Comprehension

Comprehension: what you need to know

Reading comprehension is the process of making meaning from written text. In Kindergarten, this begins as children listen to texts read aloud and starts to develop further as they learn to read simple words and sentences themselves.

To understand what they read, children draw on their knowledge of words and sentence structure, connect to what they already know about the world, and use their developing word-reading skills to access the text. As accuracy and automaticity in reading improve, children are better able to focus on meaning.

What’s new in the 2026 Curriculum?

The 2026 Kindergarten curriculum provides greater specificity about what comprehension development looks like and what students are expected to demonstrate. Expectations more clearly describe how students make meaning from oral and written language, including vocabulary, sentence structure, and connected ideas.

Compared to the 2016 program, which often emphasized general approaches such as picture cues or personal connections, the revised curriculum places more emphasis on understanding language within the text. It also clarifies how students engage with texts, highlighting purposeful responses such as retelling, answering questions, and making simple inferences grounded in what was heard or read.

Transitioning to comprehension in Grade 1

The 2026 Kindergarten curriculum aligns closely with the Grade 1 Language curriculum (2023), supporting a clear progression from oral language comprehension to reading comprehension. In Kindergarten, students build the language and knowledge foundations that allow them to understand texts read aloud and begin to make meaning from simple written texts. This prepares them to engage in Grade 1 reading, where comprehension increasingly depends on both accurate word reading and the ability to understand sentence structures, vocabulary, and connected ideas.

Teaching comprehension

Effective instruction in comprehension focuses on building language, knowledge, and meaning-making through intentional, explicit teaching.

Educators support comprehension by reading aloud regularly and engaging students in discussion about texts. During these interactions, they model how to think about meaning, ask questions, and connect ideas.

Vocabulary is developed intentionally, with important words introduced and revisited in meaningful contexts. Attention is also given to sentence structures to support understanding of how ideas are organized.

Assessing comprehension

Assessment of comprehension focuses on how students make meaning from text. Educators gather evidence during conversations, read-alouds, and interactions with texts.

Pedagogical documentation captures how students use vocabulary, background knowledge, and language structures to explain ideas, retell texts, and respond to questions.

Assessment also draws on information from broader literacy measures. Data from universal screening and classroom tasks can provide insight into whether students have the foundational skills that support comprehension, such as vocabulary knowledge and developing word reading.

This information is used to guide instruction and determine when additional support may be needed, ensuring students are developing the skills required to understand texts