Kindergarten Student Skills
HOW PARENTS CAN HELP
- Encourage reading by having newspapers, magazines and books around your house.
- Give your child books and magazines as gifts.
- Read aloud to your child to build vocabulary and listening skills.
- Share and discuss books and stories at home to motivate your child to read.
- Ask your child to help you sort change, (pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters)
- Use positional words such as above, below, right and left when putting toys away with your child.
- Use words that describe shape, size and color.
- Discuss how each member of the family depends on the others.
Language Arts
The Kindergarten student will:
Listening, Viewing and Speaking
- follow two step oral directions in sequence
- answer questions about a story read aloud
- listen attentively to oral language in different forms (audio tapes, nursery rhymes, songs)
- speak clearly and use appropriate volume in a variety of settings
- use appropriate language to ask questions, answer questions and convey a message
- use basic conversation skills
- state the main idea after viewing nonprint media (pictures, video, dramatic presentation)
- place pictures in a logical sequence
- interpret simple nonverbal cues (smiling, facial expressions, gesturing)
Phonological Awareness, Decoding and Vocabulary
- identify rhyming words using pictures or orally presented words
- produce the sounds in the beginning, middle and end of an orally presented word
- identify pictures of objects or orally produced words that begin or end with the carne sound
- blend individual sounds into words
- name upper and lower case letters
- produce the sounds for a given letter
- identify words that name persons, places and things
- identify words that name actions
- identify opposites
- classify words using basic categories (colors, shapes, foods, animals)
Reading
- identify parts of a book (cover, title, first page, author)
- make predictions about a story using title and illustrations
- match words in print
- match print to speech using top to bottom and left to right progression
- read frequently used words
- read text with predictable structures (rhyme, rhythm, repetitious pattern)
- demonstrate comprehension of text (answer and ask questions, retell the story,
- draw a picture about the story)
- identify the sequence of events, characters and setting of stories
- select material to read for pleasure
Reference
- identify the alphabetical order of letters
- use a variety of resources to obtain information (illustrations, environmental prints, people)
Writing
- brainstorm ideas for writing
- use concepts of print in writing (left to right, top to bottom, spacing)
- write first name
- write in a variety of forms (labels, lists, messages, stories)
- dictate or write about an idea, familiar experience or description
- identify ending punctuation
- reproduce upper case and lower case letters
Mathematics
The Kindergarten student will:
Number Sense
- count the number of objects in a set up to 20 objects
- count orally to 100
- say the number when shown the written symbol from 0 to 20
- write dictated numbers 0 to 20
- use one to one matching to determine if two sets are equal
- compare and order numbers to 20 using concrete materials, drawings, number lines or numerals
- join and separate sets of objects to 20
- represent equivalent forms of the same number up to 10 using concrete materials (5 can be 1 +4, 2+3, 0+5)
- create and solve addition and subtraction story problems for real world situations
- represent fractional parts of a whole ( 2,' 4 ) using concrete materials and pictures
Measurement
- use appropriate vocabulary to compare measurable characteristics of
objects (heavier lighter, longer shorter, more less, bigger smaller, full empty) - identify appropriate tools for measuring length, weight, capacity and time
- identify the time shown on a clock to the hour
- identify and determine the value of a penny, nickel and dime
- use nonstandard units (links, blocks) to measure length
- estimate the length and width of an object using nonstandard units
(the book is ten paper clips long)
Geometry
- use geometric vocabulary to describe shapes (edges, corners, curves)
- use language that describes spatial relationships (in out, above below, overunder, top middle bottom)
- classify and compare two dimensional geometric shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle)
- recognize symmetry in the environment (wings of a butterfly)
Algebraic Thinking
- identify, extend and create simple patterns using sounds, physical movements, objects or pictures
- recognize that symbols can be used to represent missing or unknown quantities
Data Analysis and Probability
- collect, display and interpret data using a simple graph or chart
- predict the likelihood of given events (very likely, equally likely, less likely, impossible)
Problem Solving
- use an informal method to solve real world problems (pictures, role play)
- make a logical conclusion about a given situation
Science
The Kindergarten student will:
Nature of Matter
- identify and compare properties of matter including shape, color, size and texture
- recognize the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas)
- explain that materials can be changed (cutting, bending, mixing)
Energy
- recognize that light can pass through some objects, but cannot pass through other objects
- recognize some processes where heat can be released (burning a candle, running)
- recognize that food provides energy for people to grow and survive
Force and Motion
- demonstrate that different objects move at different speeds
- demonstrate how a push or pull will change the motion of an object
- demonstrate that vibrations caused by sound can be felt
Processes that Shape the Earth
- identify various solid materials making up the earth
- identify changes in weather and seasons
Earth and Space
- recognize elements of the day and night (sun, moon, stars, planets)
- recognize that the position of the sun in the sky appears to change during the day
Processes of Life
- identify characteristics of living things
- identify some of the basic needs of living things (food, water, space)
- identify ways living things change and grow over time
- identify animals and their offspring
- identify basic parts of the human body
- identify the five senses and how they are used to learn about our surroundings
Ecology
- identify the habitat for a given plant or animal
- recognize ways animals are adapted for survival in different environments
- treat living things with respect and responsibility
- identify ways to care for the earth at home and in school
Nature of Science
- develop skills necessary to work cooperatively with other students
- interpret meaning of common signs and symbols (poison, hazard, caution, danger)
- record observations of scientific investigations using drawings, charts, graphs or journals
- repeat events in an investigation and compare and share results
Social Studies
The Kindergarten student will:
Focusing Skills and Knowledge
- describe various locations in the school using appropriate language
- identify areas of water and land on a globe and map
- identify physical and human features of familiar places
- develop communication and cooperation skills for learning and working productively with others
United States Heritage
- describe basic facts and traditions about holidays
- examine changes in our community and country
- listen to, view and discuss stories, poems and other media about changes
that occurred in peoples' lives when they moved to the United States
History
- classify pictures representing life long ago, life today or life in the future
- explain that history tells the story of people and events of other times and places
- identify basic means of transportation in the past and present and their advantages
Rights and Responsibilities
- identify and develop good citizenship skills
- identify multiple roles of family members in various settings
- determine jobs or responsibilities appropriate to age and abilities
Economics
- identify and give examples of basic needs and wants
- recognize that work contributes to society
- explain that money is exchanged for goods