Kindergarten
Personal and Social Development in Kindergarten
Students will develop an awareness of their identity, strengths and weaknesses. They will learn self-confidence and self worth. They will learn to communicate, manage their own feelings and emotions, reflect on their own abilities and behaviorsand will set achievable goals. The Personal and Social goals are the following:
- Demonstrates self-confidence.
- Shows initiative and self-direction.
- Follows classroom expectations and routines.
- Uses materials purposely and respectfully.
- Manages transitions and adapts to new places and events.
- Shows eagerness and curiosity as a learner.
- Sustains attention to work over a period of time.
- Approaches tasks with flexibility and inventiveness.
- Is willing to approach unfamiliar tasks.
- Interacts easily with peers and adults.
- Listens to others and responds with reflection and consideration.
- Participates in the group life of the school through a variety of play, work, and social situations.
- Shows empathy and caring for others.
- Uses simple strategies to make social decisions and solve problems.
- Follows multistep directions.
Language Arts in Kindergarten
Children will develop an understanding of language through speaking, reading, and writing. They will have an opportunity to develop language concepts through questioning, hands-on manipulatives, shared reading, guided reading, journaling, and interactive writing. Materials used to teach these concepts include big books, emergent readers, letter manipulatives, word cards, and various writing instruments.
The Language Arts goals are the following:
- Uses oral language to convey ideas clearly and effectively with confidence.
- Uses a variety of strategies to decode words and construct meaning from print.
- Understands and interprets a variety of literature.
- Implements writing strategies to convey ideas.
- Writes for a variety of purposes.
- Reflects and edits own writing.
- Reads and writes high frequency words.
Useful websites for concepts of Print and Phonics:
www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/summerworkshop/valdes/index.html
www.picadome.fcps.net/lab/teacherl/lesson_plans/alpha/default.htm
www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/handwriting/dnealian
www.gigglepotz.com/dolche.htm
www.litearcyconnections.com
Math in Kindergarten
Math will be taught by using manipulatives and real objects. Investigations into math will involve conducting authentic tasks that involve mathematical concepts.
The Math goals are the following:
- Applies concepts and strategies to solve mathematical problems and representing mathematical thinking.
- Sorts, compares, and orders objects on the basis of several attributes.
- Makes, copies, and extends patterns.
- Uses positional and geometric terminology to create and explain objects and designs.
- Estimates and measures using non-standard and standard units.
- Demonstrates an understanding of time by using a calendar and clock.
- Reads, writes, and models numbers to 100.
- Reads, writes, and models addition and subtraction to 10.
Science in Kindergarten
Students will be presented with provocations that engage them in all areas of science. Students will be encouraged to use their observational skills, change variables, create hypotheses, make predictions, experiment and document results.
The Science and Technology goals are the following:
- Investigating phenomena through observation, exploration, and research.
- Using simple tools and equipment to gather data, to research and create representations.
- Asking questions, making predictions, and forming explanations.
- Identifying characteristics, change, basic needs, and life cycles of living things.
- Identifying types of matter and how it changes.
- Identifying and comparing rocks and soil.
Social Studies in Kindergarten
Calendar will be used as a springboard to learning and discovering events and celebrations. Our units of inquiry delve into communities, maps, and culture. Students will gain an understanding of their world, focusing on themselves, their friends and families, and their environment. They will appreciate the reasons why people belong to groups, the roles they fulfill, and different ways that people interact within groups. They will gain a sense of place and the reasons why particular places are important to people as well as how and why people’s activities influence and are influenced by the places in their environment.
The Science and Technology goals are the following:
- Identifies similarities and differences in people’s characteristics, habits, and living patterns.
- Shows an understanding of how time and experiences influence people’s lives.
- Understands the relationship between people, their culture, and how where they live influences people’s lives.
- Describes some people’s jobs, identifies the purpose of jobs, and what is required to perform them.
- Expresses beginning geographic thinking.