Benson, Lindsay

My name is Lindsay Benson!  This will be my 13th year teaching and 8th year teaching Kindergarten!  I have also taught first and second grade, however Kindergarten is my favorite. I grew up in the Deer Valley School District.  I attended K-8th grade in DVUSD then graduated from Deer Valley High School.  I then attended ASU and got my bachelors degree.  During my student teaching, I was offered a letter of intent to teach for Deer Valley.  Immediately after graduating college I started teaching.  I took a short break from teaching the last few years to be home with my boys.  During that time I couldn't stay out of the classroom so I did a lot of subbing.  

I am married to a fellow teacher who teaches P.E. at Sonoran Foothills.  We have two boys Luke and Jack.  Luke will be in 7th grade this year and Jack will be in 3rd.  We also have an Aussie Doodle named Curlee who just completes our family.  Our family loves to travel.  We have gone on many adventures during the summer.  This last summer we ventured to New York City.  We got to see the statue of Liberty, Central Park and attend two Broadway shows!  

I am very excited to be back in the classroom and can't wait to meet my new students!  I have been planning in excitement all summer and am counting down the days for school to start!

• It is back to school time!  In our class we are learning all about our school and classroom community!  We are learning our friends' names, practicing listening and speaking skills, sharing and problem-solving, and developing class rules and procedures!

  In reading students will listen to stories, make predictions and share reactions to content/theme.  They will identify characters in stories and character traits. We begin building working memory skills, learning letter names, sounds, and structures, identifying initial sounds in words, and breaking words into syllables. We also learn to identify the number of words in a sentence and identify rhymes.

  Sight words are the most frequently occurring words in texts.  We memorize and read these words by sight, as they are not always decodable! Kindergarten will learn 50 sight words this year!  Sight words we will learn this month include: I, the, a, see, to!  Practice these words at home!

  In writing, students will practice writing their name accurately with the initial letter capitalized and the rest lowercase using correct letter formation!  Students will also practice correct line strokes, top to bottom, diagonal slants from left to right and right to left, zig zags, curves, etc.  This will lead to correct letter formation for handwriting.

  In math, we will explore a variety of manipulatives that will be used throughout the year to teach and practice skills.  We will learn to identify and name 2D shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus, & trapezoid), we will begin developing a strong number sense with emphasis on the numbers 0-5, and learn that there are different ways to compose/represent numbers.

  In science we will focus on tools we use at school and how to use these tools correctly and safely.  We will also learn about colors and conduct experiments to examine the effects of color mixing with paints, playdough, and chalk.

  In social studies we will learn all about our classmates and build our new school community! We will learn how to demonstrate traits and behaviors expected in "The Pirate Way! Every Student Every Day!" 

Literacy Foundations

• Name and write all the letters of the alphabet
• Produce letter sounds
• Identify 50 basic sight words and spell 20
• Identify, distinguish, and produce rhymes
• Segment words into individual sounds and blend sounds to read words
• Divide words by syllables
• Identify onset and rime bases
• Change and omit sounds in words
• Identify sounds in initial, middle, and ending positions in words.

Writing

• Write first and last name correctly
• Label pictures
• Create lists, charts, messages 
• Spell sight words correctly
• Write 3 simple sentences on topic and/or telling events in a logical order.
• Participate in shared research and writing projects to gather facts, information, and/or support about chosen topic.
• Apply sound/letter knowledge to communicate a message

Reading

• Identify signs and symbols
• Retell a story in correct sequence
• Read simple texts
• Identify basic sight words
• Decode/ blend sounds to read words
• Distinguish long and short vowel sounds
• Comprehend informational and recreational texts
• Make predictions, determine purpose for reading, and ask questions about a text

Math

• Identify basic shapes ( 2 & 3 dimensional), colors, and numbers to 20
• Orally count to 100 by 1’s and 10’s
• Orally count to 100 from any given number by 1’s
• Count objects to 20 in any array
• Model numbers through 20
• Sort, classify, and compare attributes of shapes
• Make 10 given a number less than 10
• Explore addition  and subtraction within 10
• Compose and decompose numbers to 19
• Identify and use ordinal numbers
• Read, create, and interpret graphs
• Solve oral word problems
• Identify and apply positional terms (inside/outside)

Science

• Obtain, evaluate, and share information about how organisms use different body parts for survival
• Know how specialized structures in plants and animals help them sense and respond to their environment
• Investigate how we detect light, sound, and vibrations
• Design & evaluate a tool to extend one or more of our senses
• Observe and ask questions about patterns of motion with the sun, moon, and stars
• Observe, describe, ask questions, and predict weather 
• Build understanding of how weather patterns impact plants, animals, & people
• Observe, ask questions, and explain the differences between the characteristics of living and non-living things

Civics 

• Apply values of respect, responsibility, equality, & fairness 
• Follow agreed upon rules 
• Compare one's own thoughts and opinions with those of others. 
• Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority
• Explain how all people play important roles in our school & community 
• Explain how people work together to identify and solve problems
• Explain why rules are important within the classroom and school 

 Economics 

• Explain how needs, wants, and the availability of resources affect decision making  
• Identify what one gains and gives up when they make choices. 

Geography 

• Use, explore, and construct maps, graphs and other geographical representations to support content focus
• Explore locations in stories shared 
• Explain how water and weather impacts humans.

 History 

• Compare one’s own culture with the culture of others
• Explain the benefits of cooperation & compromise to solve problems
• Explain and explore the origins of key American symbols, traditions, and holidays. 
• Explore the stories of key historical figures through informational text and biographies

• DreamBox

  Classroom: Keith.Math - Kindergarten.203
  Classroom Code: 90836

  Students all have a special password to login.  These codes shouls be on inside of your child's folder.  If you do  not have or your child has forgotten, please e-mail me.

  A special code is required for apps on Ipads, as well.

• Ten Frame Game

• Cool Math Games

• Starfall

• literactive.com

  Free resource to practice phonemic awareness & phonics skills.

KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten Arizona Math Standards

• Kindergarten Arizona Math State Standards

I-Ready Classroom Mathematics 2024 is the Primary District-Adopted Resource

Students can log into the i-Ready Platform through Clever.  Students can access their assignments, My Path, digital textbook, digital math tools, learning games and more on the i-Ready Platform.

• i-Ready Mathematics Student Login
• i-Ready Family Central

Kindergarten Arizona Dept of Education Parent Roadmap: 

• Kindergarten ADE Parent Roadmap