FOR FAMILIES: Kindergarten Curriculum

Kindergarten curriculum is designed to address all areas of development (social, emotional, physical and intellectual) and to meet needs of a diverse group of learners. Children are active learners: touching, trying, moving, talking, writing, drawing, questioning. Throughout the kindergarten day, children have opportunities to explore, investigate, and predict. Kindergarten teachers promote self-discovery and self-awareness. They foster independence and help children to gain and use skills necessary for working in small groups, in large groups and individually. Children learn how to function well as group members, how to ask for help and to be helpful, how to complete a task and put things away. Each child is encouraged to move beyond his/her current level of understanding.

The kindergarten classroom is a safe, supportive and welcoming environment. It provides children with a variety of opportunities to try out new ideas and be challenged with new experiences that engage budding readers, writers, scientists, mathematicians and artists. Teachers help children to be empowered, to feel valued, to be listened to, to be competent and successful in school.

We are in full compliance with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in all
curriculum areas.

Please select from the below topics or CLICK HERE to Expand/Contract all topics.

• •ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
  • The development of language and literacy skills is critical to children's development and success. Kindergarten students are provided multiple opportunities throughout the day to practice language and literacy skills through listening, talking and interacting with each other and teachers, reading, writing, singing songs, and acting out stories. The ELA curriculum is delivered through the following:
    
    LITERACY
    Kindergarten children are immersed in communication, reading, and writing through out the school day. Children participate in literacy activities in whole group and small group activities, and through individual work. In each of the kindergarten classrooms the children's day is organized by use of a Work Board (Fountas and Pinnell) or workcenters. The kindergarten literacy program meets the system wide mandate of providing a minimum of one 90-minute literacy block each day. All of our learning centers have a distinct literacy "flavor" to them. Although a center may read science, art, poetry, or writing, our Work Board activities are interdisciplinary. Centers or Work Board activities often have a literature connection or theme.
    
    EARLY READING
    The formal reading program for the Arlington Public School is Guided Reading. Our guided reading materials, the bulk of which are leveled books, come from a number of sources. The books include fiction and nonfiction and support many of our classroom themes. Students who need additional support in reading are provided further instruction through the Reading Intervention Program.
    
    PHONICS
    Fundations is our formal phonics and handwriting program, which has been implemented in all of the Kindergarten through Grade 2 classrooms throughout the school system. Fundations is an adaptation of the Wilson Reading System. It is a systematic, sequential, multi-sensory method of teaching reading and writing skills.
    
    WRITING
    Our formal writing program comes in large part from the guiding principles of Lucy Caulkins. We spend our year modeling the various ways that proficient writers express themselves. We start our formal writing in a small groups, and gradually work our way toward a well-managed writers' workshop environment. Our writing experiences include both large and small group formats, journals, and Small Moment Writing. Our approach to writing lays the foundation for the writing experiences that will continue throughout the elementary school programs. We view writing as an integral part of our literacy program.
    
    • Philosophy Statement (English Language Arts)
    
    
• •MATHEMATICS
  • A child's first mathematical understanding is formed through concrete experiences with the real world and with common materials. The math curriculum provides students opportunities to develop foundational mathematical understandings and skills that progress at individual rates. Through a program using formative math assessments, Assessing Math Concepts (AMC), teachers are able to uncover student knowledge of the foundational mathematical ideas that are necessary for successful learning. The AMC program identifies Critical Learning Phases, a continuum of mathematical understandings, through which students move over several years. Clear definition of these phases helps teachers understand how students build mathematical knowledge and develop skills. It also guides teachers in their response to student needs for intervention or for stretch. Based on results of initial assessments, the program suggests targeted activities to address students at the growing edge of their understanding. Their progress is tracked by reassessment with the same tool. The result is a record of student growth of mathematical understandings. The TERC Investigations Program is also integrated into our mathematical instruction.
    
    The following topics will be covered throughout the school year:
    
    • Counting Objects
    • Changing Numbers
    • Number Arrangements
    • Number recognition and formation
    • Patterns
    • More or less
    • Time
    • Money
    • Measurement
    • Two and Three dimensional shapes
    • Graphing
    • Philosophy Statement (Mathematics)
    
    
• •SCIENCE
  • Children in kindergarten enter school with inquiring minds and are natural scientists. Their curiosity and inclination to explore make them enthusiastic to learn about the natural and physical world. Science offers children opportunity to do what comes naturally - to observe, question, manipulate objects, and communicate their thinking through actions, words, and drawings or construction.
    
    These science topics are integrated into the kindergarten curriculum:
    
    • Technology/Tools
    • Earth/Space
    • Day/Night
    • Seasons
    • Magnets
    • Life Science - Plants
    
    
• •SOCIAL STUDIES
  • Children start developing a sense of identity and a sense of their social and individual selves in the early childhood years. Developing social competence - the ability to engage in successful interactions with others and with family, friends, school, and community - is an integral part of children's development. The social studies curriculum, learning in history and social science, is built on children's experiences in their families, school, community, state, and country. These topics are integrated into throughout the kindergarten curriculum:
    
    National Holidays
    • Columbus Day
    • Independence Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    • President's Day
    
    National Symbols
    • American Flag
    • National Anthem
    • Current President
    • Pledge of Allegiance
    
    Community
    • Work, Jobs, Money
    • Time (Social and Personal)
    
    
• •OPEN CIRCLE
  • Open Circle is a comprehensive, grade-differentiated social and emotional learning program for grades K-5 children, their teachers, administrators, and families and is implemented in all elementary school classrooms. The curriculum fosters the development of relationships that support safe, caring and respectful learning communities of children and adults. It also supports peer-mediated interactions, so children learn to solve problems with one another.
    
    Open Circle skills in the kindergarten programs includes:
    
    • Listening
    • Non-verbal communication
    • Complimenting
    • Inclusion
    • Cooperating
    • Recognizing when to tell a Responsible Adult
    • Handling Annoying Behavior
    • Dealing with Teasing
    • Recognizing Differences
    • Speaking UP
    • Understanding/Recognizing Feelings
    • Being Calm
    • Problem Solving
    • Interviewing
    • Leadership
    • Expressing Anger Appropriately
    • Understanding/Recognizing Body Language
    • Self-Talk
    
    
• •HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
  • Comprehensive health education includes development of children's physical, mental, emotional, and social health. The kindergarten health curriculum is delivered through Great Body Shop activities in the regular classroom as well as physical health activities through the Physical Education program.
    
    Great Body Shop
    The Great Body Shop is a comprehensive health, substance abuse, and violence prevention program taught in grades K-6. It is integrated throughout the kindergarten curriculum and with some lessons taught by the nurse and physical education teachers.
    
    Kindergarten units include the following:
    
    • Staying Safe
    • 5 Senses
    • Food/Nutrition
    • Family
    • Your Body
    • Dentist/Doctor visits
    • Drug Awareness (No Drugs, No Way)
    • Staying Healthy
    • Physical Fitness
    
    
• •ARTS
  • Teaching and learning in the arts serves several functions, including learning and mastering different art forms for their own sake, and using the arts across the curriculum to integrate and express information. Kindergarten students are provided opportunities to express themselves through drawings and other visual art activities, in acting out stories, singing songs, and through dramatic play activities. In addition to the integration of these activities throughout the kindergarten curriculum, kindergarten students are provided specialized content instruction in art and music during the week.
    
    
• •ASSESSMENTS
  • In kindergarten, assessments drive our instruction and show us where students may need extra support or practice. Children practicing a similar skill may be gathered together for small group work with the teacher to enhance their skill. Assessments are ongoing throughout the year as the students grow, develop and learn. Some formal assessments are;
    
    • Letter and sound identification
    • Concepts about Print
    • DRA 2
    • Phonemic Awareness
    • Writing prompts
    • AMC Math
• •PROGRESS REPORTS
  • Progress Report - Kindergarten

For additional curriculum information, please visit: Teaching & Learning

For complete Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Kindergarten Early Learning Experiences document visit www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html