Bellingham Public Schools

Curriculum Department

June 2004

Kindergarten Learning Targets

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LEARNING TARGETS

What are "learning targets?"

The State of Washington has established standards that identify a basic level of proficiency in skills, knowledge and understandings essential to student success and well-being. These standards are called the State of Washington Essential Academic Learning Requirements. The EALRs identify learning targets in reading, writing, math, social studies, science, health and fitness, communication, and the arts for all students in the State of Washington. The Bellingham School District is in the process of aligning their curriculum content areas with the EALRs and supports all children in their continuous progress toward these standards of achievement.

Student-Centered Learning

All students do not learn at the same rate because they develop at different rates. Children have their own developmental timelines for learning to walk or talk. They also have their own developmental timeline for learning. The goal of the Bellingham School District is to support students through continuous levels of learning that match their individual learning needs.

Curriculum

Bellingham School District's curriculum frameworks identify and organize concepts, essential understandings, processes, skills and critical content that students need to know and be able to do at each grade level. Critical content is outlined in the state's curriculum frameworks as well as in the Bellingham School District's content-specific curriculum guides. These guides outline the most important topics and factual knowledge required for study in each academic content area. Students are taught basic skills and processes in reading, writing and math and are encouraged by their teachers toward a greater depth in thinking and learning. Many of the content areas organize learning around essential questions or "big ideas" that encourage investigation and exploration of topics and ideas.

LEARNING TARGETS FOR READING

The following information identifies the learning targets in reading for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

By the end of Kindergarten . . .

Kindergarten Reading Expectations

Uses Skills and Strategies

• hears sound sequence in words
• recognizes and names all upper and lower case letters
• uses letter-sound links (including initial and final)
• matches spoken and written word
• is able to distinguish when letter names and sounds match
• can distinguish similar and dissimilar sounds in groups of words
• identifies repetition of sounds, words, or phrases
• uses simple plural forms

Understands What is Read

• focuses on text detail to identify or confirm
• recognizes some words in different contexts
• uses pictures to predict text
• identifies the beginning, middle, and end of a story
• retells a simple text in sequence
• connects characters with actions
• recounts information gained from books
• interprets and uses pictures, labels, photographs
• reads labels and captions around the classroom
• reads and follows simple directions and symbols
• understands that some words name or describe actions, ideas, or information

Reads Fluently

• develops a memory for text
• pauses and sometimes reruns or self-corrects if meaning is lost
• rereads to gain confidence and pace in known text

Shows Effort to Become a Life-Long Reader

• participates in the reading of stories, poems, songs
• asks for nonfiction as well as fiction books to be reread
• explores new books, including nonfiction
• returns to read and/or review favorite books
• responds to acknowledgement and encouragement

LEARNING TARGETS FOR WRITING

The following information identifies the learning targets in writing for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

By the end of Kindergarten . . .

Kindergarten Writing Expectations

Ideas/Content

• records ideas and information, often unconventionally, but talks about what has been written
• recalls main ideas and some detail when returning to writing at a later time
• writes for own satisfaction and/or purpose

Organization

• writes labels, signs, or captions for drawings and models
• shows understanding of different purposes of some texts (e.g. letters, shopping lists, birthday cards, recipes)
• uses more than one layout (e.g. lists, connected text)
• talks about topic and considers ideas before writing
• sometimes writes before drawing

Style (Voice, Word Choice, Fluency)

• uses some complete sentences when dictating ideas or information
• writes labels, signs, or captions for drawings and models

Conventions

• writes and names all upper and lower case letters
• uses some classroom resources (e.g. word wall, charts, dictionaries) to find and check known words
• shows awareness that writing has conventions
• builds a repertoire of some conventionally-spelled 2 or 3 letter words

Understands and Uses Steps of Writing Process

• rereads frequently while writing
• adds detail in response to questions or suggestions
• sometimes asks for and willingly accepts additions or changes to writing
• shares published work with pride
• talks about topic and considers ideas before writing

Spelling

• understands that the sequence of letters in a word matches the sequence of sounds
• uses phonemes and letter knowledge in "invented" spelling when writing independently
• writes own name (first and last) and the name of some family members and friends
• demonstrates awareness of letters in written language
• matches spoken and written sounds
• represents spoken language with conventional spelling and personal spelling

Effort

• seeks help to correct or improve work for greater accuracy
• talks about writing and written work, especially achievements and new learning

LEARNING TARGETS FOR MATH

The following information identifies the learning targets in math for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

Kindergarten Expectations in Math

Content Strands:

Number Sense - Explore and use numbers (especially 0-10) through varied and multiple experiences, including:

number and numeration

• establish a one-to-one correspondence in counting objects
• determine the cardinal number of a set of objects less than 31
• when given three groups of objects (1-20), order them from smallest to largest
• given two sets of objects, each less than five, determine how many in all
• demonstrate an understanding of equal parts and fair sharing
• recognize if amounts are the same or different

computation

• use a variety of approaches, strategies, and manipulative materials to create and tell stories involving addition and subtraction as found in familiar settings
• demonstrate the relationship between addition and subtraction situations when creating and telling stories
• use mental math strategies to compose and decompose numbers through 10

estimation

• estimate the number of objects in a set using comparative language (less than ten, more than ten, etc.)
• use a known quantity to estimate an unknown quantity (sets of objects to 30) using a variety of strategies and approaches

Measurement

attributes and dimensions

• use comparative words to compare objects and events to determine which is heavier, longer, holds more, takes longer

Geometric Sense

properties and relationships

• identify shapes (squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles) in surroundings, combine shapes or objects to make larger shapes or objects
• classify real world 3-D objects as a ball, box, or can shape
• describe and compare figures using geometric and spatial vocabulary, such as corners, curves, inside, outside, right, left, below, and above

Probability and Statistics

probability

• discriminate between impossible, probable, and certain events in a real world context
• sort and classify data in order to draw conclusions in familiar situations

statistics

• use physical objects and/or pictures to build and discuss graphs in order to answer questions

Algebraic Sense

patterns

• recognize, copy, and extend patterns using sounds, objects and symbols
• recognize, analyze, make predictions with repetitive patterns
• explore number patterns
• sort and classify objects by common attributes

representations

• use objects and numerals to show the meaning of equality and inequality
• use manipulatives to solve equations involving addition and subtraction with sums through 10

Process Strands:

Problem Solving

investigate situations

• recognize and search for patterns in familiar situations, for example, find a simple A-B-A-B color pattern in a striped shirt

formulate questions and define the problem

• identify questions to be answered in familiar situations, for example, when shown a completed attendance graph, can ask questions like "How many boys are here today?"

construct solutions

• organize relevant information to solve a problem, for example, when asked how many more boys there are in class than girls, will arrange children in a way that helps answer the question
• select appropriate tools for a given problem, such as cubes, calculator, pan balance

Reasoning

analyze information

• identify likenesses and differences to sort and classify objects and events, focusing on one attribute
• validate own thinking using models, for example, use a manipulative such as links to prove that one object is longer than another, and use appropriate models given choices

predict results

• predict results, for example, guess what color cube will most likely be drawn from a bag containing 2 red cubes and 1 blue cube

draw conclusions and verify results

• reflect on results in familiar situations, for example, tell why a can rolls but a box doesn't

Communication

gather information

• follow a plan for collecting information, for example, place a clothespin on a yes/no graph to answer a survey question each morning when coming into the classroom

organize and interpret information

• organize and clarify mathematical information in at least one way, for example, arrange two sets of cubes in order to determine which set has more
• given sets of objects, draw conclusions about attributes and explain possible reclassification of the data

represent and share information

• express ideas using models and/or pictures, for example, draw a picture to show which of two sets of cubes has more, relate small quantities using mathematical notation

Connections

within mathematics

• recognize equivalent mathematical models in familiar settings, for example, use a variety of objects to make sets of 5 - i.e., 5 cubes, 5 boys, 5 chairs, etc.

to other disciplines

• recognize mathematical patterns in familiar situations in other disciplines, for example, look for patterns in the shapes of tree leaves, e.g., maple trees whose leaves have three to five lobes

to real-life situations

• use mathematical knowledge in everyday situations, for example, determine how many more students in the class come to school in a car than on a bus

Teaching resources for math include:

• "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," Dale Seymour Publications. This program was developed at TERC (Technical Education Research Center) and is an innovative approach to teaching mathematics based on engaging activities and group learning experiences. The curriculum at each grade level is organized into units that offer from three to eight weeks of mathematical work in number, data analysis, and geometry. The units link together to form a complete K-5 curriculum that teachers can adjust to fit their classroom needs.

LEARNING TARGETS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES

The following information identifies the learning targets in social studies for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

The kindergarten social studies program focuses on the theme of "Myself, Family and My World." Students will investigate their unique nature, as well as their roles, relationships and responsibilities at home and at school. The guiding questions for social studies in kindergarten are:

Geography

• How does my environment determine how I think and what I do?

Civics

• What is my responsibility to myself and to others?
• What kind of contributions do I make and how do they make a difference?

History

• What is my personal history and how does it influence who I am today?
• How does my culture and history, and that of others, affect what I think and do?

Economics

• What is my responsibility for preserving shared/limited resources?
• How does my family/community help to provide for my needs?

Kindergarten teaching resources for social studies include:

• Our Wide World Box A, Rand McNally
• People, Spaces & Places, Rand McNally
• Primary Atlas, Rand McNally
• World/U.S. Wall Map and Globe

LEARNING TARGETS FOR SCIENCE

The following information identifies the learning targets in science for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

Kindergarten Expectations in Science  

Properties

• properties of materials can be explored through the five senses

System and Structure

• structures can be understood by exploration with the five senses

Change and Interaction

• change occurs in people, plants and animals over time
• people, plants and animals interact with each other in their environment

Kindergarten teaching resources for science include the following kits:

• GEMS Ladybugs - Children learn about ladybug body structure and symmetry, life cycle, defensive behavior, and foods. Math is an integral part of this unit and role-playing is interwoven in the activities. In "Ladybugs Rescue the Orange Trees," children learn important lessons about the environmental role of ladybugs and interdependence found in nature.
• GEMS Hide A Butterfly - Children create camouflaged butterflies, hungry birds, and a meadow of flowers to enact "The Butterfly Play" and learn the basic concepts of protective coloration. They learn to identify parts of a flower, make flowers and grass for a mural, and then talk about small animals they've seen in real grass or on flowers. Children also learn about real butterflies and their means of protective coloration.

GEMS = Great Explorations in Math and Science, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley

LEARNING TARGETS FOR HEALTH & FITNESS/PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The following information identifies the learning targets in health and fitness for students who are in kindergarten in the Bellingham School District.

By the end of Kindergarten .

Health Expectations

The Great Body Shop required unit for kindergarten is "No Drugs, No Way." Students will:

• tell in your own words the meaning of the word "drugs"
• tell what the word medicine means and explain why medicines are "drugs"
• identify dangerous substances at home, at school, and on the playground
• list three healthful things you especially like to do using your "great body"

By the end of Kindergarten .

Fitness/Physical Education Expectations

Students will:

• demonstrate body control while performing a variety of basic physical skills
• demonstrate safe movement, follow directions and demonstrate sportsmanship
• develop introductory fitness vocabulary
• participate in rhythmic activities

Kindergarten teaching resources for health and fitness include:

• The Great Body Shop by The Children's Health Market, Inc.
• Second Step, A Violence Prevention Curriculum from Committee for Children

KINDERGARTEN ASSESSMENTS

The Bellingham School District requires teachers to assess students using a variety of tools to inform instruction and evaluate programs. These tools provide the teacher with specific information about student skills and progress toward standards.

• Running Records - An oral reading assessment tool used to analyze responses, use of strategies, and behaviors a student is using to construct meaning from a text. Administered every three weeks unless student is exceeding grade level standards with appropriate rate, phrasing, and comprehension.

• Retelling - An assessment tool where students repeat everything they can remember after reading a text. This may be completed orally or in writing.

• Monitoring Notes - Monitoring notes are a systematic, written observation of individual reading and writing performance used on a regular basis to assess and evaluate student reading and writing.

• Writing Samples/Draft Books - Writing samples are collected in draft books or portfolios in order to give feedback to the student, identify writing behaviors and provide focus for teaching.

• Analytical Scoring - Analytical scoring of writing samples from a rubric using the six traits: ideas, word choice, organization, fluency, voice and conventions.

• Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)

The DRA measures skills and strategies, rate, phrasing, comprehension and reading preferences. Testing is done three times per year.

Typically, grades K-2 will use the DRA and 3-5 will use the DRP, unless the student scores at or below Level 24 on the DRA. The expected levels of performance for each grade are shown below.

STUDENT SUCCESS IS OUR GOAL

As parents and guardians, we encourage you to be actively involved in your child's learning. The staff at your child's school can answer questions concerning their progress and give you suggestions about how you can support their education at home. The school district and parents need to work as partners to ensure that every child finds success.