Full Day Kindergarten - Blackhawk School District

Full Day Kindergarten
Parent Informational Sessions
March 12 th , 13 th , and 17 th , 2012

Introductions
Dr. Michelle Miller, Superintendent
Mrs. Nancy Bowman, Curriculum Director
Mrs. JaneAnn Fucci, Primary Principal
Mr. Tom Nulph, Extended Day Kindergarten
Teacher
Current Kindergarten Teachers:
Mrs. Susan Badzik, Northwestern
Mrs. Amy Cienkowski, Patterson
Mrs. Dawn Kinger, Northwestern
Mrs. Jenn Sharek, Patterson
Mrs. Erica Shildt, Northwestern

•Rationale
Today’s Agenda
•Curriculum
•Differences between Full Day
and Half Day
•Transitioning to Full Day Kindergarten for students
•Questions and Answers
•Parent Feedback
Feedback can be provided verbally or by using the forms you were
provided.

Full Day versus Half Day
• Current Program
• Half Day: 9:15 - 11:50 or 1:05-3:40
• Academics fill most of time
• Related Arts and Enrichment: Art,
Music, Computer, PE, Library are
taught by classroom teacher
• Teachers have 40+ students and
families to communicate with
• Extended Day option at NW for
approximately 20 students who are
identified as at-risk (Not at PPS)
• Proposed Full Day
• Full Day 9:15 - 3:40
• Deliver same academics but
enhance learning opportunities
• More time for remediation and
enrichment
• More time for socialization and
authentic language development
• Related Arts would be added: Art,
Music, PE, Computer, Library,
and Science taught by specialists
• Teachers would have 20+ students
and parents to focus on
• Support services: Gifted, PT, OT,
Speech, etc… greater flexibility
to schedule support services
during non-academic times

Why Full Day Kindergarten Now?
• Over 350 School Districts in PA provide Full Day
Kindergarten (out of 500)
• Cost of Full Day Kindergarten: Personnel Costs
• Early retirement incentive: 15 retirees as of January 2012
• Currently: 4 Kindergarten Teachers teaching 8 sections plus one
Extended Day Kindergarten teacher (Total 5 teachers)
• Personnel Needed for Full Day Kindergarten:
• Need 7-9 kindergarten teachers
• Use Title I teacher and Extended Day Kindergarten teacher
• Move 1-3 teachers from another grade level

Full Day Kindergarten rationale
Consistent findings appeared concerning the positive effect on academic achievement for
children identified as being at risk
Children in the all-day programs scored higher on the achievement test than those in half-day
programs on every item tested.
Both parents and teachers whose children were enrolled in all-day kindergarten were generally
satisfied with the programs and believed that all-day kindergarten better prepared children for
first grade
Teachers and parents also indicated a preference for all-day kindergarten because of the more
relaxed atmosphere, more time for creative activities, and more opportunity for children to
develop their own interests
Parents felt that the all-day kindergarten schedule benefited their children socially
Teachers surveyed felt that the all-day program provided more time for individual instruction
They also indicated that they had more time to get to know their children and families, thus
enabling them to better meet children's needs
From the US Department of ED

Curriculum Changes
PA Standards to Common Core Standards:
From surface of many topics to deeper and more
comprehensive understanding

Math Curriculum: Common Core
Counting and Cardinality
• Know number names and the count sequence.
• Count to tell the number of objects.
• Compare numbers.
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
• Work with numbers 11-19 to gain foundations for place value.
Measurement and Data
• Describe and compare measurable attributes.
• Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category
Geometry
• Identify and describe shapes.
• Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.

Math Curriculum: Changing Standards
Mathematical Practices
• 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• 4. Model with mathematics.
• 5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
• 6. Attend to precision.
• 7. Look for and make use of structure.
• 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

ELA Curriculum: Common Core
Print Concepts
• Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
• Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
• Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
• Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet
Phonological Awareness
• Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). Recognize and produce rhyming words.
• Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
• Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1
(This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
• Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
Phonics and Word Recognition
• Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondences
by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant.
• Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
• Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
• Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
Fluency
• Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

ELA Curriculum: Changing Standards
Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence
when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings,
and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section,
chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. 1
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance
and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Curriculum Revisions
Curriculum will be revised in grades 1-12 due to full day
kindergarten experience AND common core standards

Current Related Arts Offerings
Art, Physical Education, Computer, and Music are taught by
the classroom teacher.
There is computer curriculum for Kindergarten teachers to
follow.
All other experiences in art, music, and physical education
All other experiences in art, music, and physical education
are determined by the classroom teacher.

Proposed Related Arts and Enrichment
Opportunities
One forty minute period per six day cycle:
Art
Music
Physical Education
Library
Computer
Science

Proposed Related Arts and Enrichment
Opportunities
30 minute daily recess
Additional daily small group instruction in both reading and
math
Scheduled times for student social interaction at play (recess)
and at structured classroom activities (lunch, free choice
activities and centers)
Daily quiet cool down time (story time)
Hands-on development of concepts and further enrichment
opportunity
Increased opportunities through incidental learning and
informal curriculum (citizenship)

Transitioning in the Primary

Transition
Yes, students will be tired. Typical for all primary students.
Usually lasts first month of school.
Toughest time: First two weeks
Hardest day: 2 nd Monday of school
Never had a student with significant difficulty in transitioning
to full day.
Address K-2 individual needs if transition is problematic:
tired, ill, separation issues, etc…

Transitioning to Full Day
First two weeks, provide half day experience with lunch at
school (approximately 9:15-12:00)
During afternoons, parents will be scheduled to meet with
the kindergarten teacher to discuss concerns, provide parent
input and for the teacher to individually assess students.

Possible Option for Parents
Provide one half day session at both PPS and NW (AM sessions).
Parents are responsible for transportation at the end of the school
session.
Minimum of 15 students to run session.
Class size will not exceed the class size of the full day classrooms.
If requests exceed this limit, students who are identified as
“kindergarten ready” as indicated on the DIAL kindergarten
screener will be placed in a lottery for class placement.
Reduced need for Kindergarten teachers from 0-2 (depending on
enrollment).
Provides parents choice.