Kindergarten Reading Curriculum Guide
3rd Nine Weeks
In the field of education, we often hear of the phrase, “best practice.” Although “best practice” is a phrase used in many fields, it is essential for us as early childhood teachers. What exactly does “best practice” mean? According to Wikipedia, “best practice is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive, or reward which conventional wisdom regards as more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. when applied to a particular condition or circumstance. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_practice
A kindergarten program that is based on “best practice” ensures the following:
· Young children learn best through active, engaged, and meaningful learning.
o Kindergarteners learn best through direct sensory encounters with the world. They acquire knowledge by manipulating, exploring, and experimenting with real objects. They learn almost exclusively by doing, and through movement.
· Young children learn best in an early childhood program that is developmentally appropriate.
o Kindergarten teachers should enable children to learn according to their own development, therefore, it is important that teachers know child development. The teacher is responsible for taking each child from their stage of development to the next stage, understanding that not all children develop at the same rate and level.
o A developmentally appropriate kindergarten program emphasizes:
§ Active exploration of the environment.
§ Self-directed, hands-on learning activities.
§ Balance between individual and group activities.
§ Regular and supportive interaction with teachers and peers.
§ Balance between active movement and quiet activities.
· Young children learn best in an early childhood environment that is appropriate for their age and stage of development.
o The classroom setting should provide opportunities for the children to explore and learn. An appropriate environment is created by subdividing a large classroom into learning centers. The room arrangement of shelving and furniture clearly designates these centers and also provides a spacious area for group gathering on a carpet. Furniture is child-sized, sturdy, and comfortable. Manipulatives, puzzles, and other learning materials are displayed and labeled on shelves that are easily accessible by small children.
· Young children benefit from a consistent routine or daily schedule in the early childhood classroom.
o Kindergarteners feel more secure when they can predict the sequence of events and have some control over their environment. In addition, predictability provides children with a sense of time, as they begin to learn what comes first in the day, second, next, and last. A consistent schedule also helps build trust in the environment.
o A large blocks of time should be provided, so children can do complex, integrated, and in-depth study.
· Young children learn best when the school develops a sense of community for all participants.
o Parent involvement is recommended for an effective kindergarten program. Teachers should form a partnership with parents through conferences, frequent communication, and a welcoming attitude toward volunteering and classroom observation.
§ Epstein (1995) expands upon the traditional kinds of involvement by identifying six types of parent involvement in schools: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Each type of involvement is valuable, and each has an impact on students, teachers, and the parents themselves.
o A kindergarten classroom can be referred to as a "community of learners." A community emphasizes the importance of inclusive physical, social, and intellectual environments that support the learning and development of children, including those of diverse cultural backgrounds as well as those with special needs.
· Young children learn best when they are with teachers who consider them and respond to them as individuals.
o Children who believe that what they do, think, and feel is important to their teacher are willing and able to learn new skills, develop new relationships, and work together on their behalf.
· Young children function best in early childhood programs that value and reinforce continuity.
o Early childhood programs with continuity have the following characteristics:
· Children have a daily schedule that provides large blocks of uninterrupted time so children can become engaged in complex, in-depth learning experiences.
· Children are grouped so that they work with the teacher for an extended period of time.
· Children are carefully transitioned from preschool programs into kindergarten programs, and from kindergarten to the primary grades.
· Teachers participate in continuous professional development.
The overall effectiveness of a kindergarten program is dependent upon several factors: quality staff, suitable environment, appropriate grouping practices, consistent schedules, parent involvement and professional development. The implementations of these “best practices” have important ramifications because they affect the child, the family, the classroom, the school, and the community. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea100.htm
High Frequency Words
Background / 1st Nine Weeks / 2nd Nine Weeks / 3rd Nine Weeks / 4th Nine WeeksThe term "high frequency words" refer to words that do not adhere well to the principles taught in phonics lessons and must be memorized.They are words which are processed so automatically that no conscious thought is required when reading.
Listed are the 100 high frequency/sight words that children should be exposed to throughout the school year.
The SAISD goal is that Kindergarten students recognize at least 60 words by the end of the school year. In an effort to better prepare children for first grade and have children reading on or above grade level, it is imperative that the words from the previous nine week periods are continuously reinforced/reviewed. This can be done via the word wall, use of big books, morning message, shared writing/reading, chants, etc. / 1. a
2. and
3. at
4. can
5. I
6. is
7. go
8. like
9. see
10. the
11. to
12. we / 13. am
14. are
15. as
16. black
17. by
18. come
19. in
20. me
21. my
22. now
23. of
24. on
25. or
26. ran
27. red
28. ride
29. run
30. say
31. there
32. to
33. two
34. with
35. what
36. you / 37. all
38. at
39. be
40. blue
41. brown
42. came
43. do
44. find
45. for
46. get
47. go
48. good
49. has
50. him
51. he
52. how
53. it
54. little
55. make
56. one
57. out
58. play
59. said
60. she
61. so
62. soon
63. that
64. they
65. this
66. too
67. up
68. white
69. will
70. yellow / 71. an
72. away
73. big
74. but
75. did
76. down
77. eat
78. four
79. from
80. fun
81. had
82. have
83. help
84. here
85. look
86. new
87. no
88. not
89. off
90. our
91. pretty
92. saw
93. there
94. want
95. was
96. went
97. when
98. where
99. who
100. yes
Palabras de Alta Frecuencia
Background / 1st Nine Weeks / 2nd Nine Weeks / 3rd Nine Weeks / 4th Nine WeeksHigh frequency words are words which are processed so automatically that no conscious thought is required when reading. They are words that show up in text regularly and help build a foundation and familiarity with text.
Listed are the 100 high frequency/sight words that children should be exposed to throughout the school year.
The SAISD goal is that Kindergarten students recognize at least 60 words by the end of the school year. In an effort to better prepare children for first grade and have children reading on or above grade level, it is imperative that the words from the previous nine week periods are continuously reinforced/reviewed. This can be done via the word wall, use of big books, morning message, shared writing/reading, chants, etc
The words in black text are those found in Senderos. Those in blue text were added in order to meet our goal of exposing our children to 100 words by the end of the school year. / 1. yo
2. gusta, gustan
3. la
4. el
5. y
6. a
7. hoy
8. me
9. o
10. al
11. es
12. lo / 13. nosotros
14. un, una, uno
15. veo
16. vente
17. conmigo
18. con
19. mi, mis
20. tú
21. qué
22. ahora
23. quedan
24. esa, ese
25. más
26. soy
27. le, les
28. ir
29. quiero
30. estoy
31. fui
32. pero
33. por
34. puedo
35. todo
36. sí / 37. estás
38. son
39. cómo
40. los, las
41. este, esta
42. en
43. ser
44. van
45. para
46. hacer, hace
47. jugar
48. dijo
49. bien
50. ella
51. todos
52. también
53. cuando
54. tiene
55. otro
56. vamos
57. muy
58. aquí
59. voy
60. su
61. ti
62. mio
63. se
64. mucho
65. usa
66. uso
67. eres
68. ver
69. así
70. del / 71. él
72. no
73. tengo
74. tomar, toma
75. abajo
76. ayudar
77. día
78. mira
79. de
80. llevar
81. hay
82. quien
83. usted, ustedes
84. hacia
85. hasta
86. desde
87. dice
88. doy
89. quería
90. allá
91. acá
92. donde
93. antes
94. después
95. luego
96. eso
97. estamos
98. puede
99. ves
100. ya
Icon Key
Icon / Purpose
Identifies Power TEKS / / Technology integration
Identifies I CAN statements / Cooperative Learning
Reading Comprehension / Teacher Toolkit
Writing Integration / Journal Writing
Differentiated Strategies for students needing a challenging / Differentiated Strategies for students who extra help
QUILT / Homework
Reading- Kindergarten
Third Grading Period CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Enduring Understanding (Big Idea) / RationaleComprehension instruction is instruction in thinking. / Comprehension tools – such as predicting, summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and justifying response with evidence – help students reflect on what they are reading and increases intellectual accountability.
Essential Questions
Why is it important to know what happens first, next, and last in a selection?
Why are details helpful?
What clues help me figure out things the author does not tell me?
How does knowing why the author writes a selection help me?
What causes events in a story to happen?
Why is it important to know when things happen in a story?
How do characters change in a story?
How do the parts of a story work together?
Why is the order of events in a selection important? / ¿Por qué es importante saber lo que sucede al principio, mediación, y al final de un cuento?
¿Por qué son importantes los detalles?
¿Cuáles pistas/claves me ayudan a resolver/entender cosas que el autor no me dice?
¿Cómo me ayuda al saber porque el autor escribió el cuento?
¿Qué causa/provoca que los eventos sucedan en un cuento?
¿Por qué es importante saber cuando suceden las cosas en un cuento?
¿Cómo cambian los personajes en un cuento?
¿Cómo van juntas las partes de un cuento?
¿Por qué es importante la orden de eventos en un cuento?
TEKS / TEKS Specificity – Intended Outcome
(1) Reading/ Beginning Reading Skills/Print Awareness: Students understand how English is written and
printed.
(F) hold a book right side up, turn its pages correctly, and know that reading moves from top to bottom and left to
right
(2) Reading/Beginning Reading Skills/Phonological Awareness students display phonological awareness
orally generate rhymes in response to spoken words (e.g., “what rhymes with hat?”)
(D) distinguish orally presented rhyming pairs of words from non-rhyming pairs
(G) blends spoken phonemes to form one-syllable words (e.g. /m/.../a/…/n/ says man)
(H) isolate the initial sound in one-syllable spoken words
(3) Reading/Beginning Reading Skills/Phonics. Students use the relationships between letters and sounds, spelling patterns, and morphological analysis to decode written English.
(A) identify the common sounds that letters represent.
(B) uses knowledge of letter-sound relationships to decode regular words in text and independent of content (e.g. VC, CVC. CCVC, and CVCC words)
(C) recognize that new words are created when letters are changed, added, or deleted
(D) identify and read at least 45 high-frequency words from a commonly used list.
(4) Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies students comprehend a variety of texts drawing on useful strategies as needed
(A) predict what might happen next in text based on the cover, title, and illustrations
(B) ask and respond to questions about texts read aloud.
(5) Reading/Vocabulary Development students understand new vocabulary and use it correctly when reading and writing
(A) identify and use words that name actions, directions, positions, sequences, and locations
(D) use a picture dictionary to find words.
(6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
(A) identify elements of a story including setting, character, and key events.
(D) recognize recurring phrases and characters in traditional fairy tales, lullabies, and folktales from various
cultures.
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction students make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
(A) retell a main event from a story read aloud.
(B) describe characters in a story and the reasons for their actions.
(9) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
(10) Reading /Comprehension of Informational Text/Expository Text students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about expository text, and provide evidence from text to support their understanding
(A) identify the topic and details in expository text heard or read, referring to the words and/or illustrations
(B) retell important facts in a text, heard or read.
(C) discuss the ways authors group information in text.