Responds to sounds or movements of others in basic ways
Possible Examples
Looks in the direction of voices or movement.
Quiets in response to sound.
Turns toward the soft touch of an adult.
Looks at a familiar adult during feeding.
Source: California Department of Education. 2009. California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations Series. https://www.cdevideos.org/.
Responding Later
Responds to or
seeks contact with
familiar adults,
using vocalizations,
gestures, or facial
expressions during interactions
Possible Examples
Smiles at an approaching familiar adult.
Makes sounds when a familiar adult stops talking.
Reaches toward a familiar adult.
Source: California Department of Education. 2009. California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations Series. https://www.cdevideos.org/.
Exploring Earlier
Engages in brief backand-
forth communication
with a familiar
adult, using word
approximations, vocalizations,
gestures, or facial expressions
Possible Examples
Expresses, “Ba,”in response to an adult talking about a ball, and then waits for the adult to respond.
Waves, “Goodbye,” afte parent waves, “Goodbye.”
Covers eyes to signal an adult to continue playing peek-a-boo.
Source: California Department of Education. 2009. California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations Series.https://www.cdevideos.org/.
Exploring Middle
Engages in brief back and forth communication
with a familiar
adult, using simple
words or conventional
gestures to communicate
meaning
Possible Examples
Communicates, “Yes,” or “No,” after an adult asks, “Do you want more milk?”
Rubs eyes and responds, “Night night,” after a familiar adult asks, “Are you tired?”
Brings a ball to an adult, and then responds, “Ball,” after the adult asks, “Do you want me to play ball with you?”
Exploring Later
Engages in brief
back-and-forth
communication,
combining words
to communicate
meaning
Possible Examples
Makes eye contact with an adult while holding a stuffed bear. When the adult asks, “Whose teddy bear is that?” communicates, “My bear.”
Communicates with an adult, during lunch, “Thêm phô mai,” [“More cheese,” in Vietnamese]. When the adult responds, “You really like cheese!” communicates, “Con thích phô mai,” [“I like cheese,” in Vietnamese].
Communicates, “That’s a monkey,” while reading a story with an adult. When the adult says, “Yes, he’s climbing,” replies, “Climbing up high.”
Building Earlier
Engages in brief
back-and-forth
communication,
using short phrases
and sentences
Possible Examples
Communicates, “是 寶寶,” [“I’m the baby,” in Chinese] after a peer communicates, “I’m the mommy,” while playing house.
Hands play dough to a peer. When the peer takes the play dough and says, “I’m gonna make a dog,” responds, “I’m making a snake.”
Asks a peer for some blocks to put in child’s truck while playing with trucks. When the peer replies, “Here,” and hands over several blocks, responds, “That’s too many,” and takes only two blocks.
Source: California Department of Education. 2016.
Building Middle
Engages in brief conversations with a shared focus
Possible Examples
Communicates, “That’s my family,” while looking at a photo with a peer. When the peer says, “You have two sisters,” responds, “I have a big sister, and that’s my baby sister.”
Responds to an adult’s comments about animals that live in the zoo, “Fui al zoológico,” [“I went to the zoo,” in Spanish]. When an adult replies, “There are lots of animals in the zoo,” child says, “Los caimanes son los animales que más me gustan,” [“I like the alligators best,” in Spanish] and continues to converse about other animals at the zoo.
Has a brief conversation with a peer while looking at a caterpillar together. Comments, “That is really hairy.” When peer responds, “Yeah, really hairy,” child continues, “He has lots of legs, too.”
Source: California Department of Education. 2016.
Building Later
Engages in conversations with a shared focus, contributing
clarifying comments
or building on the
other person’s ideas
Possible Examples
Has a conversation with a peer about things that they like to do together with their families. Says, “My family goes to the park on Sundays.” When peer asks, “Every Sunday?” child responds, “Yeah, but sometimes we go to the park with the swimming pool and sometimes the park with the big playground.” Then when peer says, “My grandma takes me to the park,” child responds, “My grandma takes me to the store.” Conversation continues.
Has a conversation with an adult about the size of dinosaurs. When the adult says that dinosaurs were all different sizes, child responds by naming a big dinosaur, then naming a small dinosaur. Then when the adult says that some dinosaurs had horns, child continues the conversation by saying that some dinosaurs flew like birds.
Source: California Department of Education. 2016.
Integrating Earlier
Engages in extended focused conversations that involve reasoning, predicting, problem solving, or understanding ideas
Possible Examples
Has a conversation with an adult while planting sunflower seeds together, asking how to plant the seeds and making guesses about how big the plants will get and how long it will take before the plants begin to grow.
Has a conversation with a peer before and while building a fort, including offering ideas on what materials they need and suggesting ways to make sure that the walls keep standing as they are building it.
Has a conversation with an adult about how dinosaurs lived and how people live, providing suggestions about what it would be like if dinosaurs and people lived in the same place.
