A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

* approximation ~ child's attempts at skills which approach the correct form - we applaud and support close attempts to encourage more tries and more practice; for example, many of the things your child will "read" to you early on this year may very well just be memorized - not reading word by word. However we want to acknowledge their attempts and create an encouraging environment, so we praise their efforts without a lot of criticism in these beginning stages. Do you remember their attempts to talk and walk? Not perfect on the first few tries! Please keep that in mind this year as we support and praise their development in all areas!

* attributes ~ a characteristic or specific feature of an object, picture, shape, etc.; we sort and pattern by the attributes of things; involves observation, ability to describe differences and likenesses
 

* blending ~ to put together the sounds represented by letters in order to say the word after sounding it out (/c/ /a/ /t/ is "cat")

* book awareness ~ skills involving knowledge of how books work - title, cover, author, illustrator, page numbers, how to hold a book, turn the pages, front, back, where to start reading on a page, awareness that the print and the pictures go together, and might include table of contents, dedication page, index
 

* character education ~ instruction of basic human value traits such as fairness, honesty, respect, equality, responsibility for self, to name a few; also includes instruction on problem solving strategies, ability to make decisions, conflict resolution skills - all of these and more are important for learning to get along productively in a learning situation

* citizenship skills ~ similar to character education qualities - how a child conducts themselves in a classroom setting in a contributing, supportive manner

* cognitive development ~ learning ability developed through sensory perception, observation, and memory

* comparative language ~ vocabulary of comparing size and weight of objects - big, bigger, biggest, near or far, etc.

* comprehension ~ understanding text from listening or reading and being able to restate what information was read and/or answer simple questions about it

* concepts of print ~ understanding how print works; includes such things as recognition of letters and words, knowing differences between letter/word/sentences, spacing between words, directionality (left to right, top to bottom, front to back), connection between what is said and what is written, capitalization, punctuation

* conflict resolution ~ skills and process of dealing with problems in a nonviolent way - includes identifying the problem, coming up with agreeable plan of action, agreeing to the plan, adjusting as needed; many times the children need adult support to work through the planning and the doing of that plan

* counting on ~ ability to start counting from a given number (such as "count from 4 to the number 20") without having to go back to number 1 and start over

* CVC words ~ consonant-vowel-consonant words (3 letter) such as cat, mop, bug that follow the letter/sound rules and are very decodable to beginning readers
 

* decode ~ ability to translate letter names into known sounds (i.e. "letter M says /m/")

* developmental delays ~ delays in development, measured by specific diagnostic tools, in the areas of cognitive, physical, social and/or emotional, communication, and adaptive skills

* developmentally appropriate ~ curriculum and instruction practices that are appropriate for the physical and mental development of the child - "age appropriate" based on developmental age, not just chronological age

* directionality ~ understanding that print moves left to right and top to bottom in our language
 

* engaged ~ children are highly motivated to be focused and on task because of high interest in the activity, project, instruction

* environmental print ~ common, recognizable print and symbols in the child's environment that they recognize immediately (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Trix cereal, street names, ads, labels, billboards, etc.) - they can "read" the symbols and signs by association in a variety of places

* expressive language ~ a child's use and knowledge of spoken language
 

* fluency ~ being able to read quickly, correctly and with expression - a child doesn't have to stop at every word and "sound it out" (this interferes with comprehension because the flow of the ideas is constantly being interrupted)

~ frequently used words ~ (high-frequency words) are words that appear most often in the texts young children are exposed to at this time. Only 13 words (a, and, for, he, is, in, it, of, that, the, to, was, you) make up more than 25% of the words in print! There are several word charts available to teachers of these kinds of words. The important implications for your child are 1) knowing these words early will help with fluency in reading; and 2) being able to read these and adding simple decodable words will allow them to read simple stories and books. I will be sending home a list of the words we will be working on this year, and I will be posting them and some ideas on the website in the near future ~ watch for them!
 

* gross motor skills ~ this includes motor skills such as running, jumping, climbing, walking, etc., using the large muscles. In school we will work on these during P.E. and at Recess.
 

* interactive writing ~ a writing strategy where the teacher "shares the pen" (allows the child to come up to the chart and write as much as they can with teacher and class support; teachers quickly fills in what the child can't and the focus is on what the children know

* inventive spelling ~ a child's first tries at spelling by putting down the letters of the sounds they hear and recognize; this kind of writing is difficult to read because not all the letters are there - children typically start by only writing the first sound, then with more experience they add the last sound, then any other consonant sounds they might hear inside a word, and the last to come is the vowels. This kind of spelling is also referred to as "temporary" spelling. Children use this type of writing to get their thoughts down on paper - journal writing, news of the day, story writing, etc. It is putting their knowledge of phonics into practice and is very important. Children should not be discouraged from this kind of writing - it is a tool for them at this time. Conventional spelling will come, and yes, spelling is taught but that is a separate instructional time. Right now, we are praising approximations! Remember!
 

* literacy development ~ (might be referred to as "reading" or "math readiness") begins at home with the experiences and activities the family provides. It grows out of real-life situations in real-life settings. (Children see reading and writing at home done for practical reasons - reading the TV guide, writing a grocery list, writing a letter, etc. Then they model that through their imitative play and as the family includes them in those activities.) Literacy is a series of stages that all children pass through, although not at the same rate or the same time. The classroom environment should reflect and support the continuation of literacy development through rich language experiences for all children as well as to give those children who have not the same background the opportunity to learn from those kinds of activities.
 

* modeled writing ~ teacher models the process of writing by thinking out loud as she writes  - illustrates how to choose an idea, where to start writing, what letters to use, capitals and punctuation, how to figure out how to write a word (and what to do if you don't know how), etc.  The children are just watching for the most part, but may be asked to offer a bit of help with their words from time to time.
 

* nonstandard units ~ in measurement we begin using a variety of things to "measure" objects before we introduce the standard units (rulers, yardsticks, scales); for example, "how many blocks long is the table?"

* number sense ~ ("numberness") ~ being able to count to 10, being able to recognize numerals (the name for a number) to 5 is good, but those kinds of skills do not demonstrate complete understanding of number sense - what does "5" really mean? "Numberness" is that understanding - being able to show what "5" represents (5 toy cars). And there's more to number sense - it involves such skills as 1-to-1 correspondence in counting, creating sets (groups) to represent numbers using manipulatives, comparing sets, naming and ordering sets, using sets to describe simple additions and subtraction story problems. I will keep you informed on our math instruction throughout the year with more explanations so you can support your child at home.

* number sentence ~ 2 + 3 = 5 is a number sentence; we begin with words and pictures before we use the numbers (2 girls and 3 boys is five children), etc. Most of our beginning addition and subtraction work is with our words, objects and pictures.  Later we will add in the numerals.
 

* ordinal number ~ first, second, third and so on - and we KNOW what it means to be first!
 

* phonemic awareness ~ the ability to hear and identify segments of sounds in words and to be able to manipulate those sounds [oral]

* phonics ~ the relationship between the letters and sounds of the written word [written]

* popcorn words ~ these are the sight and high frequency words that we work on in Kindergarten; we call them "popcorn" words because they keep popping up in the reading and writing we do in class

* positional words ~ these words describe the position of things (over, under, next to, behind, in front of, in between, etc.); they also include distance words (near, far, close, etc.); observation is important with these concepts

* predictable books ~ books that ware written with repetitive lines and familiar phrases that the children can easily learn and love to join in on ("Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"), and they can easily predict what will come next, making these engaging stories for all the children

* private zone ~ when discussing personal safety we learn about our "private zones" - those areas a swimsuit covers (trunks for a boy, a top and a bottom for girls); we stress the importance that the children have the right to tell someone to STOP touching us in these areas, then to tell a trusted adult immediately (Any questions about our personal safety curriculum can be addressed to me, and I will inform you when we are discussing these issues in class.)

* problem-solving skills ~ we speak of problem solving skills in two ways - 1) learning and applying skills to solve small problems among peers (our program Kelso's Choice is very good for this and we refer to his chart often) - such things as ignore, walk away, make a deal, etc.; 2) in math we problem solve situations so we can use our math skills in familiar stories, so we learn specific steps to go through to get to a solution - usually done as a whole class
 

* receptive language ~ child's listening vocabulary and understanding of the spoken word

* retelling ~ telling the story again in your own words; includes sequencing events (what happed first, next, next, and last) and understanding story beginning, middle, end

* return sweep ~ knowing where to go next at the end of a line of text; left to right - reading, counting on a calendar, writing on paper, etc.

* rote ~ ("counting by rote") ~ counting by 1's (1, 2, 3, etc.)
 

* self-help skills ~ the ability to take care of one's own personal needs (being responsible to hand anything in to teacher from their backpacks, hanging up their own coats and backpacks, taking papers home from their own cubbies at the end of the day, being able to put on their own coat and fasten it (as well as any hats or gloves/mittens), tying or fastening their own shoes, using the bathroom on their own without assistance and being able to get in and out of their clothes as needed to use the bathroom, washing their own hands, getting their own drinks at the drinking fountain, using good table manners when eating (at snack time and at lunch), etc.)  I realize that most children will not be able to do each and every item listed here, but the more the better.  We will work with them at school if you promise to help and practice at home! (If I only had a nickel for every shoelace I've tied!)

* sequencing ~ putting events, objects, amounts, numbers in correct order

* shared reading ~ using a big book or poem or song written on a large chart, several activities are done throughout the week to teach a variety of skills; the same book or poem is used every day during the week; as the story, poem or song becomes more familiar, the children will be able to join in on the reading (reading together); through other activities many skills are taught and might include story retelling, acting it out, illustrating the story, making a different account of the story, pocket chart activities to focus on specific letters and words, etc.

* shared writing ~ teacher writes (models skills, thinks out loud) while students offer input as to topic, what letters to write, sentence ideas, etc.; usually done with whole class or in small groups

* sight vocabulary ~ words that are immediately known as a whole word (they do not need to be sounded out and are difficult to do so because of irregular spellings - they don't follow the phonics rules)

* skip counting ~ counting by groups - by 2's, 5's, 10's

* social skills ~ skills used to get along with each other - cooperation, sharing, friendship, empathy/caring/ helpfulness, respect

* sorting rule ~ stating the way we sorted a group of objects or pictures - "I sorted by color"

* story elements ~ parts of a story - characters, setting (where, when the story takes place), problem, solution
 

* Theme ~ In my class, I use Themes to organize my instructional objectives into units of study based around our science and social studies curriculum topics and seasonal and holiday interests. In my Themes I include the language, math, and art objectives - integrating all into a single theme.  My themes vary from 1 to 4 weeks in length.

* tracking ~ following along with the words being read - using a pointer, one's finger, eyes only; helps to focus attention, and watching a child, helps me to see if they understand 1-to-1 word correspondence

* trade books ~ literature story books - the books we read in class and you have at home
 

* word recognition strategies ~ using strategies learned to decode words and knowing their meaning

* word wall ~ we post our "popcorn" words above our alphabet line on our wall so we can refer to them when we write or read - as a class and useful by individuals at Center Time; we also post our names on our word wall under the letter it starts with; we will play some word games with these to help us learn them and be able to use them independently

* work habits ~ these skills include the ability to focus (listening/attentive skills), to stay on task (keep with the activity until it is done), to put forth best effort ("We always do our best!"), to take pride in what one does (neatness, caring about the results), to follow the classroom and school rules (citizenship skills), and to use self-control (so we are not taking away from our own learning or that of others, not being a distraction)