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School District of Springfield Township A SNAPSHOT OF GRADE “K” LANGUAGE ARTS:(A Pennsylvania State Standards-Based Curriculum) Kindergarten kids talk about Language Arts: A Snapshot of Grade “K” Language Arts The goal of kindergarten is to empower children to view them selves as readers and writers and thinkers.
Kindergarten kids talk about Language Arts:Teacher: “Where do good writers get their ideas?” Students: “You write about your friends.” “You write about what your fa vorite thing is and what you like to do.” “You write a story, then make a picture that matches up with what you said in the story.” Teacher: “How do you become a good reader?” Students: “You think about what you read.” “You read a lot.” “ If you don’t know the word, the pictures give you a clue.” “You never give up on a word.” “ Keep practicing and you get better and better.” Teacher: “Why do you want to be good writers and readers?” Students: “It’s something you love and like to do…like recess.” “It’s fun.” “Writing helps you so you can read.” “…and reading helps you so you can write.” “It helps to get your brain smarter.” Key concepts about student learning in kindergarten ProgressEvery one working according to his/her developmental readiness Daily imp rovement: alway s comp aring p resent writing with baseline writing Respect for the beginn ing stages of reading and writing Understanding that Kindergarten children know HOW to learn, CAN learn, and WANT to learn Celebration of what students CAN do!What goes on in the kindergarten classroom? The Language Arts Standards in Action: Balanced LiteracyThe kindergarten program provides the foundation of the K-2 Language Arts benchmark band. The skills detailed in this snap shot equip students for success in first grade.
Developing Reading SkillsThe “WHAT?”--• Phonemic awareness Rhyme recognition Rhyme generation Sy llable clap p ing Initial consonant sound reco gnition Final consonant sound recognition Blendin g-- /k /-/u/-/p / (cup) Segmenting—( cup) /k/-/u/-/p/ • Phonics Reco gnizes upp ercase alp habet Reco gnizes lowercase alp habet Associates letters with consonant sounds Reco gnizes vowels Alp habet writing Sp ellin g of three-letter words Initial consonant, final consonant, short vowels Decodin g words One minute rapid letter readin g for correct letters per minute • Reading and Oral Expression Sight words (a, am, an, and, are, at, can, do, for, go, have, he, here, I, in, is, it like, me, my, no, play, said, see, she, so to, the up, we) Concepts of p rint Emer gent read in g Guided readin g level Oral exp ression The “HOW?” --Shared reading (reading with children)
Guided Reading (reading by the children) Leveled “Book in a bag” Daily reading: reading with the teacher, sharing with the family
Developing Writing SkillsThe “WHAT?”
The “HOW?” Writing Workshop— empowers children as writers accordin g to their developmental readiness fosters ownership through self-selected top ics Asp ects of Writing Workshop include:
Developing Speaking and Listening Skills The “WHAT?”Listening comprehension Listens and responds to literature Identifies main character in story Identifies the problem in a story Tells how problem is solved Retells story in logical ord er Identifies beginning, middle, end Uses clues to determine fiction vs. non-fiction Focuses and attends during group discussions Communicates meaning fully The “HOW?” Shared reading with teacher, classmates Guided reading with teacher, sharing with family Centers Recess Problem solving Show and Tell Learning CentersIntegration of reading, writing, speaking, and listening The “WHY?” To reinforce and to enrich : To play , to create, to imagine, to socialize, to collaborate, to problemsolve, to promote higher level thinking, to enrich vocabulary , to practice skill, to encourage fluency, to fine tune motor skills The “HOW”? Manipulating, role playing, interacting with: Sand, easel, co mp uters, writing, themes, indiv idual whiteboards, clip board surveys, chalk box, journals, library, science, books on tape, letter activities with stamps/p lay dough/clay/magnetics, magazine picture cut outs, making little books, games (BINGO), p oetry By the end of kindergarten, students… KNOW…at least 30 or more sight words CAN…read and write stories Questions Most Frequently Asked?What is Balanced Literacy? Research tells us that writing, encoding, and reading, decoding, are two sides of the same coin— growth in one supports growth in another. As a matter of fact, the same can be said for the relationships among reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Further, the International Readin g Association is one of many p rofessional organ izations that p romote the critical role of metacognition in learn in g. Childr en must be active p articip ants in their learnin g, aware of their processes and possessing a variety of strategies to move them toward increasing independence as readers and writers. A balanced literacy framework offers a structure for “balancing” readin g and writing modes of instruction and learning so that each supp orts and strengthens the other. A balanced approach provides a daily variety of stimulating experiences in a social and supportive environment. In lar ge group , small group s, “buddies,” and by themselves, students see skills modeled, exp erience skill-building in a shared scaffold, p ractice skills in a guided scaffold, and work ind ep endently . The components of a Balanced Literacy classroom include portions of the Language Arts block devoted to: read aloud, shared readin g, guid ed read in g, indep endent readin g, modeled writing, gu ided writin g, independent writing, and word work (focused building of vo cabulary , letters, letter forms, sp elling, grammar). How does BL connect to the LA S tandards? Our Langu age Arts Standards giv e us the content and skill—what we want students to know and to be able to do by the end of the K-2 grade band. We know that early literacy is the result of a p lanned, sy stematic, integr ated lan guage arts curriculu m framework that implements the Language Arts Standards. Balanced Literacy p rovides this framework. What can pa rents do to help?
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