+ kindergarten education by: stephanie, laiken, brooke, and jessica

+

Kindergarten Education

By: Stephanie, Laiken, Brooke, and Jessica

+Kindergarten Today

This is an ongoing transitional stage

Emphasizes academics, especially early literacy, math and science, and activities that prepare children to think and problem-solve

Will have a lasting impact on the kindergarten curriculum and the education of young children

+Longer Days

Today 72% of kindergarten children are enrolled in full-day programs.

Reasons for full-days: Easier transition and flexibility Helps children develop academically and socially Provides greater progress in literacy, math, and science More testing The almost universal goal of having all children reading well

by entry into first grade

+Who attends kindergarten?

Usually children of the age 5-6.

Many people support an older age for kindergarten because they feel the older the student the better they will learn.

Current legislative practices indicate that states and school districts will continue to push back the kindergarten entrance age so that kindergarten children will continue to be “older.”

Redshirting – the practice of postponing the entrance into kindergarten of age-eligible children to allow extra time for social-emotional, intellectual, or physical growth. Research data regarding children's achievement in reading and math

found that redshirted children have slightly higher reading knowledge skills at the end of first grade than children who started kindergarten on time.

+Alternative Programs

Developmental kindergarten (dk) – a kindergarten designed to provide children with additional time for maturation and physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development

Transition kindergarten – kindergarten designed to serve children who may be old enough to go to first grade but not quite ready to handle al of its expectations

Mixed-age grouping – students in two or three grade levels combined in one classroom with one teacher

Looping – single graded class of children staying with the same teacher for two or more years

Universal kindergarten – the availability of publicly funded kindergarten to all children

+Environments

A healthy setting is important for all children. You must create a:

Healthy Environment: organic/healthy foods, weekly routine

Respectful Environment: showing respect not only to student, but to families and colleagues. Children must show adults and peers respect as well.

Supportive Environment: creates a climate where children can do their best work. Teachers have a high expectation of students and are expected to succeed.

Challenging Environment: provides a curriculum that is neither too easy nor to hard. Teachers must adjust learning levels to the child’s abilities.

The Physical Environment: environments that support learning are essential if we want all kindergarten children to be successful

+What Are Kindergarten Children Like? These are children ages five and six that have certain

characteristics that make them considered kindergarteners. They are ALL unique.

Physical Development – Kindergarten children have a lot of energy so physical activity is important.

Learning Centers – Areas of the classroom set up to promote student-centered, hands-on, active learning, organized around student interests, themes, and academic subjects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh_85QCV8ts



+What Are Kindergarten Children Like? (cont.) Social-Emotional Development

Kindergarteners are in the industry vs. inferiority stage of Erikson’s social-emotional development.

This stage claims that children are still learning to regulate their emotions and social interactions

Most Kindergarten children are confident and love to involved and can handle a good bit of responsibility. They are both independent workers and solitary workers and they do want to be successful in the classroom.

This makes teaching kindergarten children fun!

+What Can You Do As A Teacher To Promote Positive Social- Emotional Development? Give ALL the children a chance to be leaders in projects and

activities. Examples- (Have important jobs and rotate every child doing

those jobs)

Model positive social and emotional responses Examples- (Discuss feelings of anger, happiness, guilt, pride, etc.)

Provide opportunities for the children to be physically and mentally active in problem solving and social activities with their peers and adults.

Examples- (Tic-Tac-Toe, Chutes and Ladders, etc.)

Teach and role-model how to make and keep friends. Examples- (Have children work in many different groups)

+What Are Kindergarten Children Like? (cont.) Cognitive and Language Development

Kindergarten children are at a period of rapid development and growth with their language and the love to learn new words

Encourage the children to talk by giving them opportunities to be involved in language activities

Fun examples – telling stories, poetry, singing, and even tongue twisters

+

The Kindergarten CurriculumLiteracy, Reading, and Kindergarten Children

+Literacy, Reading, and Kindergarten Children

Literacy Educationteaching that focuses on reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Literacy education is a hot topic for several reasons: Too many adults and children cannot read. 20% of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a fifth-grade

level 42 million Americans can’t read at all

Conventional reading and writing skills developed in the years from birth to age five have a clear and consistently strong relationship with later conventional literacy skills.

Businesses and industry are concerned about how unprepared the nation’s work-force is to meet the demands of the workplace.

State governments are at the forefront of making sure all children learn to read well and that they read on level by third grade.


Emergent Literacy• Used to explain and describe the process of how children

interact with books and with writing even though they cannot read in a conventional sense.

• Emphasizes using environmental and social contexts to support and extend children’s reading and writing. Children want to make sense of what they read and write.

• The meaningful part of reading and writing occurs when…• Children talk to each other,• Write letters,• And read good literature or have it read to them.

• Reading to and with children is an excellent way to scaffold their learning and to invite them into processes and activities that support their literacy development.


Emergent Literacy• Figure 11.1 pp.312, Reading/Literacy Instructional

Terminology• Alphabet knowledge• Alphabetic principle• Comprehension• Decoding• Orthographic awareness• Phoneme• Phonemic awareness• Phonics• Phonological awareness• Print awareness


English Language Learners children who speak a different language other than English

in the home and are not fully fluent in English• Educational policy makers are increasing their attention

to young children (ages 3-8) from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

• All children can benefit cognitively, linguistically, and culturally from learning more than one language.

• Southern states have experienced 300%-400% population growth in ELL


Literacy and reading are worthy national and educational goals for all ages, especially young children. Whole word

One of the most popular methods used for literacy and reading development; site word approach. Label things in the classroom– sight vocabulary

Door, bookcase, desk, etc. Create a word wall

A collection of word displayed on a wall or other display place in the classroom designed to promote literacy learning.

Interactive word wall Use picture dictionaries, play 20 questions, match pictures to

words (matching game) Have children create a word journal to log stories.

Approaches to Literacy and Reading for Young Children

+

Whole Word Approaches


Phonics Phonics instruction stresses letter-sound correspondence. By combining these connections, students are able to make

sounds into words C-A-T (cuh-a-tuh)

For years, there has been a constant debate on whether phonics or whole word is better.

Language Experience Follows the philosophy and suggestions inherent in

progressive education philosophy Child centered approach

Uses child’s own experiences for instructional purposes; basis for writing and reading instruction.



Whole Language Philosophy of literacy development that advocated the use of all

dimensions of language– reading, writing, listening, and speaking-- to help children become more motivated to read and write. Spending time on learning how to write is crucial for learning how

to read. This approach is an important part of the whole-language approach.

Reading, writing (begins early), speaking, and listening are taught as an integrated whole.

Balance Approach Generally the best… Intentional instruction of skills necessary for learning to read:

phonics, word recognition, etc. Conduct reading and writing workshops. Shared and guided readings



a teaching method in which the teacher and children read together from text that is visible to all. Shared reading builds on children’s natural desire to read. It is especially good for ELLs because it helps make written language

comprehensible and improves English proficiency. Reading Routine: (pp. 316-17)

Step 1: Introduce the Book Gather the children where they can all see the book. Show and discuss the title, author, illustrator, cover, a few pages of the

book and invite the children to predict what will happen. Step 2: Read and Respond to the Book

Real aloud; hold book so they can see each page. Ask questions! The 5Ws: Who, What, When, Where, Why?

Step 3: Extend the Book Wait until the children read/have heard the book several times before

extending the book. Once extending, ask the children to decode some parts, comprehend

the characters, and explore the language used in the book (repitition).

Shared Reading


1. Engage

2. Explore

3. Explain

4. Extend

5. Evaluate Part of your role as a kindergarten teacher is to write lesson

plans; individually or as a team member. The 5E is a valuable approach to lesson planning. It is effective

for any classroom, anywhere for many reasons: The lessons are research based and enhance teacher and

student performance, The model encourages and supports active learning, 5E model is designed to formulate relationships while

developing knowledge, The lessons are differentiated for all learning types, And lastly, they are layered to ensure all learners success.

Using the 5E Model to Plan Lessons (ex: pp. 318-19)


Writing Helps gain skills and confidence

students need to be good writers.

Six-Trait writing method:

1. Ideas: have children include ideas (who they know, things they do…)

2. Organization: have children look at their structure (beginning, middle, end)

3. Voice: encourage them to write to their audience (ex: note to mom)

4. Word choice: have children use word walls

5. Sentence fluency: Are my sentences easy to understand?

6. Conventions: punctuation, capitalization, grammar, etc.

Reading (pp. 320) Use books with great

stories with identifiable characters settings, sequenced events, problems, and solutions.

Four key components:

1. Connecting: begin todays lesson by reviewing yesterdays.

2. Teaching: differentiate

3. Active Involvement: discuss

4. Linking: relate

Workshops

+Math in the Kindergarten Math along with reading plays a very

prominent role.

In a kindergarten classroom you would see children engaged in activities like graphing data from their observations and experiments; writing in their math journals; counting, sorting and comparing concrete objects and keeping records of their work; making decisions about how to earn and spend money; and several other activities.

Kindergarteners are active learners.

They like to learn with concrete materials in hands-on, “minds-on” active learning.

+Math in Kindergarten Teaching of mathematics should be in

alignment with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) curriculum focal points which are important mathematical topics for each grade level.

5 Processes that should be promoted! Problem solving Reasoning Communication Making connections Designing and analyzing representations

+Math in Kindergarten NCTM’s Curriculum Focal Points of Kindergarten

Number and Operations: Representing, comparing, and ordering whole numbers and joining and separating sets

Geometry: Describing shapes and space Measurement: Ordering objects by measurable

attributes

NCTM’s Connections to the Focal Points Data Analysis Geometry Algebra

This is found on Figure 11.2 on Page 321

State standards determine what gets taught. How teachers teach math content is often left up to them.

+Science in Kindergarten

How to Integrate Science and Literacy in Kindergarten Kindergarteners can act like scientists

Plan an activity and address standards Include hands-on experiences Incorporate writing and drawing Incorporate literature Ask questions to promote student-designed

experiments

+Science in Kindergarten Science is assuming a more important role.

Kindergarteners need to learn about scientific concepts, methods, and attitudes while they are young.

This gives them a foundation for future work.

Science applies to Vygotsky’s ideas, especially scaffolding.

+Social Studies in Kindergarten

The social science include history, geography, economics and civics.

Include knowledge, concepts, and themes.

Should be content based and child centered.

Provide children with content knowledge and skills from the four sciences. Provide children with authentic content and activities that help them learn knowledge, apply knowledge, and engage in critical thinking.

+Arts in Kindergarten Consists of knowledge, skills, and concepts from music,

art, dance and theater.

Teachers often integrate the arts into reading, math and science.

For example: Students can act our the stories of their favorite

book. Students can draw or paint the life cycle of a

butterfly.

Opportunities to teach the arts during the school year are endless!

As a teacher you can create an art center filled with paper, chalk, pencils, paint, and many other materials!

+Developmentally Appropriate Practice Involves teaching and learning that is in accordance with

children’s physical, cognitive, social, linguistic, cultural, and gender development.

Make learning meaningful to children by relating it to what they already know.

Individualize your curriculum as much as possible to account for the needs of all children of all diversities of abilities and backgrounds.

Involve children in hands-on activities with concrete objects and manipulatives.

Make learning physically and mentally active.

+Accommodating Diverse Learners Children with disabilities that transition to kindergarten

may have a hard time. Parents are just as worried and most of the time have many questions and concerns for teachers

The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) shows the importance of transitioning children with disabilities. They have early intervention programs that will help these children with disabilities be placed in the appropriate classroom and setting

The acronym SCHOOL can help make a child with disabilities life a lot easier before they transition to kindergarten

+S – Start Early : Each school must carefully bridge the

distance between a play-based curriculum and the increasing academic demands of kindergarten.

Pre-schools should contact the child’s future school for kindergarten

C– Collaborative Team Approach : Make decisions and plan with a cooperative team. This should involve families, preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, school administrators, and any other service providers for that child. What, Where, and When best fits this child’s needs?

H – Honor Active Involvement Of Families : This could include educating parents about the school and kindergarten and listening to their questions and concerns about what special services can be provided for their child.

+O- Observe Current And Future Schools : Monitor at the preschool and have teachers and families observe the kindergarten PRIOR to that child attending there. This will allow you to see what modifications need to be done and if they can.

O – Outline Goals And Anticipated Outcomes : Develop goals with the team and write them in the child’s IEP (Individualized Education Program). All children with disabilities must have an IEP and this is where you can document their goals, strengths, weaknesses, and anything else you think is important.

L – Listen And Learn : Previous teachers, therapists, and parents of the child know what works and what does not. Work with them and share ideas so that child is happy and successful.

+Kindergarten Is Fun!

+ BINGO WORDS Redshirting

Developmental Kindergarten (DK)

Transition Kindergarten

Universal Kindergarten

Mixed-age grouping

Looping

Universal Kindergarten

Healthy Environment

Respectful Environment

Supportive Environment

Learning Centers

Literacy Education

Word Wall

DAP for Kindergarten

Decoding

Whole Language Approach

Shared Reading

Expanding Horizons Approach

English Language Learners

Alphabet Knowledge

Phonics

IEP (Individualized Education Program)

SCHOOL Acronym

Ages 5-6 (ages of Kind. Children)

5E Model for Planning Lessons