Læsemålet står i læseplanen.

Because Danish normally writes compound nouns as one word.

• læsemål = læse
  • mål
• læseplan = læse
  • plan

This is very common in Danish. Where English often uses two words, Danish often joins them into one compound. The last part is the main noun, and the first part modifies it.

So:

• mål is the core of læsemål
• plan is the core of læseplan

The definite ending is then added to the whole compound:

• læsemål → læsemålet
• læseplan → læseplanen

-et is the definite article ending for many neuter singular nouns.

So:

• et læsemål = a reading goal / a reading objective
• læsemålet = the reading goal / the reading objective

The important thing is that the head noun mål is a neuter noun, so it takes et in the indefinite form and -et in the definite form.

Because plan is a common gender noun, not a neuter noun.

So:

• en læseplan = a curriculum / a syllabus / a reading plan
• læseplanen = the curriculum / the syllabus / the reading plan

In Danish singular nouns, the definite ending depends on gender:

• common gender: -en
• neuter: -et

That is why you get:

• læsemålet
• læseplanen

In Danish, the is very often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

So instead of a separate word like in English, Danish often does this:

• et mål = a goal

• målet = the goal

• en plan = a plan
• planen = the plan

That is why the sentence has læsemålet and læseplanen, not separate words for the.

A separate article such as den or det can appear, but usually when there is an adjective or special emphasis, for example det store mål.

Yes, står literally comes from stå, meaning to stand. But in this sentence it is being used in a very common Danish way about written information.

When Danish says something står i a book, document, law, or plan, it often means:

• it is written there
• it says that there
• it appears there
• it is stated there

So here står does not mean physical standing. It is an idiomatic way to talk about what a text says.

A very common pattern is:

• Det står i bogen. = It says so in the book.
• Det står i loven. = It is stated in the law.

står is the present tense of stå.

Basic forms:

• infinitive: at stå
• present: står
• past: stod
• past participle: stået

In this sentence, the present tense is used for a general fact: the reading objective is stated in the curriculum.

That is completely normal in Danish, just as in English you might say a document says something in the present tense.

This is standard Danish main-clause word order:

subject + verb + other elements

So here:

• Læsemålet = subject
• står = verb
• i læseplanen = prepositional phrase

Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb typically comes in second position in a main clause.

That also means that if you move something else to the front, the verb still stays second:

• I læseplanen står læsemålet.

That version is more marked or stylistic, but it is grammatical. The verb står remains in second position.

i usually means in.

Here it introduces the place where the information is found: in the curriculum.

With documents, books, plans, and similar things, Danish very often uses i when talking about written content:

• i bogen
• i avisen
• i rapporten
• i læseplanen

So står i læseplanen is a very natural expression for is written in the curriculum or is stated in the curriculum.

You could, and people would understand you, but står i is usually more natural when you mean that something is written in a text.

Compare the nuance:

• står i læseplanen = is stated/written in the curriculum
• er i læseplanen = is in the curriculum

The second one is not wrong, but it sounds less specific about the fact that it is written there as information. Danish often prefers står i for this kind of meaning.

Not as a full verb in the sentence. Inside the compounds læsemål and læseplan, læse- functions as the first part of a compound noun.

It comes from the verb læse = to read, but here it acts more like a modifying element.

This is very common in Danish compounds:

• spisebord = dining table
• skrivebord = desk
• læseplan = reading/curriculum plan
• læsemål = reading goal/objective

So it is related to the verb, but in this sentence it is part of nouns, not functioning as a separate verb.

These are two letters that English speakers often ask about.

• æ is a front vowel somewhat like the vowel in English cat, though the exact sound is Danish and can vary by word and speaker.
• å is a back rounded vowel somewhat like the vowel in English awe or law.

In this sentence:

• læse- contains æ
• mål contains å

The exact pronunciation of the whole words is best learned by listening, because Danish vowel quality and sentence melody are hard to guess from spelling alone. But as a first guide:

• æ ≈ open front vowel
• å ≈ rounded vowel like aw

That is a good starting point.