Rule 10.53.407 - READING STANDARDS: FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS(1) Reading standards foundational skills for a student at the kindergarten level are: (a) demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print; (i) follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page;(ii) recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters;(iii) understand that words are separated by spaces in print; and(iv) recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet;(b) demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes); (i) recognize and produce rhyming words;(ii) count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words;(iii) blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words;(iv) isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words (this does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/); and(v) add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words;(c) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant;(ii) associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels;(iii) read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does); and(iv) distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ; and(d) read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.(2) Reading standards: foundational skills for a student at the Grade 1 level are: (a) demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print; (i) recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation);(b) demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes); (i) distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words;(ii) orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends;(iii) isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words; and(iv) segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes);(c) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs;(ii) decode regularly spelled one-syllable words;(iii) know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds;(iv) use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word;(v) decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables;(vi) read words with inflectional endings; and(vii) recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words;(d) read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension; (i) read on-level text with purpose and understanding;(ii) read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings; and(iii) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.(3) Reading standards: foundational skills for a student at the Grade 2 level are: (a) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words;(ii) know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams;(iii) decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels;(iv) decode words with common prefixes and suffixes;(v) identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences; and(vi) recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words;(b) read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension; (i) read on-level text with purpose and understanding;(ii) read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings; and(iii) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.(4) Reading standards: foundational skills for a student at the Grade 3 level are: (a) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes;(ii) decode words with common Latin suffixes;(iii) decode multisyllable words; and(iv) read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words;(b) read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension; (i) read on-level text with purpose and understanding;(ii) read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings; and(iii) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.(5) Reading standards: foundational skills for a student at the Grade 4 level are: (a) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context;(b) read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension; (i) read on-level text with purpose and understanding;(ii) read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings; and(iii) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.(6) Reading standards: foundational skills for students at the Grade 5 level are: (a) know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words; (i) use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context;(b) read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension; (i) read on-level text with purpose and understanding;(ii) read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings; and(iii) use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.Mont. Admin. r. 10.53.407
NEW, 2011 MAR p. 2520, Eff. 11/26/11.20-2-114, MCA; IMP, 20-2-121, 20-3-106, 20-7-101, MCA;