Superior-Greenstone District School Board

1 Superior-Greenstone District School Board Where .. Kids Come First Kindergarten Teacher Handbook (Pilot Draft) Table of Contents Title Page All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Welcome to Welcome to Superior-Greenstone District School Child General Development Sequence Toddler Through Some of the Developments in School Readiness Components Between Birth and Age Boys and Girls They Really Are Very The Big Saying 15 The First Day at Bus Ride / School Walk School Suggested 16 Will I Have Friends?..16 Readiness When The Child Is NOT When Children Aren t Ready for Cool Kindergarten The Value of The Teacher s Role in Educational Centres and Workstations.

2 28 What are Workstations? ..28 What are Centres?.. 28 Why Use Centres and Workstations? ..28 Getting Started with Centres and Mathematics in 33 Overall 33 Expectations in Specific Characteristics of the Early Mathematics Characteristics of an Effective Early Grades Mathematics An Effective Teaching Shared Guided Independent Assessment and Sample SK Mathematics Measurement .. 42 Number Sense & Numeration/ Data Management & Spatial Sense and Literacy in Why Early Reading Stages of Reading Making It Laying a Strong Effective Reading Knowledge and Skills for Phonics and Word Shared Guided Assessment, Evaluation, and Teaching Practices That Support Early Reading Goals of Writing in The Five Developmental Stages of Modeled Writing (Writing to Children).

3 52 Shared Writing (Writing with Children)..52 Interactive Writing (Writing with Children)..52 Independent Writing (Writing by Children)..52 Sample SK Reading Shared Reading Guided Reading Sample Balanced Literacy Timetable Full Day Sample Balanced Literacy Timetable Half Day Read Aloud Reading Independent Reading Sample SK Writing Guided Writing Lesson (Mini-lesson to focus on spelling strategies)..59 Shared Writing Interactive Writing Independent Writing Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and Word Study Special Education in Behaviour, Support and The Role of the What Makes Discipline Effective?

4 65 What Do You Praise?..66 What Do You Overlook?..66 What About the Disruptive Student?..66 Supporting Behaviour with Classroom Management Best Practices and Assessment in 69 The Nature of Observation is a Two-Part Guidelines for Observing Quantitative Observation Qualitative Observation Assessment Strategies for Why Do We Have Full-Day Senior Kindergarten?..76 Transition from Kindergarten to Grade Great Kindergarten Introduction This Superior-Greenstone District School Board Kindergarten Teacher Handbook has been prepared by a committee of classroom teachers, vice principals/coordinators, community resource people and Board resource personnel who believe that Kindergarten is crucial to future success in School .

5 The years of early development establish the foundations for learning emotionally, socially, physically and intellectually. This handbook is intended to provide suggestions and practical techniques for ensuring a successful transition to School for all students. It outlines the methods that will help the teacher to provide positive, comfortable and reassuring experiences for our early learners. Children are the focus of this handbook. It is their developmental stages, needs and interests that must be the key to their learning. The committee believes that children need to feel that School is a natural extension of their home environment and has provided many ideas to help the teacher gather information about each child so that the very first School experiences are built on their own experiences.

6 The primary focus of this handbook is literacy and numeracy. The documents released in 2003 by the expect panels for reading and math provide educators with essential information regarding instruction in both of these areas. These documents form the fundamental beliefs about reading and math that are captured in this handbook. It is imperative that teachers inspire positive attitudes towards literacy and numeracy during the first years of a student s education. Children learn through play. The intent of this handbook is to help teachers realize that they are doing wonderful things for students and that social learning is as important as academics in Kindergarten.

7 Play provides a stress free way to learning and kindergarten teachers can provide rich experiences by encouraging the development of literacy skills and early math skills through play. All children are unique and have different needs. This handbook provides tried and true suggestions for teachers to support student learning. We hope that this document proves to be a valuable resource. 4 All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate- School mountain, but there in the sand pile at Sunday School .

8 These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Don t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don t take things that aren t yours. Say you re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash you hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

9 Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup they all die. So do we. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned the biggest word of all LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all the whole world had cookies and milk about three o clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.

10 Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are when you go out into the world; it is best to hold hands and stick together. ~ By Robert Fulghum ~ 5 Welcome to Kindergarten Early childhood is a very important period in human development. Independence, decision-making, creativity, the ability to relate to others, and feelings of self-worth all begin in early childhood. What young children learn at this stage will have a major impact on successful learning experiences in School and on personal development.