.2C Show and apply spelling knowledge: spell words with VC, CVC or CCVC patterns, spell words that follow sound-spelling patterns, and spell high-frequency words drawn from a research-based list
K.2D Show print awareness: identify a book's front and back covers and its title page; hold a book right side up, turn pages correctly, and know that reading runs left to right and top to bottom, with a return sweep; see that sentences are made of words with spaces between them and recognize where words begin and end; tell a letter from a printed word; and identify every uppercase and lowercase letter
K.2E Develop handwriting by forming every uppercase and lowercase letter correctly with proper directionality
K.3 Foundational skills: vocabulary — use newly learned words expressively
K.3A Find words using a resource like a picture dictionary or a digital tool
K.3B Use illustrations and readable or heard texts to learn or clarify what words mean
K.3C Identify and use words for actions, directions, positions, sequences, locations, and categories like colors, shapes and textures
K.4 Foundational skills: self-sustained reading — choose texts and engage with them independently for growing stretches of time
K.4A Choose texts and engage with them independently for growing stretches of time
Comprehension Skills
Using reading strategies to understand, summarize and make sense of what students read and hear.
K.5 Comprehension: use metacognitive strategies to build and deepen understanding of increasingly complex texts
K.5A Decide why to read texts that are assigned or self-chosen, with adult assistance
K.5B Pose questions about text at every stage of reading (before, during, after) to build understanding and gather information, with adult assistance
K.5C Make predictions and confirm them, relying on structures and features of the text, with adult assistance
K.5D Visualize ideas with adult assistance to strengthen understanding
K.5E Link a text to one's own experiences, to ideas in other texts, and to society, with adult assistance
K.5F Make inferences and back them with evidence, with adult assistance
K.5G Weigh details to decide which matter most, with adult assistance
K.5H Combine information to build new understanding, with adult assistance
K.5I Monitor comprehension and adjust when understanding breaks down, for example by re-reading, drawing on background knowledge, checking visuals or asking questions, with adult assistance
Response Skills
Responding to texts in speaking and writing, with evidence and personal connections.
K.6 Response: react to an increasingly challenging range of texts and sources read, heard or viewed
K.6A Describe how various sources connect to oneself personally
K.6B Respond to a text orally, with pictures, or in writing
K.6C Back up a fitting response with evidence from the text
K.6D Retell texts while keeping their meaning intact
K.6E Interact meaningfully with sources, for instance by illustrating or writing
K.6F Respond using newly learned vocabulary where fitting
Multiple Genres
Reading and analyzing fiction, poetry, drama, informational texts and media, and what makes each genre work.
K.7 Multiple genres: literary elements — recognize and analyze story elements within and across ever more complex traditional, contemporary, classic and diverse literary texts
K.7A Discuss topics and identify the basic theme with evidence from the text, with adult assistance
K.7B Name and describe the main character or characters
K.7C Describe how a plot develops, including the central events, the problem and its resolution, in read-aloud texts with adult assistance
K.7D Describe the setting
K.8 Multiple genres: genre traits — recognize and analyze features, structures and purposes inside and between ever more complex traditional, contemporary, classic and diverse texts
K.8A Show knowledge of what sets familiar kids' literature apart, for example nursery rhymes, folktales, fairy tales and fables
K.8B Talk about rhythm and rhyme in nursery rhymes and varied poems
K.8C Discuss the main characters in drama
K.8D Recognize how informational text works, including: its central idea plus evidence (with adult help); titles and simple graphics that give information; and ordered steps (with adult help)
K.8E Recognize traits of persuasive text, with adult help, and state what the author wants readers to think or do
K.8F Recognize features of multimodal and digital texts
Author's Purpose and Craft
How authors choose words, structure and techniques to inform, persuade and entertain.
K.9 Author's purpose and craft: analyze authors' choices and how they shape meaning, then apply craft deliberately in one's own products and performances
K.9A Discuss why an author wrote a text, with adult assistance
K.9B Discuss how text structure supports the author's purpose, with adult assistance
K.9C Discuss how an author uses print and graphic features for specific purposes, with adult assistance
K.9D Discuss how an author uses wording that helps readers picture things, with adult assistance
K.9E Listen to and experience texts told in first and third person
Composition and Writing
Writing process, genres of writing, and the conventions of grammar, usage, punctuation and spelling.
K.10 Composition: writing process — use the process recursively to compose multiple legible texts with suitable conventions
K.10A Plan by generating writing ideas through class discussion and drawing
K.10B Develop oral, pictorial or written drafts by organizing ideas
K.10C Revise drafts by adding details through pictures or words
K.10D Edit drafts, with an adult's help, for standard English conventions, covering complete sentences, verbs, nouns (singular and plural), adjectives including articles, prepositions, subjective, objective and possessive pronouns, a capital letter to begin a sentence and a name, end marks on statements, and correct spelling of high-frequency words and words with grade-level spelling patterns and rules
K.10E Share writing
K.11 Composition: genres — use genre traits and craft to compose multiple meaningful texts
K.11A Dictate or compose literary works, including personal narratives
K.11B Dictate or compose informational texts
Inquiry and Research
Asking questions, finding and evaluating sources, and presenting what was learned.
K.12 Inquiry and research: engage in brief and extended recursive inquiry for varied purposes
K.12A Come up with questions for both formal and informal inquiry, with an adult's help
K.12B Create and carry out a research plan, with an adult's help
K.12C Collect information from a range of sources, with adult assistance
K.12D Show understanding of the information collected, with adult assistance
K.12E Present results in a suitable delivery mode: written, oral or multimodal
How many Kindergarten TEKS ELAR Standards are there?
There are 56 Kindergarten TEKS ELAR Standards on this page, in 7 strands: Foundational Language Skills, Comprehension Skills, Response Skills, Multiple Genres, Author's Purpose and Craft, Composition and Writing, and Inquiry and Research.
How do I write an assessment for a Kindergarten TEKS ELAR standard?
Pick a standard on this page and choose Make a quiz. AssessmentWiz opens the generator with the standard's code and text filled in, so every question targets that standard.
What does a code like K.1A mean?
TEKS ELAR codes read grade, knowledge and skills statement, student expectation. In K.1A, the first number is the grade (K for kindergarten), the next number is the knowledge and skills statement, and the letter is the student expectation under it.