Kindergarten 101

1. Kindergarten 101 Welcome to the Beaver Creek Elementary School

2. Kindergarten • This is an important transition for your entire family. What can you expect out of kindergarten?

3. Change in Kindergarten • Majority of the day playing. • Nap time • Teacher directed • Lots of coloring and cutting • A long snack time • Play is integrated into learning. • Reading time • Math time • Student centered • Technology integration • Hands on learning When we were young… Now

4. School Day/Hours • Morning Kindergarten 8:50 a.m.-11:45 • Early Dismissal 8:50 a.m.-10:40 • Two-hour delay 10:50 a.m.-12:40 • Afternoon Kindergarten 12:35 p.m.-3:30 • Early Dismissal 11:40 a.m.-1:30 pm • Two-hour delay 1:40 p.m.-3:30

5. 6 Day Cycle • We will be on a six-day cycle • Days A-F • Not “locked in”…this means that if we have a snow day instead of missing Day B, the next day we return to school it will be a Day B • Students will have an “Encore Special” of either Music, Art, Library, Physical Education or Rosetta Stone on each of the cycle days

6. What Does a half Day K Look like? • AM: Bussed to school • Up to 24 students • Circle Time Activities • Reading Activities • Math Activities • Writing Activities • Technology • Encore • Play time • Children are picked up by parents/ daycares • PM: Dropped off by parent/ daycare • Up to 24 students • Circle Time Activities • Reading Activities • Math Activities • Writing Activities • Technology • Encore • Play time • Children are bussed home AM Kindergarten PM Kindergarten

7. What does Full day K look like? • Only available in our Title 1 schools: BC, BH, EW, LE • Bussing provided both ways • Lunch/recess • 45/50 min. encore block • 1 teacher and 1 classroom aide • Smaller class size (typically around 15 students) • Follows 1st grade schedule • Same curriculum but longer block of time for language arts/literacy instruction • Students qualify based on Aimsweb Assessments & the Speed DIAL (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of • Learning)

8. Social Emotional • Every child grows and matures at his/ her own rate. • Kindergarten teachers are aware of this and plan accordingly. • Activities take all of this in mind and are planned to expose students to a variety of needs. • Play is incorporated into learning. • Daily time to explore the environment hands on.

9. We use “Conscious Discipline” composure strategies so we can think clearly and make helpful problem solving choices!

10. I-messages When something that someone else does bothers you or upsets you, use an I-message to share what you don’t like or how you feel and what you would like them to do differently. Example: I don’t like it when you __________________; please ________________________! Example: I feel _______, when you _______________; please ________________________________________! UpsetGive an I-message!Feel better

11. Respect Rocks Pledge Respectrocks in the things that we do. It’s the way you treat me and the way I treat you. It’s caring, and kindness, and playing fair. It’s being responsible, and doing my share. It’s telling the truth, all the time every day. Taking care of our world while at work and at play! Respectrocks in the things that we do. It’s the way you treat me and the way I treat you. Beaver Creek Rocks!

12. Math • Students use the Common Core State Standards. • Our resource is Math in Focus • The students complete many hands on activities. • Focus on mathematical thinking.

13. Circle Time • Daily circle time with mathematical activities.

14. Science • Hands on exploration • Use of FOSS kits to explore trees • Experiments • Inquiry based learning

15. Technology • Technology is integrated into classrooms. • Smartboards • Ipads • Desk top Computers

16. Language Arts • Alphabet • Phonemic Awareness: Letter sounds, rhyming, phoneme segmentation • Reading • Writing

17. Reading • Guided Reading instruction with fiction and non-fiction text on your child’s reading level (STAR Time) for a half hour each day starting in January. Students below a level C use the Leveled Literacy Intervention program. • Big Books are used for purposeful read aloud. • Read aloud discussions happen daily.

18. What are students tested on in Kindergarten?

19. Where and How are they assessed? • The children are assessed in their classroom by their classroom teacher and or the instructional support teachers. This is done one on one, in small groups or as a class. • Every effort is made to make sure each child is as comfortable as possible.

20. Assessments • Benchmark assessments are given. • AIMS web (tests rapid letter naming, rapid sound fluency, phoneme segmentation, and nonsense word fluency). • Fountas and Pinnell benchmark reading system. • Teachers give classroom based assessments too.

21. What happens if my child needs extra support? • Teachers have classroom based interventions for enrichment and remediation. • RTII (Response to intervention and instruction): Teachers work with students on their individual needs. • IST teacher support • Extended Day (half hour following morning K or prior to afternoon K) utilizes Harcourt Intervention, Waterford Program, and i-Pads. Groups are limited to 4 students.

22. IST Teachers that help with RTII • Mrs. Anita Grimes & Mrs. Jane Hemphill • Response to Instruction and Intervention rests on using a continuum of student performance data to continuously inform, monitor and improve student access and response to high-quality core and supplemental instruction/intervention.

23. RtII means that: • Each student will receive daily, specific, focused, and targeted instruction based on the skills identified as needs in the data collection. • Instruction is based on the DASD Kindergarten curriculum and the Common Core Standards. • A variety of materials and programs are utilized including: Leveled books from school bookrooms, Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention, Harcourt Intervention, phonics and comprehension activities and games.

24. Reading is a process 3 things make a difference in your child’s ability to learn to read: Speaking vocabulary Understanding of books and how they work Knowledge of letter names & sounds

25. So, what can you do? 1. Words matter. Talk, talk, talk a lot! • Read, read, read some more! • Begin to noticeand name letters and the sounds they make. These 3 things (or lack of) can make the difference in your child being a reader – or struggling to learn to read, which impacts their entire life.

26. Parent volunteers • We need parents to come in every week to help with “Book Boxes.” The students read to the parents and the volunteers help them pick new books on their reading level. • Volunteer to chaperone on a field trip (get your clearances early). • Help plan class parties.

27. Questions? • We will see you and your child at the Kindergarten Screening on June 9th or 10th. • You will get an invitation for our Kindergarten Playground Party which will be held on Monday, August 11th. • You will get an invitation to attend our Open House/Back-to-School Night which is tentatively set for Aug. 19, 20 or 21.