READING / letters & SOunds
Each day, students engage in games, activities, and exercises that support reading and writing development.
While many Kindergartners are not ready to read yet, they will be introduced to a variety of word-attack skills to decode text. Students identify, develop, and communicate tools for comprehension during read-aloud. Reading development is also supported by use of the multi-sensory curriculum Sounds In Motion which encourages the development of phonemic awareness and strengthens the students' abilities to sound out words.
In our daily literacy activities, there is an emphasis on questioning, answering, and on sequencing and summarizing events. Students who are developmentally ready to do so, learn how to recognize just right books (i.e. books at the appropriate reading level to support development) as they grow more independent as readers.
WRITING
Example of student writing -- a thank you card for a special guest visitor. READ THE CARD!
The writing curriculum naturally springs from the student experience and both supplements and reinforces many of the skills learned through other disciplines. In the beginning of the year, students focus on what it means to be a good listener and audience member. Students are expected to ask questions and use their developing investigatory skills - Who? What? When? Why? Where? As students begin to hone their skills as audience members and storytellers, the focus shifts to story development, What makes a good story? How do we take an idea and turn it into a story? and What kinds of details make our story ideas richer? Eventually, students will ask, How do we record our own stories? and will naturally begin to practice dictating, illustrating, and writing down their ideas.
The students' experience as oral storytellers and audience members during "Share," builds confidence, encourages students to take ownership of the writing experience, and empowers them to take risks and write independently. English is a remarkably complex written language. We use the Handwriting Without Tears and Sounds In Motion curricula to build skills and confidence, and recognize sound spelling as a transitional, but necessary, stage in writing development. Students are expected to actively engage in developing their sight-word base. By combining that expanding base with learned spelling patterns, their writing will naturally develop into "book" spelling.
Once writing skills develop, the focus shifts to producing stories with appropriate story structure, expanding character development, and learning basic editing skills. Puppetry, dramatic play, and Writers Workshop support this area of growth.
During Writers' Workshop, which includes mini-lessons, peer review, and one on one conferencing, students are encouraged to expand their ideas, add details, use appropriate sound spelling, accurately spell sight words, explore the use of punctuation, follow learned text conventions for upper-case and lower-case letters. They will create both fiction & non-fiction text.
