Class Rules

Here is the "Class Rules" chart I made for our preschool. You can make up any rules you want, but I think it is important to have some expectations for the kids, that you explain to them in a way they can understand. We used pictures and words in a very simple format. We also talked about what each of the rules means. You could also give examples of what they would look like when they are "being happy" (ie: smiling, sharing, doing what the teacher asks, participating in the activities) , what they sound like when they are being happy" (ie: saying things like "Thank you, please, you're nice, etc."). The more specific you are the better! It's very important to help the kids understand what you expect from them right from the start.


Some other ideas I've used for keeping the kids on task and listening are:

-Have a "special visitor" that only comes out when they are sitting quietly (ie: sock puppet, stuffed animal, etc.). I have several puppets and even give them a name. I tell the kids that Alex Alligator is very shy and only likes to come out when they are very quiet. Sometimes, I'll even let the kids take turns holding the special visitor.

-Use leading words like "I know you're ready, when I see you eyes looking at me." or "I know Peter is ready to read this book, because he's sitting on his mat and looking at me." etc. Try to focus on those who are on task, rather than those who are disrupting if possible.

-Whisper something like, "If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can hear me, sit on your mat." etc. You can keep playing this game until everyone catches on.

It is important to remember that these are 3-4 year-olds (in our case anyway) and that they cannot be expected to sit still for more than a few minutes (good rule of thumb is their age= minutes, or 3 year-olds can keep attention for about 3 minutes before needing to change to a new activity).

Lessons should be planned to avoid behavior problems in the first place. The more you can "actively engage" the kids, the better. For example, when you read a story, ask the kids to listen for something specific. When you do an activity, give each child an assignment. Try to find a way to involve all the kids during each activity and avoid any "down time." If you play a game where the kids are "out" or they take turns, plan for a way to engage the children when they are waiting their turn. Even better, choose a game that can be played in a group so that there are no children waiting. You should also plan movement activities rotated with sitting activities to keep the wiggles out (again, use the age= minutes rule).

Even in a well planned lesson, you can usually tell when the children are restless or bored. When this happens, don't hesitate to stop and move on the next activity! I very rarely (if ever) follow my lesson plan exactly. Use techniques (like those above) for keeping the kids on task, but let the children's interest be your guide.

Opposites Lesson Plan

Materials: Barney Opposites, Skippy Jon Jones Up & Down by Judy Schachner, Go Dog, Go, by P.D. Eastman. Question of the day and photos. Song recordings of Over the Deep Blue Sea, Susan Salidor, Ring Around the Rosie, Music for Little People 101 Toddler Favorites, Stop light for red light/green light game, blanket and pirate hat for Over the Deep Blue Sea song, construction paper cut into pieces for a quilt, shaving cream, letter Q tracing pages, Play tent/tunnel, snacks, books for reading corner

10:00-10:05– Question of the Day/Reading Corner
As children enter, have them find their name card and put it on the “question of the day” chart- “Which do you like best?” Quilt, Queen, Quarter. Direct them to the reading area to look at books until all the children arrive. You could also sing a song or do a movement activity (Simon Says, Do as I’m Doing, Wheels on the Bus, etc.).

10:05-10:30- Circle Time
Welcome and Introduction- Have children sit on “carpets” and sing a welcome song (Here We Are Together, Peter stand up)

Discuss “Question of the Day”- count and share- what sound do all these words start with?

Review Rules- Have children model what it looks like to listen, be happy, etc.

Helping Hands- Rotate class jobs and remind children what their job is

Calendar- Have calendar helper put dates on the calendar. Sing a “Days of the Week” song. Talk about what day it was yesterday, today and what day it will be tomorrow. Look at the pattern and discuss the shapes.

Weather- With the help of the weatherman, look outside and put up the weather for today on the weather chart.

Movement activity- Over the Deep Blue Sea, Susan Salidor (Use pirate hat & blanket as a pirate ship)

Alphabet- Show the letter Q and ask the children to think of words that start with the letter Q. Sing, “Five Little Ducks”- Music for Little People)

Numbers and Colors- Discuss numbers and colors throughout the day as they come up.

10:30-10:40 Wash hands/Snack- Dismiss to the table. Eat snacks. (Read Barney’s Opposites & Skippy-Jon Jones while they’re eating)

10:40- 11:05 - Lesson/Activity/Craft- (We had technical difficulties with the music, so we played red light, green light most of the time, but it was a big hit- they loved doing the opposites!)

Read Go Dog, Go. What are opposites? What is the opposite of cold, hot, near, far, forward, backward, in, out, fast, slow, up, down, sleep, awake, big, small, stop, go, loud, quiet, sit, stand, over, under, high, low, open, shut, day, night, short, tall, wet, dry, etc.

Play music “Over the Deep Blue Sea” again, this time have the kids listen for opposites: this way, that way, forward & backward.

Play Ring around the Rosie- listen for the opposites you hear in the song as we do it. Afterwards discuss, did anyone hear down, up? Fast, slow? Loud, quiet?

Play Red light, Green light. Stop is the opposite of Go. When I say red light you stop, when I say green light, you go. Continue using asleep, awake, stand, sit, short, tall, near, far, forward, backward, fast, slow, open, shut (eyes), etc. and see how many opposites they can do.

11:05-11:25 – Centers or Structured Play

-Computer- Starfall.com letter Q

-Writing Center- Shaving cream letters. Give each child a dallop of shaving cream on the table in front of them, spread it out flat, then hold up a letter for them to “write” with their finger in the smooth cream. (I’d also let the kids play and draw what they like for a while- this one was also a big hit).

-Play in the tent/tunnels- over, under, inside, outside, open, shut, etc.

11:25-11:30 - Clean up and Close- Sing the clean up song and cleanup.

Word Wheels

Becky just told me about a great website that has some fun resources for the kids as they begin reading words. I personally love the word wheels! Check it out at abc teach.com!

Music Time

Welcome Songs:

Hello, Hello
(please click here for a link to the tune of this song)

Hello, (kids echo) Hello.
Hello, (kids echo) Hello.
We welcome you today.

To share with us this preschool day,
And be our friends in a very special way.

Hello, (kids echo) Hello.
Hello, (kids echo) Hello.
We welcome you today.


Here We are Together
(Tune of "The More We Get Together")

Here we are together,
Together,
Together,
Oh, here we are together,
This bright sunny day.

There's Peter,
And Jackson,
And Benjamin,
And Rachel.

Oh, here we are together
This cold, rainy day.


Where is Thumbkin?

Where is Peter,
Where is Peter?
Please stand up,
Please stand up.

How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Please sit down,
Please sit down.

Stand Up and Turn Around
(Tune of "Where is Thumbkin?")

(Childs Name) stand up; (Childs Name) stand up.
Turn around; touch the ground.
Reach up really high now; jump to touch the sky (wow)
Now sit down, now sit down.

Other activity songs/ finger plays:

I usually check out the website everythingpreschool.com and look under the theme I'm teaching, then click on songs. For example, the song above is one of about 20 songs under the "All About Me" theme from that website. Not all of them are worth using, but we sing this one often since it gets them up and moving and tests their listening skills. We usually end it with "everyone stand up, everyone stand up...":

Another great places to find activity songs or finger plays is
Index to Activity Verses and Songs with Actions in Primary 1 (from lds.org)

This one has lots of songs (especially about family, moral themes like honesty, and Christian themes) to choose from (It indexes the Primary 1 Manual also on the website and you have to go and find the song in the lesson).

These are my favorite learning songs to sing with the kids during circle time:

Days of the Week
(Adam’s Family Theme Music)

There’s Sunday and there’s Monday,
There’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday,
There’s Thursday and there’s Friday,
And then there’s Saturday,
Day’s of the week (clap, clap)
Day’s of the week (clap, clap)
Day’s of the week, day’s of the week, day’s of the week (clap, clap)

There Are Seven Days of the Week
(Tuen of "Oh My Darlin’")

There are seven days,
There are seven days,
There are seven days,
Of the week

Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday,
Saturday.

Sunday, Monday
(Tune of "Little Bunny Foo, Foo")

Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday,
Then we start again.
(Sing again, as many times as you like)

Children's music that I have on my I-pod and use often (You should be able to look them up at I-tunes and buy any that you want. After compiling this list, I realized that I love the Music for Little People CD's!):

Action/activity songs:

The Wheels on the Bus, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites

Ring Around the Rosy, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites (Disc. 2)

Monkeys on the Bed, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites

The Freeze Dance, Music for Little People, Birthday Party Singalong

Head, Shoulders, Knees And Toes, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites (Disc 2)

If You’re Happy & You Know It, Music for Little People

Hokey Pokey, Music for Little People

Alphabet Songs:

A- You’re Adorable, John Lithgow, Singin’ in the Bathtub

Alphabet Song, Sound Stage Orchestra/Children’s Showcase Singers, One Hundred One Favorite Ch: Vol. 1 A-H

ABC’s, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites

Alphabet Song, Music for Little People, 101 Toddler Favorites

The ABC Song, Susan Salidor, Come & Make a Circle

Other Songs
(for dancing/movement with instruments):

The Month Song, Susan Salidor, Come and Make a Circle

Cleanup, Start Singing with Barney

Count the Animals, Kindergarten Sing & Learn

Singin’ in the Bathtub, John Lithgow, Singin’ in the Bathtub

It’s Hard to Be An Elephant, Jack Prelutsky, A Pizza the Size of the Sun

Jump Rope Medley, Music for Little People

It’s Raining, Music for Little People

Over the Deep Blue Sea, Susan Salidor, Come and Make a Circle

Boom, Boom, Music for Little People

Sh-Boom, The Chords, Cars

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Music for Little People

This is a photo of my box of instruments. You can make a lot of things yourself, or buy a set and add to it as I have here.

Anyone have any other great ideas about homemade instruments, cool music, songs, or CD's? Please share!

Simple Machines, Day 2: Levers & Pulleys

Materials: What is a Lever?, What is a Pulley?, both by Lloyd G. Douglas, and household examples of each of these types of machines, question of the day sentence (Which machine do you like best? w/pictures of a dump truck, crane, and backhoe), books for reading corner, box filled with household levers (scissors, can opener, spatula, nut cracker, stapler, tongs, etc.- the final lever I pulled out was a large wooden spoon with a toilet paper roll and marshmallows to launch with them), a pulley hidden in the room (mine was the mini blinds on the window), some examples of pulleys (can use a string attached to a rock that kids pull up and down over their finger), snacks, Materials for centers: computer, machines for children to experiment with: cars, tools, broom, hitting a baseball, block tower to knock over, pulleys, etc..

10:00-10:05– Question of the Day/Reading Corner
As children enter, have them find their name card and put it on the “question of the day” chart- “Which machine do you like best?”. Direct them to the reading area to look at books until all the children arrive. You could also sing a song or do a movement activity (Simon Says, Do as I’m Doing, Wheels on the Bus, etc.).

10:05-10:30- Circle Time
Welcome and Introduction- Have children sit on “carpets” and sing a welcome song (Here We Are Together, Hello, Hello- You can sing several songs and use fun activity songs as well)

Discuss “Question of the Day”- count and share

Review Rules- Have children model what it looks like to listen, be happy, etc.

Helping Hands- Rotate class jobs and remind children what their job is

Teacher- Assists the teacher (hold books, pass things out, etc.)

Weatherman- Look outside and chooses one or two weather pictures to put on the chart of today’s weather.

Calendar- Helps put the dates on the calendar

Snack Helper- Helps pass out snacks

Calendar- Have calendar helper put dates on the calendar. Sing a “Days of the Week” song. Talk about what day it was yesterday, today and what day it will be tomorrow. Look at the pattern and discuss the shapes.

Weather- With the help of the weatherman, look outside and put up the weather for today on the weather chart. You could also discuss what kind of clothing is the best to wear today.

Movement activity- (sometime during circle time to break it up a bit) 5 little Monkeys Jumping on the bed. (song from 101 Toddler Favorites)

Alphabet- Sing the alphabet sound song. Have children find the picture hidden around the room (they can each find two) and come sit on their carpets. Ask them what letter the pictures start with and have children put them on the correct letter on the alphabet chart (about half of them start with the letter N).

Numbers and Colors- Discuss numbers and colors throughout the day as they come up.

10:30-10:40 Wash hands/Snack- Dismiss to the table. Eat snacks.

10:40- 11:05 - Lesson/Activity/Craft-
Tell the children you have a box. Ask them if they can guess what is inside? Tell them you will read them a story and that they should try to think about what might be in the box while you are reading. Read “What is a Lever?” and when you’re done ask the kids if they know what’s in your box. Then start pulling out the household levers one at a time.

Activity: The last lever to pull out is a wooden spoon with a toilet paper roll as the fulcrum and mini- marshmallows. Show the children how you can make a lever and launch the marshmallows into the air. Then launch them at the kids and tell them that whoever the marshmallow hits gets to eat it. (I ended up launching two at a time and naming the kids that those two were for as I shot them).

Read “What is a pulley?” Tell them that there is a pulley somewhere in the room and you want them to see if they can figure out where it is as you read the story. When you are done reading you’ll have them guess where they see a pulley (I used the pulley on the blinds).

Activity: Discuss where the pulley is and show them how it works. I also let them experiment with a pulley over their finger (a string with a pencil or rock on the end to weigh it down).

Can you think of other machines in our homes that help us do things?

Tell the children that there are lots of levers and pulleys all around us. Kicking a soccer ball is using your leg as a lever, hitting a ball with a bat is a lever, sweeping the floor with a broom is a lever. Let the children experiment with these and other machines during centers.

11:05-11:25 – Centers or Structured Play (group game, puzzles, learning activity, learning centers, etc.)
-Computer- Starfall.com , Letter Nn, or Fable "Morning 3, Night 4"

-Machines Center- Choose a few to put out: Cars, ramps, bottles w/lids, scissors & paper (include a paper cutter), knife & playdoh, and add levers and pulleys, ie: soccer ball, baseball bat, broom to sweep, and the marshmallow launcher!

-Make a Pinwheel- use the pattern at the following website and let the kids decorate and make their own wheel and axel pinwheel.

11:25-11:30 - Clean up and Close- Sing the clean up song and cleanup.

Sports Theme, Day 1

First, a little about us. We are 4 SAHM moms, we each take turns teaching in our homes. We teach 4 boys. We teach two weeks at a time, two days a week, for two hours each time. We met together and planned the themes that each of us wanted to teach. Then we assigned letters, numbers & shapes for each segment. There really is no rhyme or reason to my lessons. I try to follow the schedule that us four moms agree upon, but as for the actual material, I like to try new things each time. I get my ideas from the internet.

For music time, I put together a preschool CD that is divided into four parts. Each part lasts about 15 minutes. I use the same CD each time I teach. The kids love it, and since we only meet every six weeks, they don't get tired of doing the same thing over and over. I like it because I know that I have 15 minutes of each day already planned! They especially love "Goin' on a Bear Hunt" by Greg & Steve Kids in Action. We get out our pretend backpacks and put our pretend snacks inside (and don't forget the camera!), then we sling our pretend backbacks on and we're on our way. When using instruments, I try to have them follow the beat.

Theme: Sports

Letters: Mm & Qq

Numbers: 13, 14

Shape: Pentagon

Day 1

9:30-9:45 Circle Time

9:45-10:05 Letter Stations – Letter Mm (5 minutes each)
Sing the alphabet song. Introduce the letter of the week, Mm. Discuss what the lowercase and uppercase letter looks like, sound like and words that start with it. Do action words that start with the letter Mm- (pretend you’re using a) Mop, (act like a) monkey, (drink a glass of) milk, (putting on a pair of) mittens. (Thanks Cristi for the idea!)

Break into stations:

• Computer station: starfall.com “Letter M” only
• Worksheet station: Matching “M” words
• Chalkboard station: Tracing the letter Mm (you write Mm on the chalkboard and then have each child trace over the letter with chalk)

10:05-10:10 Lesson – Body Movement
Ask the children what sports they like to play or watch. Have them pretend they’re playing soccer, baseball, basketball, swimming, fishing, hiking, football, etc.
Talk about soccer
What are some of the rules? (No hands except for the goalie, you can use your feet or head)
What do you wear? (Jersey, shorts, cleats, long socks, shin guards) Show pictures from the picture book, Morgan Plays Soccer.

10:10-10:20 Reading
Morgan Plays Soccer by Anne Rockwell

10:20-10:35 Snack

10:35-10:45 Play Time
Soccer in the hall

10:45-11:00 Music
Goin’ on a Bear Hunt by Greg & Steve Kids in Action (action song)
Shoo Fly by Susan Salidor Come and Make a Circle (use instruments)
Jungle Gym by Jack Johnson Sing-a-longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George (use instruments, or creative dance using colorful scarves)
Tap your Toe and Follow Me by Susan Salidor (Action song)
The Wheels on the Bus by 101 Toddler Favorites (action song)

11:00-11:10 Math- Number 13
Have each child share their “13” of something (they had a homework assignment to find "13" of something and bring it to preschool)-practice counting

11:10-11:25 Art Activity

Print this soccer ball onto cardstock: http://www.lil-fingers.com/coloring/images/soccer.gif. Point out the pentagon shape on the soccer ball, have then squeeze glue onto the pentagons only. Then have them sprinkle glitter on the glue.

11:25-11:30 Closing
Read books on their own

Sports Theme, Day 2

9:30-9:45 Circle Time

9:45-10:05 Sequencing Lesson – Making baseball cookies
This was copied from Cristi's Sequencing/Patterns lesson

Ask the children if they have ever made cookies. What do you do first, next, etc. Show the four photos (from DLTK's website) and have them help you put them in order.

Have them sit around the kitchen table and have them help you roll out the cookie dough (made the night before) and make cutouts. While the cookies are baking, make the frosting, have them help you count out the measurements, and have them take turns using the mixer.

10:05-10:20 Reading
Talk about baseball
What are some of the rules? (3 strikes your out, running the bases, you’re out when your tagged, etc. )
What do you wear? (uniform, cleats, long socks, baseball mitt, helmet) Show pictures from a picture book)
What parts of your body do you use? Pretend you’re swinging a bat, throwing/catching the ball

Read My Lucky Hat by Kevin O’Malley

10:20-10:40 Snack Time
Decorate baseball cookies & eat them

10:40-10:50 Play Time
T-ball in the hall

10:50-11:05 Music
Two Little Blackbirds by Susan Salidor Come and Make a Circle (fingerplay -I glued a blackbird onto 10 popsicle sticks to do this fingerplay)
Bop 'Til You Drop by Greg & Steve Kids in Action (action song)
This Land is Your Land by Kid's Dance Express Songs of the USA (use instruments)
Ring Around the Rosies by 101 Toddler Favorites (action song)
ABC song by 101 Toddler Favorites (creative dance using colorful scarves)

11:05-11:15 Review
Play fishing game and review Pentagon, Mm, 13.

I use the fishing game at least once each segment. To make the fishing pole, I tied & glued yarn to a wooden dowel with a magnet glued and tied to the other end of the yarn. To make the fish, I printed fish onto cardstock, colored them, and then had them laminated. Put a paper clip on each fish. Now you can write with a dry erase marker on the back of each fish whatever you want. The possibilities are endless.

I wrote Mm, 13, and drew a pentagon shape on the back of the fish. Each child took turns catching the fish, told me what was on the back of the fish. I asked them what does the letter Mm sound like? Can you count to 13? How many sides are on a pentagon?

11:15-11:30 Memory Game
Sports Theme (we didn't get to this, so you will see it again on Day 3)