Kindergarten Goals
- Track print by pointing to written words
- Identify words that rhyme, recognize the same sounds in different words, and know that letters have individual sounds.
- Read automatically a small set of high-frequency sight words
- Write: using letters and drawings
- Reading: left-to-right; top-to-bottom; know the difference between letters and words; know the difference between print and pictures.
Daily Schedule
- Sign in for lunch and milk
- Morning meeting
- Math
- Snack
- Recess
- Reading/Writing
- Religion
- Lunch
- Rest
- Science/Social Studies
- Centers
- Specials (PE, Art, Music, Spanish)
- Free Choice
Center Time
The kindergarten classroom uses play and academic based centers; during this time multiple stations are set up around the classroom. Examples include: kitchen, blocks, listening, computer, art, math, and reading.
This time :
- Promotes independence and social skills
- Helps students become more responsible
- Allows students to learn through self-discovery
- Provides teachers with time to meet with students one-on-one or in small groups to target specific academic needs
Superkids
The kindergarten reading program is SUPERKIDS by Zaner-Bloser. It is an excellent program for grades K-2 that effectively teaches students how to read while keeping them engaged both in the class and at home with online tools.
The first semester of Kindergarten is spent learning about 13 Superkids that each teach a different letter of the alphabet—five short vowels and eight consonants. Students learn one sound for each of the letters and how to blend the letter-sounds to read words and eventually sentences. The students also learn how to write the capital and lowercase form of each letter and to encode (spell) words with the letters and sounds they’ve been taught.
For example: the first Superkid is named Cass; she likes to cook and has a cat named Coconut. She teaches students about the /c/ sound heard at the beginning of Cass along with capital C and lowercase c.
The second semester continues children’s phonics instruction by teaching the remaining 13 letters of the alphabet, one sound for each, and how to write the capital and lowercase forms. With each new letter they learn, children are able to decode and encode (spell) more and more words. They read longer decodable stories as the level progresses, and lessons continue to develop their comprehension and vocabulary through reading.