KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM GUIDE

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1 KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM GUIDE PRINCIPAL Seth Phillips ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL LOWER SCHOOL Bob Mikos ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL MIDDLE SCHOOL Allison Hicks LOWER SCHOOL 37 Hicks Street Brooklyn NY T: F: MIDDLE SCHOOL 105 Johnson Street Brooklyn NY T: F: PS8BROOKLYN.ORG Reading PS 8 values a balanced literacy approach to teaching reading. In a balanced literacy environment, students are immersed in engaging activities that support literacy development. Each week our Kindergarten classes engage in the following activities: Read Aloud teachers read a variety of text with fluency and engagement, pausing often to think aloud to model comprehension skills. Conversations and questions are integral to read alouds Shared Reading teacher and student read text (big books, poems, songs) together that is visible to all. The focus of the lesson may vary from concepts of print (reading left to right), to word work, to reading with fluency, to comprehension. Reading Workshop Teacher and students start in a whole group as a reading community on the rug to study a topic or genre in-depth. The teacher guides instruction through a short mini-lesson, usually targeting a particular reading skill or strategy which the children have an opportunity to practice, before sending the children off to read independently. At the beginning of the year, independent reading lasts 5 minutes or so. Most students select a small stack of books, keeping them close by in book bins and baggies, so they can progress from one book to another without a hitch. Students read in school and continue reading at home, carrying books between home and school. As reading levels increase, some Kindergarteners will read with stamina and independence for up to 15 minutes by year s end. Word Study Teaching letter-sound correspondence is a major focus of word work. As the year progresses, students will learn to blend letter sounds together to make simple words (e.g., c-a-t, s-i-t). Kindergarten students also learn proper letter formation for both upper and lowercase letters. In addition, each week we introduce a new word for our word wall. Children will learn to read it, spell it and put it in a sentence. Reading assessment is administered through the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment System. Fountas and Pinnell assesses three major reading components:

2 Accuracy To master the level, the student must read texts with 95% accuracy. Comprehension Does the student understand the text read? Can the student retell it with sufficient detail? Fluency How smoothly does the student read the text? By the end of Kindergarten, students reading on Level C\D meet standard. Writing Workshop Nearly every day, time is set aside for writing instruction in kindergarten. PS 8 aligns its writing curriculum closely to the Common Core Standards which mandates three major writing genres: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...). Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/ explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event (narrative) or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. Writing units vary from stand-alone genre studies such as Pattern Books or Non-Fiction, to writing units combined with social studies or science content areas. Below is a sample progression of writing units in Kindergarten: Pattern Books and Math Personal Narratives/ Small Moments Writing for Many Purposes (letters, lists, and signs) All About/ How to (Non-Fiction) aligned with Science, Social Studies, Kindergarten teachers have adopted genre specific teacher generated rubrics to monitor student progress.

3 Math Kindergarten uses Bridges Math and its supplemental program, Number Corner, to provide a rich mathematical curriculum aligned to the Common Core. Number Corner is a skill-building program that revolves around the classroom calendar, providing daily practice as well as continual encounters with broader mathematical concepts in minutes of engaging instruction. Number Corner typically occurs in the kindergarten classroom as part of morning meeting, held each day at the start of school. The bulk of math instruction occurs during the daily math workshop using the Bridges curriculum. In workshop, the teacher leads the class in a mini-lesson, followed by a student activity, exploration or project. Two or three times a week, children also participate in Work Places, a rotating selection of partner games and activities that offer opportunities for reinforcement of previously taught concepts. Students focus intensively on four critical areas specified by the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in Kindergarten: Addition and subtraction within 10 Describe and compare measurable attributes Identify, describe, compare and create shapes Know, count and compare numbers to 20. Both the Bridges Math and Number Corner programs provide numerous assessments (both whole class and individual interviews) to monitor student progress and mastery of concepts. For more information and to provide at home support for your child, visit Social Studies PS 8 is committed to providing a content-rich and developmentally appropriate social studies curriculum throughout the elementary school years. Our over-arching essential questions at PS 8 are: met? What does it mean to be a member of a community? What needs do people have in the community and how are those needs How do people in communities support and rely on each other? How do we respect and value multiple points of view and cultures?

4 PS 8 employs an inquiry-based approach to teaching of social studies in kindergarten. We study a topic in-depth over a number of months asking questions, reading texts and providing first-hand experiences and trips in order to gain knowledge and understanding. We learn by doing and working collaboratively. Social Studies Unit Sequence School and school community A study of the school in kindergarten begins the PS 8 exploration of what is means to be a member of a community. Kindergartners explore and investigate the school building and interview several key staff personnel to: gain a greater understanding of the school community recognize the interdependence of all members of the school community develop a respect and appreciation for all of the jobs in the school Families Students explore why families are important. Families are invited into their child s classroom to share customs and traditions unique to their family. Playgrounds - Our final unit is a study of city playgrounds. Students take several walking trips to neighborhood playgrounds as researchers, describing and documenting various playground features and their purposes. Content knowledge and student participation is assessed through observation, checklists and rubrics. Choice Time Choice Time is a valued part of the Kindergarten curriculum. It is our belief that children learn through play. Choice is a motivating factor for all learners. Choice time centers are developed based on student interest as well as alignment to social studies/science content areas. During choice time, children are given the time and opportunity to: Self select activities/projects that are meaningful to them Engage with a variety of materials Explore new ideas Problem solve Integrate their developing literacy skills Develop social skills and learn to negotiate conflict Typically, Choice Time happens every day for 45 minutes. Children become

5 independent and innovative in their explorations and investigations. When children feel a comfortable ownership of their environment, they are more likely to experiment and take risks. Science Our science program utilizes FOSS curriculum, the Full Option Science System, developed by The Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Kindergarten students work through three thematic units of study in science: Trees To a kindergartner the oak on the corner, the pines at the park, and the mulberry trees at school are giants. Systematic investigation of trees will bring students to a better understanding of trees place at school and in the community. Wood and Paper In the Wood and Paper Module students are introduced to a wide variety of woods and papers in a systematic way. They will observe the properties of these materials and discover what happens when they are subjected to a number of tests and interactions with other materials. Students learn that wood and paper can be recycled to create new forms of paper or wood that has new properties. Finally, they use what they know about the properties of these marvelous materials as they change wood and paper into a variety of products. Throughout the module, students have ample opportunities to compare different kinds of wood, different types of paper, and wood and paper. The concept of trees as natural resources is introduced. The Animals Two by Two Module provides young students with close and personal interaction with some common land and water animals. Appropriate classroom habitats are established, and students learn to care for the animals. In four activities the animals are studied in pairs. Students observe and care for one animal over time, and then they are introduced to another animal similar to the first but with differences in structure and behavior. This process enhances opportunities for observation, communication, and comparison. Each unit provides multiple hands on activities and experiments to foster

6 student engagement and curiosity. Throughout the year, children have many opportunities to document their science experiences and knowledge in cross-curriculum reading and writing assignments. Progress in science is measured by checklist provided by the FOSS curriculum, as well as anecdotal teacher records and reviews of writing assignments. To learn more, visit