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|  | | | | The Primary Grades | |
KindergartenFirst GradeSecond GradeThird GradeKindergarten
Hayden Heights is fortunate to offer three all-day kindergarten classrooms. Our full-day kindergarten curriculum has proven very effective in preparing children with the skills they need for success in the first grade. With the additional instructional time, we are able to provide a more extensive curriculum in reading and math while still providing the social, art and sensory experiences that kindergartners need to thrive. Our goal is to have every kindergarten child complete this important first year feeling confident and positive about school.
A typical kindergarten day at the beginning of the school year consists of
- Self-directed choice time.
- Reading instruction in beginning sounds, letter recognition, and visual discrimination/matching skills.
- Math instruction in number recognition, counting skills and patterning.
- Language lessons that involve listening to stories read to them, answering questions, retelling stories and enjoying follow-up art activities.
We focus on weekly themes such as pets, bears and seasonal topics. Children also attend classes daily in either music, science, physical education or computers. We make weekly visits to our school library for story time and book checkout.
Later in the school year, children are ready for small group instruction in reading picture books with repetitive text and learning sight words. Many children are ready to begin reading simple books on their own. We ask families to support their child's reading program by daily reading of a take-home book. Math instruction includes number recognition to 100, simple addition and subtraction, solving oral story problems and introduction to time and money concepts.
We look forward to getting to know our families and welcome their visits and participation in the classroom. Together we can help each child achieve a successful start to their school career.
-Mary Ann Renner, Ka Yang, Sharon Overlien
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First Grade
Reading:
The First Grade Team takes pride in moving children toward the standards of independent reading and comprehension of printed material. Students are tested using five subtests of Marie Clay's Observation Survey and are also asked to read from leveled texts. They are then placed in a flexible guided reading group with students of similar abilities where reading strategies are taught and practiced.
Reading instruction also consists of the district adopted reading series from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, self selected reading, working with words, and the Accelerated Reading Program. Weekly visits are made to our school media center where children may check out books for their reading pleasure. Nightly homework consists of studying spelling words, alphabet charts and books.
Writing:
Students move towards Minnesota writing standards using the Writer's Workshop model. Daily lessons are provided to assist students in the process of writing a personal narrative, poetry, and nonfiction counting book. Children are supported in their writing throughout the day in handwriting, shared writing and responses to literature.
Math:
The Everyday Mathematics program is used in first grade. This district adopted curriculum is rigorous and is called a spiraling curriculum. Students revisit concepts throughout the year with the idea standards will be secured. We encourage parents to help their child study basic addition and subtraction facts at home so they become fast and fluent.
Specialists:
First Graders see three specialists throughout the year. They teach music, science, and computer skills.
We value your participation in your child's learning process. If we can answer any questions you may have please feel free to call us at 651-293-8815 or email us:
Kathleen.Trulsen@spps.org, Kia.Yang2@spps.org, Michelle.McQuade@spps.org
Mrs. McQuade, Ms. Kia Yang, Mrs. Trulsen
Classroom Teachers
Mr. Zimmer and Ms. Johnson, ELL |
Second Grade
We have three second-grade classrooms of very eager students.
In second grade the students are involved in creating rhyming books, pattern books, poems, and books of facts.
We have many opportunities to take reading quizzes for the Accelerated Reading Program. We encourage the students to bring their books home and read to their families. Homework is consistently assigned and the students have completed their assignments very nicely this year.
In Language Arts Block, the students are reading in small groups at their level and have a chance to strengthen their comprehensive skills. In math, we stress the importance of knowing addition and subtraction facts. We work on developing strategies to solve problems. We study communities, neighborhoods, and geography and map work in Social Studies. Habitats, seasonal cycles, weather, food groups, and the human body are some of our Science units. We also participate in the "Risk Watch" Curriculum.
Second graders see three specialists for instruction in music, science and computers. We teach our own physical education classes.
We appreciate your support and participation in your child's education. Please call us with your questions or concerns at 293-8815.
-Brenda Allal, Robyn Huldeen, Chong Thao
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Third Grade
Third grade is a time of many changes and challenges for students. To prepare students for their first state assessments, we concentrate on several academic areas. In Math we emphasize such topics as measurement, patterning, problem solving and place value. In addition, Reading skills need to be expanded beyond basic comprehension. By assessment time third graders are expected to be practiced in higher level thinking skills, such as interpretation and evaluation of written text.
We also encourage and provide for the practice of daily independent reading. Using the Accelerated Reader Program to test comprehension, we strive to have students maintain an 85% accuracy rate.
Another area we stress is the Social Studies theme of Community - what it is, how they are started, how they grow and change, and cooperation needed within a community. A study of the history of St. Paul, along with a visit to historic sites in St. Paul, are a great part of this study.
-Paul Hawkinson, Susan Davis
School_Brochure.zip
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