Child will develop the ability to speak and/ or sign in increasingly complete, complex, precise, and varied ways.
What educators might observe
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Speaks clearly, modifying volume so that all listeners can understand
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Asks and answers “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “why” questions about an topic of interest
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Refines vocabulary so it better expresses the meaning that they want to express
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Categorizes vocabulary by parts of speech
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Enjoys puns
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Artfully combines English with home language(s) to better convey meaning, play with language, and/or strengthen relationships
Child will develop their ability to listen and understand complete, complex, precise, and varied language.
What educators might observe
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Understands positional and directional words (e.g., here, there, over, next to, in front, under, or between)
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Becomes logical in their comprehension of vocabulary (e.g., figures out the meaning of words based on their root)
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Demonstrates knowledge of sequence of events and understands cue words and phrases (e.g., before, yesterday, later that day, after, next year)
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Uses clues in story they have heard to make inferences
Child uses language to relate to others according to the social expectations of their family, community, and culture.
What educators might observe
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Makes up secret languages
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Uses language to include or exclude children from peer groups
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Navigates different ways of using language and flexibly uses different forms and variations to improve communication or affiliation
Child enjoys, attends to, understands, and makes meanings from spoken and written language of storytelling and books.
What educators might observe
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Reads independently for pleasure
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Paraphrases a part of a book and explains why it is important
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Monitors own comprehension and understanding in a variety of ways
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Reads an informational book to learn about an area of interest, using text features such as the glossary to find information
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Hears a well-known story told by a friend and compares it to a movie version of the same story, pointing out differences in the main character
Child develops the ability to recognize and manipulate the different sounds in spoken language(s).
What educators might observe
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Explores and identifies the concept of silent “e” (e.g., adds “e” to “hid” to change the word to “hide” and understands the vowel sound has changed)
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Develops awareness of letters that have more than one sound (e.g., notices the “o” in “row” makes a different sound than the “o” in “dog”)
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Incorporates blends, digraphs, prefixes, and suffixes into their invented spelling
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Uses segmenting in order to read larger words by breaking word down into initial sounds or syllables (/fac/ /tor/ /y/ for factory)
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Recognizes the base of a word and common prefixes and suffixes and uses them to make different words (e.g., “trans,” “port,” and “ed” or “ing”)
Child uses materials and/ or language to make meaning for themselves and/or an audience.
What educators might observe
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Varies the types of sentences that they use in their compositions
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Writes stories with a beginning, middle, and end
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Collaborates with a peer to plan, write, and illustrate a story
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Plans and develops a writing composition over the course of several days
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Uses an editing checklist to try to incorporate features of non-fiction (For example, to revise the non-fiction book All About Birds , the child uses a checklist and adds a Table of Contents)
Child views, creates, and makes meaning of visual communication and multimedia documentation, which includes drawings, collections, photographs, videos and displays.
What educators might observe
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Uses vocabulary, such as “audience” and “represent,” to discuss the work of a filmmaker
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Discusses an artist’s decision to use memory, imagination, or observation in their creation
