Maryland ELA RF.K.3.d

ELAKindergartenReading Foundational Skills

The Standard

RF.K.3: Know and apply phonics and word analysis skills in decoding and encoding words. Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabetic principle. Form/print all upper and lowercase letters correctly, using a common path of movement. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. Know and apply phonics skills in order to decode and encode one-syllable words. Read common high-frequency words by sight. Decode and encode words that are minimal pairs. Decode words with the most common inflectional suffixes.

Know and apply phonics skills in order to decode and encode one-syllable words.

Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students say the sounds in a one-syllable word and blend them to read it. They listen for the sounds in a spoken word and write the letters that spell them.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student reads map by saying each sound and blending them. When asked to spell sun, the student says its sounds and writes the letters in order.
Common Misconceptions: Students may guess a word from its first letter instead of reading through it. When spelling, they may leave out the middle vowel or choose a letter with the right name but the wrong sound.
How to Assess It: On an exit ticket, ask students to read map aloud. Then say sun and ask them to write it.

Lesson moves

Give students letter tiles to build map, say each sound, then swap m for t and read tap.
Ask, "Why does map need the letter a?" Have partners say each sound and point to its letter.
Play a card flip game: students read a word card, turn it over, and write the word from memory.
Have students label a classroom cup and bin on sticky notes, then read each label aloud.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RF.K.3.d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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