Kindergarten

The Nantucket Elementary School teaches to the standards of the Massachusetts Department of Education. The information below helps families understand those standards and measures of progress. The information is taken from the document linked at the bottom of the page.

New Expectations for Kindergarten:

• Understand how stories and poems are the same and different.
  • For example, read a story and a poem with the teacher, then explain how to tell that only the second one was a poem.
• Separate the first, middle, and last sounds of simple words: for example, cat (c-a-t), map (m-a-p), hit (h-i-t).
• Continue a conversation by listening to other people’s ideas and asking questions to learn more about what they think.
• With help from an adult, use written words and drawings to express an opinion or give information about something.

By the End of Kindergarten, Students Can: 

• Listen to a story read aloud. Understand where and when the story takes place. 
• Compare what the same characters (like Henry and Mudge) do in different stories.  
• Explain how to find out who wrote a book (the author) or drew its pictures (the illustrator).  
• Talk about the main idea of a text. Tell facts they learned from a text.  
• Recognize all uppercase (capital) and lowercase letters in the alphabet. 
• Recognize and understand some very common words: for example, the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, and does.
• Write uppercase (capital) and lowercase letters. Capitalize the first word in a sentence.
• Recognize punctuation marks used at the end of sentences: for example, period (.), question mark (?). 

Focus Areas for Kindergarten:

• Use numbers to count and group objects, compare how many objects are in different groups, and add and subtract. For example, use subtraction to find out how many carrot sticks are left after some are eaten.
• Use language to describe, sort, name, and compare two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. For example, sort cups or plates by shape, count how many are in each group, and explain which group has the most. 

By the end of Kindergarten, Students Can:

• Count to 100 by ones or tens, starting from any number.
• Recognize, name, and write numerals 0–20.
• Count up to 20 objects, saying a number aloud for each object.
• Compare up to 10 items in different groups using objects or written
• numerals. For example, tell whether a package of three pens or a package of five pens has more pens.
• Fluently (quickly and correctly) add and subtract with numbers up to five.
• Use objects, drawings, or numerals to add and subtract with numbers
• up to 10. 
• Break numbers into smaller numbers: for example, 5 is made of 2 and 3 or 4
• and 1.
• Find the number that makes 10 for any number 1–9. For example, 6 needs 4 to
• make 10.
• Explain that numbers in the “teens” (11–19) are made of a ten and some ones.
• Describe and compare objects by measuring their length, weight, or capacity (how much they can hold).
• Name, describe, analyze, and compare shapes like squares, circles, triangles,
• rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres.

Focus Areas for Kindergarten:

• Observe the world by counting and measuring. For example, describe weather patterns by counting the sunny, cloudy, and rainy days in a month.
• Think about the reasons things change. For example, notice that liquid water turns to solid ice when it gets cold.
• Explain how plants and animals are the same and different. For example, all plants and animals need food, water, and air, but only plants can make their own food.
• Explore how objects move when pushed or pulled: for example, how a ball rolls down a
• ramp when it is pushed and when it is not pushed.

By the End of Kindergarten, Students Can: 

• Understand that all plants and animals grow and change over time.
• Explain how plants and animals can change their environments: for example, how tree roots grow and break sidewalks.
• Understand that the sun warms the Earth. Observe differences between warmer and cooler materials like rocks, sand, and water.
• Describe how people can build things to protect themselves and their homes from the sun’s heat.
• Get information from weather forecasts and use it to prepare for local weather
• (like rain coming the next day). 
• Explain how people can use fewer natural resources: for example, by recycling cans or reusing pieces of paper instead of throwing them away.
• Study how things change depending on temperature: for example, how a crayon or
• glue stick melts in heat. 
• Compare what happens when objects are pushed or pulled in different ways: for example,
• when a book is pushed straight down on a table and when it is pushed sideways.

Focus Areas for Kindergarten: 

• Show respect to classmates and participate in the classroom community.
• Use maps, globes, photographs, and other tools to describe places nearby.
• Explore how people keep national, state, and local (community) traditions.
• Understand the difference between goods (things) and services in an economy.

By the End of Kindergarten, Students Can: 

• Understand and follow rules, limits, and expectations. Help and respect other people.
• Give examples from texts of people acting responsibly and groups creating and following rules. 
• Recognize major symbols, songs, and texts of the United States (like the flag, bald eagle, Star-Spangled Banner, and Pledge of Allegiance).
• Explain how various peoples and cultures in the United States celebrate their histories (like with holidays).
• Use words and phrases like before, afternoon, next week, and long ago to explain when events happened or will happen.
• Use words and phrases like left, far, in front of, and between to explain where people, animals, and things are. 
• Explain how maps and globes are similar and different. Make maps, drawings, or models to show how familiar places (like the school) look.
• Explain the parts of a physical address: street name and number, city or town, state, country. 
• Participate in group research projects on history and social science topics.