The reading program used in kindergarten is by Houghton- Mifflin. It is a series that all children, K-6 use throughout the school district.
This program is a comprehensive reading program. It correlates reading, comprehension, phonics, hand writing, listening, and oral language skills through literature and journals. The rhyme, poem and song posters create a print rich environment that focuses on rhyme, rhythm, singing and repetition. The program is divided into ten themes. Each theme is literature based and provides practice in responding to literature through oral and written responses, phonemic awareness, letter recognition, letter formation and development of a sight word vocabulary.
The themes are presented through a collection of books. Each theme is introduced through a "Read Along Book," which is a shared reading experience in a Big Book or paperback format. The theme also contains "Read Aloud Books" which are read to the children by the teacher. These books are rich in character, plot and language and encourage story re-telling, main character identification, plot summaries and comprehension. In addition, we strive to develop oral language and provide independent/book experiences. "Read Alone Books" provide independent reading related to the theme building on storytelling and later the use of high frequency words as they are introduced.
Each child is provided with journals that correlate with the reading themes. The journal encourages children to draw and write in response to literature. Each journal includes practice with letter names, sound awareness, handwriting, phonics and high frequency words.
