Kindergarten
Curriculum Letter
January 2020
A curriculum letter outlines the general learning objectives that
have been covered and assessed to this point in the year.
English Language Arts
This term, students have explored
and developed their early literacy skills. They have participated in small
group and whole class discussions about picture books, fairy tales, stories,
videos and other media texts. Students are learning to communicate their
thoughts and ideas through drawing and writing. They are learning to form recognizable letters, print their
own names, and explore and experiment with new words and terms.
Through the acquisition of knowledge
about the alphabet letters, both capital and lowercase, students are beginning
to use their knowledge to phonetically sound out and spell words.
Expresses ideas and develops understanding
• shares personal experiences
prompted by oral, print and other media texts
• talks about ideas, experiences and
familiar events.
Experiments with language and forms
• talks and represents to explore,
express and share stories, ideas and experiences.
Expresses preferences
• talks about favourite
oral, print and other media texts.
Sets goals
• talks about own reading and writing
experiences.
Considers the ideas of others
• listens to experiences and feelings
shared by others.
Combines ideas
• connects related ideas and
information.
Extends understanding
• expresses interest in new ideas and
experiences
Uses comprehension strategies
• begins to use language prediction
skills when stories are read aloud
• asks questions and makes comments
during listening and reading activities
• recalls events and characters in
familiar stories read aloud by others
• reads own first name, environmental
print and symbols, words that have personal significance and some words in
texts.
Uses phonics and structural
analysis
• begins to make connections among
sounds, letters, words, pictures and meaning
• identifies and generates rhyming
words in oral language
• hears and identifies sounds in
words
• associates sounds with consonants
that appear at the beginning of personally significant words.
Uses references
• recites the letters of the alphabet
in order
• copies scribed
words
and print texts to assist with writing.
Experiences various texts
•
participates in shared listening, reading and viewing experiences, using oral,
print and other media texts from a variety of cultural traditions and genres,
such as picture books, fairy tales, rhymes, stories, photographs, illustrations
and video programs
• listens and views attentively
• identifies favourite
stories and books.
Constructs meaning from texts
• relates aspects of oral, print and
other media texts to personal feelings and experiences
• talks about and represents the
actions of characters portrayed in oral, print and other media texts
• talks about experiences similar or
related to those in oral, print and other media texts.
Mathematics
Students have explored sorting,
patterns and are beginning to develop their number sense for the numbers 1-10.
Develop Number Sense:
• says the number sequence 1 to 10 by
1s, starting anywhere from 1 to 10 and from 10 to 1.
• subitizes
(recognize at a glance) and names familiar arrangements of 1 to 5 objects or
dots.
• relates a numeral, 1 to 10, to its
respective quantity.
•
represents and describes numbers 2 to 10, concretely and pictorially. •
compares
quantities 1 to 10, using one-to-one correspondence.
Patterns:
• demonstrates an
understanding of repeating patterns (two or three elements) by: – identifying –
reproducing – extending – creating patterns using manipulatives, sounds and
actions.
• sorts a set of objects based on a
single attribute, and explains the sorting rule.
3-D Objects and 2-D Shapes:
• sorts 3-D
objects, using a single attribute.
•
builds
and describes 3-D objects.
Science
Community and Environment Awareness
We are following the seasons and learning how humans, animals and plants
adapt to these seasonal changes. We are beginning
to explore and describe the world through Our Five Senses and are learning to write about
what we “SEE, THINK and WONDER”. Through exploration in centers and
science experiments students are learning to use sand,
water, blocks and other manipulatives to explore scientific and aesthetic concepts. They have been encouraged to explore the
design, function and properties of a variety of natural and manufactured
materials. Students are
learning to select and work with a variety of materials to build structures. Students have also begun to demonstrate their
awareness of the properties of objects and events in the environment. For
example, we are learning to describe and sort objects
according to common properties such as colour, size, shape and texture.
Social Studies
Citizenship and Identity: Being Together
Learning through play with our
peers has been a major focus of our social skills this term. We have been exploring and learning what
it means to be unique and special. We have discussed and learned about the
interests and characteristics we may have that are similar to or different from
our peers. Exploring our classroom environments and investigating in centres
has been a great way to spark conversations, make new friends and
allowed us to develop skills to participate and work together as part of a
group.
I am Unique
-I know and value my unique characteristics,
interests, gifts and talents.
-I know and appreciate the unique
characteristics, interests, gifts and talents of others.
I Belong
-I know I belong to my home.
-I know I belong to my school.
I know
I belong to my community.
Physical Education
This term
students participated in indoor outdoor cooperative games, catching and
throwing, and beginner soccer, basketball and volleyball skills.
Through soccer, basketball, and
volleyball, as well as small and large group games, students have:
-
Acquired skills through a variety of
developmentally appropriate movement activities,
games and individual activities.
Selected, performed and refined
basic skills in a variety of environments, while using various equipment.
Demonstrated strategies and tactics that coordinate
effort with others; e.g., team, in order to achieve a common activity goal in
lead-up games.
-
Interacted positively with others, demonstrated
through game etiquette and fair play.
-
Understood, experienced
and appreciated
the health benefits that result
from physical activity
Health
In health,
we have continued to develop understanding of ourselves as learners, our rights
and responsibilities, and the Zones of Regulation. Nutrition and healthy
lifestyle have also been emphasized.
Creative Expression
Art
Art has
been integrated throughout our curricular areas through sketching, step by step
drawing, oil and wax pastels, tempera
paint, watercolor pencil crayons, and
playdough.
Music
Students are learning to sing and recite a growing
repertoire of songs and poems. They are expressing the story or feelings of a
song through movement and playing classroom instruments. They presented their
learning at the winter concert when they sang and did the actions for “Little
Snowflake” and “Dancing Snowflakes”.
Technology
Technology is integrated into
subject areas and in some instances direct teaching of specific programs is
used. Students are learning to use IPads
and SMARTboards
for literacy and math games.
