Kindergarten Curriculum

Unit Pacing - 6 weeks (September - October)

In this unit, students will: 

• Count to 20
• Recognize and build sets to 10 using fingers, 5-frames, 10-frames, and objects
• Count, order, and compare numbers to 10
• Write numerals to 10
• Sort and compare groups of objects
• Copy, extend, describe, and create repeating patterns
   

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (October - November)

In this unit, students will: 

• Recognize how many objects are in a set (up to 5) without counting one by one
• Compare sets using the words more and less 
• Develop number sense with combinations that make 5 and 10 
• Count objects and match the quantity to the written numeral
• Build with two-dimensional shapes
   

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (November - December)

In this unit, students will: 

• Solve problems about doubles within 10 
• Add 1 and subtract 1 to and from numbers within 10
• Compare and order numbers from 1 to 10 
• Write equations to show number combinations up to 5

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (December - January)

In this unit, students will: 

• Count forward within 50 
• Order and compare numbers from 1 to 10
• Solve addition and subtraction problems within 10
• Compare objects to see which lengths are longer, shorter, or the same
• Learn the names and values of pennies and nickels

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (January - February)

In this unit, students will: 

• Identify, describe, sort, and compare two-dimensional shapes based on their attributes
• Draw and construct two-dimensional shapes
• Put smaller shapes together to make pictures, designs, and larger shapes
• Sort objects into groups, count how many are in each group, and put the groups in order from least to most

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (March)

In this unit, students will: 

• Identify, name, and describe objects in the environment using the names of shapes 
• Explore the difference between two-dimensional (flat) and three-dimensional (solid) shapes 
• Build three-dimensional shapes 
• Understand the numbers from 11 to 20 as “10 and some more” 
• Solve number combinations within 10

Unit Pacing - 6 weeks (April - May)

In this unit, students will: 

• Explore weight and length concepts 
• Count groups of objects by 10s and 1s to build an understanding of place value 
• Compare numbers to determine which number is more than, less than, or equal to another number 
• Solve addition and subtraction equations and word problems within 10

Unit Pacing - 5 weeks (May - June)

In this unit, students will: 

• Count by 10s and 1s 
• Estimate, measure, and compare length 
• Solve addition and subtraction word problems within 10 
• Write equations to match images 
• Read, write, order, and compare numerals to 20

September - The workouts in September focus on two-dimensional shapes, basic counting skills, and combinations of 5.

October - This month emphasizes counting skills and deepening the understanding of the number landmarks 5 and 10.

November - Key learnings involve directional language, understanding combinations of 5 and 10, and numeral recognition.

December - The focus shifts to understanding doubles facts, the structure of numbers 6 to 10 (as 5 and some more), and counting into the twenties.

January - This month focuses on modeling mathematics, particularly decomposing numbers to 5, recognizing doubles, and comparing three quantities.

February - Counting is strongly featured, including working with comparison, understanding teen numbers as 10 and some more, and solving basic word problems.

March - This month centers on combinations of 10, basic data representation, and subtraction problem solving.

April - The curriculum emphasizes geometry (2-D and 3-D shapes), early probability concepts, and counting higher sequences.

May - The final month focuses on synthesizing the year's computational and counting skills, particularly problem solving and the structure of teen numbers.

Unit 1 Knowledge - 16 Days (September)

This domain will introduce students to nursery rhymes and fables that have been favorites with children for generations. Students will learn about classic rhymes like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Jack and Jill,” and “Hickory, Dickory, Dock,” and characters such as Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet. Students will also listen to some well-known fables, which will help students identify the elements of this genre, learn new vocabulary words, and recognize different types of fiction. 

Overall Learning Outcomes:

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary
• Identify rhyming words 
• Identify literary elements such as character, main events, and moral lessons
• Compare and contrast characters from different rhymes and fables 
• Sequence events in a rhyme or story 
• Retell a story by drawing and writing details about the characters and events

Unit 1 Skills - 10-13 Days (September)

This unit lays the groundwork for reading and writing. Students build awareness of environmental noises, of words within sentences, and of sounds within words. They also learn several writing strokes used to create letters.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate awareness of environmental sounds and words in sentences 
• Draw a number of writing strokes that are prerequisites for writing letters 
• Demonstrate spatial and body awareness 
• Hold writing utensils using the tripod grip 
• Describe the meaning of position words 

Unit 2 Knowledge - 12 Days (October)

Students explore how they learn about the world using their five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Students also hear inspirational stories about individuals who overcame significant challenges posed by disabilities related to sight and hearing.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Use graphic organizers to categorize and sort information about the senses 
• Create timelines recording important events in the lives of Helen Keller and Ray Charles 
• Write and draw information detailing each of the five senses 

Unit 2 Skills - 10-13 Days (September - October)

Students learn how to blend syllables together to form multisyllabic words. They also learn how to orally produce two- and three-sound words by blending sounds.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally blend syllables and two- and three- phonemes to form words 
• Identify beginning sounds of words 
• Use position words: left, right, top, bottom 
• Track left to right, top to bottom 
• Draw a number of writing strokes that are prerequisites for writing letters 
• Hold writing utensils using the tripod grip

Unit 3 Knowledge - 14 Days (October - November)

Students are introduced to classic stories as well as trickster tales and fiction from other cultures. Students develop an awareness of language and recurring themes in children’s literature.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Sequence the beginning, middle, and end of stories 
• Compare and contrast characters from different stories 
• Orally create and expand sentences 
• Describe characters, setting, and plot from different stories
• Write and draw events and details to retell a story

Unit 3 Skills - 14-17 Days (October - November)

Students are introduced to eight sounds, and they practice blending these sounds into words. They also learn how to form the letters that make these sounds.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally blend sounds to form words 
• Recognize and write eight sounds and their symbols: /m/, /a/, /t/, /d/, /o/, /k/ >’c’, /g/, /i/ 
• Blend and read printed VC and CVC words 
• Change sounds in simple words to create new words 
• Read Tricky Words one, two, three
   

Unit 4 Knowledge - 17 Days (October - November)

Read-Aloud texts introduce students to the parts of plants and how they grow. Students gain a basic knowledge of ecology and the interdependence of all living things.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Compare and contrast characters, plants, and plant parts using a graphic organizer 
• Orally describe plants, plant parts, and life cycles 
• Describe characters, setting, and plot from different stories
• Write and draw information from the text

Unit 4 Skills - 15-18 Days (October - November)

This unit introduces students to eight new sounds. Through oral language games, chaining exercises, and shared reading, students practice blending these sounds into words. Students also practice previously learned letter-sound correspondences.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally blend and segment sounds in words 
• Recognize and write new sounds/symbols: /n/, /h/, /s/, /f/, /v/, /z/, /p/, /e/ 
• Blend and read printed VC and CVC words 
• Change sounds in words to create new words 
• Write dictated words 
• Read Tricky Words a, the 
• Read phrases in a decodable text

Unit 5 Knowledge - 15 Days (November - December)

Students learn about the importance of farms as a source of food and other products. They identify several farm animals and crops, and contrast how plants make their own food with how animals get their food by eating plants and other living things.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Choose the best word to describe what is happening in images 
• Orally describe farm animals, farm jobs, farm tools, and how food gets from farms to markets 
• Sequence events in an informational and literary text 
• Write and draw information from the text about animals, farm jobs, and seasons

Unit 5 Skills - 16-19 Days (November - December) 

This unit introduces students to eight new sounds, including a spelling alternative for /k/. Through oral language games, chaining exercises, and shared reading, students practice blending these sounds into words. Students also practice previously learned letter-sound correspondences.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Discriminate between vowel sounds in words 
• Practice sound/letter correspondences 
• Recognize and write new sounds: /b/,/l/, /r/, /u/, /w/, /j/, /y/, /x/, /k/ spelled ‘k’ 
• Change sounds in words to create new words 
• Read and write simple VC and CVC words 
• Read Tricky Words blue, yellow, look 
• Read sentences in a decodable text

Unit 6 Knowledge - 14 Days (January)

Students are introduced to the broad concept that indigenous peoples lived on the continents of North and South America long before European explorers arrived. Students explore the distinctive cultures of three Native American groups, as well as how conditions in different geographical regions influence their ways of life.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Distinguish the meaning of the words to and from in context
• Use details from the text to orally describe food, clothing, and shelter of each of the Native American tribes discussed
• Compare and contrast three Native American tribes using a graphic organizer 
• Write and draw information from the text to describe characteristics of different tribes and items used in Native American life

Unit 6 Skills - 15-18 Days (January)

Students automatize the letter-sound correspondences and blending procedures they have learned so far. They are introduced to consonant clusters, letter names, rhyming words, and reading text independently.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally blend sounds to form words 
• Identify sound pictures by their letter names 
• Identify and create rhyming words 
• Blend and read words with consonant clusters of up to five sounds 
• Read words with Tricky Spelling ‘s’ pronounced /z/ and Tricky Words I, are, and little 
• Read stories in the decodable Reader 
• Demonstrate comprehension by answering story questions
   

Unit 7 Knowledge - 14 Days (January)

Students listen to Read-Aloud texts, both fiction and nonfiction, about kings, queens, and royal families. The selections build students’ understanding of responsibilities and customs associated with royalty throughout history.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Distinguish the meaning of the words to and from in context
• Describe the characters, setting, and plot of a story
• Sequence story events 
• Compare and contrast royal families with non-royal families using a graphic organizer 
• Draw and write events from stories

Unit 7 Skills - 17-20 Days (February)

This unit introduces students to digraphs. Students develop automaticity in blending and segmenting these sounds through phonemic awareness activities, chaining exercises, practice activities, and partner and independent reading.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Orally segment words with consonant clusters 
• Read and spell consonant digraphs /ch/, /sh/, /th/, /th/, /qu/, /ng/ 
• Read and spell words with consonant clusters 
• Read Tricky Words down, out, of 
• Read stories in the decodable Reader 
• Demonstrate comprehension by answering story questions
   

Unit 8 Knowledge - 15 Days (February) 

This unit provides an introduction to weather and the seasons. Students learn that regions of Earth experience different characteristic weather patterns throughout the year.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Orally describe details from informational and literary text
• Ask and answer questions using who 
• Draw and sequence the seasons of the year 
• Use information from the text to draw a picture explaining how to stay safe during a storm
• Record information in a weather diary and present a weather report

Unit 8 Skills - 20-23 Days (March)

This unit introduces students to double-letter spellings for consonant sounds, as well as four high-frequency Tricky Words.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Review vowel sounds, digraphs, and other sounds and spellings 
• Read and spell words with double-letter spellings 
• Read Tricky Words funny, all, was, from 
• Read stories in the decodable Reader 
• Demonstrate comprehension by answering story questions

Unit 9 Knowledge - 15 Days (March)

Students are introduced to key figures, events, and ideas associated with two episodes in the founding of the United States of America—the first voyage of Columbus in 1492 and the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620.

Overall Learning Outcomes:  

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Orally describe details from informational text 
• Use a graphic organizer to summarize text 
• Ask and answer questions using what 
• Identify and understand information on a timeline 
• Write a travel journal 
• Write short phrases and sentences and draw pictures based on details in the text
   

Unit 9 Skills - 23-26 Days (April) 

Students practice writing uppercase letters and learn fifteen new Tricky Words. This unit also introduces activity pages with comprehension questions related to the Student Reader. Students will be assessed on uppercase letter identification and formation, punctuation, and sentence reading.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally blend two-syllable words 
• Read and spell words with previously taught sound/letter correspondences 
• Read new and previously learned Tricky Words 
• Write uppercase letters 
• Write dictated phrases 
• Identify correct end mark punctuation in complete sentences
• Read stories in the decodable Reader 
• Answer story questions by drawing/writing
   

Unit 10 Knowledge - 16 Days (March)

Students are introduced to the early history of the United States as they explore what daily life was like for people in colonial times.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Orally describe details from informational text 
• Use a graphic organizer to organize and retell information 
• Ask and answer questions using where 
• Sequence events based on information in the text 
• Write short phrases and sentences and draw pictures based on details in the text
   

Unit 10 Skills - 29-32 Days (March - April)

This unit introduces students to five new vowel sounds and eleven additional Tricky Words.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Orally segment two-syllable words 
• Read new and previously learned Tricky Words 
• Divide syllables in words 
• Read and spell words with long vowels and separated digraphs (cvce) 
• Recognize apostrophes that show possession or used in contractions 
• Use punctuation marks while reading connected text 
• Answer story questions during discussions and in writing

Unit 11 Knowledge - 16 Days (April)

Students are introduced to the importance of environmental awareness and conservation as they become familiar with the earth’s natural resources and how people’s actions affect the environment.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Orally describe details from informational text 
• Use a graphic organizer to organize and retell information
• Sequence events based on information in the text 
• Write short phrases and sentences and draw pictures based on details in the text 
• Create a class book about solutions to environmental problems

Unit 12 Knowledge - 16 Days (May)

As students are introduced to the lives and legacies of five famous presidents, they learn about several national symbols, the branches of government, the role of the president, and elections.

Overall Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 
• Orally describe details from informational text 
• Use a graphic organizer to organize and retell information, including a timeline 
• Sequence events based on information in the text 
• Write short phrases and sentences and draw pictures based on details in the text