Kindergarten ELA Curriculum

Kindergarten students develop beginning reading and writing skills. They learn how print works, how letters represent sounds within words, and that we can use those sounds to read and spell words. Within readers’ workshop, teachers demonstrate beginning reading strategies such as using picture clues, recognizing familiar words, and using letter sounds to read new words. Students have daily experiences reading books independently and with a partner. At the beginning of kindergarten, readers may "tell" a story by looking at pictures and noticing what they see. Later on, they learn how to use story patterns to predict what happens next. Once they learn to recognize some words by sight, they begin to point to words on the page and read the text. Eventually, they are able to use the letter sounds to sound out new words. By the end of the year, most students are reading simple books independently.

In writing, students learn how to correctly print letters and match letter sounds to the words they wish to write. They use drawing and writing to convey their ideas. We encourage students to express their ideas by doing their best to write the sounds that they hear in words. As they progress throughout the year, their writing becomes more "conventional" and they can read their stories back to us.

Kindergarten teachers read aloud to their students several times per day in order to model reading skills and to give students an opportunity to practice listening comprehension and express ideas in discussion. Students also learn literacy skills through play and social interaction at learning centers throughout the classroom. Small group instruction allows the teacher to differentiate and ensure that students receive either additional support or opportunities for enrichment and more advanced instruction if they are meeting or exceeding kindergarten learning expectations.

The following table identifies specific areas of instruction within the kindergarten literacy program, the instructional materials, and the units of study/learning objectives:

Instructional Area	Instructional Materials	Units of Study / Learning Objectives
Word Work	Wilson Fundations Level K	By the end of kindergarten, students will be able to: Recognize and produce rhyming words Hear and produce beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words Name all the letters of the alphabet and know their sounds Print all the upper and lowercase letters in the alphabet Name and write letters when given sounds Read and spell approximately 200 three-sound words Spell other words phonetically, using known letter sounds Write a simple sentence with appropriate capitalization and punctuation Recognize at least 40 irregular (trick words) such as the, was, of
Reading	Kindergarten Reader’s Workshop Units of Study from the Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project	Units of Study Include: We Are Readers: introducing beginning reading behaviors Super Powers: Reading with Print Strategies and Sight words Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles: reading harder books utilizing additional reading strategies Readers are Resourceful: Tackling Hard Words and Tricky Parts in Words. Becoming Avid Readers: developing reading stamina and fluency and learning to talk about what we have read
Writing	Kindergarten Writer’s Workshop Units of Study from the Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project.	Units of Study Include: Launching the Writing Workshop and Show and Tell Unit: learning to express ideas in writing and pictures Writing for Readers: learning more about spelling and writing conventions so that others can read our writing All About Books and How-to-Books: Writing to Teach Others: learning about expository writing Persuasive Writing of All Kinds: writing to give our opinion
Technology Tools	I-read Imagine Learning Raz Kids	Teachers use technology tools to support literacy development for all students. I-read and Imagine Learning are both individualized learning programs that adjust to students’ needs as they progress through the lessons. I-read helps reinforce beginning/foundational reading skills, while Imagine Learning assists our English Language Learners to learn vocabulary, comprehension, and reading skills. Raz Kids gives students access to many interesting leveled fiction and non-fiction books to practice reading skills.