Spotlight on Language Arts

Language arts leap off the page in Barstow Kindergarten classrooms. Everywhere a child looks, he or she sees the building blocks of reading, writing and spelling.

"Instead of a traditional alphabet chart, we display vowel pairs in the room and practice them regularly," kindergarten teacher Kimberly Vasquez said. "We reinforce blends and teach phonics with lots of visuals, but we also incorporate iPad apps and active games."

One of those classroom games is Word Swat, which helps students build speed and confidence identifying sight words. The teacher says a word, and the child has to spot it and splat it with a flyswatter. It's a kindergarten favorite. So is Osmo, an iPad gaming accessory that reinforces word study skills.

Combined with Jolly Phonics—a fun and child-centered curriculum that assigns actions for 42 letter sounds—students build the foundation for fluency and success in language arts.

Sample Schedule

7 a.m.	Extended Care available
8 a.m.	Arrival & morning work
8:25 a.m.	Calendar, math, weather & silent reading
8:50 a.m.	Daily PE
9:30 a.m.	Spanish or music* Language arts, science or social studies
10 a.m.	Writer’s Workshop
10:30 a.m.	Outdoor classroom
11 a.m.	Lunch
11:30 a.m.	Work stations & guided reading
12:30 p.m.	Mathematics or STEAM*
1:25 p.m.	Handwriting, journals or art*
2:05 p.m.	Outdoor classroom
2:35 p.m.	Afternoon snack & enrichment games
3-6 p.m.	Extended Care available