1
“Penn”guins of the Dale
Early Childhood Education Center
The assignment: You are about to interview for a teaching job at the prestigious Pennguins
of the Dale Early Childhood Education Center. For the interview, you are expected to bring
in a portfolio. This portfolio should include:

a unit of study that covers ONE appropriate preschool theme, and has:

a gross motor activity or game,

an art or craft,

two more lessons from an approved list,

and a self-written children’s book.
Topic Brainstorm—
Most preschools have a thematic unit of study that lasts about a week to a month. During
that time the students will participate in a variety of activities to help the child develop
physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. Throughout this unit you need to select
a theme and create various activities and materials that support your theme.
Please brain storm a list of YOUR themes:
Examples of themes:







All about me
Circles
Birds
Bugs
Community helpers
Ocean
Hygiene
2
Step 1 Know your audience
NOTES: All children are different and develop at different speeds. Although each child is
unique there are specific characteristics of each age group. Please fill in the chart below.
Type of
Development
Physical
Development
Intellectual
Development
Emotional
Development
Social Development
Characteristics of Preschoolers
Gross Motor
Fine Motor
Intellectual development is also called ___________ development.
3
It’s all about the Play!
Fill in the blank:
An adult’s job is to ___________________.
A teenager’s job is to _________________.
A child’s job is to ____________.
Play enhances development by:
Types of Play
Solitary play: Plays alone. Ex: playing with a rattle
Parallel Play: Plays alongside, not with another child. Ex. One child plays with a
car sitting next to a child playing with blocks
Cooperative: Interacts while playing with other children. Ex. Playing tag
Constructive: play with materials that can create. Ex. Playing with building
blocks
Dramatic: imaginative play that usually involves more than one child, for
instance, playing house or doctor.
4
Step 2: Plan, Research and Describe.
Research:
THEME
Come up with a ______
_______ to hold all of your
lesson ideas together.
The ________ as well as preschool teacher books
have many ideas of activities, how to prepare
for and how to perform the activities.
Make sure your ideas teach
the children physical,
intellectual, emotional and
social skills as well as can be
______.
Describe:
Write the directions as if someone who has
______ heard of the activity has to do it.
Other lesson plans may include:








math
science
letter of the week
health
social skills
drama
sign language
Etc…
5
Planning for Preschool
Directions Your class will be walking to the Malvern School to participate in teaching small
groups of preschool students. You will have approximately three groups of 3-6 children, and you
will do about 15-30 minutes of teaching with each group. You are to provide ALL supplies for the
students to use, and you must make a sample craft (if doing a craft). Make sure your lesson
aligns to your group’s theme and book.
Lesson Plan Outline
1. Over all theme or big idea:
2. Title of book:
3. Provide 3 questions you will ask while reading the book:
(include page numbers)
a.
b.
c.
4. Objective for activity: The students will…
5. Materials needed to complete lesson:
6. Step by Step Directions: (use lined paper if needed)
7. What area of curriculum would this fall under? (for
example science, math, health, etc…)
8. How do you know the children learned the objective?
6
Preschool Teachers are always prepared!
The Importance of Reading to Children
Bonding:
Oral Language:
Opens New Worlds:
Kindergarten Readiness:
Smart:
Reading to children is an essential skill to build a love of
learning and books. In class and at home we will be working on
writing our very own children’s book. Plan a book that supports
your thematic unit. To prepare for this exciting project you will
need to …
WRITE A ROUGH DRAFT OF A CHILDREN’S BOOK.
DUE NEXT CLASS!!!!
7
Preschool Unit: Grading Sheet
Gross Motor lesson:___________________
5
4
3
2
Fine Motor lesson:___________________
1
5
Directions
Directions
Materials
listed
Relevance
to unit
Practical
Materials
listed
Relevance
to unit
Practical
4
3
2
Total /20
Third lesson:___________________
5
4
3
2
1
Total /20
Fourth lesson: __________
1
5
Directions
Directions
Materials
listed
Relevance
to unit
Practical
Materials
listed
Relevance
to unit
Practical
4
3
2
Total /20
1
Total /20
Guide to Grading
5= Lesson is clearly written, specific, includes all materials, is relevant to the preschool unit and is
developmentally relevant and practical for a preschool class. You are ready to teach right now! 
4= Almost has all of the above. Make a few changes and you are on your way!
3= Several changes need to be made. This cannot be followed through as written. The kids are napping.
2= Many changes need to be made. This is confusing and not well planned. Watch out for spit balls.
1= Preschool teachers do not ‘wing it’. There was no effort shown in your lessons. Pursue another
career.
8
Story for a Young Child ---100 Points
Title of Story: ______________________Recommended Age: ___________Theme: ____________
_____Overall neatness (10 pts.) (colorful, legible, bound pages, and creative)
_____Age appropriate (5 pts.)(age must appear on front or back cover)
_____Positive theme (10 pts.)
_____Title (5 pts.)(title must appear on the front cover)
_____Author’s name (5 pts.) (name must appear on the front cover)
_____Cover (10 pts.)(interesting, colorful, and reflects the theme of the story)
_____Minimum of 5 pages with text and pictures (5 pts.)
_____Minimum of 15 sentences per book ((15 pts.) (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar)
_____Text (5 pts.) (teacher approved method)
_____An illustration per page (15 pts.)(colorful, background detail,
reflects theme of story)
_____Presentation (15 pts.)(reader shows book, adjusts voice
volume and pitch, makes eye contact with audience and has fun!)
Quality of Portfolio
5
4
3
2
1
Cover/Name
Professional
Creative
Neatness
Total /20
Book Total points:_________/100
9
Over All Score
Total Score:
lesson: ___/20
Portfolio:___/20
lesson: ___/20
lesson: ___/20
lesson:
/20
Book: ___/100
Extra credit:
Plan another lesson!
____/5 lesson
____/5 Directions for lesson
____/5 Materials needed for lesson
____/5 Relates to thematic unit
____/20 Total
___________/
200