Currently, I teach preschool for a non-for-profit childcare program in Westchester, NY. On this page I would like to share some of my units, lessons, and experiences from my classroom. As an early childhood educator I am an advocate for learning through play. I adapt the ideas of Creative Curriculum and Second Step into the foundation of my classroom. If you would like to learn more about these programs check out my Professional Development page.
The Ocean
The ocean is a complex and diverse world that not many get to explore. Living in Westchester County, many of my students may never get the opportunity to explore marine life. In a month long unit my class explored the amazing world and creatures from under the ocean.
The Beach
To launch a unit about the ocean I felt that I needed to relate the ocean to the students experiences. Many of my students visit the beach in the summer time. The unit below focuses on exploring sand, waves, and salt water.
Geography and Transportation
Next we explored maps and the vastness of oceans. I felt that it was important to expose the students to maps and how sailors use these navigate the ocean since their are no roads. We spent time discussing what is an ocean and what is a sea. We then labelled the main oceans and seas on a world map.
Then we began to explore how someone can travel across the ocean if there are no bridges or roads. We explored how to swim and what equipment is used. We also learned about different types of boats and submarines. As a class we worked on constructing a boat for our classroom and learned how to row using an oar.
Geography and Transportation-18l3zff
Fish
We also explored the different types of marine life found in the ocean. We began by learning all about the different types of fish found in the ocean. We had a classroom visitor who brought in salt water fish for us to feel and analyze. The students had the opportunity to feel the scales and look inside the mouths and gills of the fish. We also took the chance to visit a local pet store and learn about the fish in the store. We even added to our family by bringing home a classroom fish named Blue!
Following our week about fish we dove right into learning about other marine animals. The most popular one is, of course, the shark. Shark week was a huge hit and we had to have a second shark week!
We explored many different marine animals over the next month. During this time we worked hard to transform our dramatic play area into the ocean. We created a boat, a coral reef, and various different aquatic animals. The students used puppets, goggles, snorkels, and various other props while under the ocean.
We also tried our hand at making jello!
Construction
In many cities there is always some form of construction occurring. Many of my students have parents who work in construction. Another unit I created is a study about construction. Before beginning we first took the time to learn about construction workers, the gear they wear, and the tools we used. Below is a sample lesson.
Part of construction is the application of measuring. I used this opportunity to explore how to measure objects and explore why this is an important skill.
We also learned about the various vehicles used for construction. On our daily walks we would stop and observe the way these machines and vehicles worked.
Next we moved on to the different structures that can be built. We explored houses, schools, skyscrapers, bridges, roads, and tunnels.
The students experimented with building and even had the opportunity to construct forts in the classroom.
To learn more about this unit please view my video below!
Pizza
What child doesn’t love pizza? This unit came about with a class vote on what we wanted to learn about. We explored the ingredients used in pizza and the pizza making steps. We acted out Pete’s a Pizza and read various other pizza related texts. We visited a local pizza shop to do research about the attributes of a pizza parlor. While there we got a crash course on how to make pizza!
We then applied this knowledge by creating a pizza parlor in our classroom and practiced making pizza ourselves!
Check out the full lesson here: pizza-1267kcw
Shoes
Another fun unit to use is about shoes! In preschool children are quite fascinated with shoes as they learn to take care of their own needs. The students practiced lacing, designing, and constructing shoes. We expanded this lesson to later learn about all of the different types of shoes. We transformed our dramatic play area into a shoe store. View this lesson here: shoes-r3vxkx
A great text to use for this unit is Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean. The story explores the story of Pete the Cat and how his shoes keep changing colors when he steps in various different substances. I designed a lesson around this text which can explore here: I Love My White Shoes-u71mo6
Clothing
If you want to learn more about my unit on clothing visit my Professional Development page and check out the presentation about clothing.