Mohonasen Central School District

Bradt Primary School

Mrs. Doulides' ELA Page

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My goal is to provide a developmentally appropriate kindergarten classroom which accepts all children where they are and takes them forward on their literacy journey.  The following are goals which are integrated throughout the instructional day of a kindergarten classroom through a variety of activities. The activities and concepts behind this approach is currently best described in "Month-By-Month Reading and Writing for Kindergarten" by Dottie Hall and Pat Cunningham.

 

1.
Desire to Learn to Read & Write
Create an environment where all students see themselves becoming independent readers and writers.
2.
Language Concepts
Foster the ability to read and write words through the use of morning messages, journal entries, sentence building activities, and environmental print.
3.
Print Concepts
Teach print concepts by modeling how to write and participating in shared reading and shared writing experiences.
4.
Phonemic Awareness
Develop phonemic awareness, including the concept of rhyme, through activities with poetry, rhyming books, tongue twisters, and playing with language.
5.
Interesting Words
Extend the list of real-life words that students find personally relevant, such as favorite restaurant names, favorite cartoon characters, and family members.
6.
Letters & Sounds
Encourage letter and sound recognition through activities with alphabet books, beginning and ending sounds, and shared writing of predictable charts.

"A developmentally appropriate kindergarten is like a good home, where children can learn through playing, cooking, watching, listening, acting, reading or pretend reading, and writing or pretend writing.  It is a place where they can explore their environment, ask questions, and answer questions.  It is a place where the teacher is like a parent: reading to the children and talking about the stories they read; writing for the children and allowing them to write for different purposes; having time to explore the community on field trips, and talking about those experiences together.  It is a place where children clean up after themselves, learn more about familiar and unfamiliar topics (usually called themes), and learn more about what interests them most--themselves.  Most importantly, it is a place where children learn that reading provides both enjoyment and information, and they develop the desire to learn to read and write."

(Dottie Hall & Pat Cunningham; Month-by-Month Reading and Writing for Kindergarten; Carson-Dellosa Publishing Co.; page 2)