Kindergarten

Kindergarten is preparing for a brighter future.

Curriculum

READING, LANGUAGE ARTS, WRITING

The Open Court Reading Program begins in Kindergarten. It is a research-based comprehensive reading, writing, and language arts program. Using systematic, explicit instruction, this program helps all students master the foundational skills needed not only to move to proficiency, but also to achieve greater goals of reading independently with confidence inside and outside the classroom. The children begin using Pre-Decodable Books, followed by Decodable Books and ultimately reach their first reader which help students in kindergarten transition from teacher-led instruction to independent reading. Students can access materials in print and digitally. Kindergarten Themes include: Off to School, Let’s Be Kind, What’s the Weather, Pushes and Pulls, Home Sweet Home, Our Country, Our Cultures, Ready, Set, Grow, Animal Homes, Rules We Follow, Great Americans, Color Your World, Stripes, Spots, and Dots.

MATHEMATICS

Kindergarten incorporates the Math Expressions curriculum; a web-based, digitally connected program that uses hands on manipulatives and teaches students to solve addition and subtraction problems using a variety of strategies and techniques. There are five crucial classroom structures that allow Kindergarten children to develop deep conceptual understanding, then practice, apply, and discuss what they know with skill and confidence. Daily Routines and Quick Practice involve whole class responses or individual partner practice, provide daily review, and are sometimes led by student leaders. Math Talk is used to have students share strategies and solutions orally and through drawings. Students will practice explaining their thinking and listening to others. Objects or manipulatives, drawings, conceptual language, and real-world situations will strengthen mathematical concepts and understanding. A helping community in the classroom provides an environment for students to be both teachers and learners and develop the confidence to take risks in their thinking. Student Leaders support student growth by helping them to learn to lead practice and discussion routines. Kindergarten units include topics covering the following core concepts: understanding numbers 1-10; exploring 5-groups; teen numbers as tens and ones; math partners, problem drawings, and tens; consolidation of concepts; money, time, measurement, and numbers.

SCIENCE

Inspire Science is designed to spark student interests and empower them to ask more questions, think critically, and maximize their ability to creatively solve problems. The Inspire Science instructional model contains comprehensive learning experiences to pique the interest of our students. The program will be used to help inspire the next generation of innovators, visionaries, and inventors. Through user-friendly experiences, the students will be exposed built-in literacy and math connections, including full STEM opportunities, containing web-based, digitally accessible content promoting a hands-on program, that will allow students to explore the concepts of energy, light and sounds, plants and animals, and earth and space through simulations and real, hands-on learning experiments. Students will be able to solve science and engineering challenges using math skills including: analyzing data and creating graphs. Students will be able to achieve and demonstrate greater understanding through hands-on science and engineering activities using the engineering design process. Students will be able to continue to build close reading, writing, and communication skills while learning about exciting science ideas and developing presenting solutions to real-world challenges. Students will be expected to complete one research project quarterly, based on social studies and/or science, STEM themes.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Kindergarten students will learn about the foundational concepts of identity, diversity, cooperation, and citizenship through the Impact Social Studies Curriculum. Themes are woven into a discovery of significant places and historical events. Children will also be introduced to using primary sources, maps, and timelines to learn about the world around them. Kindergarten Chapters/Themes include: How do people learn and work together?; Where do we live?; What does it mean to be an American?; How has our world changed?; and Why do people have jobs?

TECHNOLOGY / S.T.E.M.

Kindergarteners will work, plan, build, and dream, in that order. Students will be introduced to the importance of using technology safely along with concepts of growing into digital citizens. Students will be introduced to coding terminologies. Kindergarten students will partner with First grade students as S.T.E.M. Buddies to work weekly to design, create, build and test different structures focused on themes within our curriculum and US calendar. A SMART Board is integrated daily to enhance instruction. Kindergarten participates in National Engineering Week.