Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS Summary

The Pre-K technology applications TEKS are composed of ten different domains. These domains include social and emotional development, language and communication, emergent literacy reading and writing, math, science, social studies, fine arts, physical development, and technology. Each of these domains contains skill areas and six of those domains include expectations for the child by 48 months of age and end of year outcomes for Prekindergarten students. The domains also include examples of child behavior and instructional strategies.
The social and emotional development domain are composed of self concept skills, self control skills, social competence skills, and social awareness skills. This domain describes childrens' transformation from the toddler stage and they start to identify feelings, thoughts, ideas, and become aware of their body in space. This domain also describes how rules and routines help students improve their self control skills. Organized classrooms are key components to developing this skill. Students also start to develop their social competence skills by developing special relationships with adults and other students.
In the language and communication domain, listening comprehension skills, speaking skills, speech production skills, vocabulary skills, and sentence and structure skills are described. This domain is very important because this is where the child understands what is being said and how to respons appropriately. The child also starts using language for different purposes and engages in conversation. Adults start to understand the child's speech and the child perceives differences between similar sounding words. In addition to these skills, the child develops a vocabulary to describe people, places, things, and actions. These first two domains set the tone for the following domains where students become motivated to read and learn the alphabet. They begin to retell stories and compare and contrast. The student begins to scribble and write to convey meaning.
In the mathematics domain, the student can identify objects and count up to ten with number words. The child begins to indentify the objects to be counted. The student can also indentify shapes and measure objects appropriately. In the science domain, the main objective for students is to describe, observe, and investigate properties and characteristics of common objects. In the social studies domain, the student identifies similarities and differences in people and families. They also organize their life around events, time, and routines. The child also identifies the flags of the United States and Texas and begins to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. In the fine arts domain, the student explores a wide variety of materials and make discoveries about color, shape, and texture through art experiences. In the physcial development domain, the student develops motor skills through action. This is done by using manipulatives and participating in activites. The technology domain exposes the student to new technologies and introduces them to computers. They learn how to use devices such as keyboards, mouse pads, software, sound recorders, and other devices.
The Pre-K TEKS are very instrumental in laying the foundation for student performance in future grades. These guidelines are the basis for learning. Students must be able to master these TEKS before they can move on to the next grade levels. Knowing how to read, write, associate words, count, identify events, collect data, and use technology all have to be improved on and mastered to meet the expectations of the future grades.