Magic happens in Room 101. Our PreK for All program at Hamilton blends play based learning with FUNdamentals to help four and five year olds develop a love for learning and grow comfortable in a school setting.
Creative Curriculum Literacy Approach is the CPS PreK for All standardized curriculum to provide a research-based structure to support student growth and learning.
Lessons are project based and designed to follow the students interest to lay the foundation for a love of learning through play.
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PreK
Play-Based Learning
Embedded in our classroom routines, toys, games, and activities is a wealth of learning opportunities helping children build foundations in literacy, math, science, social studies, and the arts. Of equal importance, children start to develop their social and emotional skills so that when they begin kindergarten, they have the self-confidence and ability to learn and work with others.
We are a play based program. This means that we value children's learning through open ended play and guided explorations. Our class does the majority of learning through play. You will not see worksheets, coloring pages, or reading instruction.
Instead, the kids in Room 101 are encouraged to ask questions about their world. Teachers help guide students through child led investigations as they search for answers.
We understand that children express themselves in different ways. As part of a fine arts school, we explore a variety of media. Children paint, draw, build, and create each day.
Our play curriculum happens both inside and outside. We use the school playground for our regular outside playtime. When the weather keeps us from going outside, we bring our gross motor play indoors! We go for walks around the school and the neighborhood to learn about the community around us.
A Day in Room 101
MORNING WORK
Children will put their personal items in their lockers. When they enter the classroom, they will wash hands and begin their morning work. This includes checking in for attendance and lunch count. As the year progresses, new tasks will be added to your child's morning work such as name writing and journals.
CHOICE TIME
During this time, children will have a choice of using the various materials and spaces that are in the classroom. Teachers will be engaging with students to assist in their learning.
MORNING MEETING
We will count our friends to see who is at school, and who is at home. We will preview our picture schedule for the rest of the day.
We will read and discuss books. Teachers will introduce new concepts, model activities, and guide the group through activities related to literacy, math, science, social studies, language, and social emotional learning.
SMALL GROUPS
The class will be split up into smaller groups. Some days these groups are predetermined, other days the students will select where they would like to work.
Some students will work with Ms. Zairel and Ms. Remie on guided activities. The remaining students will work with their peers on teacher selected activities. Students will visit one to two groups a day. The groups will rotate through a different activity each day in order to visit all groups throughout the week.
OUTSIDE
Children will go outside with teachers to explore their environment. They will participate in free play and gross motor activities. We may spend time in the playground, garden, or the field! Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and has a pair of running shoes at school.
SECOND STEP
Children will participate in activities to help us develop the following social emotional competencies: skills for learning, empathy, emotion management, friendship skills, problem solving, transitioning.
ESSENTIALS
Children will join our essential teachers for P.E., Dance, Music and Fine Arts. They will have an opportunity to move their bodies and express themselves through movement, creating visual art, song, and dance.
MOVEMENT BREAK
Children will participate in music and movement activities to get our bodies and our brains moving together.
WORD WORK
Teachers will guide children through word work activities including letter work, shared writing, and Heggerty phonemic awareness.
STORY TIME
We will engage in shared reading and discussion of the story topics. These will include both fiction and nonfiction throughout the year.
NAP
Teachers will play audiobooks and relaxing songs as children rest or sleep. Children use this time to reset their bodies.
INDEPENDENT READING
Children will browse through classroom library books. They will use this time to revisit and retell familiar stories, use context clues to gain information from new text, and search for letters or words that they recognize.
JOURNALS
The children will draw or write about what is on their mind. This may include events from today, things that they have been interested in, or things from their imagination. Journals will be incorporated into our choice time and small group activities.
BREAKFAST, LUNCH, & SNACK
Our class eats meals inside the classroom. More information is available to families in our classroom handbook and you can find the CPS menu here.
Project-Based and Creative Curriculum
The specific curriculum that we use is the Creative Curriculum. It allows children to apply their acquired skills in meaningful, real-life contexts. The Creative Curriculum is a comprehensive, research-based curriculum that features exploration and discovery as a way of learning and is designed to meet state and national standards for the following developmental domains: Social emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Math, Science and Technology, Social Studies, Arts.
The Project Approach encompasses all of the learning in our program. Inspired by the children’s interests, the teaching team devises learning opportunities to support and challenge students’ current knowledge base. These projects are student-driven and teacher-supported.
Through the Second Step program, we will participate in activities to help us develop the following social emotional competencies:
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skills for learning
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empathy
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emotion management
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friendship skills
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problem solving
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transitioning
Phonics are introduced through Heggerty curriculum which focuses on auditory awareness with a shared reading component. Teachers help children understand that words are made up of individual sounds. Children who are phonemically aware are able to isolate and manipulate sounds. They can blend and segment the sounds into spoken and written words.
