Preschool Bi-Weekly Curriculum
Teachers: Ms. Maria, Ms. Bianca, Ms. Vatrece
Weeks of: 6/6/2016 – 6/17/2016
Learning StandardsBig Idea (Unit of Study): Living things have a variety of characteristics and features. / Vocabulary: Mammals,Living, breathing, air, limbs, eggs, milk, non-living, body, skeleton, shell, heart, face, expression, features
Ongoing Teaching
Social Emotional / Literacy / Science
Strand: Early learning experiences will support children to develop, express, recognize and respond to emotions
Progression: Emotional Expression
Indicators: Early Learning experiences will support children to…
-SE.48.6 Express emotions experienced in typical daily routines (e.g., frustration at waiting, excitement about a favored activity, pride) through language and gesturing rather than physical ways.
-SE.60.8 Describe emotions and feelings to trusted adults and peers
Experiences:
-Face Mash Up: (Small group sessions) Ts will provide students with variety of laminated facial features (e.g., eyes, noses, mouths, chins, ears, foreheads, etc.) and will challenge them to create a face. As children work, T will facilitate one-on-one conversations with learners about the features and expressions they are creating.
-Self Portraits/Self-Stories:(Small group sessions) Ts will put out a variety of creative art materials (paints, pencils, markers, playdough, etc.) and will work with students in small groups to draw portraits of themselves. Ts will ask children about how they are feeling in their pictures.
-Readings:(Large Group/Individual) Teachers will read variety of social-emotional texts during large group/small group/ and individual sessions. Ts will support text comprehension by asking questions about the emotions/events in the books, and by asking students to provide own examples of times when they experienced similar emotions.
-Creating Emojis:(small group) Using paint/playdough/pencils/crayons/ students will design their own emojis. Higher BM learners will be able to create stories about their emojis, while lower BM learners will label the different types of emotions their emojis represent.
-Embedded Experiences:(embedded) Throughout the day, Ts will use naturally occurring events/routines/situations to evoke language related to emotions. Ts will facilitate verbal conflicts and will reinforce language that describes how students feel.
Strategies to Support Differential Teaching:
- T will ask appropriate leveled Bloom’s Q’s to meet student needs/abilities.
- Ts will recommend various calming techniques to less emotionally mature students before they begin to “work out” a particular conflict with a peer (e.g., taking ten breaths, drinking a glass of water).
- T will offer a variety of large and small group arrangements
- T’s will restate and expand upon one-word and simple student responses. T will allow children to take the lead in conversations as they discuss emotions with one another.
Progression: Letter Recognition
Indicators:
-L.48.19 Recognize some letters especially those in
One’s own name.
-L.60.20 Recognize and name known
letters of the alphabet in familiar and
unfamiliar words
-L.60.21 Make some letter-sound
-Connections
Experiences:
-Labeling Pictures: (Individual/Small Group/ Teacher-Facilitated) Several of our higher BM learners have started drawing specific animals from books in the classroom. As students continue to do this naturally and during small groups, Ts will identify or create print labels naming the object/item in the picture and will work with students to copy the label. (E.g., when a student draws a picture of a frog from a book, Ts will find the word “frog” in the book and will challenge the student to write out the word on a notecard to go below the picture.) Ts will label the letters in sequence before the child begins writing, and will ask the child to label the letters after he/she has written out the word.
-Letter Sprays:(small group/gross motor/ fine motor). Outside, Teachers will hang laminated letters along the fence line and will challenge students to race back and forth to find letters from their names (or other known letters) and spray them with a water bottle. For lower BM students, Ts will hold up a board with the letter symbol as they call out the name of the letter, so students will know what to look for.
Strategies to Support Differential Teaching:
- T will ask appropriate leveled Bloom’s Q’s to meet student needs/abilities.
- Ts will challenge higher BM learners to write some words/letters without a visual model. For lower BM learners, Ts will always provide a large scale model of target letters for students to refer to.
- For lower BM learners, Ts will focus ONLY on letters in individual students’ names. For higher BM learners, teachers will begin to introduce more high-frequency letters that have a strong, continuant consonant connection (Mmmm… Ssssssss)
- T will offer a variety of large and small group arrangements
- T’s will restate and expand upon one-word and simple student responses. T will allow children to take the lead in conversations as they begin discuss criteria with one another.
Progression: Unity and Diversity of Life
Indicators: Early Learning experiences will support children to…
-S.48.5 Compare and contrast basic features of living things (e.g., body parts and their uses) between and across groups
-S.60.7 Group and classify living things based upon features, providing evidence to support groupings
-S.48.6 Recognize changes in living things over their lifespan by observing similarities and differences between babies and adults
-S.60.8 Demonstrate an understanding of how living things grow and change through
-predictable stages (e.g., birth, growth, reproduction, death)
Experiences:
-Sorting Pictures into Living/Non-Living and Mammal/Non-mammal:(small group) Working with students in small groups, Ts will go through picture cards and facilitate a discussion about whether an object is living or non-living. Ts will give students opportunities to present their initial answer (yes or no) and then give peers opportunities to challenge this answer with their own questions. Students will engage in analysis as they figure out suitable criteria for determining whether something is alive or not, and will test those criteria against each object. As children have started to master this exercise, Ts will introduce the “Mammals” category, and will discuss the features mammals share v. other animals.
-Readings:(Individual/large group) Teachers will continue to read a variety of science-based books on insects, plants, life cycles, planting, etc. Ts will use books as catalyst for discussion about what makes things living or non-living.
-Veterinarian’s Office: (Small group/child-directed) With students’ assistance, Ts will set up a veterinarian’s office, where children can practice caring for, talking about, and role playing with a variety of animals. Students will be able to describe various features of stuffed animals and, with teacher prompting, will be able to identify similarities/differences they share with humans.
-Observation and Interaction with Materials: Teachers will ensure that a variety of materials are available for children to visually and physically explore and study, such as: caterpillars, hermit crab, plants, soil. Teachers will model how to wonder about animals/plants/materials and will support students’ questioning techniques.
-Creating Habitats for Animals: (child-directed) Students will use blocks, animal figurines, and other open-ended materials in the block area to build appropriate homes/habitats for animals. T will create interest by using animal figurines and introducing a problem/conflict that requires a “home”. (E.g., “the rain poured and poured on the poor bear so what do you think he did??). Ts will display pictures of different types of habitats to prompt thinking.
Strategies to Support Differential Teaching:
- T will ask appropriate leveled Bloom’s Q’s to meet student needs/abilities.
- T will prompt some children to name/describe features of objects; will guide other students to analyze and determine whether or not these features would count as a criteria to describe living/non-living OR mammal/non-mammal
- T will offer a variety of large and small group arrangements
- T’s will restate and expand upon one-word and simple student responses. T will allow children to take the lead in conversations as they begin discuss criteria with one another.
Teacher-Directed
Schedule / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
7:00-8:30: Arrival and Greetings. Areas open for indoor and outdoor choice / Children transition into the classroom environment, saying goodbye to parents and engaging in self-directed experiences. All learning centers open (dramatic play, blocks, art/easel, writing, science, math, technology and manipulatives). Teachers engage by providing individual and small-group support to children during play-experiences.
- Sign-Sheets available: A sand/tactile sign in sheet available for younger students. A paper sign in sheet available for older students with more developed fine motor skills.
8:30-9:00: Breakfast. Children invited to family-style breakfast service. Children who do not wish to eat may engage in free play. Teachers support children to get materials for breakfast (spoons, bowls, cups, napkins, etc.) and work with children on self-serving food items. Teachers engage with children in conversation during meals.
9:00-9:15: Morning Meeting (depending on child interest)
9:15-9:35: Teacher-directed small group activities (kindergarten kids and others who express interest) / Opening: Welcome to school song. Check off weather and day of the week.
- Attendance review. “Who came to school today?” song. Use picture attendance chart (Take turns putting children’s pictures on the board to indicate who is present and absent.) Continue to focus on onset sounds of c’s first names as teachers state names.
- Job Chart Review:Ts will assign jobs to the “job chart” with student support. May have students select what other peers can do.
- Books:Variety of nature and social/emotional texts.
- Movement Exercises: Practice counting while doing a variety of reps. (five push ups, twenty hops, ten jumping jacks, etc.).
- Songs: Five green and speckled frogs, five little ducks, five little monkeys. Use props to facilitate these counting songs. Sing softly when M.T. joins the group. Teachers will discuss what props are and will use child-designed props throughout the week.
- Discussions:
-Our Faces: What are some of the expressions we make? How can we use our faces to tell people how we feel? How does your face look when you are angry? How do you think a dogs face looks when it is angry?
-Expressing ourselves: Animals (including us!) can express ourselves in a variety of ways! How do you think a dog tells you it’s hungry? How do you think a skunk tells you it’s scared? What are some things we can do to tell other people how we feel??
- Fidgets/Modifications for lower level PS3 learners:Most learners participate actively during large group reading time. Some BM1 learners (Jay.R., S.H.) do not always keep their hands to themselves during large group time. Ts will make clay available for them to use during large group sessions.
-C.C. and C.C: Do not require these c to join morning meeting if they are engaged in play (SEE BEHAVIORAL PLAN)
-M.T. does not come to school until after morning meeting. Ts will repeat some experiences in afternoon so that he does not miss out.
Learning Centers
9:35-10:45: Indoor Choice Experiences
10:45-11:30: Gross Motor Experiences
11:30-11:45:Transition time; cleanup, small group activity, and handwashing for lunch
11:45-12:15: Lunch (family style)
12:15-12:30: Transition to nap
12:30-2:30: Rest time/quiet activities provided for children who do not sleep
2:30-3:00: Snack
3:00-4:00: Indoor Choice
4:00-5:30: Outdoor/Gross Motor Experiences / Supporting Experiences:
Art Experiences:
-Teachers will provide paint and sheets of butcher paper and support children to create own representations of things that interest them.
-Teachers will bring animal figurines to the table and will encourage students to select an animal and to use art materials to draw/represent it. As children work, T will ask questions to support c. analysis and comparison abilities. Questions may include: “What kind of animal is that? What are some of his body parts? Do you have a tail like him? Can you think of another animal that has a tail like him? How do you think you can draw that kind of tail?” etc… HOT EXPERIENCE
-Easel: Teachers will set up the easel with butcher paper and scissors. Ts will model how to draw lines and how to then cut out self-drawn lines with accuracy. Ts will provide hand over hand and supplemental physical assistance to help children use materials.
Dramatic Play:
-With student assistance, teachers will design and set up a veterinarian’s office in the dramatic play area (materials will include cages, stuffed animals, stethoscopes, gauze strips, thermometers, etc.). Ts will facilitate parallel, associative, and cooperative play experiences, depending on student developmental ability. Ts will support exploration of unit concepts by drawing attention to various animal features or creating situations where children will be drawn to comment on them themselves.
Block Area:
-HOT Experience: Teachers will put out new tree bark/stick/ blocks and will work with children to build and construct self-selected designs. While supporting children in this area, will integrate conversation about habitats and how to create them. May challenge to build specific types of homes for animal figurines (e.g., what kind of home do you think a bird needs? How about a lion? What about a person? Why do you think animals need homes?). Ts will draw higher BMs to reflect on animal needs and to predict what type of home would be appropriate for them.
Sensory:
-In addition to the cutting table and sand table, Ts will put out a sensory table containing soil. As children engage in free play with the soil, Ts will facilitate conversations with them about what kinds of creatures live in soil, what soil is, how it is different from sand, where they see soil, etc.
Science:
-HOT Experience: Working with students in small groups, Ts will go through picture cards and facilitate a discussion about whether an object is living or non-living. Ts will give students opportunities to present their initial answer (yes or no) and then give peers opportunities to challenge this answer with their own questions. Students will engage in analysis as they figure out suitable criteria for determining whether something is alive or not, and will test those criteria against each object.
Manipulatives:
-Ts will give children opportunities to explore a variety of manipulative materials and will work to scaffold skills that children demonstrate as they interact with these materials (for some children, Ts may work on building task persistence, with others, Ts may help them use one-to-one correspondence to count out and compare sets of objects).
-Teachers recently got two new games “chutes and ladders” and “trouble”. Ts will sit down with small groups of students in the morning and late afternoon to play these games, working on counting skills as they guide children through turn-taking.
Gross Motor/FitnessExperiences
PHY 1: Uses coordinated large-muscle movements
- Students will go outside for 90 minutes each day and teachers will engage them in a variety of both teacher and child-initiated experiences and games that will promote physical coordination and activity.
Transitions:
-Finding Partners: Ask children to find a partner wearing the same colored shirt as them (supports BM1 COG3 and COG4 learners)
-Clapping Syllables: Ask children to clap the syllables in their names before going to an area/washing hands/lining up to go outside.
-Onset sound awareness exercise:“If your name starts with a ___ sound, you may get up and go to an area/wash your hands/get your coat on, etc.”
-Use gonoodle to maintain interest during transitions to library area.
-Will have c pair-and-share read during lunch and outdoor transitions, pairing verbal children with lower BM learners.
Reflections/Additional Experiences Added:
PAF Assessment Standards
Assessment Standard:
P&S 7: Interacts cooperatively with peers
Assessment- Based Teaching Strategy Target Zones
B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / No Data
M.T. / Jack.R., K.J. / Car.T., Cru.T., D.R., G.J., S.H., J.B., Jay.R., K.M., T.R., K.W. , C.J., D.H. / Zo.W., Zi.W., A.H., S.C., J.D / 0
Teaching Strategies:
Benchmark 1:
- T will invite/encourage children to play in socially active areas (dramatic play, block center) at various points during day.
- T will draw attention to peers and what they are doing
- If child works alone at an area, T may ask another child to join him/her.
- T will comment on peers’ play and actions.