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Status

Open

Estimated Completion Time

36 weeks

Overview

The Elementary English Language Arts Kindergarten course provides students with foundational reading skills, reading comprehension strategies, writing and grammar skills, and speaking and listening skills. Students will learn to identify, match, segment, blend, and change the sounds they hear in words with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern. Students will learn how to use the basic sounds for consonants and the long and short vowel sounds to decode words when reading. Students will also learn how to use reading comprehension strategies to better understand literature and informative texts. Students will be taught basic grammar skills, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. Students will participate in planning, drawing, and writing informative, narrative, and opinion writing compositions throughout the course.

Please view the Elementary Parents’ Survival Guide: The First Four Weeks of Online Learning for guidance on helping your student in the transition to online learning.

Course Requirements

A pupil may enter kindergarten if his/her chronological age will be five before October 1st of the year of entering school. For a complete description of the policy, please see Policy JEB Age of Entrance.

To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace; however, “any pace” still means that students must make progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and discussions. Students and families are expected to maintain regular contact with teachers because, when teachers, students, and parents work together, students are successful.

Required Materials – Please view the list of materials before registering.

Major Topics and Concepts

Segment One

  • Introduction of the alphabet
  • Parts of words
  • Beginning and end sounds in words
  • Rhyme
  • Syllables
  • Identifying the onset and rime in words
  • Identifying letters and sounds
  • Difference between letters and words
  • Uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Reading directionality
  • Spaces between words
  • Sight words
  • Word families
  • Asking and answering questions about key details
  • Main topic and key details
  • Making connections
  • Question words
  • Meaning of unknown words
  • Retelling familiar stories using key details
  • Characters, settings, and order of events in literature
  • Literature text types
  • Authors and illustrators
  • Parts of a book
  • Comparing and contrasting
  • Order words
  • Author’s point
  • Nouns
  • Adjectives
  • Verbs
  • Capitalizing a person’s name
  • Singular and plural words
  • Direction words
  • Pronouns
  • Categories
  • New meanings for familiar words
  • Shades of meaning
  • Handwriting for upper and lowercase letters
  • Correct way to hold a pencil
  • Writing a first name
  • Detailed drawings
  • Drawing progression
  • Labeling drawings
  • Writing the first letter in words
  • Spelling words using familiar sounds
  • Informative, narrative or opinion writing on a topic
  • Writing Process

Segment Two

  • Identifying and matching middle sounds in words
  • Blending and segmenting onset and rime
  • Blending sounds in words
  • Segmenting sounds in words
  • Adding phonemes to words
  • Deleting phonemes from words
  • Changing sounds to make new words
  • Identifying letter and sounds
  • Long vowel sounds
  • Digraphs
  • Sight words
  • Word families
  • Retelling key details
  • Asking and answering questions about key details
  • Characters, setting, and events
  • Unknown words to determine meaning
  • Main topic and key details
  • Connections within a text
  • Relationships between words and illustrations
  • Comparing and contrasting
  • Author’s point and reasons
  • Synonyms
  • Prefixes
  • Suffixes
  • Root words
  • Prepositions
  • Verbs
  • Antonyms
  • Past and future tense
  • Plural nouns
  • New meanings for familiar words
  • Prefixes
  • Suffixes
  • Spelling strategies
  • Handwriting for the upper and lowercase letters
  • Parts of a sentence
  • Punctuation
  • Writing complete sentences
  • Informative, narrative, or opinion writing on a topic
  • Writing Process

Credits 1

Competencies

  • Comparing Characters with Words and Illustrations
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters C, O, and R. I can describe the relationship between illustrations and words in a story. I can identify beginning and ending sounds in words. I can compare characters from books.
  • Letters, Sounds, and Words
    I can differentiate between letters and words. I can identify words made from individual spoken sounds. I can identify the name and the sound for the letters S and M. I can identify naming words (“nouns”). I can create illustrations to tell a story.
  • Opinion Writing and Author’s Point
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters G, E, and F. I can identify the author’s point. I can write words using the sounds I hear. I can describe my opinion about a book using words and pictures.
  • Pictures and Words to Share an Opinion
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters H, T, and N. I can identify verbs as action words. I can identify the author and illustrator of a book. I can identify words that rhyme. I can describe my opinion about a topic.
  • 5715 Pictures and Words to Share Information
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters L, I, and B. I can describe the change made to a noun to show more than one. I can identify a book title. I can identify the number of syllables in spoken words. I can create an informational writing piece with drawings and words.
  • Words and Pictures to Retell a Story
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters D, P and A. I can explain the use of pictures to figure out unknown words. I can select question words to complete a sentence. I can retell stories with drawings.
  • Comparing Characters and Writing Opinions
    I can identify the letter names and sounds for the letters Q, Y, and V. I can identify past tense verbs. I can compare the experiences between characters in books. I can write an opinion piece including reasons to support my opinion.
  • Connections and Nonfiction Writing
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters W, K, and J. I can identify synonyms. I can identify connections between books. I can create a nonfiction book to share information.
  • Connections, Describing Words and Opinion Writing
    I can identify the sounds for digraphs ch and wh. I can identify the main topic and key details of a text. I can identify connections within texts. I can write sentences with describing words. I can write an opinion piece with three complete sentences.
  • Digraphs, Sound Manipulation, and Narrative Writing
    I can identify the sounds for digraphs sh and th. I can identify the new word made by changing one sound of a spoken word. I can identify the setting in books. I can write words using the sounds I hear. I can compare stories. I can write a story in sequence using words and pictures.
  • Key Details in Stories
    I can identify the name and sound for the letters U, X, and Z. I can identify vowel sounds in spoken words. I can identify the onset and rime of spoken words. I can identify direction words in sentences. I can retell key details from a story.
  • Long Vowels, Author’s Reasons, and Informational Writing
    I can identify long vowel sounds using magic ‘e’. I can identify words made by blending sounds together. I can identify the author’s reasons to support their point. I can identify the correct punctuation at the end of a sentence.

Pre-Requisites

None

Attend a virtual open house

We offer regular online open house webinars where VLACS staff members provide parents and students with an overview of our programs and answer questions about online learning.