Language+Arts+Information

Speaking and listenin﻿g

We are encouraging your child to speak with correct grammar and using full sentences. If a student makes an error when speaking, we don’t overtly correct the error. Instead, we repeat what he/she has said in the correct way. We do this in a conversational manner. That way, the student does not feel self conscious or intimidated when he/she speaks.

Show and Tell is a great way for the students to practice speaking in a comfortable and safe environment and they seem to be really enjoying it. It is encouraging the student who has brought the bag to school to talk about the toy he has chosen but it also encourages the students who are listening to ask questions and listen to the response.



Reading

We know this is the area most parents are keen to see their children develop in and we promise you, this is happening all the time. Your child is able to read at the moment. He/she is reading the pictures and is piecing together the story. Slowly, the students are developing their ability to decode the words. They are beginning to recognise high frequency words and are also beginning to recognise sounds. Some are even blending the sounds together to read individual words. As you can imagine, each child is at their own stage in this journey and it is imperative they are not rushed or pressured. At this point, it is important the children feel safe enough to take risks and make guesses at sounds and words until they become more familiar. If they feel too pressurised, they may form an utter dislike for reading. Please remember, all of the children will learn to read, maybe not in Kindergarten, but they will learn.

Writing

This is a very exciting time for you children as they really begin to consolidate all of their past and new knowledge and put it to use in the form of writing. At the beginning of Kindergarten, the children drew pictures for various reasons and we dictated what the picture illustrated. Now, we are moving away from this and asking the children to label their pictures themselves. What we are looking for here is the correct initial sound and maybe, final sound. We make it clear the the children that we are not looking for correct spelling, just a good attempt. We also explain to them that what is important is not if we, the teacher can read their labels, but rather that they can. Look out for little notes left for you from your children as their confidence grows.



The Curriculum

 AIS Language Curriculum Overview By the end of Kindergarten students will.....

Oral Language: Speaking
 * begin to speak with correct grammar.
 * begin to use a variety of sentence patterns in speech.
 * give simple directions and instructions.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to recite simple rhymes using clear diction, tempo and volume.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Oral Language: Listening
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">ask questions and respond to relevant questions appropriately.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">follow simple oral directions.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">identify major ideas in age-appropriate spoken messages and formal presentations.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to maintain a focus, use sequence and use some details when recounting experiences or presenting information.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading: Comprehension
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">associate meaning and understanding with reading.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use pre-reading skills and strategies.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">retell, reenact or dramatize a story.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">make and confirm predictions when reading or listening to text.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">ask questions related to the content of the text.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">respond to who, what, where and when questions and discuss the main idea.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">become aware of simple cause and effect relationships.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to identify the beginning, middle and end of a text, character, setting, problem and solution.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">be exposed to a variety of genres and purposes: nursery rhymes, poes, fairy tales, realistic fiction, fantasy and informational texts.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">use information from pictures to aid comprehension.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to recognise information as fact or fiction.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">relate prior knowledge to make connections to text.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading: Fluency
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">demonstrate the ability to identify words in a text.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">‘read’ familiar text, not necessarily verbatim from the print alone.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">recognise some words by sight.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">engage in repeated readings of the same text to increase fluency.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading: Vocabulary
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">develop and expand knowledge of words and word meanings.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">develop and use a personal vocabulary trough listening to a variety of literature, rhymes and songs.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">increase word understanding through reading aloud, discussion and explanation.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">use context to explain the meaning of unknown key words.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">develop an increased awareness of print through immersion in a print-rich environment.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading: Phonics
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to identify the alphabet by sound.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">demonstrate the ability to apply sound-symbol relationships.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to demonstrate the letter-sound connections for all the letters of the alphabet as well as th, sh and ch.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to identify and generate word families, eg cat, fat, rat, sat etc
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to blend letters to form simple words, eg cvc words.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Reading: Phonemic Awareness
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">demonstrate the ability to work with rime, words, syllables and onsets.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to identify, hear and make oral rhymes.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">show increasing ability to hear, identify and work with syllables in spoken words
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">be able to fill in the gaps using picture cues. (When shown a picture of a cat, be able to say it begins with the phoneme ‘c’.)
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">demonstrate the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds in words.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">show increasing ability to discriminate, identify and work with individual phonemes.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">recognise which words in a set of words begin with the same sound.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to generate words beginning with a given initial phoneme.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Writing: Content and Organisation
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to write simple sentences.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Writing: Conventions
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">construct simple sentences.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use correct subject-verb agreement.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use pronouns and personal pronouns correctly.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use correct ending punctuation for statements and questions.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use correct capitalisation.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Writing: Spelling
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to spell some high frequency words correctly.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use phonetic spelling.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to use some common spelling patterns.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Writing: Handwriting <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Viewing and Presenting
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">use the correct pencil grip.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">adopt a comfortable sitting position for writing.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">understand that writing goes from left to right.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">form lower case letters correctly
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to leave the appropriate gap between words.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">begin to identify forms of media.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">describe the effects of language, sounds and visual images in media.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Research Skills
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">use reference materials, eg picture dictionary, maps.