Kindergarten English Language Arts
11 units matched to the Alberta Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Letters & Words”.
Organizing ideas
- Listening and speaking: sharing ideas, stories and poems, and taking part in talk by speaking in complete ideas
- Letters and words: recognizing and writing some letters and words, and copying words to see how they are spelled
- Understanding: sharing what we understand about people, places and things that are real or imaginary
- Creating: expressing ideas and information in creative ways, such as drawing, telling and acting out
- Discussion: asking questions and listening to others in a group
Units
Unit 1
Talk & Listen
Chat about the day, ask your child to answer in a whole sentence, and let them ask you questions. Poems and rhymes are great practice too.
Learning outcome: Develop listening and speaking skills by sharing ideas, stories, and poems.; Contribute to discussions by asking questions and speaking in sentences that contain complete ideas. · listening, taking turns, asking questions and speaking in sentences with complete ideas
Unit 2
Rhyme Time
Hearing rhymes (cat, hat) and spotting a word that doesn't rhyme. Rhyming games build the listening skills behind reading.
Learning outcome: Develop listening and speaking skills by sharing ideas, stories, and poems. · listening for rhymes in poems and songs
Unit 3
Clap the Beat
Breaking words into syllables (ba-na-na) by clapping. Clap along out loud: one clap for each part you hear.
Learning outcome: Develop listening and speaking skills by sharing ideas, stories, and poems. · hearing the parts (syllables) in words
Unit 4
Story Order
Putting events in order, and listening to short stories to tell what happened at the beginning, middle and end.
Learning outcome: Develop listening and speaking skills by sharing ideas, stories, and poems. · telling what happens first, next and last in a story
Unit 5
Letter Partners
Matching capital (big) letters with their lowercase (small) partners, including look-alikes such as b, d, p and q.
Learning outcome: Recognize and write some letters and words. · naming upper- and lowercase letters
Unit 6
First Sounds
Hearing the first sound in a word (b in bus) and linking it to its letter. Say the words out loud together and stretch out the first sound.
Learning outcome: Recognize and write some letters and words. · hearing the first sound in a word and matching it to a letter
Unit 7
Blend a Word
Listening for the sounds in a word, blending them to read it, and counting the sounds in words.
Learning outcome: Recognize and write some letters and words.; Copy words to become familiar with how words are spelled. · blending sounds to read and spell simple words
Unit 8
Sight Words
Recognizing common words such as the, see, can and my, plus colour and number words, by looking closely at their letters.
Learning outcome: Copy words to become familiar with how words are spelled. · reading and spelling common words that are used often
Unit 9
Book Detectives
How print works: telling letters, numbers, words and sentences apart, reading left to right and top to bottom, counting words, and what authors and illustrators do.
Learning outcome: Share understandings of ideas and information about people, places, or things that are real or imaginary. · how books and print work, and sharing what we understand
Unit 10
Picture Clues
Using the picture and the first letter to read a word or a short sentence, a key early reading strategy.
Learning outcome: Share understandings of ideas and information about people, places, or things that are real or imaginary. · using pictures and what we know to make meaning
Unit 11
Real or Imaginary
Read both stories and fact books together and ask: could this really happen? Then invite your child to draw, tell or act out a story of their own.
Learning outcome: Share understandings of ideas and information about people, places, or things that are real or imaginary.; Express ideas and information creatively. · sharing ideas about real and imaginary people, places and things, and sharing them creatively
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