Kindergarten Curriculum
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KINDERGARTEN READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM
The purpose of the Kindergarten Reading and Language Program is to provide purposeful reading instruction through systemic, explicit skill lessons along with many opportunities to read. The use of a variety of texts to develop fluency and the utilization of many materials for different instructional purposes are essential to this program. The program also offers literature selections that motivate students at different levels of proficiency and encourages an appreciation for reading. The program establishes clear core instruction including phonics, sight vocabulary, oral and written language as well as penmanship, while providing adaptations to meet an array of needs.
READING
PHONIC AWARENESS
The Student:
*Identifies rhyming words
*Identifies beginning sounds in spoken words
*Identifies initial consonant sounds
*Begins to blend onset consonants and rime such as – at, an, it, ig, ot, ox, en, ug, et, ut word families
*Locates beginning and ending letters in a word
HIGH-FREQUENCY WORDS
The Student:
*Recognizes – I, see, my, like, a, to, and, go, is, here, for, have, said, the, lay, she, are, he
*Reads the words in isolation and as part of a written text
COMPREHENSION SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
The Student:
*Compares and contrasts noting details
*Develops directionality of “left to right” and “top to bottom” when looking at pictures or written words
*Can sequence events
*Can make predictions
*Begins to summarize
*Recognizes a capital at the beginning of a sentence and end punctuation
*Draws conclusions
*Identifies characters
*Evaluates reality and fantasy in literature
*Can see text organization – capitals, spaces between words, end punctuation
*Begins to match spoken words to print
*Identifies beginning, middle and end of a story
*Identifies period and question mark
*Recognizes quotation marks
*Notes important details
*Can identify characters, setting and plot
WRITING AND LANGUAGE
ORAL LANGUAGE
The Student:
*Uses opposites
*Uses positional vocabulary
*Uses descriptive words for travel
*Identifies and uses naming words in singular and plural forms
*Identifies and uses rhyming words
*Identifies and uses action words
*Develops a springtime vocabulary
*Uses order words: first, next, last
WRITING
The Student:
*Partakes in shared writing by adding words and ideas to a list
*Names parts of a body
*Writes journal entries of words and sentences
*Partakes in interactive writing of a description – a big, red car
*Records observations
*Selects a title
*Uses color and numbers to describe objects
*Participates in writing a class poem
*Participates in writing a weather report
*Participates in writing a class story
*Participates in writing a letter
*Participates in writing and revising directions
LISTENING, SPEAKING, AND VIEWING
The Student:
*Learns about big and little
*Uses size words, naming words and describing words
*Uses exact naming words
*Uses plural names
*Uses movement words
*Appropriately names members of a family
*Lists grocery items and clothing names
*Uses action, positional, descriptive and weather words
*Hears and recites rhyming words
*Uses opposites
*Can name parts of a car
METHODS AND STRATEGIES OF THE READING
CURRICULUM
*Oral and silent reading
*Check for understanding through questioning
*Whole class and/or group discussions
*Role playing
*Making alphabet books
*Guided reading
*Testing
TEXTBOOK FOR THE READING CURRICULUM
A Legacy of Literacy Houghton Mifflin Copyright 2001
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
*White boards
*Letter and sound bingo
*Musical rhymes
*Magnetic letters
*Sight word rings
KINDERGARTEN MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM
The purpose of the Kindergarten Math Program is to draw students into mathematical learning through multi-disciplinary lessons and exploration. The program helps children to develop foundational and conceptual skills that they need to succeed in school and for a lifetime. These skills are taught and enhanced through the use of many manipulatives, academic strategies and interdisciplinary approaches
COMPUTATION
NUMBER AND NUMBER THEORY
The Student:
*Compares sets of objects
*Identifies sets that are the same, more or fewer
*Counts to 100
*Understands fractions as equal parts of a region
*Orders numbers 1-100
*Can name ordinal numbers first through tenth
*Identifies place value of tens and ones
*Can skip count by 5’s and 10’s
*Understands numbers to 100
*Writes numbers to twenty
ADDITION
The Student:
*Understands basic facts to 6
*Is introduced to the horizontal form
*Understands meaning of addition as the joining of two parts to make a whole
*Can add 1 to a number through 10
*Can do part, part, whole problem solving
*Identifies plus and equal signs
*Is introduced to the vertical form
SUBTRACTION
The Student:
*Understands basic facts to 6
*Is introduced to the horizontal form
*Understands the meaning of subtraction as the separating of a part from the whole larger group and counting what is left
*Can subtract from a number 1 through 10
*Can do whole minus a part problem solving
*Identifies the minus sign
*Is introduced to the vertical form
FRACTIONS
The Student:
*Can identify two equal parts of a region as halves
*Can break a group of objects into 2, 3 or 4 equal parts
PROBLEM SOLVING
The Student:
*Can recognize geometric shapes in the real world
*Identifies attributes of plane shapes
*Can construct a real graph to solve a problem
*Orders events as first, next and last
*Sequences pictures to tell a story
*Solves joining and separating problems
*Classifies in various ways
*Creates patterns by using rhythm, color, shape, size
*Uses logical reasoning
REASONING
The Student:
*Discriminates by color, shape and size
*Sorts by one and two attributes
*Recognizes what does not belong
GEOMETRY
The Student:
*Identifies plane figures: circle, rectangle, square, triangle
*Identifies space figures: cone, cube, sphere, cylinder
*Relates plane shapes to space shapes
MEASUREMENT, MONEY AND TIME
MEASUREMENT
The Student:
*Recognizes capacity: holds more and holds less
*Orders by capacity
*Compares lengths using non-standard units
*Orders by length
*Estimates
*Recognizes weight: heavier or lighter
*Orders by weight
MONEY
The Student:
*Recognizes pennies, nickels, dimes
*Identifies cent sign notation
*Matches the coin with price
*Adds pennies
TIME
The Student:
*Can identify the time of day as day or night
*Identifies which activity takes more or less time
*Can tell hour on an analog clock
*Can tell hour as the first number on a digital clock
*Can order time of day as morning, afternoon or evening
PROBABILITY, STATISTICS, AND GRAPHING
PROBABILITY
The Student:
*Experiments
*Predicts
STATISTICS
The Student:
*Collects data
*Tallies responses
GRAPHING
The Student:
*Uses bar graphs
*Makes pictographs
ALGEBRA
The Student:
*Writes addition and subtraction sentences
*Continues patterns of color, size, and shape
*Creates patterns
*Uses symbols showing relationships: =,>, <
METHODS AND STRATEGIES OF THE MATH CURRICULUM
*Manipulatives as basis for concepts
*Practice and Independent exercises
*Teacher presentations
*Problem-solving activities
*Games
*Stories
*Cooperative learning
TEXTBOOK FOR THE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM
Mathematics Silver Burdett & Ginn Copyright 2001
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
*Unifix cubes
*Attribute tiles
*Geo-boards
*Dominoes
*Number and shape bingo
*Calendar
*Number lines
KINDERGARTEN RELIGION CURRICULUM
The purpose of the Kindergarten Religion Program is to help children develop positive attitudes about themselves, their families, and friends by discovering and learning more about the many gifts, talents and abilities that God has provided. The I Am Special program is based on the belief that young children need to develop positive self-concepts. Their ability to know God and their ideas about God are strongly influenced by their ideas about themselves. Children also need to feel good about themselves in order to love others as themselves. It seeks to help children increase their knowledge and participation in the Catholic Church’s liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. The program increases the children’s knowledge about God and their friendship with Jesus. It helps to increase the children’s knowledge and practice of Christian actions toward others such as taking turns, listening, helping, caring, sharing, loving, and thanking others. The children’s appreciation and celebration of God’s love and goodness through Scripture, music and prayer are integral parts of the curriculum. I Am Special aims to reinforce the Christian values and attitudes being taught at home and to provide a foundation upon which future religious education can be built.
RELIGION
GOD MADE ME SPECIAL
The Student:
*Understands s/he is special and unique
*Learns s/he is special to family
*Realizes s/he is special to friends
*Learns that through Baptism s/he becomes a member of God’s family
GOD MADE THE WORLD AROUND ME
The Student:
*Learns about the creation of light, water, plants
*Appreciates the creation of fish, birds, animals
*Recognizes the special creation of people
*Appreciates the responsibility of caring for God’s precious creations and caring for others
I AM THANKFUL TO GOD
The Student:
*Celebrates Thanksgiving through Scripture, music and prayer
ADVENT/CHRISTMAS
The Student:
*Appreciates Advent as a time for waiting
*Prepares for Jesus’ Birthday
*Makes gifts for others to share God’s love
*Celebrates Christmas: Jesus’ Birthday
DISCOVERING GOD’S GOODNESS
The Student:
*Learns about God’s world by using the senses
*Uses sight and touch to discover
*Learns about the senses of smell and taste
*Discovers the importance of hearing and listening
GOD MADE MY FRIENDS SPECIAL
The Student:
*Appreciates that Jesus is a loving friend
*Understands that s/he can love, too
*Sees Jesus as a guide and helper
*Understands that s/he can help and share
GOD’S PLAN FOR SPRINGTIME
The Student:
*Learns about the new life in spring (Lent)
*Learns about new life from seeds, caterpillars, eggs (Lent)
*Learns about sharing bread with friends (Holy Week)
*Celebrates the new life of Jesus (Easter)
GOD KNOWS MY FEELINGS
The Student:
*Can distinguish between happy and sad feelings
*Acknowledges sometimes feeling angry
*Explains feeling afraid
*Accepts that we all experience good and bad feelings
*Learns that God is always present, loving and helping
SPECIAL LESSONS
The Student:
*Learns about saints and All Saints Day
*Talks to God in different ways (Prayer)
*Goes to church and shares in school liturgies
*Realizes how s/he has grown
*Appreciates all s/he has learned
METHODS AND STRATEGIES OF THE RELIGION
CURRICULUM
*Sensory activities
*Songs
*Discussions
*Videos
*Prayers
*Finger plays
*Parent letters
*Scripture readings
*Art activities
*Dramatizations
*Flannel board stories
*Action games
*Puzzles
TEXTBOOK FOR THE RELIGION CURRICULUM
I Am Special Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. Copyright 2000
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
*Children’s Bible
KINDERGARTEN SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM
The purpose of the Kindergarten Social Studies Program is multidisciplinary. The program takes the student from self knowledge to a broader sense of social awareness. The curriculum focuses on various kinds of communities and integrates science, geography, current events, character education, history, seasonal happenings, cultural traditions and celebrations.
SOCIAL STUDIES
I AM SPECIAL
The Student:
*Learns about friendship
*Takes part in self care and classroom jobs
*Discovers names and characteristics of classmates
*Visits and learns about a farm community
AUTUMN FUN
The Student:
*Explores outside surroundings through a nature walk
*Learns about Christopher Columbus
*Learns about fire fighters job and fire safety
*Welcomes Wellesley fire fighters to our school
*Welcomes the fall season and recognizes the changes
*Learns about spiders and nocturnal animals
*Prepares for Halloween
CELEBRATING
The Student:
*Learns about the harvest
*Visits our local hospital community
*Explores life of Native Americans and Pilgrims
*Learns about animals in winter
*Prepares for Thanksgiving and Christmas
THINKING BIG
The student:
*Learns about big plans - New Year resolutions
*Discusses the big dream, big ideas and big march of Martin Luther King, Jr.
*Learns about famous Americans who made a big difference in history
WAYS WE CARE AND ARE CARED FOR
The Student:
*Realizes that many people care for us in this country
*Learns about our current and past presidents
*Makes Valentines
*Learns about dental health
BUILDING AND CREATING
The Student:
*Recognizes a band, chorus, choir and orchestra as a community of music makers
*Learns that about computer creations
*Recognizes storytelling as a creation
*Understands about different building jobs: carpenters, mechanics, masons, weavers, potters, engineers
*Explores different types of careers in a community
OUR LIVING PLANET
The Student:
*Learns about animal communities
*Realizes that different animals take care of their babies in different ways
*Celebrates Earth Day
*Explores different habitats
*Observes new life cycles of the spring season
UNDERWATER
The Student:
*Learns about people who work under water
*Observes pond life
*Learns about sea mammals and plant life
METHODS AND STRATEGIES OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES
CURRICULUM
*Field trips
*Finger plays
*Song
*Stories
*Art projects
*Preparing an assembly
*Visitors to our class
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS (no formal text)
*Time for Kids Monthly Magazine
*Let’s Find Out Weekly Magazine
*Big Books
*Charts
*Library sources
KINDERGARTEN SCIENCE CURRICULUM
The purpose of the Kindergarten Science Program is to build a solid foundation of basic science concepts and to encourage higher-order thinking using science content. There is an emphasis on the relationship between science content and student’s daily life and focuses on the goal of scientific understanding.
LEARNING ABOUT ME
MY BODY
The Student:
*Learns that various parts of the human body have different functions.
*Identifies various body parts.
*Describes the functions of various body parts.
*Uses the vocabulary: arm, face, finger, foot, hand, head, leg, neck, shoulder, and toe.
*Learns that people use their eyes and ears to explore and learn.
*Identifies the eyes as the body parts used in sight.
*Identifies the ears as the body parts used in hearing.
*Uses the vocabulary: ears, eyes, hear, look, see, senses, and sound.
*Learns that people feel with their skin, smell with their nose, and taste with their tongue.
*Describes how objects feel, smell, and taste.
*Identifies the body parts used in the senses of touch, smell and taste.
*Uses the vocabulary: bitter, nose, salty, skin, smell, sour, sweet, taste,
tongue, and touch.
*Learns that maintaining good health involves keeping the body clean, eating healthful foods, and getting sufficient rest and exercise.
*Describes habits of cleanliness that help people stay healthy.
*Identifies foods that help people stay healthy.
*Describes habits of rest and exercise that help people stay healthy.
*Uses the vocabulary: clean, exercise, food, healthy, and rest.
WEATHER
WATCHING THE WEATHER
The Student:
*Learns that the condition of the air, can be described in terms of temperature, precipitation and wind.
*Describes and records weather conditions as sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, hot, warm, cool, and cold.
*Identifies ways in which weather affects what clothing people wear.
*Uses the vocabulary: cloudy, cool, cold, hot, warm, rainy, snowy, sunny, weather, and windy.
*Learns simple weather tools can measure conditions of the air such as temperature, wind strength, and precipitation.
*Describes some tools used to measure weather conditions.
*Records weather data collected.
*Uses the vocabulary: forecast, measure, rain, record, temperature, thermometer, and wind.
*Learns that in most places on earth, each season of the year, fall, winter, spring, and summer, is characterized by unique weather conditions.
*Lists the four seasons and describes the weather characteristics of each.
*Identifies local seasonal conditions.
*Uses the vocabulary: fall, seasons, spring, summer, and winter.
EARTH
EXPLORING THE EARTH
The Student:
*Learns that the earth is made of land and water.
*Identifies landforms such as hills, mountains, valleys, and flatlands.
*Identifies bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans.
*Uses the vocabulary: hill, lake, mountain, ocean, river, and valley.
*Learns that land is made of soil and rocks.
*Learns that the earth is surrounded by air. Land, water, and air must be used wisely and kept clean.
*Explains that air is all around even though it cannot be seen.
*Lists ways to help take care of the earth.
SPACE
EXPLORING SPACE
The Student:
*Learns the sun is in the daytime sky; the earth gets light and warmth from the sun.
*Identifies the sun as an object in the daytime sky.
*Observes that the earth gets light and warmth from the sun.
*Uses the vocabulary: cool, daytime, light, sun, and warm.
*Learns that the moon and the stars are seen in the nighttime sky.
*Identifies the moon and stars as objects that are seen in the nighttime sky.
*Explains that the stars can be seen only when the sky is dark.
*Uses the vocabulary: dark, moon, nighttime, sky, and stars.
*Learns that astronauts are people who are trained to live and work in space; living in space is different from living on the earth.
*Identifies an astronaut as a person who is trained to live and work in space.
*Describes some ways in which living in space is different from living on the earth.
*Uses the vocabulary: astronaut, earth, and spacesuit.
DISCOVERY
DISCOVERING MY WORLD
The Student:
*Learns that objects can be described and compared by color, shape, relative size, and relative weight.
*Describes the color, shape, size, and relative weight of objects.
*Compares and sorts objects according to two or more attributes.
*Uses the vocabulary: color, size, heavy, light, and shape.
*Discovers that objects can be described and compared by capacity.
*Describes the capacity of containers.
*Compares the capacity of containers.
*Uses the vocabulary: container, empty, full, hold, more, and less.
*Learns that some objects float in water and others sink.
*Identifies which objects float and which objects sink.
*Discovers that some things change when you mix them.
*Describes how things change when you mix them.
LOOKING AT PLANTS AND ANIMALS
PLANTS
The Student:
*Learns that a plant is a living thing and has characteristics that can be used to describe them.
*Identifies plants as living because they can grow and produce other new plants.
Uses the vocabulary: grow, seed, sprout, root, stem, leaf, light, soil, water, and healthy.
*Discovers that all plants need sufficient amounts of light and water to grow.
ANIMALS
The Student:
*Learns that animals have characteristics that can be used to describe and classify them.
*Uses the vocabulary: animal, body covering, different, feathers, fur, and scales.
*Discovers that young animals grow and change as they become adults.
*Compares adult animals with their young.
*Uses the vocabulary: adult, butterfly, caterpillar, pupa, and young.
*Identifies animals as living things that grow, produce young; they need food, water, air, and a place to live.
METHODS AND STRATEGIES OF THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM
*Uses and employs manipulatives to understand concepts
*Conducts experiments
*Draws and sequences scientific observations
*Problem-solving activities
*Cooperative experiments
TEXTBOOK FOR THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Science Horizons Silver Burdett & Ginn Inc. Copyright 1991
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
*Butterfly kit
*Grow-a-frog kit
*Seeds and greenhouse
*Touch and feel box
*Fan
*Paints
*Sequence cards
*Field trips to Butterfly Garden and Natick Farm
*Owl program at school
*Library books
*Senses containers |
