Kindergarten
Welcome to Kindergarten at Brandon Academy. This class utilizes a positive-action, charter-building approach to learning.
Reading - Kindergarten focuses on reading and explores the process of becoming fluent readings. This includes phonics and decoding skills. Students will be able to read short age-appropriate stories and decodable stories independently. They will understand the stories they read and appreciate different types of literature.
- Students entering Kindergarten should be able to:
- Recognize lower case and upper case letters
- Match letters to sounds
- Have Reading Readiness- can track left to right, holds book correctly, understand the meaning of the story is in the writing
- Decode two and three letter words independently
- Have a broad sight word collection
- Begin reading short sentences and decodable text on their own
- Develop a better understanding of phonics rules, including blends, diagraphs, diphthongs, and vowel sounds
- Read decodable text fluently
- Broaden their book selections to include varied text
- Read short stories independently with comprehension
-
Continue to develop phonics skills
Language Arts - Kindergarten works with a 1st grade curriculum and participates in weekly tests and worldly wise vocabulary. The overall goal in Kindergarten Writing is for students to be able to independently write 3 complete sentences on a topic. Students should also be able to include an illustration that matches their writing.
- Be able to form letters properly
- Have a basic Alphabet knowledge
- Able to match name of letter to symbol and can match letter to sound
- Understand that writing is a form of communication
- Able to use a picture to express their ideas
- Draw a picture and write words to tell about their picture
- Create simple sentences to go along with picture
- Use lines on writing paper correctly
- Have a basic understanding of capital letters and periods.
- Write three on-topic sentences and include a picture
- Consistently use spacing, basic punctuation and capital letters correctly
-
Have confidence in their writing and are not afraid to try new words and express complicated ideas
Math - In Math, Kindergarten works at a 1st grade level and explores addition, subtraction, number sense, time, money, measurements and shapes. The overall goal in Kindergarten math is for students to develop a strong knowledge of the value of numbers from 0-100. Students should also be able to add and subtract basic facts fluently (0-12). In addition, students should understand that math is used in a variety of settings in everyday life.
- Be able to recognize numbers 0-20 and understand their value
- Have hands-on experience with math in various areas, including building, shapes, measuring, and sorting objects (Learning Centers)
- Be able to write numbers 0-20
- Be able to count to 100
- Able to read and interpret graphs
- Able to identify and continue patterns
- Can do basic addition and subtraction facts, including numbers 0-12.
- Identify 2D and 3D shapes
- Add and subtract 2 digit numbers with no regrouping
- Identify penny, nickel, dimes, and quarters and understand their value
- Can begin to tell time to the hour and half-hour
Social Studies - Kindergarten engages in a hands-on approach to learning activities. Students develop an understanding of the world around them through various topics.
- School
- All About Me/ My Family
- Community
- Fire Safety
- Native Americans/ Early Settlers
- Holidays Around the World
- Black History (Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks)
- Presidents
- Map Skills
- Earth Day- Recycling
- Positive Action- Character building, teamwork and developing a strong moral character
Science - Kindergarten engages in a hands-on approach to learning activities. Students will use the Scientific Method to explore new topics.
- Life Science- The 5 Senses, Health, Human Body
- Physical Science- Magnets, Simple Machines, Matter
- Earth Science- Shadows and Weather, Caring for the Earth
- Life Science- Animals, Life Cycles, Habitats, Plants
- Hatching Chick Eggs
- Classroom Pets
- STEM Activities
- Building Communities
- Building Robots
- Building Cars
-
Leprechaun Traps
What is Special about Kindergarten!
- The QU Wedding is a special event for the Kindergartners at Brandon Academy.
- Students will further develop phonics skills through the understanding that, in the English Language, Q must always be followed by U.
- Students will understand how to tell a story through a performance and develop their public speaking and presentation skills
- Center Place
- Reading/ Literature
- The Farm
- Science (Animals), Where Food Comes From, Community
- Legoland
- Energy, Gears, STEM, Force and Motion
- Lowry Park Zoo - Animals, Habitats
- Fire Station - Community, Fire Safety
- Post Office
- Consulate - Community Outreach