PK–12 Essential Standards and Benchmarks

Kahua Standards and Benchmarks

PK-12 essential standards and benchmarks for Hawaiian-focused education.

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Kindergarten - English / LA

In addition to HFCS ‘Āina-based Learning Competencies (click to view), the PK-12 English Language Arts (E/LA) kahua is grounded in the belief that the purpose of reading and writing is constructing meaning. Reading allows the reader to construct meaning based on the writing by an author and writing allows the writer to construct meaning to convey to a reader.

  • ELA.K.1Learn about my various moʻokūʻauhau (i.e. my ʻohana, my school, my home/school ʻāina).
  • ELA.K.2Use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words to kilo, identify, name, and read environmental indicators (i.e. senses, intuition, prior knowledge) in order to make inferences and predictions.
  • ELA.K.3Demonstrate loina when participating in cultural protocol (i.e. school-wide piko, oli mahalo, puka kula, kamaʻāina/malihini).
  • ELA.K.4Frequently interact with my ʻāina at various times of day and year to develop a relationship with ʻāina.
  • ELA.K.5Celebrate the accomplishments of historical and contemporary Hawaiian community leaders and emulate their actions (i.e. aliʻi, ʻōpūaliʻi/kapu aloha, kiaʻi).

  • ELA.K.6Explore and use literacy materials (books, paper, writing and drawing implements, computers) independently for own purposes and across curriculum areas.
  • ELA.K.7Begins to have a preference of topics to read about.
  • ELA.K.8Reflect on the quality of own work and behavior.

  • ELA.K.9Initiate and engage in conversations with peers, teachers, family members, and others.
  • ELA.K.10Engage appropriately in instructional discourse with teachers and students using appropriate terminology when discussing literacy and culturally appropriate communication (mele, oli, place names, protocol ).
  • ELA.K.11Speak about a topic fluently with enthusiasm to an audience.

  • I.Reading, Writing, Language & Vocabulary
    • ELA.K.12Listen actively and / or read written pieces and environmental print with support.
    • ELA.K.13Engage in discussion of multiple genres of text (mele / poetry, narrative, and informational).
      • a.Make connections between text ideas and life experiences of self and others
      • b.Ask and answer questions and retell key details in a text including characters, settings and major events illustrations, interesting vocabulary and language patterns
      • c.Notice patterns in text including sequence, beginning and ending, rhyme, and repeated vocabulary
    • ELA.K.14Label or write captions for illustrations, including own name.
      • a.Write all letters and draw about important experiences, information, and ideas to tell a story, share information, or state an opinion
      • b.Practice conventional formation of letters and spacing of words to support reading by others using appropriate sequence of strokes when forming letters
      • c.Write words to form sentence-like phrases or short sentences to express ideas using the writing process
    • ELA.K.15Use and refer to sources of information (ʻike kupuna, interviewees, and text) in writings and oral presentations (e.g. My anakala showed me the way to pick lāʻi).

  • ELA.K.16Notice that letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs convey important information.
  • ELA.K.17Recognize all upper and lowercase letters.
  • ELA.K.18Recognize most sound-symbol relationships between consonants and some vowel letters.
  • ELA.K.19Recognizes some high frequency words and own name.