Washington School Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District

1. Nuts and Bolts for Transitional Kindergarten:Preparing Our Youngest Students toSucceed in Kindergarten Washington School Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District Mrs. Ying Lee- Transitional Kindergarten Teacher Mrs. Shirley Esau, Principal and Director of Categorical Programs

2. Inspiration – the youngest kindergarten students and a pioneering teacher

3. Kingsburg • Kingsburg -12,000 people, located between Fresno and Visalia. • Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District serves all the students in town – preschool through 8th grade. • Largest Charter District in California • ADA – 2500+ • High student achievement – District API = 816 • Transitional kindergarten students ride the bus just like kindergarten students.

4. Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District • Washington School – preschool & kindergarten: Title 1 Schoolwide • Early Intervention preschool ( 30 students) • State preschool (90 students) • Transitional kindergarten (25 students) • Kindergarten (243 students). • Roosevelt School - first grade • Lincoln School – second and third grades • Reagan Elementary – fourth, fifth, & sixth grades • Rafer Johnson Junior High – seventh & eighth grades • Central Valley Home School – K-8 grades • Island Community Day School – 4-8 grades

5. Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010: SB 1381 • The legislation SB 1381 creates transitional kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for those students who are born between September and December. These children would have been in kindergarten if the law had not changed. • Transitional kindergarten is proactive instead of retention being reactive. Both cases require the Continuance Form for each child and both are two year programs by default.

6. Kingsburg’s Action Plan – 2009-11 Preschool to kindergarten Articulation plan with all public and private preschools. (2 year project completed 2009-10) Pre-K assessment designed and given by preschools ( 2010-11) Registration was completed via preschools (2010-11) Partnership with FCOE, and Packard Foundation (2010-11) Funding: ADA, Packard Grant, ARRA funds, Title 1(2010-11) 6

7. Kingsburg’s Action Plan – 2009-11 • Use a current kindergarten classroom and recruited a current highly qualified KES kindergarten teacher with a child development background and high expectations to start the transitional kindergarten class. This saved a kindergarten teachers position and kept a classroom full of students that would have been lost with the date change. (2010-11)

8. Action Plan 2010-11 • As registrations came in for kindergarten, selected students with Sept.1 - Dec. 2 birthdays. . • Mailed parents informational about Transitional kindergarten and a registration request. • 25 students in class • Sub-groups in Transitional kindergarten class include: 3 Special Needs students, 6 English Language Learners, 15 Socio-Economic Disadvantaged students.

9. Pre-K Assessment given to all entering kindergarten Students

10. Placement Criteria • Birth date: Priority to Sept-Dec. • Pre-K Assessment • DIBLES to confirm placement and provide guidance for interventions Conclusion based on data: The correct students are in the Transitional kindergarten class. They need the gift of time to master the standards and have a bridge to future success academically, socially, and developmentally.

11. Standards Alignment and Pacing Guide • Blending of Preschool Foundations and Kindergarten Standards • Pacing guide for ELA and Math • Assessments

12. Curriculum differences between Traditional and Transitional kindergarten at Washington School, Kingsburg

13. Focus Phonemic awareness Letter names and sounds Motor skills Handwriting Writing Oral language Listening skills Early number sense Social/emotional development

14. Daily Schedule School Begins 8:10 Language Arts Carpet Time 8:15 – 8:50 Rotations 8:50 – 9:50 Recess 9:50 – 10:05 Calendar 10:10 – 10:20 PALS 10:20 – 10:35 Math 10:35 – 11:00 Lunch 11:00 – 11:20 Math 11:20 – 11:55 Recess 11:55 – 12:25 Intervention 12:30 – 1:00 Writing/Social Studies/ 1:00 – 1:25 Science Closing 1:25 – 1:40 Dismissal 1:50

15. Instructional Strategies • Kinesthetic activities - physical phonics - tapping out sounds - I Can Spell mat • Learning through music/songs - rhyming rhythm - Greg and Steve: Listen and Move used for teaching action words - using musical terms to teach reading • Puppets - phonemic awareness - story telling (literature, math)

16. Instructional Strategies • Hands on - Elkonin boxes - Handwriting Without Tears - Touch Math - AIMS • Realia - vocabulary building - oral language - phonemic awareness

17. Centers • Science – making and recording observations • ABC center • Listening center • Math center • Puppet/Dramatic Play • Word work • Computer • These provide more exploration and bring a balance between teacher directed and child directed learning.

18. Challenges • Selecting curriculum, blending preschool foundations and standards with kindergarten standards to make a developmentally appropriate program. Choosing the kindergarten standards that were essential to be mastered in TK. • Communicating clearly to the community how SB 1381 provides for Transitional kindergarten and its benefits for students.

19. Successes • Selecting a qualified teacher willing to be a pioneer with high expectations, but mindful of child development pedagogy. • Parent support, involvement, approval, and advocacy. • Students achieving socially, physically, cognitively and excited about attending school.

20. “ Success – The gift of time SB 1381

21. Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District Website • www.kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us • Washington School • Transitional Kindergarten • Email:sesau@kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us • Email: ylee@kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us • Phone: (559) 897-2955