Access Health Grade Kindergarten   (#7708000)

Version Description

The purpose of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy choices with the overall goal of improving quality of life.

The content should include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Core Concepts (health promotion, eating habits, following rules, body parts and hygiene)
• Accessing Information (friends, doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, basic first aid, rules, emergency drills, and reliable resources)
• Internal and External Influences (trusted adults and warning labels)
• Interpersonal Communication (verbal and non-verbal, following rules, trusted adults and refusal skills)
• Decision Making (positive or negative health enhancing influences, healthy options and safety practices)
• Self-Management (safety and precautions)
• Advocacy (personal hygiene and following rules)

Instructional Practices

Teaching from well-written, grade-level textbook enhances students' content area knowledge and also strengthens their ability to comprehend longer, complex reading passages on any topic for any reason.  Using the following instructional practices also helps students learning:

1. Reading assignments from longer text passages as well as shorter ones when text is extremely complex.
2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
3. Asking high-level, text-specific questions and requiring high-level, complex tasks and assignments.
4. Requiring students to support answers with evidence from the text.
5. Providing extensive text-based research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

Access Courses: Access courses are intended only for students with a significant cognitive disability. Access courses are designed to provide students with access to the general curriculum. Access points reflect increasing levels of complexity and depth of knowledge aligned with grade-level expectations. The access points included in access courses are intentionally designed to foster high expectations for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Access points in the subject areas of science, social studies, art, dance, physical education, theatre, and health provide tiered access to the general curriculum through three levels of access points (Participatory, Supported, and Independent). Access points in English language arts and mathematics do not contain these tiers, but contain Essential Understandings (or EUs). EUs consist of skills at varying levels of complexity and are a resource when planning for instruction.

English Language Development ELD Standards Special Notes Section:

Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in the content area of Language Arts. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: .

For additional information on the development and implementation of the ELD standards, please contact the Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition at sala@fldoe.org.