South Dakota K–6 english language arts standards

Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs to produce complete sentences.

Use regular plural nouns.

Use question words in complete sentences.

Expand complete sentences using descriptive language (e.g. prepositions, adjectives, adverbs) in shared language activities.

Print all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet using correct formation.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.

Recognize end punctuation.

Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of consonant and short vowel sounds.

Begins in grade 2

Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).

Use context to determine or clarify the meaning of unknown words and phrases with guidance.

Determine the relationship between a group of objects or concept words.

Demonstrate understanding of words with similar and opposite meanings.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use.

Acquire and use grade-appropriate vocabulary in conversations, reading, and learning experiences.

Apply left-to-right and top-to-bottom directionality when reading text.

Understand that letters represent individual sounds in spoken language and combine to form words.

Recognize that words are separated by spaces in written text.

Identify and name all uppercase and lowercase letters.

Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book to navigate text appropriately.

Identify the role of the author and the illustrator in a story.

Blend and segment at the word level.

Blend, segment and delete at the syllable level.

Recognize, generate, and categorize rhymes.

Blend, segment, and delete at the intra-syllable level (onset/rime, body/coda).

Isolate phonemes in the beginning, ending, and medial positions.

Blend and segment words with 2-3 phonemes (excluding consonant blends).

Identify all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Associate predictable consonant and short vowel sounds with corresponding letters.

Understand that graphemes represent phonemes.

Use grapheme-phoneme knowledge to decode and encode CVC and open syllable one-syllable words.

Read grade-appropriate high-frequency words.

Read grade-appropriate texts with purpose and understanding.

Read grade-appropriate texts orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody (stress, phrasing, intonation and expression) on consecutive readings.

Self-monitor reading for correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Ask and answer questions about key ideas and details in a text read aloud with prompting and support.

Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text with prompting and support.

Describe the connection between individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text with prompting and support.

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text with prompting and support.

Identify various text features with prompting and support.

Identify the author's purpose for writing a text with prompting and support.

Describe the relationship between visual representations and the text with prompting and support.

Identify the details an author gives to support their opinions in a text with prompting and support.

Compare and contrast two or more texts on the same topic with prompting and support.

Demonstrate listening comprehension of complex texts.

Read and proficiently comprehend grade-appropriate text.

Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks with prompting and support.

Ask and answer questions about story elements in a text read aloud with prompting and support.

Retell familiar stories, including story elements with prompting and support.

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story with prompting and support.

Ask and answer questions about unknown words and phrases, including multiple meaning words with prompting and support.

Explain differences between fiction and informational texts with prompting and support.

Identify the author's purpose for writing a story with prompting and support.

Explain the relationship between illustrations and the text with prompting and support.

Not applicable to literature

Compare and contrast two or more texts with a similar theme with prompting and support

Demonstrate listening comprehension of complex texts.

Read and proficiently comprehend grade-appropriate text.

Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks with prompting and support.

Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

Confirm understanding from content presented by asking questions and requesting clarification.

Ask and answer questions to clarify or get more information about a topic.

Describe familiar people, places, things, and events including additional details with prompting and support.

Add drawings, digital media, or other visual displays to provide additional detail.

Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Compose opinion pieces that tell the reader their opinion on a topic and state a reason using a combination of drawing, dictating and writing.

Compose informative texts that name the topic and a fact using a combination of drawing, dictating and writing.

Narrate a story, telling about the events in chronological order with a character and setting using a combination of drawing, dictating and writing.

Identify the purpose of a writing task.

Respond to questions and suggestions from peers or adults adding details to strengthen writing.

Explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing individually or collaboratively with guidance and support.

Participate in collaborative research and writing projects.

Provide a response to a prompt using a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing by recalling information from experiences or gathering information from provided sources with guidance and support.

Begins in grade 4

Write routinely using a combination of drawing, dictating and writing.

Use common, proper, and possessive nouns.

Use singular and plural nouns and pronouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., Jane hops; We hop).

Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their; anyone, everything).

Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

Use frequently occurring adjectives.

Use frequently occurring conjunctions.

Use determiners (e.g., articles - a, an, the; demonstratives - this, that, these, those).

Use frequently occurring positional prepositions (e.g., under, around, over, beside).

Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence, the pronoun I, dates, and names of people.

Print all uppercase and lowercase letters correctly and fluently. Space letters, words, and sentences appropriately.

Use end punctuation for sentences.

Use commas in dates.

Use conventional spelling for words with common grade-appropriate spelling patterns.

Spell grade-appropriate high-frequency words.

Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.

Begins in grade 2

Use sentence-level context to determine the meaning of a word or phrase.

Use frequently occurring affixes to determine the meaning of a word.

Identify frequently occurring root words (e.g., look) and their inflectional forms (e.g., looks, looked, looking).

Sort words into categories.

Categorize words by one or more key attributes.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use.

Distinguish differences among verbs and adjectives with similar meanings (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl); by defining, choosing, or acting out the meanings.

Demonstrate grade-appropriate vocabulary use across reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Understand that sentences are constructed in a logical sequence.

Recognize key elements of a sentence, including the first word, capitalization, and ending punctuation.

Isolate and identify individual phonemes in spoken words.

Recognize initial, final and medial phonemes in spoken words.

Identify common phonemes in different words (e.g., identifying the /s/ sound in "sun" and "sand").

Distinguish between similar phonemes (e.g., /p/ and /b/).

Categorize words based on shared phonemes (e.g., sorting words with the same initial sound).

Categorize words with different phonemes in specified positions (e.g., initial, medial, final).

Blend phonemes together to form words.

Segment spoken words into individual phonemes.

Segment multisyllabic words into syllables and phonemes.

Delete specified phonemes from words to create new words.

Add phonemes to words to create new words.

Substitute one phoneme in a word to create a new word.

Differentiate between long and short vowel sounds in regularly spelled one-syllable words.

Recognize and apply the sound-letter correspondences for consonants, vowels, consonant digraphs and consonant blends in isolation.

Decode and encode one-syllable words with regular spelling patterns, including CVC, CCVC, CVCC, CVVC, CVCe in context.

Decode common vowel teams to represent long vowel sounds in words.

Read and understand words with inflectional endings in context and recognize how these endings change the meaning or tense of words.

Recognize that every syllable in a word must contain a vowel sound and use this knowledge to determine syllable count in printed words.

Decode two-syllable words by breaking them into syllables and applying phonics patterns in open and closed syllables.

Read and spell grade-appropriate high-frequency words.

Read grade-appropriate text with purpose and understanding.

Read grade-appropriate text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody (stress, phrasing, intonation, and expression) on consecutive readings.

Self-monitor reading for correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Ask and answer questions about key ideas and details in a text.

Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

Compare individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Investigate the meanings of words and phrases used in various contexts.

Recognize various text features and their relationship to each other or the whole.

Identify the purpose of and/or point of view in a text.

Use words or images to describe key ideas in print and digital texts.

Identify the details/evidence an author gives to support points in a text.

Compare and contrast two texts on similar topics to build knowledge.

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate text with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language/literacy features, and knowledge demands).

Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks with guidance and support.

Ask and answer questions about key ideas and details in a text.

Retell stories, including key ideas and details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key ideas and details.

Identify words and phrases in stories, poems, songs, or other texts that have literal (e.g., explicit language) and non-literal meanings (e.g., figurative language) including but not limited to emotions (e.g., feelings or appealing to the senses).

Explain major differences between common text structures and genres.

Use words, illustrations, and details to identify the purpose of and/or point of view in a text.

Use words, illustrations, and details to describe characters, setting, or events in a story including print and digital texts.

Not applicable to literature

Describe what a theme is and identify common themes in stories (e.g., honesty, bravery).

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate texts with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language/literary features, knowledge demands).

Self-select text for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks prompting and support.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions.

Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.

Ask questions to clear up any confusion and provide feedback to peers.

Ask and answer questions about key ideas and details from content presented orally or through other media.

Ask for clarification and seek information to gain understanding related to what a speaker says.

Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

Create visual representations to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.

Introduce an opinion about a topic.

Supply reasons for the opinion.

Provide a concluding statement.

Name a topic.

Include facts about the topic.

Provide a concluding statement.

Recount two or more appropriately sequenced events.

Include details regarding what happened.

Use words to signal event order.

Provide a concluding statement.

Create a plan for writing a piece that organizes an idea with a clear and coherent message with guidance and support.

Develop a piece of writing through revising, editing, and rewriting with peer and teacher guidance and support.

Use a variety of digital tools to write and publish, both individually and collaboratively, with guidance and support.

Participate in collaborative research and writing projects.

Use background knowledge and/or gathered information from multiple print and digital sources to write about a topic in one's own words with guidance and support.

Begins in grade 4

Write routinely to increase stamina in a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences with guidance and support.

Use common, proper, possessive and collective nouns.

Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns.

Use subject verb agreement for singular and plural nouns and pronouns.

Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).

Use adjectives and adverbs and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

Use direction, time, and movement prepositions.

Use conjunctions to produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences.

Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two).

Print letters correctly and fluently. Space words and sentences properly so that writing can be read easily by others.

Capitalize proper nouns.

Use commas in greetings and closings of letters. Use commas to separate single words in a series. Use commas in compound sentences.

Use an apostrophe to form contractions and singular possessives.

Spell grade-appropriate high frequency words correctly in writing.

Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words.

Consult print and digital reference materials, as needed, to check and correct spellings.

Choose words and phrases for effect.

Recognize and observe differences between formal and informal English.

Use sentence-level context to determine the meaning of a word or phrase.

Determine the meaning of words when common prefixes and suffixes are added.

Use a known root word to determine the meaning of an unknown word with the same root.

Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words.

Use print and digital reference materials to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy).

Sort and categorize words by multiple attributes (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, size, color, type).

Acquire and use domain specific vocabulary across reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Segment 5-6 phonemes in words.

Delete initial, final, medial phonemes in words.

Substitute initial, final, and medial phonemes in words.

Decode 2-syllable words that follow all syllable patterns.

Encode 2-syllable words using open syllables, closed syllables, silent e syllables, vowel-r patterns.

Read and spell grade-appropriate high-frequency words.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key ideas and details in a text.

Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text and use key details from the paragraphs to support the main topic.

Explain the relationships between historical events, scientific ideas, or technical procedures in a text.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

Use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.

Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Use and explain how specific images (e.g., photographs, charts, diagrams) contribute to and clarify a text.

Describe how details/evidence support specific points the author makes in a text.

Compare and contrast the main ideas presented by two texts on the same topic.

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate text with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language features, and knowledge demands).

Self-select text for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks with guidance and support.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key ideas and details in a text.

Retell stories, those from various cultures and genres, and determine their central message/theme, lesson, or moral.

Analyze how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Identify and explain how words and phrases create meaning or tone in stories, poems, songs or other texts that have literal and non-literal meanings including but not limited to emotions.

Evaluate the structure of texts, including sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text and how they connect to the overall meaning.

Describe how the point of view from various characters and/or purpose shapes the content of a text.

Use background knowledge, illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Not applicable to literature

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same topic by different authors.

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate texts with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language/literary features, knowledge demands).

Self-select text for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks prompting and support.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions.

Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking comments to the remarks of others.

Ask for clarification and explanation to better understand topics and texts under discussion.

Retell and describe key ideas or details from content presented orally or through other media.

Ask and answer appropriate questions in response to a speaker in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

Tell a story or recount an experience with relevant facts and descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

Create audio recordings, visual displays, performances, or media presentations of stories or poems to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

Introduce an opinion using a topic sentence.

Supply reasons and details that support the opinion.

Use grade-level appropriate linking words to connect the opinion and reasons (e.g., so, but, because, for example).

Provide a concluding sentence or paragraph.

Provide introduction with a topic sentence.

Use facts and details to develop points.

Use grade-level appropriate linking words and phrases to connect ideas.

Provide a concluding sentence or paragraph.

Recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events.

Include details to describe actions, thoughts, dialogue, and feelings.

Use transition words to signal event order.

Provide a sense of closure.

Use various planning tools to provide a clear and coherent message in writing with guidance and support (e.g., brainstorming, outlining, mind map).

Develop the focus of the topic of writing through revision and improve the clarity of the writing through editing with guidance and support from adults, peers, and/or digital tools.

Use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, both individually and collaboratively with guidance and support.

Participate in collaborative research and writing projects to build knowledge.

Use background knowledge and/or information gathered from digital and print sources to write about a topic in one's own words.

Begins in grade 4

Write routinely to increase stamina in a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences with guidance and support.

Read and spell grade-appropriate high-frequency words.

There is not a grade 3 standard for this concept. Please see preceding grades for more information.

Recognize words with common Greek and Latin affixes to enhance vocabulary and word recognition skills.

Apply knowledge of syllable division rules, morphemes, and phonics patterns to decode and encode multisyllabic words accurately.

Apply spelling patterns and rules (e.g., doubling consonants before adding -ed or -ing, dropping silent e when adding a suffix) to spell words accurately.

Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.

Spell correctly, recognizing that some words have commonly accepted variations (e.g. glamour/glamor); consult references as needed.

Decode and encode advanced vowel patterns, including vowel digraphs and diphthongs.

Identify and understand the meanings of common prefixes and derivational suffixes.

Read grade-appropriate text with purpose and understanding.

Read grade-appropriate texts in a variety of genres with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody (stress, phrasing, intonation, and expression).

Self-monitor reading for correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).

Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

Form and use the simple verb tenses.

Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Form and use adverbs and adjectives (comparative and superlative).

Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., your, you're).

Write legibly in print and cursive, using appropriate spacing and margins.

Use correct capitalization.

Use commas in greetings and closings of letters, in addresses, to separate single words in a series and in compound sentences.

Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

Form and use possessives.

Use high-frequency words and spelling patterns to spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting reference materials as needed.

Choose words and phrases for effect.

Recognize and observe differences between formal and informal English.

Use sentence-level context to determine the meaning of a word or phrase.

Determine the meaning of words when affixes are added.

Use a root word to determine the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).

Use print and digital reference materials to determine or clarify meaning of words and phrases.

Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful).

Distinguish subtle differences among closely related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Determine the main idea of a text; identify the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Explain the relationship between events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical procedures text.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Identify the overall text structure or events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or section of a text (e.g., description, chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution).

Identify the author's point of view based on text evidence and distinguish the student's point of view from that of the author.

Use information gained from specific images (e.g., illustrations, maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.

Describe how particular sentences and paragraphs in a text support particular points the author makes.

Compare and contrast the main ideas and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate text with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language features, and knowledge demands).

Self-select text for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks with guidance and support.

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

Retell stories, determine the central message and theme and explain how it is revealed through key details in the text.

Describe the setting and characters in a story and explain how they contribute to the main events.

Identify and explain the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

Explain the different text structures and genres and describe how each successive part relates to each other and the whole.

Identify the point of view in a text and distinguish the student's perspective from that of the narrator or characters.

Explain how the text’s illustrations contribute to the meaning, tone or mood of a text.

Not applicable to literature.

Compare and contrast the central message, themes, settings, and plots of stories about the same or similar topics.

Read and comprehend grade-appropriate texts with increasing challenge in text difficulty and complexity (e.g., layout, text structure, language/literary features, knowledge demands).

Self-select text for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks prompting and support.

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions.

Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

Cooperate and problem solve as appropriate for productive group discussions.

Determine the main ideas and supporting details of content presented in diverse media and formats, such as visual, quantitative, and oral formats.

Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with relevant facts and, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Create audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped.

Provide reasons that support the opinion.

Use grade-level appropriate linking words and phrases to connect opinion and reasons.

Provide a conclusion.

Introduce a topic and group related information together; include text features when useful to support comprehension for the reader.

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

Use grade level appropriate linking words and phrases to connect ideas within categories of information.