Curriculum

Children will distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ. For example, they might compare the words "bat" and "bet," noting that the sounds of the letters "a" and "e" are different.

Children will read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding. For example, after reading a simple story, they will visualize the events by creating mental images or drawings of key scenes. They might be encouraged to retell the story in their own words, highlighting the main characters, important events, and their favorite parts.

Children will, with prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. For example, after listening to a story, they might ask questions like, "What happened to the main character?" or "Where did the story take place?" In response to questions from the teacher, they might answer by saying, "The cat climbed the tree," demonstrating their understanding of the key details of the story.

Children will, with prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. For example, after listening to a story read aloud, they might be prompted by the teacher to say, "What is this story mainly about?" They may respond, "This story is about a little bunny." Then, with further guidance, they could retell key details, such as "The bunny found a carrot," or "The bunny hopped through the garden."

Children will, with prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. For example, after reading a story, a teacher might ask, "How are the character and the setting related?" The child could respond, "The bunny lives in the forest," showing the relationship between the character (the bunny) and the setting (the forest).

Children will, with prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. For example, after reading a story, they might come across a word like "glimmer" that they don't recognize. The teacher could prompt them by asking, "What do you think 'glimmer' means in this sentence?" The child might respond with, "It might mean something that shines." With further support, the teacher could guide them to use context clues from the surrounding sentences to infer the meaning, such as "The stars glimmered in the night sky."

Children will add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words. For example, if given the word "bat," they might substitute the /b/ sound for /c/ to create the new word "cat." Alternatively, they could add a sound to create "brat" from "rat" by adding the /b/.

Children will identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book. For example, during a reading activity, the teacher might show a picture book and ask, "Can you point to the front cover?" The children would recognize this as the side that has the title and picture. Then the teacher could ask, "What about the back cover?" and the children would point to the opposite side. Finally, they might be prompted to find the title page, where they would see the title of the book and the author's name.

Children will know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. For example, they will use their understanding of letter sounds and patterns to read simple words like "cat" and "dog" by sounding them out.

Children will name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in the text. For example, after reading a picture book, the teacher might ask, "Who is the author of this book?" The children would identify the author's name and understand that the author is responsible for writing the story. Then, the teacher might ask, "Who is the illustrator?" and the children would identify the illustrator's name, recognizing that the illustrator creates the pictures that help tell the story or convey the ideas.