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Content Overview

Kindergarten is a year of growing socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually. Below is the learning content for kindergarten.

Reading
Kindergarten students progress through stages to develop their reading skills. They begin by recognizing that letters have sounds and letters or combinations of letters form words. Students gradually develop their vocabulary through rich classroom experiences. Kindergarten students show their comprehension by retelling details in sequence and by predicting events in a story.

Math
In kindergarten, students work on the concepts of shapes, sorting, patterning, number sense, problem-solving, and simple addition and subtraction.

Science
Through hands-on activities students will learn observation skills, an important first step of the scientific inquiry process. The focus of their study is plants and animals.

Writing
Students will not only be taught how to form letters correctly but how to express their ideas in written form. They usually begin by using pictures, then random letters, a few known words that they may copy, and eventually writing simple sentences.

Handwriting
Printing is taught with the “ball and stick method.” Handwriting development progresses through stages:
Scribble
Pictures
Letterlike forms or a series of random letters
Writing words the way they sound
Spelling most words correctly

Social Studies
Students learn about themselves and their classroom community.

Physical Education
Effort/Skills/Fitness/Sportsmanship
Comes prepared
Participates safely in activities
Conducts self in a manner conducive to behavior guidelines
Demonstrates age appropriate motor skills
Participates in a fair and cooperative manner
Follows rules
Demonstrates respectful behavior toward property and equipment
Demonstrates respectful social behavior

Music
Students will demonstrate the following skills and concepts in music:
Recognize the four different voices (singing, speaking, whisper, and calling)
Distinguish the difference between high/low and loud/quiet sounds
Recognize same and different patterns in music
Echo, speak chants, and move to the beat

District Expectations

Several times a year, students’ skills are formally assessed. There is an expected level of performance in each content area.

Reading
Students must meet grade level expectations in on one of the following assessments:

• Kindergarten Literacy Survey
  A one-on-one test where students demonstrate their reading skills. The end of the year expectation is for students to master 80% of the skills.

• Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
  An individually administered test that measures students' reading rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Students are expected to read at a book level of 3 by the end of the school year.

Writing
Student writing is measured using a checklist of writing skills (see writing section of the Report Card). By the end of the year, students must earn a score of 3 on 10 of the 13 items on the checklist.

Math
Student expectations in math focus on counting, identifying, and writing numbers. The following is a guide to student progress over the year: