C1: Knowledge About Texts
In this strand, students will apply their foundational knowledge and skills to understand what they read. In Kindergarten, the focus was on building oral language, language comprehension skills, and the foundational phonics skills to be able to read and write simple words and sentences. In Grade 1, students begin to apply those foundational skills to read and comprehend short, simple texts which will continue to become more complex as the year progresses and their foundational phonics knowledge grows. Students will not only improve their reading comprehension skills but also continue to develop their overall language comprehension by listening to others read various texts and engaging in discussions to deepen their understanding of the content.
The curriculum expectations in Kindergarten and Grade 1 are closely connected, with the skills and knowledge gained in Kindergarten laying a strong foundation for success in Grade 1 and beyond.
During Kindergarten, the focus was on:
In the 2016 Kindergarten program, the focus is on general ‘Literacy Behaviours’, as opposed to specific expectations. Here are the expectations that are outlined in the Kindergarten Program, as they related to reading comprehension:
- Listening to stories and texts
- Sharing ideas and responses to texts
- Learning that texts can communicate a message
- Express their thoughts and ideas with increasingly extensive and specialized vocabulary
- Ask and respond to questions that demonstrate and require predicting, making inferences, connecting, and critiquing
- Readers use the words, illustrations, and their prior experiences to make sense of text
New for Grade 1:
- Reading short, simple texts
- Identifying simple fiction and non-fiction texts
- Sequencing and chronological order
- Text features:
-Illustrations, symbols, and titles
-How these text features help readers, listeners, and viewers understand the text - How illustrations, images, and graphics are related to the text
- Describe how word choice, word patterns, and sentence structure help communicate meaning
- Identify the narrator’s point of view (POV) and suggest an alternative POV to tell the story
- Read, listen to, and view various forms of text by diverse First Nations, Metis, and Inuit creators to help build understanding and knowledge of the various aspects of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit histories, cultures, relationships, communities, groups, nations, and lived experiences
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of all expectations in this strand. For a more detailed view, please see the official Ontario curriculum.
Further Reading
- See resources on the C. Reading Comprehension page
Suggested Resources
- See resources on the C. Reading Comprehension page
