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.