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Supporting Teachers with the Implementation of the Redesigned B.C. Curriculum

Kindergarten Resources

Dear Kindergarten Teacher,

Curriculum change—both exciting and challenging at the same time! So many possibilities for you and your students! As you prepare to implement the new curriculum, let us help you design unique learning opportunities specific to your students’ needs and interests.

Scholastic Education’s resources are fully supportive of the redesigned outcomes; emphasizing the latest educational pedagogy, an inquiry-based approach, and the development of core competencies; all important facets of the new curriculum. Teaching materials for each resource assist you in planning and organizing for effective instruction, differentiation, and balanced assessment. Student materials help create a relevant, engaging and novel learning environment for young learners.

In this brochure are several resources suitable for the kindergarten classroom. The variety of options and choices will help you implement the Big Ideas and Learning Standards of English Language Arts and other subject disciplines in a creative and flexible manner.

• Literacy Place Plus: - Oral Language Kit - Inquiry Units - Guided Reading Texts - Independent Reading Collection

• Zorbit’s Math Adventure

Included with each product description is an overview of possible connections to the three elements of the new curricular model: Big Ideas (UNDERSTAND), Curricular Competencies (DO), and Content (KNOW). These at-a-glance charts enable you to quickly envision the correlations with the new curriculum.

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas

DOLearning Standards:

Curricular Competencies

KNOWLearning Standards: Content

- Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world

- use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, viewing strategies to make meaning

- engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers to develop understanding of self, identity, and community

- Oral language strategies

For more information on Scholastic Education resources contact1-855-724-7377 ext. 4003

Customer Service: 1-800-268-3848 • education.scholastic.ca

Caroline [email protected]

Sean [email protected]

The Oral Language Kit provides varied activity-oriented materials for developing, enriching, and refining children’s language development. The materials and lessons can be used to focus on developing language for social communication, inquiry, and problem-solving. The components can be used throughout the school year in an English Language Arts class or other curriculum areas to promote the core competencies of Communication and Critical and Creative Thinking.

• The Literacy Place Plus Kindergarten Oral Language Kit comes with a poetry Big Book and 6 small book versions with audio on CD and a digital version of the text; 2 Wordless Texts; 18 double-sided Conversation Cards; 20 felt puppets; a Teaching Guide (including oral language games), print and online.

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UNDERSTANDBig Ideas




Language Arts:

- Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy

- Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves and our families

- Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and word


- Playing with language helps us discover how language works

Character Education:

- Effective collaboration relies on clear, respectful communication

Comprehend and Connect:

- use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning

- use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, viewing strategies to make meaning (e.g., asking questions to construct and clarify meaning; using active listening; predicting; and making connections to self)

- explore foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts

- engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers

- use personal experience/knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make meaning

- recognize the structure of story

Create and Communicate:

- exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding

- use language to identify, create, and share ideas, feelings, opinions, and preferences

- create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community

- plan and create stories and others texts for different purposes and audiences

- explore oral storytelling processes


- recognize the importance of positive relationships in their lives

Story/text:

- structure of story

- literary elements and devices

Strategies and Processes:

- oral language strategies (adjusting volume, pace, tone, and articulation; focusing on the speaker; taking turns; asking questions related to the topic; making personal connections; making relevant contributions to discussions)

- reading strategies (making meaning using predictions and connections; making meaning from text using pictures, patterns, memory, and prior knowledge; retelling some elements of story; and recognizing familiar words/names and environmental print)

Language Features, Structures, Conventions:

- concepts of print

- phonemic and phonological awareness

- the relationship between reading, writing, and oral language

T PSC Communication Personal and SocialThinking

Oral Language Kit

Oral Language KitOral Language Kit

Inquiry units in Kindergarten focus on helping students to think about and ‘start a conversation’ on an issue. These units promote exploration, questioning, and problem solving to focus students on thinking critically and delving below the surface of a topic.

With young children, this type of inquiry is facilitated by providing materials and instructional contexts that can fully support learning. With this in mind, each of the Kindergarten inquiry units offers a Read Aloud and two Shared Reading texts. Teacher support is readily available in both read aloud and shared reading contexts.

Young children inquire through listening, questioning, sharing, talking, moving, dramatizing, playing, and artistic expression, and the units offer numerous opportunities for exploring issues in developmentally appropriate ways.

Although a significant emphasis is placed on critical thinking through inquiry in these units, lessons equally support the development of oral language, reading comprehension, working with words, and writing strategies. The language, literacy, and critical thinking strategies acquired in these units will offer helpful tools for students when they pursue their self-initiated inquiries during investigation times.


Inquiry Units

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Caring for the WorldHow do we care for the world?

In the Caring for the World Inquiry unit students explore the inquiry question by considering how they can take responsibility for looking after the natural world. Opportunities for oral language and playful learning are woven throughout as students discuss, dramatize taking care of pandas and creating a community garden, organize and run a schoolyard clean-up day, grow and take care of plants, and paint pictures of ways they would take care of the world. Students focus on choices they can make to positively affect the natural world.

• The Caring for the World inquiry unit comes with a Read Aloud book; a Big Book and 6 small versions of the text for Shared Reading; a poster for Shared Reading; an audio CD with fluent readings of both texts plus a digital version of the texts on DVD; a Teaching Guide, both print and online.


Inquiry Units

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UNDERSTANDBig Ideas



KNOWLearning Standards:

ContentLanguage Arts:


- Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words


- Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us

Science:

- Plants and animals have observable features













Science:

- demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world

- ask simple questions about familiar objects and events

- experience and interpret the local environment

- take part in caring for self, family, classroom and school through personal approaches

- share observations and ideas orally

Story/Text:







- concepts of print



Science:

- basic needs of plants and animals

I Am SpecialWhat makes me special?

The I Am Special unit encourages students to recognize personal interests, strengths, and accomplishments. Students are engaged in inquiring about what makes each person special. Opportunities for oral language activities and playful learning are intermingled throughout the unit as students discuss what is special about themselves, draw their special characteristics, use stick puppets to re–enact a story, and make masks to discuss who they are. Included in the unit is a mentor text (scrapbook with pictures and labels) that invites students to draw and describe what is special about them.

• The I Am Special Inquiry unit includes: a Read Aloud book; 2 Big Books and 6 small versions of each plus an audio CD for Shared Reading; a DVD with digital versions of the shared texts; a Teaching Guide, both print and online.


Inquiry Units

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas








- Everyone has a unique story to share




Career Education:

- Confidence develops through the process of self-discovery

- Everything we learn helps us to develop skills

Physical and Health Education:

- Good health comprises physical, mental, and emotional well-being






- recognize the importance of story in personal, family, and community identity








Career Education:

- identify and appreciate their personal attributes, skills, interests, and accomplishments

- share ideas, information, personal feelings, and knowledge with others

- recognize the importance of learning in their lives and future careers


- identify and describe feelings and worries

- identify personal skills, interests, and preferences

Story/Text:




- oral language strategies

- reading strategies

- metacognitive strategies

- writing processes


- concepts of print

- letter knowledge


- letter formation


Career Education:

- risk-taking and its role in self-exploration

C PS

Solving ProblemsHow can we solve problems?

In the Solving Problems inquiry unit, students consider the inquiry question by exploring common everyday problems. They evaluate how the problems were solved and generate alternative solutions, using both empathy and respect for others. Opportunities for oral language and purposeful play are woven throughout as students discuss problem scenarios and solutions, role-play problem-solving situations, and use puppets and masks to act out alternate resolutions. Included is a text-type writing study that invites students to write an account about how they solved a problem.

• The Solving Problems inquiry unit comes with: a Read Aloud book; 2 Big Books and 6 small versions of each plus an audio CD for Shared Reading; a DVD with digital versions of the shared texts; a Teaching Guide, both print and online.


Inquiry Units

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas










Social Studies:

- Rights, roles, and responsibilities shape our identity and help us build healthy relationships with others




- Learning about ourselves and others helps us to develop a positive attitude and caring behaviours, which helps us build healthy relationships














Social Studies:

- use inquiry processes and skills to: ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyse ideas; and communicate findings and decisions

- identify fair and unfair aspects of events, decisions, and actions in their lives and consider appropriate courses of action




- identify caring behaviours among classmates and within families

Story/Text:






- writing processes


- concepts of print

- letter knowledge


- letter formation


Social Studies:

- roles, rights, and responsibilities of individuals and groups


- caring behaviours in groups and families

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Let’s Be FriendsWhy should we be friends?

The Let’s Be Friends inquiry unit engages students in considering why friendship is important, what it means to be a friend, and the importance of being friends with people who are not just like themselves. Opportunities for oral language and purposeful play are woven throughout as students discuss, dramatize planning and having a party, enact examples of friendship with puppets, paint and draw pictures of acts of friendship and create self-portraits. Students are encouraged to write a greeting card to a classmate, friend, or family member.

• The Let’s Be Friends inquiry unit comes with a Read Aloud text; 2 Big Books and 6 small versions of each plus an audio CD for Shared Reading; a DVD with 6 digital versions of the shared texts; a Teaching Guide, both print and online.


Inquiry Units

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas














- Learning about ourselves and others helps us to develop a positive attitude and caring behaviours, which helps us build healthy relationships









Create and communicate:







- share ideas, information, personal feelings, and knowledge with others


- identify caring behaviours among classmates and within families

Story/Text:






- writing processes


- concepts of print

- letter knowledge


- letter formation



- risk-taking and its role in self-exploration


- caring behaviours in groups and families

PS

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In a kindergarten classroom, two small-group approaches can be used to differentiate for learners: Small-Group Shared Reading and Guided Reading. The texts and lesson plans included in the Guided Reading collection for kindergarten enables you to maximize learning based on students’ needs. One side of the teaching plan outlines a Small-Group Shared Reading lesson and the flip side of the card outlines how to use the same text using a Guided Reading approach. There are also take-home versions of each text included on the lpey.ca website.

The Small-Group Shared Reading approach is geared towards students who need more early literacy experiences before progressing from whole-class Shared Reading to Small-Group Guided Reading. Before participating in Guided Reading groups, in which knowledge of detailed print concepts is essential, these students may need to develop confidence with book handling, print tracking, and the concept that print holds a message. In addition, small-group experiences stimulate language development, since students have more opportunities to interact orally with you and the other group members. This is an ideal time for modelling language structures (e.g., appropriate syntax) and building vocabulary. You can link new vocabulary to students’ personal experiences and encourage them to express their new knowledge during group discussions. Responding to questions presents difficulties for some students; during small-group instruction, these students not only hear you model appropriate responses, but also have your support as they practise their growing skills.

Guided Reading is one approach to differentiating learning by providing students with the structures to maximize strengths, work around areas for growth, and experience timely remediation. Students are able to apply and transfer their learning of reading, oral language, and metacognitive strategies. The Guided Reading collections include a variety of print and visual texts to expand students’ thinking and exposure to real-world texts; including flyers, magazine articles, non-fiction reports, realistic stories, personal accounts, and descriptive texts. The accompanying teaching plans provide suggestions for Before, During, and After Reading plus teaching tips, ESL notes and follow-up activities.

• 12 titles. Each title available as a 6-pack with 6 copies of one title and teaching plan. Complete packs also available.


Guided Reading Texts

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas




Language Arts:


















Story/Text:






- metacognitive strategies (talking and thinking about learning to develop one’s awareness of self as a reader)


- concepts of print

- letter knowledge



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Guided ReadingGuided Reading

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Providing time for Independent Reading in your kindergarten classroom is imperative to the continued success and growth of young learners who will understand the joy and benefit of life-long reading. While reading independently, students are able to apply and transfer their learning of reading and metacognitive strategies. The Independent Reading collection includes a variety of engaging texts; fiction, non-fiction, and info-fiction in various sizes and shapes. Add these great titles to your existing classroom library to spark enthusiasm for reading!

• 20 titles, levels A–D and Teaching Guide.


Independent Reading Texts

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas




Language Arts:
















- exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding (partner discussions about texts)


Story/Text:






- metacognitive strategies (talking and thinking about learning to develop one’s awareness of self as a reader)


- concepts of print

- letter knowledge



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Independent ReadingIndependent Reading


Zorbit’s Math Adventure

UNDERSTANDBig Ideas




ContentMathematics:

- Numbers represent quantities that can be decomposed into smaller parts

- One-to-one correspondence and a sense of 5 and 10 are essential for fluency with numbers

- Repeating elements in patterns can be identified

- Objects have attributes that can be described, measured, and compared

- Familiar events can be described as likely or unlikely and compared

Reasoning and Analyzing:

- use reasoning to explore and make connections

- estimate reasonably

- develop mental math strategies and abilities to make sense of quantities

- use technology to explore mathematics

Understanding and solving:

- develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through problem-solving

- develop and use multiple strategies to engage in problem-solving

- engage in problem-solving experiences that are connected to story

Communicating and Representing:

- communicate mathematical thinking in many ways

- use mathematical vocabulary and language

- represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms

Connecting and Reflecting:

- reflect on mathematical thinking

- connect mathematical concepts to each other and to other areas and personal interests

Game 1:

- number concepts to 10 (one-to-one correspondence; conservation; cardinality; stable order counting; sequencing 1–10; linking sets to numerals; subitizing)

- ways to make 5 (perceptual subitizing; conceptual subitizing)

- decomposition of numbers to 10 (decomposing and recomposing quantities to 10; numbers can be arranged and recognized; benchmarks of 5 and 10; making 10; part-part-whole thinking)

Game 2:

- direct comparative measurement (understand the importance of using a baseline for direct comparison for linear measurement; estimate and measure length using non-standard units; estimate, measure, and describe the capacity and/or mass of an object using non-standard units)

Game 3:

- repeating patterns with two or more elements (sorting and classifying using a single attribute; identify patterns in the world; repeating patterns with 2–3 elements; identifying the core; representing repeating patterns in various ways)

- single attributes of 2D shapes and 3D objects (exploring, creating, and describing 2D shapes; using positional language)

Zorbit’s Math Adventure is a game-based learning program for K–3 math created by a team of experienced teachers, educators, and game designers. The curriculum-based math activities engage young learners in rich, immersive environments that are cognitively and developmentally appropriate for their age. Aligned to all curricula within Canada, Zorbit’s also provides teachers with a suite of tools and resources to help close learning gaps and differentiate instruction. Zorbit’s Kindergarten contains three games: Game 1: Numbers, Game 2: Measurement and Sorting, and Game 3: Geometry. The games follow characters, Zorbit, Zoe, and Serena as they explore outer space and search for adventures. In game 1, the friends explore an alien planet to recover parts of their broken spaceship; in game 2, the friends travel to Serena’s home planet to help with the annual Fix-It Festival using measurement and sorting; and in game 3, the three adventurers go to a Floating Space Comet Fair where students are engaged in building toys, helping set up a puppet show, setting off fireworks, and more while learning about geometry, patterns, and relative positions.

Game activity is tracked so teachers can assess both individual and class progress. Based on this information, the technology generates success plans, which can be used in conjunction with the recommended support activities in order to plan next steps.

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