Math
Everyday Mathematics is an elementary school mathematics curriculum designed to emphasize a realistic approach to problem solving in everyday situations. It uses frequent and distributed practice of basic skills through ongoing program routines and mathematical games. It revisits topics regularly to ensure full concept development and long-term retention of learning. The activities implemented within Everyday Mathematics offer opportunities for children to apply their skill and understanding of geometry, measurement, and algebra. Some examples of ongoing program routines include the calendar, checking and charting the weather, charting temperatures, and carrying out routine classroom jobs.
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Writer's Workshop
We begin in Kindergarten with oral story telling. We feel it is important for our students to begin Writer’s Workshop with storytelling because inviting children to talk about themselves and about what they know honors them for who they are. At the same time, telling stories acknowledges talk as having an essential place at the core of writing. We then follow a yearlong writing curriculum by Lucy Calkins that is divided into month long units of study. Many units help children learn to write within a particular genre – say, writing true stories or writing all-about books – and other units highlight particular aspects of the writing process, such as revision or learning from mentor authors. Either way, children produce many pieces of writing across a unit of study and then, at the end of the unit, each child selects one or two pieces to revise and edit for publication.
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Language Arts
Treasures is a reading/language arts program designed to reinforce phonemic awareness, listening comprehension, alphabet recognition, and beginning reading concepts. For the first three weeks of September, the kindergarteners are introduced to “Start Smart.” Start Smart is an introductory unit that introduces High Frequency Words: “I,” “can.” Students begin to learn phonemic awareness skills; such as sequencing sounds, word segmentation, syllable blending, phoneme isolation, and onset/rime blending. The alphabet and letter sounds are briefly introduced. Reading skills such as comprehension and word automaticity are also incorporated throughout the day.
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Science
Foss is a research-based science curriculum for grades K–5. The Three units of study we use for kindergarten are listed in the curriculum on a page that is attached. The FOSS materials provide students with first hand experiences followed by related readings. Each unit has a variety of investigations that are done in a small group setting. The main purpose of the investigations are for student to go through the process of observation, and through discussions, think critically to actively construct new ideas using what they already know.
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