Our school district’s reading/language arts program consists of a balanced literacy program encompassing phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Students are encouraged to be at advanced reading levels by the end of kindergarten and strive to be independent readers by the end of second grade. In addition, this curriculum encompasses writing and listening instruction.
The following kindergarten curriculum for reading/ language arts concentrates on the fundamental skills necessary for reading and writing.
Kindergarten Reading
Oral Language Development- Learns language concepts (e.g. opposites, use of pronouns and directional words).
- Speaks to inform or relate experiences.
- Expands word choices to communicate effectively.
Phonemic Awareness
- Identifies and generates rhyming words.
- Identifies beginning, ending and medial sounds in spoken words.
- Blends sounds together to make words.
Phonics
- Recognizes and identifies all upper and lower-case letters.
- Matches consonant and short vowel sounds to appropriate letters.
- Uses word patterns (e.g. –at, -op, -in) to read unknown words.
Fluency
- Reads beginner level text accurately and with expression.
Vocabulary
- Reads simple high-frequency sight words.
- Recognizes environmental print (e.g. stop sign, up and down arrows).
Comprehension
- Learns concepts about print.
- Tracks words left to right, top to bottom, with return sweep
(Return sweep is when the printing continues from the
end of one line to the beginning of the next line). - Identifies parts of a book.
- Coordinates one-to-one matching of spoken words to printed words.
- Learns reading strategies used before, during and after reading text.
- Makes connections to what he or she knows and what he or she reads.
- Makes predictions based on background knowledge.
- Responds to reading through discussion or retellings.
Writing
Composition
- Contributes to group writing experiences.
- Uses drawings, letters, or words to express ideas.
- Makes a list to plan ideas.
- Writes independently.
- Writes simple sentences.
- Spells high-frequency words correctly.
Handwriting
- Size, shape, slant and spacing
Listening
Listening and speaking skills and strategies
- Actively listens and responds to books read aloud.
- Retells information heard from stories and spoken presentations.
- Follows two or three-step directions.
- Uses social conventions when appropriate (e.g. please, thank you, excuse me).
- Tracks words left to right, top to bottom, with return sweep
(Return sweep is when the printing continues from the
end of one line to the beginning of the next line). - Identifies parts of a book.
- Coordinates one-to-one matching of spoken words to printed words.
- Makes connections to what he or she knows and what he or she reads.
- Makes predictions based on background knowledge.
- Responds to reading through discussion or retellings.
Source: A Parent’s Guide to Kindergarten Curriculum 2009-2010
Montgomery County Public Schools Rockville, MD
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