Which of the following is NOT a common academic standard for kindergarten students in decoding and identifying words?

The correct answer addresses the misconception regarding the focus of common academic standards for kindergarten students. In kindergarten, students are typically expected to engage with foundational skills in decoding, particularly focusing on the sounds associated with individual letters (phonemes) and their combinations to form words. Therefore, decoding monosyllabic words using initial and final consonant and vowel sounds is indeed an important skill, but the emphasis is on recognizing more than just the boundaries of the sounds; it also encourages students to blend sounds together effectively.

The other options highlight essential standards that are commonly used in early literacy development. Understanding how letter sequences correspond to sounds helps students begin recognizing the phonetic structure of words, which is critical for developing reading skills. Recognizing that word sounds can change with different letters teaches students about the variability of language. Matching letters to consonant sounds and reading simple sight words are foundational tasks meant to build fluency and comprehension as students learn to recognize and decode words efficiently.

In summary, option C, while related to decoding skills, does not align with the most common standards for these early stages of literacy development, which focus more on phonemic awareness and the blending of sounds rather than just identifying individual sounds at the start and end of words.