Curriculum

Children will ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.** For example, during a classroom activity, a child may ask, "Can you help me with this math problem?" or "What do we do next?" In response, their peers or teacher might clarify by saying, "You need to add these two numbers together," or "Next, we are going to read a book."

Children will describe familiar people, places, things, and events, and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.For example, a child might say, "My friend is tall," and with a prompt like "What else can you tell me about your friend?" they could expand by adding, "She has curly hair and wears glasses."

Children will add drawings or other visual displays to their descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. For example, when describing their favorite animal, a child might say, "I like cats," and then draw a picture of a cat with details such as its color, size, and any special features like its collar. They could also use labels in their drawing, saying, "This is my cat, Luna, and she is fluffy and orange."

Children will speak audibly and express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly. For example, they will articulate their emotions by saying statements like, "I am happy because I got to play with my friends," or "I feel angry when someone takes my toy."

Children will participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts.For example, they will engage in small group discussions about a story they read, sharing their thoughts and asking questions like, "What was your favorite part?" or "How do you think the character feels?"

Children will learn how to make requests and ask for permission using polite phrases. For example, they will practice saying phrases like "Can I please have a turn?" or "May I go to the bathroom?" Additionally, they will learn to give positive responses, such as "Yes, of course!" and negative responses, like "I'm sorry, not right now," in a respectful way during role-playing and interactive activities.

Children will appropriately use new vocabulary in their own speech. For example, during a group activity, they might point to a picture of a green frog and say, "Look at that frog!" or during playtime, they might use words like "I wear my blue shirt today!" They can practice using greetings by saying, "Hello, friends!" or talking about transportation by saying, "We go in a car!"

Children will gain new background knowledge and vocabulary related to animals, plants, household items, colors, shapes, clothing, greetings, and transportation.For example, they will learn the names of different animals like "elephant" and "giraffe," plants like "flower" and "tree," and common household items such as "table" and "chair."

Children will be able to use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.** For example, they might incorporate new vocabulary into their sentences such as "I like to read books because they take me on adventures," using the conjunction "because" to signal the relationship between liking books and the reason for it.

Children will be able to distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner and adjectives differing in intensity.** For example, they might explore verbs like "look," "peek," "glance," "stare," "glare," and "scowl" by defining each word, discussing contexts for their use, or acting out the meanings to show the differences. They can also compare adjectives like "large" and "gigantic" by discussing their intensity.