The Curricula of Sauganash Elementary School Align with the Common Core State Standards.
The Common Core State Standards establish what students need to know at each grade Level to be college and career ready.
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Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking)
Phonemic Awareness (only sounds): Haggerty Phonemic Awareness Program
Letter Recognition, Phonics (Letters & Sounds), High Frequency Words, Sight Words: Fundations/Wilson Program
Rigorous Group Work: Students must collaborate with peers to reach their goal with assistance from the teacher.
- Each student will have a job. All must participate.
- Self & Peer Evaluation
- Challenging Objective
CAFE & Daily 5 Literacy Program - Fostering Literacy Independence
CAFE & Daily 5 are used in Sauganash School in grades Kindergarten through 5th Grade.
CAFE & Daily 5 Literacy Program Created By: "The Sisters" Gail Boushey & Joan Moser
CAFE represents comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary.
CAFE Mini-Lessons - Mini-lessons teach strategies and skills to build success in literacy.
The Daily 5
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading / Technology
Word Work
Work on Writing
Learning Continuum of Reading
Kindergarten students begin to learn how to read through phonemic awareness, letter recognition, phonics, and high frequency words. When students understand and master these skills, they are usually able to read fluently and comprehend the text, which is the purpose of reading.
Phonemic awareness focuses on the individual sounds of words and the understanding that these sounds make words. Each sound is a phoneme. Example: apple phonemes: "a", "puh", "l"
Letter recognition focuses on identifying written letters of the alphabet.
Phonics fuses sounds and letters. In phonics, students correlate letters and sounds. Example: The letter p makes the sound "puh".
High frequency words are the most frequent words used in children's literature. E.W. Dolch and Edward Fry created lists that identify the most frequently used words.
*Find out more about how children learn to read and how to support students at home at www.k12reader.com, www.nifl.gov, and www.national-readingpanel.org.
"Just Right" Books - Books chosen by the student at the student's reading level (teacher guidance)
Close Reads - During Close Reads, students read texts and pictures closely as well as repetitiously like an investigator, finding evidence in the text to support conclusions and to aid with comprehension. Students also actively mark the text with symbols to indentify interesting, surprising, new, and funny information. Furthermore, students identify new vocabulary words and text connections, such as text to text, text to self, and text to world.
Interactive Read-Alouds - During Interactive Read-Alouds, teachers/parents/volunteers/students read aloud to the class and ask critical thinking questions.
Mystery Reader - A Mystery Reader is a family member, friend or community member who reads to the class. Students guess who the mystery reader is behind the classroom door.
Schedule an appointment with Mrs. Yadao to be a Mystery Reader.
Guided Reading - Guided Reading is when a teacher reads with a small group of students at their ability level to work on reading skills and strategies with the guidance of the teacher.
Graphic Organizers - T-charts, Venn diagrams, Lists, Wheels, Pre-Writing Hamburger (1st Grade Paragraph Writing), Sequencing Charts, etc.
Classroom Library/Book in a Bag – One book goes home in plastic bag. This book caters to students interests. 3 or more fiction and non-fiction books will go in students' book bins for silent reading, the read to self daily, and reading stamina.
Writing
Sauganash School uses the Lucy Calkins Writing Method.
The goal for kindergarten is to write 3 complete sentences by the end of the year.
Students may begin writing paragrphs when they are ready.
Kindergarten students will draw and write their thoughts, focusing on:
- Content
- Handwriting (Fundations - Sky Line, Plane Line, Grass Line, Worm Line)
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Capitalization
Students will work on all 3 kinds of writing:
1. Narrative Writing (stories, poems, "This weekend I...")
2. Argumentative/Persuasive Writing (letters, news articles, My favorite.., The best..., I was grouchy when...)
3. Informative Writing (letters, lists, poems, "How to make...")
If time permits, students will also write stories with a beginning, middle, and end.
The Common Core State Standards establish what students need to know at each grade Level to be college and career ready.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Listening & Speaking)
Phonemic Awareness (only sounds): Haggerty Phonemic Awareness Program
Letter Recognition, Phonics (Letters & Sounds), High Frequency Words, Sight Words: Fundations/Wilson Program
Rigorous Group Work: Students must collaborate with peers to reach their goal with assistance from the teacher.
- Each student will have a job. All must participate.
- Self & Peer Evaluation
- Challenging Objective
CAFE & Daily 5 Literacy Program - Fostering Literacy Independence
CAFE & Daily 5 are used in Sauganash School in grades Kindergarten through 5th Grade.
CAFE & Daily 5 Literacy Program Created By: "The Sisters" Gail Boushey & Joan Moser
CAFE represents comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary.
CAFE Mini-Lessons - Mini-lessons teach strategies and skills to build success in literacy.
The Daily 5
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading / Technology
Word Work
Work on Writing
Learning Continuum of Reading
Kindergarten students begin to learn how to read through phonemic awareness, letter recognition, phonics, and high frequency words. When students understand and master these skills, they are usually able to read fluently and comprehend the text, which is the purpose of reading.
Phonemic awareness focuses on the individual sounds of words and the understanding that these sounds make words. Each sound is a phoneme. Example: apple phonemes: "a", "puh", "l"
Letter recognition focuses on identifying written letters of the alphabet.
Phonics fuses sounds and letters. In phonics, students correlate letters and sounds. Example: The letter p makes the sound "puh".
High frequency words are the most frequent words used in children's literature. E.W. Dolch and Edward Fry created lists that identify the most frequently used words.
*Find out more about how children learn to read and how to support students at home at www.k12reader.com, www.nifl.gov, and www.national-readingpanel.org.
"Just Right" Books - Books chosen by the student at the student's reading level (teacher guidance)
Close Reads - During Close Reads, students read texts and pictures closely as well as repetitiously like an investigator, finding evidence in the text to support conclusions and to aid with comprehension. Students also actively mark the text with symbols to indentify interesting, surprising, new, and funny information. Furthermore, students identify new vocabulary words and text connections, such as text to text, text to self, and text to world.
Interactive Read-Alouds - During Interactive Read-Alouds, teachers/parents/volunteers/students read aloud to the class and ask critical thinking questions.
Mystery Reader - A Mystery Reader is a family member, friend or community member who reads to the class. Students guess who the mystery reader is behind the classroom door.
Schedule an appointment with Mrs. Yadao to be a Mystery Reader.
Guided Reading - Guided Reading is when a teacher reads with a small group of students at their ability level to work on reading skills and strategies with the guidance of the teacher.
Graphic Organizers - T-charts, Venn diagrams, Lists, Wheels, Pre-Writing Hamburger (1st Grade Paragraph Writing), Sequencing Charts, etc.
Classroom Library/Book in a Bag – One book goes home in plastic bag. This book caters to students interests. 3 or more fiction and non-fiction books will go in students' book bins for silent reading, the read to self daily, and reading stamina.
Writing
Sauganash School uses the Lucy Calkins Writing Method.
The goal for kindergarten is to write 3 complete sentences by the end of the year.
Students may begin writing paragrphs when they are ready.
Kindergarten students will draw and write their thoughts, focusing on:
- Content
- Handwriting (Fundations - Sky Line, Plane Line, Grass Line, Worm Line)
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Capitalization
Students will work on all 3 kinds of writing:
1. Narrative Writing (stories, poems, "This weekend I...")
2. Argumentative/Persuasive Writing (letters, news articles, My favorite.., The best..., I was grouchy when...)
3. Informative Writing (letters, lists, poems, "How to make...")
If time permits, students will also write stories with a beginning, middle, and end.
Math
Envision Math
Topic 1: Numbers 0-5
Topic 2: Compare Numbers 0-5
Topic 3: Numbers 6-10
Topic 4: Comparing Numbers 0-10
Topic 5: Classify and Count Data
Topic 6: Understand Addition
Topic 7: Understand Subtraction
Topic 8: More Addition and Subtraction
Topic 9: Count numbers to 20
Topic 10: Compose and Decompose Numbers 11-19
Topic 11: Count Numbers to 100
Topic 12: Identify and Describe Shapes
Topic 13: Analyze, Compare, and Create Shapes
Topic 14: Describe and Compare Measurable Attributes
Kindergarten Math Continued (if time permits)
- Addition (single and double) Introduction of carrying and regrouping
- Subtraction (single and double) Introduction of borrowing and regrouping
- Number recognition to 100, counting to 100, writing to 100 or 1,000
- Geometry (Two-Dimensional Shapes: circle, square, triangle, rhombus, rectangle, hexagon, octagon & Three-Dimensional Shapes: cube, cylinder, cone, pyramid, sphere, rectangular prism)
- Primary Colors
- Telling Time (to the hour and half hour)
- Measurement (non-standard units and inches)
- Money (coins and dollar bills)
- Fractions (whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4)
- Number Patterns (counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s)
- Word Problems (circle key words, math sentence, picture, answer)
- Graphs (pictographs, bar graphs)
Topic 1: Numbers 0-5
Topic 2: Compare Numbers 0-5
Topic 3: Numbers 6-10
Topic 4: Comparing Numbers 0-10
Topic 5: Classify and Count Data
Topic 6: Understand Addition
Topic 7: Understand Subtraction
Topic 8: More Addition and Subtraction
Topic 9: Count numbers to 20
Topic 10: Compose and Decompose Numbers 11-19
Topic 11: Count Numbers to 100
Topic 12: Identify and Describe Shapes
Topic 13: Analyze, Compare, and Create Shapes
Topic 14: Describe and Compare Measurable Attributes
Kindergarten Math Continued (if time permits)
- Addition (single and double) Introduction of carrying and regrouping
- Subtraction (single and double) Introduction of borrowing and regrouping
- Number recognition to 100, counting to 100, writing to 100 or 1,000
- Geometry (Two-Dimensional Shapes: circle, square, triangle, rhombus, rectangle, hexagon, octagon & Three-Dimensional Shapes: cube, cylinder, cone, pyramid, sphere, rectangular prism)
- Primary Colors
- Telling Time (to the hour and half hour)
- Measurement (non-standard units and inches)
- Money (coins and dollar bills)
- Fractions (whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4)
- Number Patterns (counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s)
- Word Problems (circle key words, math sentence, picture, answer)
- Graphs (pictographs, bar graphs)
Social Studies
My Community and Me (Identity, Family, School, Emotions, Community, Community Workers)
Life in the Present compared to Life in the Past (Important Leaders)
Comparing & Contrasting Diverse Cultures / Holidays in the United States & Around the World
Fire Safety
Seasons, Weather, Temperature (Earth Day - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot)
Calendars, Maps, Graphs, Lists
Decision Making/Problem Solving
Life in the Present compared to Life in the Past (Important Leaders)
Comparing & Contrasting Diverse Cultures / Holidays in the United States & Around the World
Fire Safety
Seasons, Weather, Temperature (Earth Day - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot)
Calendars, Maps, Graphs, Lists
Decision Making/Problem Solving
Science Curriculum
Kindergarten - 12th Grade CPS Science Curriculum
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are content standards that set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do for college and career readiness.
The Next Generation Science Examplar (NGSX) is a student-centered and problem-based method of instruction. Students are given a phenomena, and students lead the lesson with support and guidance from their teacher.
Kindergarten will be learning about...
Life Science: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants, and Their Environment
Physical Science: Weather and Climate
Earth & Space Sciences: Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
Engineering Design: Building , Designing, Testing (STEM Class)
SCHOOL-WIDE SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Calm Classroom is a program that assists students in self-regulation of their bodies and emotions through breathing and stretching exercises. This program is optional and takes about 2 minutes each day. All classrooms do Calm Classroom after lunch and recess. Sauganash School is understanding and respectful of all beliefs. Please let your teacher know if you prefer for your child to sit out of Calm Classroom.
Social Time (End of Each Day)
Second Step teaches students the reasons for appropriate behavior in the classroom. Kindergarten learns to have "Eyes watching... Ears listening... Body still... & Voice quiet" at the appropriate times. There is a time to scream, sing, and shout. There is a time to be calm and listening.
The Olweus Anti-Bullying Program teaches students what bullying is and how to handle bullies.
Bullying is when anyone does or says anything mean.
By-standers are people who are watching bullying happen.
Sauganash Anti-Bullying Rules
1. We will not bully others.
2. We will try to help others who are bullied.
3. We will try to help students who are left out.
4. If we or someone we know is being bullied, we will tell an adult at home and at school.
CHAMPS
0 - Silent
1 - Whispering
2 - Talking Voice
3 - Teaching Voice
4 - Shouting Voice
Friday Feelings Check
We stand/sit in a circle, say our name, how we feel, and why.
Calm Corner
Students may sit in the Calm Corner to calm their bodies and feelings as well as to reflect through activities, such as reflecting and breathing deeply.
Read-Alouds
We read books about emotions, friendship, family, diversity, loving self and others, how to interact with others, and more.
Some books include The Kissing Hand, Chester and the Big Bad Bully, Chrysanthemum, I Like Myself, Todd Parr books, Did you fill a bucket today?, Love, Kindness, Courage, and so much more.
Daily Interactions / Life Lessons
- Sharing
- Helping Others
- Speaking and Acting Nicely to Others (Please and Thank you, Excuse Me, I'm sorry/That's okay, etc.)
- Listening with Eyes, Ears, Bodies, and Mouths
- Respecting ourselves and the space, bodies, as well as property of others
- Working Hard (Sometimes having to do things you do not want to do.)
