Pre-Kindergarten Co-Teacher
As a Pre-Kindergarten Co-Teacher, I designed and developed developmentally appropriate lessons for young learners with a focus on exploration, creativity and building confidence as a student. It is my goal to help each and every one of my students develop both socially and emotionally and to provide for them in a personalized manner. Most importantly, is my desire for every child to come to school each day excited and ready to learn and to know that their teacher loves and cares for them! Below are some highlights from my Pre-Kindergarten year.
Math: Graphing Our Snack
In this particular lesson, we decided to graph our snack for the day before we were allowed to eat it. Through hands-on learning and free exploration, the child is challenged to make their own unique observations. By doing so, it further enhances their learning and leads to a deeper, more personalized understanding of what is going on. This was one of many creative math lessons that we did throughout the year!
Reading Readiness: Letter of the Week
Each week in Pre-K we introduce a new "Letter of the Week". It is our goal during that time to give the children as much exposure to this letter as possible. The children complete both a journal and letter project as well as a handwriting activity. Our room is decorated with pictures of things that began with that letter and our discovery bin is filled with various "letter of the week" objects. In the front of the room we hang up the letter along with words and pictures that begin with that same letter. Then, every morning during morning meeting we take the first few minutes to brainstorm any words we could think of that start with our letter of the week. Exposure, both informally and formally is key in the Pre-Kindergarten year and it is our goal to reinforce this as children develop their letter sense.
Transportation Switch: Land
To learn about transportation, the children participate in a "switch" by rotating through all four Pre-K classes where each teacher introduces them to a different form of transporation. Throughout the switch, they learn about Water, Land, Sea and Air. In our classroom, the children begun by learning all about land transportation and in particular, different types of trucks. We learned that there are five main types of trucks; lumber, freight, refrigerator, moving, and livestock. The lesson concluded with the children completing their very own truck and having to match the appropriate label to their truck.
Science: Simple Machines Unit
As one of our science units, we study "Simple Machines". In this unit, we discuss six different types of simple machines; pulleys, wheels, levers, inclined planes, wedges, and screws. Each week we introduced a new machine and explored both in and out of our classroom how this machine worked. We took mini field trips around the school to discover these machines and we investigated through hands-on learning how they impacted our lives. The learning goal of this unit, was to discover how "simple machines make our lives easier". The children finished this unit by creating their own machine and explained how this machine made their life easier.
Discovery Play
Pre-K is a year all about discovery. While there is so much to learn from direct teacher instruction, there is so much more to be learned from pure and unenforced play. Children are inherently creative and when given the time and place to explore with peers, their creativity is fostered.