Month
Unit of Study
Focus Lesson Topic(s)
September & October
Welcome to Kindergarten! Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes, and Old Favorites
(incl. Phonemic Awareness)
Shared Reading, Literacy Centers, Interactive Read Aloud, and Interactive Writing
November
Concepts about Print, Alphabet, and Cueing Systems (M, S, and V)
Shared Reading, Literacy Centers, Interactive Read Aloud, and Interactive Writing
December
Launching Readers’ Workshop
- We are all readers! (building community)
- Procedures and Routines for Independent Reading
- What’s your favorite book?
January
Emergent Literacy: Old Favorites and Reading Partnerships
- Labeling using the pictures
- Storytelling picture walks
- Using dialogue
- “Read like you talk” – storytelling with expression
- Retelling
- Partnership behaviors
February
Just Right Books and Early Print Strategies
- Choosing JR Books
- Using letters and sounds
- Recognizing and reading sight words
- Noticing a pattern and using it to read
March
Stories and Story Structure
- Learning about Characters
- Beginning → Middle→ End
- Story Elements (character, problem, solution)
- Retelling a simple story
April
Non-Fiction: Reading to Learn
- What is nonfiction?
- What do I already know, and what do I want to learn? (having a purpose)
- Noticing and remembering when I learn something new
May
Author Study: Eric Carle
- Text-to-Text (what do we notice about EC’s books?)
- Using pattern and repetition to read
- Paying close attention to illustrations
June
Character Study: Literature Circles and Reader’s Theater
- Connecting to the characters (activating schema)
- Growing ideas and making inferences about characters
- Talking about our ideas with partners and in groups
- Acting out scenes and role playing