Kindergarten English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Kindergarten english language arts in the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Speaking and listening: explore and reflect. Students will speak and listen to explore, extend, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences.
- Speaking and listening: communicate. Students will be able to communicate information and ideas effectively and clearly, and to respond personally and critically.
- Speaking and listening: interact with respect. Students will be able to interact with sensitivity and respect, considering the situation, audience, and purpose.
- Reading and viewing: select and read. Students will be able to select, read, and view with understanding a range of literature, information, media, and visual texts.
- Reading and viewing: interpret and combine information. Students will be able to interpret, select, and combine information using a variety of strategies, resources, and technologies.
- Reading and viewing: respond personally. Students will be able to respond personally to a range of texts.
- Reading and viewing: respond critically. Students will be able to respond critically to a range of texts, applying their understanding of language, form, and genre.
- Writing and representing: explore and reflect. Students will be able to use writing and other ways of representing to explore, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and learning; and to use their imagination.
- Writing and representing: create texts. Students will be able to create texts collaboratively and independently, using a variety of forms for a range of audiences and purposes.
- Writing and representing: strategies. Students will be able to use a range of strategies to develop effective writing and other ways of representing and to enhance their clarity, precision, and effectiveness.
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Read aloud every day and let your child finish familiar phrases.
- Play with sounds: “What starts with /b/? What rhymes with cat?”
- Point out letters on signs, cereal boxes and the street.
- Ask your child to tell you a story about their drawing, and write down a sentence or two.
What each unit covers
Letter Partners
Matching capital (big) letters with their lowercase (small) partners, including look-alikes such as b, d, p and q.
First Sounds
Hearing the first sound in a word (b in bus) and linking it to its letter. Say the words out loud together and stretch out the first sound.
Rhyme Time
Hearing rhymes (cat, hat) and spotting a word that doesn't rhyme. Rhyming games build the listening skills behind reading.
Clap the Beat
Breaking words into syllables (ba-na-na) by clapping. Clap along out loud: one clap for each part you hear.
Sight Words
Recognizing common words such as the, see, can and my, plus colour and number words, by looking closely at their letters.
Story Order
Putting events in order, and listening to short stories to tell what happened at the beginning, middle and end.
Book Detectives
How print works: telling letters, numbers, words and sentences apart, reading left to right and top to bottom, counting words, and what authors and illustrators do.
Picture Clues
Using the picture and the first letter to read a word or a short sentence, a key early reading strategy.
Blend a Word
Listening for the sounds in a word, blending them to read it, and counting the sounds in words.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Not Yet Achieving
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Good
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Excellent
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Newfoundland and Labrador report card guide.
Common questions
Read aloud every day and let your child finish familiar phrases. Play with sounds: “What starts with /b/? What rhymes with cat?” Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum Kindergarten english language arts units include letter partners, first sounds, rhyme time, clap the beat, sight words, story order.
Free printable Kindergarten english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.