CKLA - Unit 1

Unit Overview:

In many ways, Units 1 and 2 are the most important of the Kindergarten Skills Strand units. Units 1 and 2 lay the groundwork for teaching students to read and write, which you will begin to do in Unit 3.

Unit 1 has three main purposes. The first purpose is to increase students’ awareness of environmental noises and words within sentences. Paying attention to environmental noises and to words within sentences prepares students to pay attention to sounds within words. The ability to hear sounds (i.e., phonemes) is crucial for writing; when we write a word, we essentially write one symbol (either a single- or multiple-letter spelling) for each sound in the word. For this reason, it is important to begin to increase students’ awareness of the sounds they hear.

The second purpose of Unit 1 is to teach students to draw a number of writing strokes used to create letters (e.g., horizontal lines, vertical lines, circles, etc.). As students learn to draw these writing strokes, their fine motor skills will increase, and they will begin to master the tripod grip. This will prepare students to write letters in Unit 3.

The third purpose of Unit 1 is to teach students the meanings of various position words (e.g., right, left, top, bottom, etc.). In Unit 3, students will begin to read and write. Reading and writing are done from left to right and top to bottom, so it will be helpful if students are able to identify the left side, right side, top, and bottom of a page. Additionally, when teaching students to write letters, you will use position words. Finally, you will often use position words when explaining activity pages to students.

Unit Calendar:

Unit 1 is 10 instructional days with 3 pausing points. It is recommended it be taught from August 22nd - September 10th.