Name: Melissa Fitz Gerald

Grade Level:Kindergarten

Contact Information:

Mrs. Fitz Gerald  may be contacted at: 336-5332  ext. 522.

Curriculum

The kindergarten program emphasizes the development of social and academic skills.  Thinking, problem solving and organizational skills are important elements of the total educational program.  This program is centered around the standards established by the school district, the state of New Hampshire and the federal government.  My goal for each student is to experience success at his or her level and to build self-esteem and a sense of community. Below you will find a brief description of some of the things your child will be learning throughout the year.  Weekly notices will be sent home throughout the year informing you of what the class has been working on that week. This weekly notice will also include some suggestions for activities that you may want to do with your child at home. These activities will allow the child additional practice with the skill and the opportunity to share all that they have been learning with their family.    

Reading:

Throughout the school year the class will be learning how to recognize upper and lower case letters, identifying sounds associated with the letters, identifying synonyms and antonyms, organizing words by category, identifying characters in a story, self selecting reading materials and discussing the aspects of a story.  Literacy activities will be guided by the work of Fountas &  Pinnell, the Literacy Collaborative and Wilson’s Language Basics/Fundations.

Written Communication:

The class will learn how to express an idea using pictures and letters, use pictures to create a story, naming or labeling objects or pictures, using phonemic awareness and letter knowledge to spell independently.  These skills will slowly be incorporated into their creative writing which is completed on a daily basis.

Oral communication:

The class will be learning how to follow simple verbal instructions and directions, listening and responding to different styles of literature, understanding that communication is verbal and nonverbal, waiting for their turn to speak and speaking clearly and distinctly.

Math:

The class will be discovering and beginning to understand the magnitude of numbers through investigation using the Every Day Math series.  Activities are diverse in nature and will connect numbers to their daily lives. 

Social Studies:

The class will be distinguishing the differences between needs and wants, identifying the characteristics of money and introduced to globes and maps as they begin to understand that the world is interconnected. This program is enhanced by using the Silver Burdett Ginn social studies series.

Science:

The class will be making observations and exploring materials using all of their senses. They will learn how to ask questions about their environment, suggest plans on how to explore their environment and predict how changing one part of their exploration will affect the outcome. This program is enhanced by using the Harcourt science series.

Second Step:

The class will learn about their own feelings and how to understand how others may be feeling.  This school wide initiative teaches the children appropriate ways to communicate with each other and handle difficult situations on their own.

Homework Policies:

In my weekly newsletter News from Kindergarten you will find suggested activities to do with your children at home.  These activities are not required, but are encouraged, in order to reinforce the skills that are being taught at school.  Since many kindergarten children want to have homework I have a homework bin located on my desk.  This bin contains extra practice activity sheets for the children to complete at home.  This also is not required to be returned to school, it is merely to keep them motivated about all that they are learning.  It is a huge success! Most children take home something every night and many return it to school the following day. 

Classroom Procedures:

As you might imagine having a group of five and six year old children gathered in a classroom has some challenges.  Therefore, I have to ensure that I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve in order to keep the classroom a safe and happy place where children are able to grow and learn.  In order to create this type of atmosphere it is important that well established rules and expectations are put in place and consistently followed each and every day.  These expectations will be introduced to the children during the first few weeks of school.  We will discuss, role play and practice the classroom expectations in order to ensure that each member of the class understands what is acceptable within the classroom environment.  I have listed some of the classroom management tools that will be used in my classroom this year; others may be implemented as needed throughout the school year.  Most of these strategies were developed by long time educator and behavior specialist Gene Bedley. You may find that some of these strategies would also work well within your household.

Responsibility Chart: Non verbal reminder to be responsible.

This chart will be posted within the classroom.

At the top of the chart is written RESPONSIBLE-LEVEL 10-I DID at the bottom of the chart is IRRESPONSIBLE-LEVEL 0- I WON’T.  The range in between each of these levels depicts the different levels of responsibilities.  Each child will begin each day with their names posted in the responsible level 10 and their name will be moved only if necessary.  Those children that remained responsible without being reminded (W.B.R) all morning will be invited to wear their W.B.R. necklace when they return from recess.  The chart will also be reviewed at the end of the day.

Without(W) Being(B) Reminded(R) Cards: Praises children for being responsible.

These cards will be handed out to children displaying consistent responsible behavior.  Each time a child is handed one of these cards it will be stapled into their communication journal and taken home at the end of the day.  Each child that receives one of these cards will be entered into a weekly drawing to receive a special reward for being responsible.

© Gene Bedley 2005

Better Choice Chair:  A quiet spot for children to think about inappropriate behavior and ways to make better choices in the future.

Children may be asked by an adult to sit in this chair or may place themselves in the chair in order to collect their thoughts during difficult times in the day.  The classroom rules will be posted in this area and children will be responsible for deciding which rule was broken. They must also think of two strategies that will help them make better choices in the future. 

Reminder Rule Cards: Non verbal reminder of the classroom rules.

These are picture/word cards that depict the rules that must be followed during activities.  Before beginning activities the children will decide what rules will need to be followed and anyone breaking a rule will be required to stop the activity.  These rules are posted in the front of the room and in the Better Choice Chair area.

Talk it Over Table: Requires the children to responsibly manage problems on their own.

This is guided by an adult at the beginning of the school year until the children are able to handle the responsibility on their own.  When a problem arises among children they would visit this table.  There will be a timer at the table which each of the children will know how to set.  Each child will have one minute to tell their version of what happened.  They will then have one minute to discuss which classroom/school rules were broken.  The final minute will be spent deciding what can be done so that the situation does not occur again.

Crime Line:  A procedure to teach children the difference between tattling and  

crimes.

The crime line is one of two lines kids line up in to come into the room after recess.  The line that is not the crime line always goes into the classroom first.  The crime line is a line of kids that wish to report crimes to the teacher.  In order to be in the crime line they must ask themselves four questions:

1.       Did it hurt you?

2.     Did it damage your property?

3.     Did it hurt someone else?

4.     Did it hurt their property?

If none of the four crimes were committed then they should not be in the crime line.

© Gene Bedley  1983

Journals

Each child will be given a journal.  This journal will include notes, special reminders and will serve as a means of communication between home and school.  Each child must bring their journal to and from school each day. These journals should be reviewed by an adult within the household on a daily basis.

Student Jobs

In order for the classroom to be successful and well organized, it must become the responsibility of the entire classroom community.  Therefore, I have established a bulletin board within the classroom; it will post weekly jobs in which the children will be responsible. Some of the jobs will be completed in the morning, while others will be completed immediately before dismissal.  These jobs will be reviewed and role played with the children at the beginning of the school year. 

Authors of the Week

Each week I will select one published children’s literature author and two students to serve as authors of the week.  During the week I will read books by the chosen published author and discuss their writing style.  The two student authors will share the written communication that they have produced each day with the class.  These student authors will also enjoy other privileges within the classroom that will be developed as a group at the beginning of the year. This allows the children to understand that their writing is something that others can enjoy.

Acts of Kindness Jar

This jar will serve to honor acts of kindness that are displayed by the class within the school community.  Glass pebbles will be placed in the jar when acts of kindness, respect and responsibility are noticed.  Once the jar is filled with pebbles a reward will be provided to the entire class.  A variety of reward options will be offered and the class will vote upon their choice.  This instills within the children that being a productive and kind member of the community has great rewards.