Kindergarten and the Common Core: It's as Easy as ABC!
Kathy Brown enjoys teaching our youngest learners in the wonderful world of kindergarten. Her passion for early literacy instruction was ignited in 1987 when she did her student teaching in Australia. Her action research entitled Ladders to Literacy was published in 1998 after she earned her Master s Degree from Aurora University. She is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early and Middle Childhood Literacy: Reading- Language Arts. She is the co-author of Kindergarten and the Common Core: It s as Easy as ABC. Kathy has been a kindergarten teacher for 25 years in West Aurora School District #129 and currently works at Fearn Elementary School. She was a nominee for the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching Award from WGN and the Disney's American Teacher Award. She is also a presenter on the state and local level at early childhood conferences.Sarah Martino is a kindergarten teacher, author, conference presenter and kindergarten intervention teacher. She is the co-author of Kindergarten and the Common Core: It s as Easy as ABC. She has also written teacher's guides for educational materials. She has been a kindergarten teacher and intervention teacher for 13 years. Sarah received her Master s Degree in Literacy in 2004 and focused her action research on writing in kindergarten. Sarah currently works at Country Trails Elementary School in CUSD 301. She works with students and teachers at the school site to implement and improve literacy instruction. She was a nominee for the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching Award from WGN. In addition to her site-based job, Sarah is requested to speak and present at state and local conferences. Most recently, she has presented for the IASCD at their annual Pre-K and Kindergarten conference.