The following statement expresses the philosophy of the Early Childhood department of Plano ISD. It is printed each time student work contains temporary spelling published as a way of helping parents and community members understand the way young children learn.

Young children learn to write much as they learn to talk. Even though toddlers make many "mistakes" or approximations in speech, parents enjoy the conversations and encourage the child to talk, knowing that talking develops by talking. In the primary grades, writing is approached in much the same way. Teachers accept children's approximations of spelling. Just as parents are proud of a child's every attempt to say works, teachers praise young writers efforts at writing. They allow much practice by encouraging very young children to use written language for real purposes: phone messages, shopping lists, labels, and stories. As words of high frequency appear in a child's writing, teachers model correct spelling, and children gradually incorporate conventional or standard spelling into their writing. A translation of the primary student's writing, made as the child reads his work aloud, is included when the writing is published.

OUR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS Planning Time 9:45am - 10:35pm Tami Cornford - Team Leader I have been teaching for seventeen years, and they have all been at Forman Elementary. I have taught 4th grade, Reading Recovery, and Kindergarten. When I am not teaching, I love to read, exercise, go to movies and spend time with the people I love. email:Tami.Cornford@psid.edu Ext 21220 Yolanda Romeroll I am married and have 3 kids, two girls and one boy and 3 grandkids. When I raised my kids, one of my dreams was that they had a degree. Fortunately, my dream came through. I have a degree in Administration. I arrived to the United States in the 2003 and have learned and met friendly people here. I have the opportunity to teach at Forman and every student has provided me with many experiences and through the time I hope to learn more from them and see them growing. email:Yolanda.Romeroll@pisd.edu Ext 21288 Jennifer Wills I am originally from Kentucky and attended the University of Kentucky.  I graduated in 1991 and moved to Florida.  I lived in Florida for 9 years and moved to Texas.  During this time, I was a stay at home mom.  I came back to teaching four years ago and taught 5th grade.  I moved down to Kinder the following year.   This is my third year in Kinder.  I am very happy to be here at Forman! email:Jennifer.Wills@psid.edu Ext 21225 xt 21242 Brenda Sanchez-Davis My students call me “Mrs. Davis.” I very much enjoy working with both the students and the faculty/administration at Forman.  I hold a Bachelor of  Science in Child Learning and Development and Psychology (with a focus on children) and am currently a bilingual teacher. My husband and I have two sons and live in Plano. One of my yearly goals is to share my love for learning with my students.  I look forward to another great year! Go Falcons! email:Brenda.Sanchez-Davis@pisd.edu Ext 21224 Teresa Marcano I’m originally from El Salvador and have been living in Texas since 1985. I live with my husband and our daughter Bianca, who is a second grader this year. I graduated from UNT in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a minor in Psychology. I got certified and have been a bilingual teacher since 2004. I’ve truly enjoyed my experiences as an educator and am very happy to be part of the Forman family! email:Teresa.Marcano@pisd.edu Ext 21221 Patricia Saleh Howdy! I absolutely love teaching and have been a teacher for 6 six years. I received my degree in Elementary Education from Texas A & M University, College Station and love being an Aggie! I enjoy camping with my children, attending my daughter's cheer competitions, my son's football games and browsing for books to add to my classroom library. I am also bilingual and spent much of my childhood summers in Germany. email:Tricia.Saleh@pisd.edu Ext 21222 Tiffany Turner Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.' Les Brown This will be my 8th year in the educational field, my 5th year teaching Kindergarten, and my 3rd year here at Forman. I am a graduate of Prairie View A & M University, with a major in Psychology. My goal for the 2009/2010 academic year is to create a risk free environment, full of fun and entertainment, where every child will feel successful. Email:Tiffany.Turner@pisd.edu Ext 21223

Curriculum
Language Arts in Kindergarten
The following language arts objectives are listed in the six-week period in which they are introduced. However, the skills are continually revisited thorough out the year in order to build upon those foundations.

1ST SIX WEEKS
Follow Directions, Using Illustrations to Comprehend Text, Sequencing Events in a Story, Initial Introduction of Letter Names, Phonological Awareness-listening for sounds, rhyming words, and sound sequencing, Understanding of writing from left to right, Writing name on paper.

2ND SIX WEEKS
Oral Comprehension, Story Details, Identifying Action Words, Identifying Capital and Lowercase Letters, Identifying Letters in a Word/Words in a Sentence, Identifying/Counting Syllables, Blending Sounds, Identifying Beginning/Medial/Ending Sounds, Using Diagrams, Idea of Using Pictures and Print to Convey Meaning.

3RD SIX WEEKS
Fantasy vs. Reality, Opposites, Oral Comprehension, Alphabetical Order, Making Predictions, Position Words, Matching Sounds, Word Patterns (Word Families), Writing Name and Familiar Words, Writing Top to Bottom.

4TH SIX WEEKS
Main Idea, Compare and Contrast, Inferences, Word Endings, Describing Words, Using Finger Spaces in Writing, Hearing Consonants to Write (Temporary Spelling).

5TH SIX WEEKS
Nouns, Story Structure, Summarization, Read Signs, Listening Skills, Word Endings/Digraphs, Finger Spacing in Writing, Using a period at the End of a Sentence.

6TH SIX WEEKS
Cause and Effect, Sequence a Story, Sort and Classify, Blending With All Vowels, Digraphs, Capital Letter to Start Writing, Describing Words Used in Writing.

Math in Kindergarten
We have listed the primary objectives for each six-weeks. Each objective is explored throughout the six-week period and then built upon in the following periods.

1ST SIX WEEKS
Number Concepts to Six, Oral Counting to Ten, Relative Position, Read a Calendar, Problem Solving Strategy - Draw a Picture, Processes and Tools.

2ND SIX WEEKS
Number Concepts to Ten, Oral Counting to Twenty, Patterns, Read a Calendar, Concrete Graphing, Problem Solving Strategy - Look for a Pattern, Processes and Tools.

3RD SIX WEEKS
Number Concepts to Ten, Oral Counting to Fifty, Measurement, Sorting and Classification, Problem Solving Strategy - Use Objects, Processes and Tools.

4TH SIX WEEKS
Number Concepts to Twenty, Oral Counting to Seventy, Shapes and Models of Solids, Read a Calendar, Pictorial Graphing, Problem Solving Strategy - Use Objects, Processes and Tools.

5TH SIX WEEKS
Concrete Modeling of Addition and Subtraction, Oral Counting to Ninety, Solids, Compare Based on Time/Temperature, Read a Calendar, Problem Solving Strategy - Act it Out, Processes and Tools.

6TH SIX WEEKS
Whole to Equal Parts, Concrete Modeling of Addition and Subtraction, Oral Counting to 100, Read a Calendar, Sequence Events, Problem Solving Strategy - Guess and Check, Processes and Tools.