The kindergarten approach to teaching language arts is designed to develop a desire to read, to teach skills which will lead to competence in reading and writing, and to foster the ability to understand and express ideas clearly. Instruction is research-based and systematic. It is a balanced literacy program consisting of: phonemic awareness, phonics, guided reading instruction, exposure to outstanding literature in a variety of genres, and writing workshop.
Reading
- Comprehension strategies: comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, making predictions, critically evaluating, drawing conclusions , interpreting illustrations, recalling details
- Using prior knowledge to understand a story
- Making connections while listening to a story
- Responding creatively to a story
- Retelling the words of the text with intonation and phrasing
- Identifying story elements of characters, setting, problem, and solution
- Sequencing a three-part story using pictures
- Recognizing a variety of literature genres: fairy tales, folk tales, fiction, multicultural, biography, non-fiction, poetry
Word Study
- Understanding that a word is made up of letters
- Phonemic awareness skills: onset and rime, blending phonemes, segmentation, rhyming words, counting and tracking sounds and words, counting word parts
- Naming upper and lower case letters of the alphabet
- Consonant letter sound correspondence for initial and final sounds
- Reading high frequency words,
- Blending sounds to read words with a consonant/vowel/consonant pattern
- Segmenting sounds to write words with a consonant/vowel/consonant pattern
- Using previous experience to understand vocabulary
- Recognizing that s on the end of a word means more than one
Writing Workshop
All classrooms will be implementing the Writing Workshop model. Students develop fluency in writing and independence through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
•Focuses on students’ strengths
•Instruction can be whole group, small group, and individual
•Includes conferring, revision, reflection and goal setting
•Students share and celebrate their writing
Information Research and Study Skills
- Using visual information such as interpreting illustrations, utilizing graphic organizer
- Understanding research skills for formulating a question, time management, and organization
Language Development and Communication Skills
- Listening attentively to a speaker
- Listening for a purpose
- Using appropriate body language for listening
- Listening to and following single step oral directions
- Listening to and following multi-step oral directions
- Listening to a variety of oral presentations such as stories, songs, poems, and personal accounts
- Speaking on topic
- Raising hand before speaking
- Speaking with appropriate voice, volume and tone
- Providing information to answer a question
- Responding appropriately to comments by others