A general glossary of kindergarten terms:
A clearly defined area within a classroom which has been organized for a general learning purpose.
The concept of making adjustments in approved educational programs to accommodate diversity in student learning needs. Includes those practices the teacher undertakes to make curriculum, instruction and the learning environment meaningful and appropriate for each student.
Refers to written descriptions of student progress that a teacher keeps on a day-to-day basis.
A preliminary phase in the evaluation process in which various techniques are used to gather information about the students’ growth and development.
A method of organizing and storing materials that are produced by a student over an extended period of time. It could also include rating scales, checklists, etc. that the teacher has completed on the student’s progress. The portfolio allows the teacher to evaluate student growth and overall learning progress during that period of time.
Children playing together in an unorganized way without a purpose.
Distortion of the diversity of real life through various forms such as invisibility, stereotyping, selectivity, fragmentation, linguistic bias.
Progress in knowing, perceiving, recognizing.
Common Essential Learnings (C.E.L.s)
A set of six interrelated areas containing understandings, values, skills, and processes that are considered important as foundations for learning in all school subjects. C.E.L.s include communication, numeracy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social values and skills, independent learning, and technological literacy.
Active involvement with tangible situations and materials.
Children playing together in an organized way with a common purpose.
Saskatchewan curriculum framework that comprises learning requirements for all students. Core Curriculum includes the Required Areas of Study, the Common Essential Learnings, the Adaptive Dimension, and time for Locally Determined Options.
Translation of educational goals into an organized set of intended learning outcomes and instructional plans.
Developmentally appropriate practice
Refers to practice that occurs in a program that blends age appropriateness and individual appropriateness.
Evaluation which has the main purposes of identifying students with particular developmental needs so that individual assistance can be provided. Diagnostic evaluation ensures that all learners are sufficiently challenged and identifies student interests. Usually occurs at the beginning of the school year or before a theme of instruction.
An instructional approach that is highly teacher theme directed. Includes methods such as lecture, didactic questioning, explicit teaching, practice and drill, and demonstrations.
Includes the period from birth to nine years. For the purpose of the Saskatchewan Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system, it refers to Kindergarten to Grade 3.
The learning about reading and print that occurs before a person could be described as a reader or writer.
Print that is commonly found in the students’ environment (e.g., stop signs, print on cereal boxes).
The decision-making which follows assessment.
An instructional approach that is inductive, learner-centred and activity-oriented.
The ability to use the eye and hand together to complete a task such as putting together a puzzle.
An educator who assists the process of learning for the purpose of producing independent learners.
Designed for use during instruction to stimulate, guide and evaluate learning in specific units of instruction.
A procedure where portions of printed text are outlined or framed with cupped hands or a paper frame.
The provision of equality of opportunity and the realization of equality of results for all students based on individual aptitudes, abilities and interests regardless of gender.
An instructional approach which includes instructional methods that purposefully foster the development of individual student initiative, self-reliance and self-improvement.
An instructional approach that is mainly student-centred. It is associated with methods such as inquiry, induction, problem-solving and discovering.
Meeting the needs of individual children by changing materials, activities, etc. to optimize student development.
Approaches teachers may take to achieve learning objectives. Instructional approaches include direct instruction, indirect instruction, experiential learning, interactive instruction and independent study.
An instructional approach that relies on discussion and sharing among participants.
Having to do with the sensation of position, movement, tension, etc. of the parts of the body.
Large motor coordination (large muscle, gross motor coordination)
Skills relating to the use of the head, legs, feet and arms (e.g., skipping).
Designed places that contain carefully planned activities and materials prepared to facilitate learning outcomes. Learning centres may be developed within activity centres, but would not be a permanent part of the centre.
The ability to read, respond to literature and write.
Toys or activities that involve using the hand and the eye to work them (e.g., puzzles, interlocking blocks).
Listening and speaking.
Children playing side by side, but independent of one another.
The alphabetical principles that describe the relationships between the sounds and printed letters of the alphabet.
Time willingly spent in meaningful, pleasant activity that is often self-initiated and is participated in for its own sake.
Communicating in an encouraging way the recognition of good in a situation.
A term used by Piaget to describe a stage that children go through from approximately two to eight years of age. Preoperational children think in concrete terms, are egocentric and learn through hands-on experiences.
A formal process of gathering and analyzing information about some aspect of a school program in order to make a decision or to communicate its merits to other decision makers or appropriate groups.
An in-depth study or investigation that a group of children undertake on a particular topic or theme. It might be a study of the local supermarket, a nearby fishing harbour or an adjacent construction site. Unlike spontaneous play, projects involve children in planning and activities requiring sustained effort over a period of days or weeks.
Required Areas of Study
Seven areas of study required for all students within the context of the Saskatchewan Core Curriculum: arts education, English language arts, health education, mathematics, physical education, science, and social studies.
Learning/teaching in which students develop knowledge, skills and understanding by using a wide variety of print, non-print and human resources.
Dramatizing or taking on the role of a character or function.
The sense of who one is and how one sees herself/himself, including a perception of interests, abilities, roles, etc.
A person’s perception of her/his self-worth .
Small motor coordination
Also small muscle coordination: The ability to use the hands and fingers to manipulate objects (e.g., tying a shoe).
The sense of how things relate to each other according to their position in space (e.g., above, beside).
Use of pared down, simplified images and attributes.
A visual depiction of the settings or the sequence of major events and actions of story character.
Designed to be used at the end of instruction to measure the extent of student learning progress relative to the learning outcomes of the course of instruction