Kindergarten

List of 11 items.

• Art

  All art classes utilize the elements of art of line, color, shape, texture, space, and form. In Kindergarten, students learn about and explore tools like pencils, markers, rulers, and paint.  In addition, clay, yarn, and weaving are emphasized.  Children’s literature is used as a jumping off point for our young artists.  of media is explored through the year including markers, crayons, stencils, clay, and collage. Special emphasis is placed on working collaboratively and using the studio space and materials appropriately.   

• Math

  •Counting and Cardinality: Count to 100 by ones and by tens. Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger. Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals.

  •Computation: Fluently add and subtract within 5.

  •Operations: Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations

  •Measurement and Data: Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight. Classify objects into given categories.

  •Geometry:  Identify, sort, and compare 2D and 3D shapes.

  •Problem Solving: Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.

• Music

  The kindergarten music program emphasizes vocal, instrumental, and movement exploration and creation. Students focus on producing a steady beat in songs and chants and using body percussion and rhythm instruments. Emphasis is placed on singing in your head voice and developing listening skills through echo song.  Kindergarten students discern long and short sounds by clapping and playing them on instruments.  Kindergarten performs several times in a year and culminates the year in a Kindergarten showcase highlighting what they have learned throughout the year with music and movement.   

• Phonics

  •Phonological Awareness: Recognize and produce rhyming words. Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words. Isolate and pronounce the initial, middle vowel, and final sounds in words.

  •Phonics and Word Recognition: Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. Read common high-frequency words by sight.

• Physical Education

  Movement and exercise are an important part of the school day. All grade levels have Physical Education three days a week. Physical Education classes develop fitness and skills and focus on life-long health and wellness. In Kindergarten we emphasize motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities. Students focus on their gross motor skills through cooperative games and skills such as kicking, throwing, and catching.   

• Reading

  •Key Ideas and Details: With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details. With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

  •Craft and Structure: Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems). With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story. Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

  •Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories. With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

  •Fluency: Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

• Research Lab

  The Lower School Library is a place of discovery.  All Lower School students visit the library regularly and can explore their interests by delving further into books and online sources for deeper learning.  During Research Lab class, kindergarten students engage in read-aloud activities, author/character studies, technology activities, and group research projects.  One example of a signature project in kindergarten is our class research project about meteorologists and forecasts.  In the final step of the project, the students use their new knowledge from our class research to create “CREEKcast” weather forecast videos for our school community using green screen technology.  Of course, students also enjoy reading for pleasure and look forward to checking out books to enjoy at home. 

• Science

  Topics of study: Weather, Pushes and Pulls, Plants, Animal Homes

• Social and Emotional Learning

  All homeroom teachers start the day with a morning meeting, which builds community and sets students up for a successful day. These morning meetings include four components and are based on the Responsive Classroom best-practices: 1) greeting everyone by name, 2) sharing important information about our lives and listening actively to our peers while asking clarifying questions, 3) a brief activity around social-emotional learning, and 4) watching community announcements and reading a short message that reviews the schedule for the day.     
      
  In addition, to morning meeting, all homerooms include a “Social Emotional Learning” block in the schedule in which students actively learn and practice a core set of social and emotional competencies: “C.A.R.E.S.: cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
      

  Our Lower School counselor visits each class once per week for a focused SEL lesson as well. 

• Social Studies

  Topics of study: Geography, Native American studies, Early Exploration of America, American Symbols and Figures

• Writing

  •Text Types and Purposes: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they state an opinion or preference. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose explanatory texts. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event.

  •Language: Print many upper- and lowercase letters. Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds. Recognize and name end punctuation.

  •Production and Distribution of Writing: With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.