Listed below are the concepts we will be working on throughout the year. Your child will be given a math assessment and a reading skills assessment once each quarter.
The results will be shared with you at conferences. Math:
-Count in sequential order: at least 0-20
-Number Recognition: 0-10 (beginning) 0-20 (end)
-Identify basic shapes
-Understand More/Same/Less
-Understand Ordinal words (first, second, third, last)
-Sort items by 1 or more attributes
-Understand positional words (near, over, in, under, between, next to)
-Identify patterns (ABAB, ABC)
-Make a 1 to 1 correspondence (make a row of blocks so there is one green block for every white block)
-Building and ordering sets 0-10
-Write numbers: at least 0-20
-Understand Equal vs. Non-equal
-Basic Addition/Subtraction
-Building an ordered series (putting blocks in order from longest to shortest)
Phonics/Phonemic Awareness:
-Rhyming
-Segmentation (breaking apart words)
-Isolation (identifying beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words)
-Deletion (taking part of a word away to form another word ex. say mailbox without box)
-Substitution (changing letters to make new words ex. map to mop)
-Blending (putting word parts together to form words ex. win - dow, window)
-Graphemes (knowing sounds that correspond with letters or a combination of letters)
-Decoding (pronouncing made up words)
Reading:
Kindergarten students are expected to be reading simple books by the end of the year. We use a leveling system that starts at level A and goes to Z (reached in 5th or 6th grade). Our hope is that students will be able to independently read level B books before they start 1st grade.
Writing:
In my classroom, invented spelling is encouraged. Spelling has been shown to be very developmental and dependent on a student's knowledge of vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, and concept of word in print. Students develop these skills at different rates. Because of this, my students are allowed to 'invent' spellings of words that they do not know as a way of getting their ideas down on paper. The students are expected to spell words they already know or have learned in class correctly. As the year goes on, students learn to spell more and more words correctly and gain confidence as writers. This website offers a great explanation of what invented spelling is and how it is helpful for students who are emergent readers and writers: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/267
Science/Social Studies:
Our science and social studies curriculum is woven into the reading, writing, and math instruction. Our weekly/bi-weekly themes encourage multiple ways of investigation into science and social studies concepts.
