kinder

Major Kindergarten Topics/Themes

Language Arts -

Listening

Speaking

Reading:
phonics (letter sounds)
phonemic awareness (word parts, rhyming, etc)
blending
literature
spelling (words that can be sounded out)
high-frequency sight-word vocabulary:
color words (in order taught): red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, pink, brown, black, white, gray
direction words: color, cut, glue, Name, circle, write, read
number words: 0 – 10
Dolch Word List (high-frequency sight words): in order of frequency

Letterbooks – listening, letter sounds, phonemic awareness, blending,

reading, handwriting. Teaching order:

C, O, G, A, D, S, L, I, T, F, E, H, U, B, R, N, M, P, V, W, K/Q, J, X/Y, Z

• Guided Reading – skill development at student’s instructional reading level
• Shared Reading – whole group, repetitive text
• Independent Reading – Take Home Books determined by student’s independent reading level

Writing:

• D’Nealian handwriting
• pencil grip, posture, paper position
• letter formation, size, neatness
• journals – dictation, invented spelling
• class-made books
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Math
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• Everyday Mathematics (University of Chicago)
• emphasis on discovering mathematical concepts through active, manipulative tasks (authentic math experiences, games, manipulative materials)
• sequential – begin with concrete activities and materials, then go to abstract terms, symbols, and processes.
• Mathematics at Home – extension, enrichment, easily modified to student’s skill level, FUN! You’ll get the first book and Sept. activity sheet in tomorrow’s homework folder.

• Concepts and Skills - The program is designed around 8 mathematical content strands:

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** Numeration

• Rote counting
• Rational counting
• Place value

• Measurement
  • Measuring activities
  • Measuring tools
  • Measuring units
  • Recording measurements

• Geometry
  • Geometric properties
  • Relational concepts

• Operations
  • Number stories
  • Reversibility of operations
  • Relation vocabulary

• Patterns and functions
  • Sorting
  • Categorizing
  • Applying rules
  • Sequencing

• Money
  • Value
  • Equivalence
  • Notation
  • (We like to use real money when possible.)

• Clocks and calendars
  • Telling time
  • Measuring time duration
  • Sequential order

• Data and chance
• Tables and graphs - collecting, organizing, presenting data

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*** Generate data with surveys

• Probability

• Within all strands, there are elements of: problem solving, estimation and number sense, communication, labels and units, reversibility of most actions, and the use of calculators.

• Our program is flexible and active. The activities, like those in the “Math at Home” program, can be modified easily to provide for individual abilities. We can spend as little or as much time on any activity as we like. We put no ceiling on what a student can learn or how far he can go.

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Social Studies

KINDERGARTEN SOCIAL STUDIES TOPICS

Jobs at school / responsibility
Teamwork
Christopher Columbus
Fire Safety / prevention (always around the beginning of Oct – Fire Prevention Week)
All families are alike; all families are different
Needs vs. wants – food, clothing, shelter
Winter holidays that use lights – Christmas, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Diwali, Kwanzaa,
St. Lucia Day
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Groundhog Day
President’s Day – George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
Ecology / Earth Day / endangered animals
Map Skills
Transportation
United States symbols – flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, Washington Monument,
Lincoln Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, Bald Eagle, etc.
Presidential Election (every 4 years)

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Other