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Kindergarten

Kindergarten ELA:  

The Wit & Wisdom curriculum for kindergarten, developed by Great Minds, is a comprehensive English Language Arts (ELA) program designed to foster a love of reading and deepen knowledge across subjects. It combines high-quality literature with explicit instruction in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

1. Core Features

  • Module-Based Learning: Kindergarten students explore four modules, each centered around a broad theme or topic such as community, weather, nature, or the power of stories.
  • Knowledge-Building: Students engage with rich texts that build their background knowledge and vocabulary, helping them connect ideas across disciplines.
  • Integrated Approach: Literacy skills are developed alongside critical thinking, social-emotional learning, and content knowledge in science, history, and art.

2. Texts and Themes

  • Students read and interact with a mix of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.
  • Texts are carefully selected to align with kindergarten students' cognitive and emotional development, introducing them to complex ideas in an age-appropriate way.

3. Four Thematic Modules:

  • The Five Senses: This module explores human biology by introducing students to the five senses through engaging texts filled with rhyme, rhythm, and vivid imagery. It lays a foundation for understanding how we perceive and interact with the world.
  • Once Upon a Farm: Students dive into the dynamic world of farms, using both fiction and informational texts. The module helps students connect familiar and unfamiliar ideas, fostering curiosity about nature and daily life on a farm.
  • America, Then and Now: Focusing on how life and landscapes have evolved, this module examines changes in American society, including innovations by figures like Benjamin Franklin. It helps students compare past and present while understanding themes of continuity and progress.
  • The Continents: This module broadens students' horizons by exploring global geography and culture. Students learn about diverse landscapes, landmarks, and traditions, sparking curiosity about the wider world

4. Skills Development

  • Foundational Reading Skills: Focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency.
  • Listening and Speaking: Opportunities for discussion, storytelling, and oral expression.
  • Writing: Introduces drawing and dictation as foundational writing skills, leading to basic sentence writing.

5. Assessment and Support

  • Includes formative assessments to monitor progress.
  • Provides scaffolding for diverse learners, including English language learners and students with varying literacy levels.

6. Alignment with Standards

  • Designed to meet NYS ELA standards and foster readiness for future grades by introducing key concepts of critical thinking and collaboration.

The Heggerty Phonics program is a systematic, research-based approach to early literacy that focuses on teaching phonemic awareness and phonics skills in a structured, sequential manner. It is designed to support the development of reading and spelling in young students, particularly in kindergarten (K), where foundational literacy skills are critical. Below is a robust description of the key components of the Heggerty Phonics Program for Kindergarten, and how it aligns with New York State (NYS) English Language Arts (ELA) Standards:

Key Components of the Heggerty Phonics Program (K):

  1. Phonemic Awareness:
    • The program emphasizes the development of phonemic awareness, the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This skill is essential for students to connect sounds to letters (phonics) later in their learning.
    • Key activities include identifying rhyming words, segmenting and blending sounds, and isolating initial, medial, and final sounds in words.
  2. Letter Sounds and Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence:
    • Students learn to connect sounds (phonemes) with their corresponding letters (graphemes). This helps students understand the relationship between sounds and the written form of words, which is essential for both reading and spelling.
    • Instruction is focused on a set of high-frequency, decodable letter sounds, helping students begin decoding words as early as possible.
  3. Blending and Segmenting:
    • Through guided practice, students blend individual phonemes together to form words (e.g., blending /c/ /a/ /t/ to say "cat") and segment words into individual phonemes (e.g., segmenting "dog" into /d/ /o/ /g/).
    • These skills support both reading fluency and spelling, as students learn how to decode words and spell them phonetically.
  4. Explicit Instruction:
    • The program provides explicit, teacher-led instruction with daily lessons that introduce and review phonemic awareness and phonics skills.
    • Lessons are short and focused, ensuring students receive regular practice with phonological skills to reinforce learning.
  5. Repetition and Practice:
    • The Heggerty program uses repetition and consistent review to help solidify phonemic awareness skills. Daily practice allows students to internalize the connections between sounds and letters.
  6. Phonological Manipulation:
    • Students are taught to manipulate sounds in words, such as substituting, deleting, or adding phonemes. This skill is vital for developing more advanced reading and writing skills in later grades.

Alignment with NYS ELA Standards:

  1. Phonemic Awareness and Phonics (RF.K.2 and RF.K.3):
    • The Heggerty Phonics program directly aligns with NYS ELA Standards related to phonemic awareness and phonics. Specifically, the program addresses the requirement for students to demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between letters and sounds (RF.K.3), and engage in activities that improve their ability to manipulate sounds in words (RF.K.2).
    • Phonemic awareness instruction in Heggerty meets NYS standards by developing students' ability to isolate and blend sounds, which are foundational skills for decoding words.
  2. Fluency (RF.K.4):
    • The Heggerty program encourages fluency through the practice of blending and segmenting, which supports the NYS standard that students should be able to read grade-level texts with accuracy and fluency (RF.K.4). The focus on phonemic awareness and phonics instruction helps students read simple words and sentences with ease.
  3. Vocabulary Development (L.K.4):
    • The program supports vocabulary development by teaching students to identify and understand the meaning of words based on their sounds. As students progress in their ability to decode words, they also build their vocabulary through exposure to a range of phonetic patterns and high-frequency words.
  4. Reading Comprehension (RL.K.10, RI.K.10):
    • Although Heggerty primarily focuses on foundational reading skills, the phonemic awareness and phonics skills students develop through the program directly support their ability to comprehend both literature (RL.K.10) and informational texts (RI.K.10) by enabling them to decode and understand more complex texts as they advance in their learning.
  5. Speaking and Listening (SL.K.1):
    • The program's emphasis on auditory discrimination, sound manipulation, and rhyming activities supports speaking and listening skills. By participating in oral activities like blending and segmenting sounds, students improve their ability to articulate and understand spoken language, which aligns with NYS Speaking and Listening standards (SL.K.1).

The Heggerty Phonics program is a comprehensive, research-backed approach to early literacy that aligns closely with the New York State English Language Arts Standards for Kindergarten. By focusing on phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, blending, and segmenting, it provides students with the foundational skills necessary to become successful readers and writers. Through explicit instruction and daily practice, Heggerty ensures that students are prepared to meet the literacy expectations outlined in the NYS ELA standards.

Fundations Phonics Program for Grade K: 

The Fundations program is a research-based phonics program designed to teach students essential literacy skills through explicit, systematic instruction. For Grade K, it focuses on building foundational skills in reading and writing. The program emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, and handwriting, and aligns closely with New York State (NYS) English Language Arts (ELA) standards, particularly in the areas of reading, writing, and language.

Key Components of the Fundations Phonics Program for Grade K:

  1. Phonemic Awareness:
    • Students learn to identify and manipulate sounds in spoken words (e.g., blending, segmenting, and deleting sounds).
    • This component lays the groundwork for decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) words.
    • Activities include rhyming, initial sounds, and oral blending.
  2. Phonics:
    • Fundations introduces students to letter-sound correspondences, including both consonants and vowels.
    • Teachers focus on teaching letter names and their corresponding sounds through a systematic approach.
    • Students also practice blending sounds to read simple words and segmenting them for spelling.
  3. High-Frequency Words:
    • The program incorporates high-frequency words that do not always follow standard phonics rules (e.g., "the," "of," "said").
    • These words are taught explicitly, helping students to read and write common words without relying on phonics rules.
  4. Handwriting:
    • Students practice writing letters with proper formation, which is vital for developing fine motor skills and reinforcing letter-sound connections.
    • Fundations teaches correct letter formation for both uppercase and lowercase letters using a consistent stroke pattern.
  5. Fluency and Vocabulary:
    • Fundations helps develop fluency by ensuring students can read and write words with accuracy and speed.
    • Vocabulary instruction supports the understanding of words and their meanings, contributing to overall language comprehension.
  6. Spelling:
    • The program includes dictation and spelling activities to help students encode sounds into written words.
    • Spelling is taught in conjunction with phonics rules, enabling students to apply their knowledge in both reading and writing tasks.

Alignment to NYS ELA Standards for Grade K:

The Fundations program is carefully aligned to the New York State English Language Arts Standards, which focus on foundational skills, reading, writing, and language development. Here’s how it aligns:

  1. Reading: Foundational Skills (NYS ELA Standard 1):
    • Fundations directly supports this standard by developing skills in print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.
    • For example, in RF.K.1 (Print Concepts), Fundations helps students understand that words are read from left to right, top to bottom, and that spaces separate words.
    • In RF.K.2 (Phonological Awareness), Fundations supports phonemic awareness through activities like sound isolation, blending, and segmentation.
    • For RF.K.3 (Phonics and Word Recognition), Fundations provides systematic instruction in letter-sound correspondences and teaches students to decode and encode words.
  2. Writing (NYS ELA Standard 2):
    • The program’s emphasis on handwriting, spelling, and word formation aligns with W.K.2 (Write informative/explanatory texts) and W.K.5 (With guidance and support, focus on a topic, respond to questions, and add details).
    • Writing instruction is scaffolded from early practice with letter formation and word spelling to more complex writing tasks.
  3. Language (NYS ELA Standard 3):
    • Fundations supports language development by teaching students to use correct grammar and usage in both speaking and writing, which aligns with L.K.1 and L.K.2.
    • For instance, students are taught to correctly use singular and plural nouns, and proper punctuation, which supports their ability to communicate clearly in writing.
  4. Speaking and Listening (NYS ELA Standard 4):
    • Through group activities and teacher-guided instruction, students engage in oral language practice that supports their listening and speaking skills (e.g., responding to questions and explaining their reasoning).

In sum, the Fundations Phonics Program is a robust, foundational literacy tool for Grade K students, designed to systematically build reading, writing, and language skills. Its emphasis on phonemic awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, handwriting, and spelling aligns seamlessly with the NYS ELA standards, providing a strong base for early literacy development.

Mathematics

Pequenakonck Elementary School has adopted the hands-on and minds-on K-5 Math Curriculum, enVisionmath2.0, as the instructional resource to use within our math workshop model. Students explore grade level concepts with engaging materials, manipulatives, videos, online access and interdisciplinary activities that support student learning. The program is organized to promote focus and coherence each day. Assessments provide meaningful feedback to support student learning. The comprehensive program focuses on Common Core Clusters, develops understanding, and most importantly, connects mathematical content and processes. Learning is also supported through small group and collaborative activities.  The four major domains include: Counting and Cardinality, Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Numbers and Operations in Base Ten, Measurement and Data, and Geometry.

Mathematical Practices:

  • Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them 

  • Reason abstractly and quantitatively
  • Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
  • Model with mathematics
  • Use appropriate tools strategically (including ten frames, rekenreks, and bead strings)
  • Attend to precision
  • Look for and make use of structure
  • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Some of what your kindergartner will be learning includes:

  • Counting to 100 from any given number
  • Understanding the relationship between numbers and quantity
  • Fluently adding and subtracting within 5
  • Composing and decomposing within 19 to show tens and ones
  • Solving addition and subtraction word problems, and adding and subtracting within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem
  • Representing and interpreting data
  • Analyzing and comparing two and three dimensional shapes

Social Studies

We use BOCES as our instructional resource for teaching social studies.  "Getting to Know Myself and Others" is an integrated Kindergarten Social Studies/English Language Arts curriculum developed by Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Curriculum Council and the BOCES Curriculum staff. The National Social Studies Themes, Social Studies Key Ideas and Content Understandings, and the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies were used as a framework for unit development.  Kindergartners learn about the following topics:

  • Myself and Others: Students learn that each person is unique and different.  Students recognize that families can be similar and different.
  • How Can I Be a Good Citizen?: Students learn to show respect and kindness. Students learn what it looks like to be a good citizen in their classrooms and school.
  • Understanding Needs and Wants: Students learn the differences between wants and needs.  Students understand that they need others to fulfill their needs and wants.

Science

We use Science 21 as our instructional resource for teaching science. The science program is an inquiry based program.  Kindergartners use critical and creative thinking skills as well as problem solving skills to learn about the following topics of study: 

  • Exploring the Weather: Students use their senses and observations to make predictions about the weather.  Students will use tools of meteorologists to explore temperature and describe weather patterns.
  • Exploring Forces and Motion: Students investigate how forces, or pushes and pulls, are needed to move object.  Students use models to observe objects in motion and the relationship among forces, strength, and direction.
  • Animals, Plants and their Environment: Students use observations to describe what living things need to survive.  Students understand how living things can change their environment to meet their needs.

Health

Our health program, The Great Body Shop, promotes behaviors to better health.  Students study topics at every level. All students study growth and development, nutrition, safety, illness prevention, substance abuse prevention, personal safety, family life, and community health.

Kindergartners will study the following topics:

  • How to Stay Safe
  • The Five Senses
  • Adventure in Food
  • The Family Team
  • My Body is Special
  • Going to the Doctor and Dentist
  • No Drugs, No Way!
  • Getting Sick
  • Keeping Clean and Healthy
  • Every Day Play