Preschool Lesson
Plans
Table of Contents
Unit 1 PETS ………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Unit 2 ANIMALS…………………………………………………………………………… 18
Unit 3 SEASONS……….…………………………………………………………………… 32
Unit 4 TRANSPORTATION……………..…………………………………………………44
Unit 5 EARTH SCIENCE….………………………………………………………………. 56
Unit 6 ALPHABET…………………………………………………………………….…… 69
Unit 7 PHYSICAL SCIENCE……………………………………………………………… 83
Unit 8 NUMBERS/COUNTING….………………………………………………………… 96
Unit 9 TEDDY BEARS…………………………………………………………………….. 110
Unit 10 FOOD & NUTRITION………………………………………………………….. . 123
Unit 11 SELF-ESTEEM/SELF CONCEPT…………………………………….…….…...135
Unit 12 GEOGRAPHY…..……………………………………………………….…………149
Unit 13 FRIENDSHIP………………………………………………………………………164
Unit 14 FAMILY ……………………………………………………………………………176
Unit 15 DR. SEUSS……….………………………………………………………………... 191
Unit 1
Pets
Materials for Unit 1
Felt
Markers
Glue sticks
Stuffed animals for parade
Puppy Chow Snack: creamy peanut butter or butter if allergies are a problem, chocolate chips, butter, crispy cereal, powdered sugar
Old magazines
Tail Mix Snack: cereals, chocolate chips, nuts or small pretzels and raisons
Grocery sacks
Construction paper
Carrots
Celery
Radishes
Vegetable dip
Ink stamp pad
Stuffed fish/fish diagram
Fish crackers
Paper fish cutouts
Generic coned party hats
Venus Fly Trap Snack: Graham cracker squares, cream cheese or peanut butter, raisons, nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips
Unit 1-Pets
Day 1
Circle Time: Weekend in Review
Give each of your students 1-2 minutes to tell the most exciting or memorable thing that happened during their weekend. Be prepared to get all sorts of answers, including unpleasant ones, such as, “Mommy and Daddy got in a fight and Mommy left.” You should always be aware of the situation and be ready to interject with your own comments before other students have the chance to respond. This activity will take 15-20 minutes, depending on the number of students in your class.
Crafts: Felt Puppies
For this project, give each student with a piece of felt. They can choose whatever color they want. You will need a cut-out puppy shape to serve as a guide for your students. Show the guide to your students and have them create their own puppy shape in pencil on their piece of felt. You and an assistant should go around and cut out each student’s shape to make sure that your students stay safe. If your students are old enough to cut the shapes themselves, let them to help them develop confidence in their skills.
After all your students have their shapes cut out, give them with markers, glue sticks, and extra felt that they can use to decorate their puppies. They can draw on eyes, a nose, a mouth, spots, and whatever else they may want to use to make their puppies original.
If you have a felt board available in your classroom, you can let your students display their creations for the entire class to admire. Finally, they can take their puppies home to show their families.
Theme Activity
Stuffed Animal Parade
For this activity, bring in lots of stuffed animals, preferably animals that are generally thought of as pets, such as dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, fish, or frogs. If you cannot find enough domestic animals to bring in, add whatever other stuffed animals you find and ask your class to pretend they are pets. They may even like this better because it is unusual and exotic. Once everyone has a stuffed animal, ask your students to give it a name and come up with a story about their animal. Encourage students to think of their animal’s family, their likes and dislikes, or whatever else might make an interesting story. Each student gets a few minutes to think of a story to introduce their animal to the class.
When everyone has had time to think of a story, have them line up as if they are going to be in a parade. They can sit on the floor in their line so they can walk their animals in front of everyone. Put on your best announcer voice and introduce each student, inviting them to walk their animal down the parade line. While the students show their animals, they can tell their short story about the animal.
Class-Created Animal
Use a giant, easel-sized notepad if you have one with markers. Have the class sit around the easel and tell them that each of them gets to create a part of the animal. Pick one student and give them the marker. Tell them to draw something small, such as the ears or the head. That student, after drawing their part, gets to pick the next student to draw. Your students get to decide what animal they want to draw, as well as what it will look like, if it has any spots or unusual coloring, etc. If there are still students left when the animal is finished, those students get to draw scenery around the animal, such as grass, birds, flowers, and clouds. Everyone shares in creativity and takes pride in a group accomplishment.
Pet Sounds
Write pets on small slips of paper and put them in a hat or a bowl. Tell students to pick one piece of paper and don’t show anyone. After everyone has a paper, go around and whisper in their ear what their paper says. Then, students get to stand up and act out that animal, including movement and sound while the others try to guess what the animal.
Snack Time: Puppy Chow
This snack is made from crispy cereal, preferably Chex or Crispix or another similar cereal. You will have to make this at home the night before, but it is simple and delicious! See the recipe below for instructions.
Ingredients:
¾ cup creamy peanut butter (or butter if there are allergies)
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup butter
8 cups cereal
2 cups powdered sugar
1. Melt the peanut butter or butter, chocolate chips, and butter together.
2. Pour over the cereal in a large bowl and stir well.
3. Pour the powdered sugar in a separate, large bag and add the cereal.
4. Shake the bag until the cereal is coated in the sugar.
Music: How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
For this song, split your students into two groups. Make up a rhythm for the lyrics below and sing it for your students to give them an example. Have them stand in two groups with a space between them. One group will be your singers; the other group will be your “doggies.” The group that is singing should repeat each line after you. When it comes time for the “doggie” group to do their part (singing “woof woof!”) they can do so. When they are not singing, they will be acting like puppies. They can pant, chase their tails, scratch their ears, or whatever else they think a puppy might do.
When you get to the verse, the “doggies” can act out the parts of the other animals mentioned, such as hopping for a bunny, “meow-ing” for a kitty, saying “hello!” for a parrot, and making a “fish face” for the fishies.
You should sing the song twice, switching parts, so that each group gets a chance to both sing and act out animal parts.
Lyrics:
How much is that doggie in the window? (Bark! Bark!)
The one with the waggely tail
How much is that doggie in the window? (Bark! Bark!)
I do hope that doggie's for sale
I don't want a bunny or a kitty,
I don't want a parrot that talks,
I don't want a bowl of little fishies;
He can't take a goldfish for walks.
How much is that doggie in the window? (Bark! Bark!)
The one with the waggely tail
How much is that doggie in the window? (Bark! Bark!)
I do hope that doggie's for sale.
(Bob Merril)
Story Time: The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey
This book is a classic story about a puppy and his brothers, who all go out for a day of adventure. It has a great lesson, that kids need to listen to their parents and other authority figures in order to stay safe. It is also a gentle admonishment for any poky kid who might need a little motivation in getting moving.
After reading this story to your students, ask them what they think the point of the story is. Build off what your students tell you to get to the main points listed above. As with all lessons, you can keep your students from realizing they are learning by asking them questions and expanding on their answers. They will feel like they are helping you instead of learning, and you can impart several lessons at once.
Make sure all your students know that when one person is talking, everyone else has to be silent. This teaches them patience and to respect someone who is speaking.
Reasoning/Thinking Skills
You can continue the discussion of your story here. Questions you can ask include: “What is a problem with being “poky” like the puppy? What happens if you don’t listen to your parents like the puppy? Who can think of a time when they didn’t listen to their parents and it got them in trouble? Have you ever gotten to get exploring like the puppies? What did you think of it?”
Day 2
Circle Time: Good Day, Bad Day
During this activity, students can say the best and worst thing that has happened to them during the day. It is a good chance for students to state their accomplishments as well as share their hardships. It will give you insight into their attitudes and behaviors, and it will give all the students a chance to learn about each other.
Crafts: Pet Collages
Provide students with plenty of old magazines that you no longer want. Home magazines or women’s magazines work best, because they tend to have lots of pictures of houses and the animals that accompany the houses. They can cut or tear out pictures of animals to make a collage. Give each student a piece of construction paper and a glue stick. They get to choose how many animals they want and what kind. This is a chance for students to express themselves by choosing what animals they want and designing their own project. When everyone is finished with their project, display them around the room until the day is over, when students can take them home.
Theme Activities
Caring for Pets
All students need to know how to care for their pets, and you can help them learn. Bring in a stuffed animal, preferably a dog or a cat, and display it for your students. Ask them what they would do to help take care of the animal. You can bring in cat and dog food for students to look at and smell. Make it clear that students cannot eat the food. Make a verbal list with the help of your students; they should be able to tell you that each animal needs to eat food and drink water each day. Talk about how animals need to sleep and play, and cannot be left outside when it is too hot or too cold. Ask your students what they would want to do if they were a pet.
Write a Story about What You See
Take a picture from a magazine or a coloring book and pass it around for all the students to see. Begin writing a story with the classic introduction: “Once upon a time…” and point to a student. That student gets to come up with the next line of the story. It needs to make sense and describe the scene in the picture the students have viewed. However, it is up to the students to decide what the animal is thinking, feeling, and doing. Together, your students will be able to create a coherent, linear story that they can all be proud of.
Types of Cats, Dogs, Fish, and Birds
This activity will help kids learn about categories. Give students a big category, such as dogs. They can call out members of that category, such as “collie,” “golden retriever,” and “beagle.” Make a list on the board of all the names you hear from students. Then, take out an animal encyclopedia and show them pictures of the animals you named. Ask them if they know which name fits with which dog. You can also show them pictures of animals they do not know. Use it as a teaching experience so that they can become familiar with other types of dogs, cats, fish, or birds. This lesson can be repeated with the other animals mentioned.
Snack Time: Tail Mix
Instead of “trail mix,” why not “tail mix?” Set up stations of different ingredients, including cereals, chocolate chips, nuts, and raisons. Give each student a plastic bag or other small container and let them mix their own “tail mix.” Each student should get about 1 cup total, so watch how much each student puts together. REMEMBER: If anyone has an allergy to nuts, you can substitute using cereal or pretzels also.
Music: Hey Diddle Diddle
Although this song is short, you can do lots of different activities with it to teach kids rhythm. Come up with a short rhythm, such as slapping your knees and clapping your hands twice; it should be something that can be repeated over and over at the same speed. Bring in the items mentioned in the song, such as a plate and a spoon, a picture of the moon, and a picture of a fiddle (or a real one if you have it.)
Have the students sing the song over and over with different rhythms that you develop. Show them how to clap out the rhythm while singing the song; work with them on multi-tasking and hearing a difference in the rhythms.
You can also introduce the concept of rhyme, showing them that words like “fiddle” and “diddle” sound almost the same.
Lyrics:
Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Story Time: Little Cats by Zoobooks