HIGHSCOPE PRESCHOOL KEY DEVELOPMENTAL INDICATORS
(KDIS) AND SUPPORTIVE STRATEGIES
HighScope Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs), “are the building blocks of thinking and
reasoning at each stage of development” (Epstein, 2007 – Essentials of Active Learning in
Preschool).
Using the KDIs as a guideline for planning will ensure that children’s developmental needs are
being addressed in our classrooms. Remember that each child is unique and will have differing
interests and abilities; the Learning Plan needs to be individualized for each child and reflect the
active participatory learning approach.
Resources used in the development of this strategy list include, but are not limited to: Me, You ,
Us: Social – Emotional Learning in Preschool (Epstein 2009), Getting it Right for Young
Children from Diverse Backgrounds (Espinosa 2010), Small-Group Times to Scaffold Early
Learning (HighScope Early Childhood Staff 2009), Real Science in Preschool: Here, There and
Everywhere (Neill 2008), “I Know What’s Next!”: Preschool Transitions Without Tears or Turmoil
(Evans 2007), “I’m Older than You. I’m Five!”: Math in the Preschool Classroom (Epstein and
Gainsley 2005), 50 Large Group Activities for Active Learners (Boisvert and Gainsley 2006)
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APPROACHES TO LEARNING
1. Initiative: Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world.
 Children are eager to learn. They exhibit curiosity, independence, and self-direction as
they learn about relationships, materials, actions, and ideas. They take reasonable risks as
they investigate the environment.
2. Planning: Children make plans and follow through on their intentions.
 Children make plans and decisions, and express choices and intentions based on their
interests. Their plans increase in detail and complexity. Children follow through on their
plans.
3. Engagement: Children focus on activities that interest them.
 Children sustain involvement and concentration in their play. They are persistent,
motivated, and able to stay engaged.
4. Problem Solving: Children solve problems encountered in play.
 Children are inventive and flexible in solving a variety of problems. They progress from
using trial and error to more systematic attempts at problem solving.
5. Use of Resources: Children gather information and formulate ideas about their world.
 Children use all their senses and a variety of tools to explore and gather information
about the world around them. They ask questions and try to explain their ideas about the
things they encounter.
6. Reflection: Children reflect on their experiences.
 Children use their experiences to draw conclusions about people, materials, events, and
ideas. They make connections between what they already know and what they are doing
and learning.
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Approaches to Learning
Greeting:
 Use pictures on a message board for children to figure out messages for the day. This may
include how many days are left of school, who is having a birthday, special events or
changes to the daily routine, new materials added to the learning environment, etc. The
message board has the potential to increase children’s interest and excitement about the
day ahead
 Make sure to display and refer to the daily routine in picture format for children
Greetings can include, but are not limited to:
 How many days are left of school for the
 Special hellos / “I Love You” ritual /
week
Greeting song
 Any special event/changes in the daily
 Nametag (Letterlink) activities / Signingroutine
in
 Special news about a child
 Changing a clip from home to school
 Weather conditions
 A commitment board / Class meeting
 Something new in the environment
 Joke of the day
 A visitor to the class room
 An absent teacher
The Message Board can reflect:
Please refer to the HighScope resources, From Message to Meaning, (Gainsley, 2008) and
Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool (Epstein, 2007) for additional ideas and clarity in
practice.
Planning and Recall:
Use a variety of planning and recall strategies to keep children interested. Relying on 1 strategy
will eventually bore the children and decrease their engagement in planning and recall. The goal
is to increase children’s thinking and ability to verbalize it. Asking questions like, “What will you
use?” (to complete your plan), or “How will you use (the materials)..?” will encourage higher
order thinking, interest , vocabulary and initiative to complete the planned activity.
 Use planning boards, or books (children indicate where they plan to play by pointing, placing
a name card, magnetic letter, or number, or some other object on the picture of the area
where they plan to play)
 Children go to the area they want to play in and bring back an object from that area to
describe their plan (variation: the teacher gathers favorite items from different areas to help
children formulate plans)
 Use props to plan with (based on children’s interests, examples include: a stuffed toy,
telephones, microphones, small toys, etc)
 Have children get in line, pretending to be a train. Choo-choo around the room stopping in
each area. Children get off the train in the area they plan to play in.
 Recall “works-in-progress” children may not have finished from previous days
 Use a tape recorder to record plans, play it back for recall
 Create a map and allow children to indicate where they want to play by “driving” a small car
to that area on the map
 Use songs (ex: “Jingle, jingle, jingle jive, clap your hands and count to five” change
numbers, rhymes and movements as needed, children plan after they complete the
movement)
Please refer to the HighScope resources, Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool, (Epstein,
2007), for support strategies and clarity in practice.
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Clean-up Time:
 Ensure that the classroom supports children’s independent “find – use – return” cycle of
play. Make sure that how to use the spaces and materials are clear (Ex: if the easel is
separated from the paper and brushes, its use may not be clear to young children). Also
make sure that shelves and containers are clearly labeled so that children know where to
find and return items.
 Allow children the choice about where and with whom to clean as oftenas possible. Use a
variety of strategies that engage children in cleaning. Acknowledge children’s attempts and
involvement , ex: “You two are working together to put this block away” or “Look, you put all
of the dolls away and now this area is clean and safe!” This builds children’s decision
making, problem solving and sense of mastery.
 Clean-up like… (dogs, dinosaurs, robots, teddy bears - what ever children are interested in)
 Have a clean-up parade (put music on and parade around the room, when the music stops
clean-up where you are)
 Wear pretend binoculars and go on a “toy hunt” to spot items that need to be put away
 Play “Beat the Clock.” Turn a timer on and encourage children to race the timer by cleaning
up a specified area, amount or item before the timer goes off
Work Time:
 Add props and materials to build on children’s interests and skills
 Allow children the choice about where and with whom to play. Allow children to use
materials in novel ways. Children may take the sorting toys over to the house area to cook,
or the play dough to make cookies. Support children by thinking how you can allow them to
accomplish their plan while still maintaining the daily routine and safety of the classroom.
Example: Children want to take ALL of the sorting toys over to the House Area to cook with. The
teacher tells the children that he/she is concerned because this will be a lot to clean-up during
clean-up time. The teacher engages children in problem solving about the potential clean-up to
develop a group agreement about how and when they will clean-up the toys before they begin
their play. The teacher then follows through on the group agreement at the end of work time.
Group agreements might include: that each child will assist with clean-up, they will begin
cleaning at the 10 minute warning, they will clean until the job is done, etc.
Allowing children choice and flexibility builds their sense of autonomy, mastery, problem solving
and initiative.
 Practice S.O.U.L. – Stay silent, observe, understand and listen before entering children’s
play. Try to understand what the purpose of the play is, what roles are being recreated, the
level of representation and language and finally, how you can scaffold children’s current
levels of development.
Note: Being ardent observers help educators assess children’s development, interests and
emotional states. The information garnered is vital for individualizing, developing intentional
learning plans for children and remaining responsive to children’s needs. Educators who
practice this art of observation and are responsive to the needs of the children have
classrooms where children feel safe, acknowledged and capable which compounds positive
cognitive and emotional outcomes for children assuring constructive approaches to learning.

Use the HighScope Steps to Conflict Resolution in response to children’s social conflict or
problems with materials
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Please refer to the HighScope resources: Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool, (Epstein,
2007); Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days, (Marshall, 2007); You Can’t Come to My Birthday
Party (Evans, 2002), for strategy ideas and clarity in practice.
Small Group:
To support children’s approaches to learning during small group, teachers need to incorporate
the following strategies:
 Plan small group activities around children’s interests
 Plan small group activities that accommodate each child’s developmental level
 Make sure that the activity incorporates the Active Participatory Learning approach
 Make sure to have all of the materials needed at hand to conduct the group experience to
limit wait time
 Make sure that each child has his/her own set of materials to use to avoid time lost time due
to children having to negotiate for materials
 Get up and move around the table to talk individually with each child about how they are
using the materials. Support, scaffold and encourage their ideas
 Refer children to one another
 Plan small groups with an idea of a beginning, middle and end and how children will
transition to the next activity
Integrating these strategies into small group time will improve the likelihood that children will
engage in the activity increasing children’s cognitive outcomes.
Large Group:
To support children’s approaches to learning during large group, teachers need to incorporate
the following strategies:
 Plan large group activities around children’s interests and developmental levels
 Elicit children’s ideas about how to move their bodies, naming movements, act out stories,
or problem solve
 Allow children to take the lead in some activities by giving them choices, following their lead
and commenting on their actions
 Plan group time with a beginning, middle, end and transition in mind.
 Augment large group activities with class made song books, movement books, finger play
books etc.
Transition:
 Moving like an animal (pretending to be mice in the hallway)
 Moving in various ways (crawling like babies to small group, pretending to have different
kinds of shoes on that change the way children move, etc.)
 Singing a song (“If you are wearing color word, go to the door.” To the tune of “If you’re
happy and you know it.”)
 Release groups of children by some attribute (clothing, color, age, gender, size, etc)
Gross Motor:
To support children’s approaches to learning during gross motor, teachers need to incorporate
the following strategies:
 Provide gross motor activities daily (20 minute minimum)
 Interact with children during gross motor play indoors or outdoors
 Build on children’s interests by planning activities and providing props
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Carry on High Scope and Head Start educational practices and strategies outside as well as
inside
Lunch:
 Allow children to set their own places for meals. Ex: plates, cups, napkins and forks are set
out for children to get before they come to the table
 Set up a basket of extra utensils, napkins and cups to keep at the table. If a child drops a
utensil, cup or napkin, a replacement is at arm’s reach versus having to get up and retrieve
one
 Distinguish between serving spoons and regular spoons to help children make the
distinction. Ex: When serving spoons are identical to eating spoons, mark the handle of the
serving spoons and bring it to the children’s attention
 Encourage children to serve themselves
 Encourage children to clean-up after themselves when they spill and before they leave the
table. Acknowledge their efforts
Tooth Brushing:
To support children’s approaches to learning during tooth brushing, teachers need to
incorporate the following strategies:
 Teach children how to brush teeth and maintain hygiene
 Set up tooth brushing toothpaste and cups ahead of time to avoid wait time. Allow children
as much management over their own toothbrush, cap and cup as possible
 Read books about the importance of brushing teeth
 Practice brushing teeth on models to keep children’s interest throughout the year
 Make the tooth brushing experience as much fun as possible by engaging children in
activities while waiting and acknowledging children’s bright, shiny teeth
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SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Self-identity: Children have a positive self identity
 Children are aware of the characteristics that make up their identity, such as gender,
ethnicity, culture, and abilities. They perceive their uniqueness and develop a healthy
self-image.
2. Sense of competence: Children feel they are competent.
 Children make discoveries and solve problems with an expectation of success. They
believe they can acquire the knowledge or skills they need.
3. Emotions: Children recognize, label, and regulate their feelings.
 Children identify and name their emotions, and recognize that others have feelings that
may be the same as or different from their own. They regulate the expression of their
feelings.
4. Empathy: Children demonstrate empathy toward others.
 Children understand the feelings of others by drawing on their own experiences with the
same emotions. They respond empathically by sharing the happiness of others and
offering assistance when they see that others are emotionally upset or physically hurt.
5. Community: Children participate in the community of the classroom.
 Children act as members of the classroom community by participating in routines,
cooperating with social expectations, and sharing responsibility for maintaining the
classroom.
6. Building relationships: Children build relationships with other children and adults.
 Children relate to others in the classroom. They refer to teachers and peers by name.
Children develop friendships, seek out others, and engage in give-and-take interactions.
7. Cooperative play: Children engage in cooperative play.
 Children involve adults and peers in their play. They engage in cooperative play with
others by sharing materials, space, conversation, and ideas.
8. Moral development: Children develop an internal sense of right and wrong.
 Children develop ethical behavior. They understand that there are moral principles that
do not vary by situation (e.g., people should not hit others).
9. Conflict resolution: Children resolve social conflicts.
 Children engage in conflict resolution, or social problem-solving, to settle interpersonal
differences. They identify the problem, offer and listen to others’ ideas, and choose a
solution that is agreeable to all.
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Social/Emotional Development
Greeting:
 Use the Conscious Discipline Special Hello apron to greet children individually and
according to the child’s choice. Make sure to get down at their physical level, making eye
contact and touch as appropriate
 Use the Conscious Discipline structures of the “Wish Well” tray and safe box
 Greet children and parents warmly, making sure to acknowledge all who enter the room,
even late comers
 Use children’s names and letter links in greeting activities. Example: Sign-in sheets, name
tags, job board, friends and family board, commitment board, attendance board or display,
graphs
 Greet children in the language the child will most likely understand (native language, sign
language)
 Introduce any visitors in the classroom to the children
 Teach and allow children to greet visitors in an appropriate way (Ex: use the Conscious
Discipline structure of the Greeting Center)
 Allow children to identify emotions through graphing, or games
 Ideas from “The Kindness Curriculum”
 Activities from the Mental Health Handbook
 Activities from the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) Classroom Strategies
book, as long as it is used to build resilience within all of the children
 Any activity that builds a sense of initiative, belonging and competence for all of the children
in the class
Planning and Recall:
 Allow children to plan and recall in ways that are supportive of their development.
 Example: Non-verbal children are encouraged to draw, act out, or bring an item that they
played with to the table. Developmentally mature children are asked about the order of their
play.
 Have all of the needed materials for planning ready before planning time
 Encourage children to listen to other children by asking if they have any questions for the
child who just planned/recalled.
 Acknowledge children who were helpful with each other during the day
 Describe how children worked out problems during the day during recall
Clean-up Time:
 Encourage children to help someone else clean
 During clean-up acknowledge children’s helpfulness. Take pictures of children cleaning and
post them on a “helpfulness” board
 Use many strategies to keep clean-up fun and fresh to maintain interest
 Use a consistent signal to let children know that transitions are approaching/happening
 Use a feather duster, or a feather and “dust” children as they clean while singing to the tune
of Frere Jacques, “Who is cleaning, Who is cleaning? Here I come, here I come, dust, dust,
dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, I’ll dust (child’s name), I’ll dust (child’s name).” Note: Make
sure the child wants to be “dusted.”
 Sing “Happy Clean-Up Today” – to the tune of Happy Birthday
 Sing, “If you’re happy and you know it, clean a toy” and then, “If you cleaned and you know
it shout Yahoo!”
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Play “trick the teacher” Ask children at the 5- minute transition signal, if they would like to
“trick” the other teacher. Tell them that when they have 2 minutes left to play they will quietly
start cleaning. When the other teacher gives the signal to clean-up, the children surprise
her/him by having clean-up done. The “surprised” teacher joins in the excitement and
acknowledges the children’s helpfulness and ability to surprise him/her
Play “Simon Says” at clean-up time. Occasionally add silly places, or items to clean. Ex:
“Simon says clean the bat cave.”
Work Time:
 Make sure that the learning environment is clearly labeled and there are enough materials
for children to expand their play
 Interact with children becoming partners in their play
 Always position self so that the entire room can be scanned
 Go to areas where the children need extra support and enter the play
 Walk over to children to speak to them quietly if needed
 Handle mistaken behaviors matter-of-factly (respond vs. reacting)
 Add props and materials according to children’s culture and interests
 Listen to children, observe their play, and try to understand what they are gaining from their
play. Note the developmental level of play the children are portraying; solitary, parallel or
cooperative. If children are struggling to enter cooperative play, coach them in effective
ways to enter play. Provide support as needed
 Allow older children to help younger, or new children acclimate to the classroom/routine
 Use the Conscious Discipline structure of the “Safe Area” to support children who are
experiencing strong emotions
 Use the Conscious Discipline structure of the “Kindness Recorder Area” to engage children
in recognizing and acknowledging acts of helpfulness by peers in the classroom
 Create a “Friends and Family” display portraying children’s and staff family photos within
children’s line of sight
Small Group:
 Use the Second Step curriculum as small group activities
 Plan to do activities that require children to buddy up
 Encourage and acknowledge children’s efforts and ideas
 Elicit children’s thinking regarding their actions
 Refer children to one another
 Encourage children to help one another
 Try children’s ideas, play alongside of them matching their complexity of play
 Practice dramatic play scenarios as small group activities. Ex: Stuffed dogs at the vet. Have
stuffed dogs and doctor kits for the children to interact with. Facilitate the group by
encouraging children to take on roles and problem solve any disputes. Another small group
might be just practicing sharing and negotiation
 Ensure that each child has enough materials to use
 Make sure that all of the materials needed to facilitate the group are within arm’s reach by
the teacher
 Create graphs, or books of children’s emotions
 Create books about the children
 Read books with emotional content – discuss it with children
 Save children’s work, display it
 Play games involving Letter Links and children’s names
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Add books that identify emotions and strategies to manage them
Large Group:
 Use the Second Step curriculum as large group activities
 Use Conscious Discipline music and movement to make connections among children and
adults
 Create positive classroom rules with children – display them
 Acknowledge children’s appropriate behavior during large group
 Make sure that the time spent in group is short enough for a young child’s attention span
 Help children learn each other’s names
 Refer children to one another
 Help children respect each other’s personal space
 Play games that involve “buddying up”
 Sing songs with emotional content
 Incorporate activities that require children to stop and start actions on command. This is a
foundational self regulation skill
Transition:
 Moving with a friend (example: tap this song/poem out to release children two at a time:
“Child’s name, child’s name, here’s what you can do, please find somebody to go wash
hands with you.”
Gross Motor:
 Encourage dramatic play on the playground
 Teachers interact with children during gross motor
 Teachers provide activities that promote relationships and helpfulness
Lunch:
 Family style meals are social, but many children do not have the opportunity to share meals
as a family outside of the classroom. Talk about lunch before the actual meal. Discuss
sharing food, hygiene, germs, passing, tasting, etiquette, etc. before going to the lunch
table. Allow children to practice passing and using serving utensils during small group
 Engage children in meaningful conversations. Talk about the day, what the children’s plans
are when they go home, favorite items, etc. use the HighScope box of conversation starters
titled, “tasty talk” for more ideas
Tooth Brushing:
 Discuss and practice sharing sinks, turn taking, respectful boundaries and hygiene.
 Label toothbrushes with names and Letter Link symbols. Encourage children to identify their
own and others’ toothbrushes.
 Engage the children in conversation while waiting to brush teeth. Topics may include:
favorite food from lunch, happenings at home, happenings at school.
 Share a book featuring social/emotional content with children while they are waiting to brush
their teeth, or return to the classroom.
 Sing songs with children featuring social/emotional content ex: “If You’re Happy and You
Know It.”
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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH
1. Gross-motor skills: Children demonstrate strength, flexibility, balance, and timing in using
their large muscles.
 Children use nonlocomotor (stationary) movements (e.g., bending, twisting, rocking) and
locomotor (traveling) movements (e.g., walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping,
skipping, marching, galloping). They coordinate gross-motor movements in throwing,
catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using a swing.
2. Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and hand-eye coordination in using their
small muscles.
 Children use the fine-motor movements (e.g., molding, squeezing, poking, smoothing,
positioning, writing, cutting) needed to manipulate materials and tools. They have handeye coordination (e.g., stacking blocks, assembling puzzles, stringing beads, pouring
juice, pounding nails).
3. Body awareness: Children know about their bodies and how to navigate them in space.
 Children recognize the names and locations of body parts. They are aware of their own
bodies in relation to people and objects around them. Children feel, and move their
bodies to a steady beat.
4. Personal care: Children carry out personal care routines on their own
 Children feed themselves, dress, wash their hands, brush their teeth, use tissues, and
use the toilet.
5. Healthy behavior: Children engage in healthy practices.
 Children participate in active, physical play. They know that some foods are healthier
than others. Children carry out behaviors that are healthy (e.g., cough into their elbow,
wash their hands after toileting, use their own fork) and safe (e.g., wear a bike helmet,
not walk in front of a moving swing, walk around a spill).
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Physical Development and Health
Greeting:

Place hygiene reminders on the message board as needed.

Encourage children to discuss and act out the steps they had to take before arriving at
school. Engage children in identifying the actions that promote safety or health.
Planning and Recall:
 Remind at planning and acknowledge at recall all of the things children can do, or did, to
maintain their health and safety throughout the day.
 Children drive a small car on a map of the room to where they are planning on playing, or
where they played
 Incorporate movement into planning and recall ex: sing, “Jingle, jingle, jingle, jive, jump up
and down and count to five.” Encourage children to choose a number between 1 and 10 and
a way to move. Change the rhyme to match the number. Children complete the movement
then plan or recall.
 Have children put clothespins on a planning board of where they are planning to play that
day.
Clean-up Time:
 Create a “dirty toy bucket” for children to place toys in that they put in their mouths. These
toys get bleached at the end of the day, or the week
 Sing, “If you cleaned and you know it, jump up and down (or bow, march, etc)
 Clean up like different creatures, or machines encouraging children to move how they think
that animal, or machine would move (ex: back hoe, robot, pony, kitten, etc.)
 Put music on and allow children to move around the room moving their bodies to the music.
When the music stops children clean in the area closest to them
 Create clean-up trains – divide into small groups. With the teachers being the engines choochoo to different areas to clean-up. Call, “All-aboard!” when an area is clean before moving
to another area
Work Time:

Model how to play with toy food, playdough and toothbrushes without putting items in the
mouth. If children forget encourage them to place germy toys in the “dirty toy bucket”

Adding health related props to the class room

Playing doctor/dentist

Proper toileting
Small Group:

Small group activities to practice family style meals, passing, serving selves and hygiene

Exploring nutritious foods (texture, color, taste, properties)

Classifying foods into food groups

Classifying tastes (sweet,/sour, salty/plain)

Games involving pictures of, or pretend foods

Books about healthy foods/eating

Books, songs, finger plays about safety

Introduction to tooth brushing process (only during the first weeks of school)

Books, videos, science activities that are related to teeth and/or dental hygiene

Large teeth and toothbrush activities
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Teaching about healthy habits … nutrition, hygiene, exercise and sleep
Discuss doctor visits and immunizations
Cleanliness activities and experiments
Books with health themes
Proper use and disposal of tissue
Large Group:

Songs about healthy foods/eating

Personal safety (ex: gun, pedestrian, water, fire and stranger safety)

The personal safety portion of the Talk About Touching curriculum

School safety (walking in the school, sitting during a meal, etc.)

Visits by police officers, fire fighters, dentists, doctors, etc.

Songs about dental hygiene

In-center visits by a dental professional

Poems/Finger plays about dental hygiene

Songs with health themes

Encourage children to make movement patterns e.g. pat, clap, pat, clap – say the pattern
out loud and tell children that it is a movement pattern. Encourage children to create their
own pattern

Engage children in “air dancing” lying on their backs with their feet in the air, moving their
feet to music

Blow many bubbles at once into the air by using a fly swatter as a bubble wand. Encourage
children to pop the bubbles in the air using their hands or a scarf. Put on music while
engaging in the activity
Transition:
 Ask children how they can move safely from one place to another. Acknowledge their efforts
 Sing the Raffi song, “Brush Your Teeth” while walking down the hall – change they lyrics to
fit what you are doing, or the hygiene, safety or health skill you want to emphasize.
Remember to do the movements!
 Practice pedestrian safety while walking in neighborhoods
 March during group, or transitions. Add arm movements as well
 Use children’s natural inclination to run around the carpet during transitions by leading a
safe activity. Try singing (and modeling safe running), “We’re running, running, running –
running, running, running – then we stop!” Encourage children to think of new movements to
try as well
 During transitions that require wait time, encourage children to engage in “Silent Moves.”
The first child that is done with an activity silently engages in a movement, other children
come over and engage in the same movement without speaking. Each child that comes
over gets a turn to make up a movement for others to mimic.
Gross Motor:
Allow children to play freely during gross motor time. Interact with the children as you would in
the classroom. In addition to free play time add some of the following activities:
 Practice fire and tornado drills
 Go for a walk to observe nature, or look for environmental print
 Create and explore an obstacle course
 Provide opportunities for climbing
 Engage in parachute play
 Build a snowman
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Rake leaves
March
Exercise
Build a fort
Garden
Go exploring
Encourage children to listen to their hearts before and after exercise with a stethoscope, or
feel it with their hand. Discuss how exercise helps keep the heart in shape and that the heart
pumps faster when the child is exercising and it slows down when the child slows down
Add traffic signs to bike pathways for children to “read” and obey
Keep plastic bags around to tape onto children’s feet so children can play in the snow and
keep their shoes dry
Lunch:

Provide family style meals and encourage children to:
o serve themselves
o clean-up after they eat
o clean-up any spills
o set the table
o try new foods
o use utensils
o practice hygiene
o stay seated while eating

Hand washing
Tooth Brushing:
 Encourage hygiene
 Read books about germs, dentists, doctors, being ill, etc. discuss the content
 While children are waiting to brush, encourage each child to practice tooth brushing strategy
using the large teeth and toothbrush before they are given their own toothbrush
 Provide a mirror for children to check their teeth after brushing
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LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND COMMUNICATION
1. Comprehension: Children understand language.
 Children understand (comprehend) conversations, signing, stories, books, songs,
poems, and/or chants. They listen; respond; connect information to their own lives;
predict what will happen next; and recall real and fictional people, materials, actions,
events, and ideas.
2. Speaking: Children express themselves using language.
 Children share observations, experiences, ideas, explanations, feelings, preferences,
and needs. They progress from making gestures to using sentences of increasing length
and complexity.
3. Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.
 Children learn and use new words and phrases in conversations, activities, written
materials, and play. They ask the meaning of unfamiliar words. Children use multiple
parts of speech to describe, clarify, and elaborate their experiences and ideas.
4. Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.
 Children recognize the beginning and ending sounds of words, including rhymes (same
ending sounds) and alliteration (same initial sounds). They recognize separate syllables
in words (segmentation).
5. Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.
 Children know letters are a category of symbols that can be individually named. They
name a growing number of letters and associate them with their sounds (often beginning
with the initial of their first name and/or other familiar words).
6. Reading: Children read for pleasure and information.
 Children look at a variety of printed materials for enjoyment and knowledge. They ask
adults to read books to them, and they “read” books to others. Children tell or retell
stories based on pictures. They read aloud a word, simple phrase, or short sentence.
7. Concepts about print: Children demonstrate knowledge about environmental print.
 Children learn about the functions of print. They understand the connection between
spoken and written words. They recognize that a word is a unit of print, letters are
grouped to form words, and words are separated by spaces. As they experience various
forms of environmental print (e.g., signs, newspapers and magazines, lists, messages,
menus, packaging), children learn about print conventions such as directionality (English
is read top to bottom and left to right).
8. Book knowledge: Children demonstrate knowledge about books.
 Children know how books work, for example, they hold a book upright and face-forward,
read it front to back, and differentiate text and pictures. Children identify the parts of a
book.
9. Writing: Children write for many different purposes.
 Children write to represent ideas, use writing in their play and/or ask adults to take
dictation, and read what they and adults have written. They use writing tools such as
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crayons, markers, pencils, and computers. They copy or write letters, and progress from
scribbles to letterlike forms to recognizable letters.
10. ELL/Dual Language Acquisition: (If applicable) Children use English and their home
language(s)
(including sign language).
 Children understand and use English and their home language(s). They adjust the
language they use to the person with whom they are communicating. Children know
there are different writing systems (alphabets).
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Language, Literacy and Communication
Skills
Greeting:
 Use the message board with pictures that provide context clues for the words that are on the
board – encourage children to try and figure out the message
 Label and use the daily routine chart in pictures with words
 Create graphing charts
 Use the Conscious Discipline structures of the Wish Well tray/Safe Box – label children’s
representations with their names
 Label and use a Job Board with a job for every child
 Engage children in songs, finger plays, games in English and other languages
 Engage children in genuine meaningful conversations between adults and children, and
children and children
 Label and display a rule chart
 Clap out children’s names
Planning and Recall:
 Journaling – children have their own books to represent what they did, or will do that day
 Drawing pictures of where they plan to or played – the teacher takes dictation
 Buddy up – children tell each other where they played
 Encourage children to describe how they plan to or how they worked with the materials,
solved problems, etc.
 Play pass the “hot letter link” to identify who will plan/recall next
 Pull letter links out of a bag to determine who will plan/recall next
 Give children small paper bags, have them put something that they played with/ or plan to
play with (that will fit inside the bag) to bring to planning/recall. Encourage the child to talk
about the item
 Create planning boards, books, maps for children to plan with
 Record children’s plans and play them back for recall – discuss if they completed the plan or
not
 Sing alliterative, or rhyming songs to identify the next person to plan/recall
Clean-up Time:
 Create and use clean-up tally sheets Ex: Give children “tally cards” and pencils. For every
item a child puts away, he, or she puts a mark on his/her tally card. The children bring their
tally cards to recall and discuss where they cleaned as well as where and how they played
during work time
 Create a job and a board for children to choose how they want to clean up (robot, monsters,
ponies, characters from a story, etc. – allow children to come up with the ideas for how to
move during clean-up)
 Hide magnetic letters around the room, as children clean they find the letters and put them
on the board – the letters could spell the next activity
 Play “I Spy” during clean-up
 Sing songs (“Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, the toys go back, back, back, ‘til the room is
done, done, done, cleaning up is fun, fun, fun!” or, “Its time to put the toys away, toys away,
toys away, it’s time to put the toys away, back on the shelf. I see child’s name is cleaning
up, cleaning up, cleaning up, he/she is putting toys back on the shelf, he/she is cleaning
up!”)
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Create clean-up tickets (area sign icons on index cards that children can pull out of a bag
and clean in the area designated on the card)
Have a clean-up parade – children march around to the music. When the music stops
(musical chair style) children clean where they are. Continue until the room is clean
Create a “clean-up clown” with colors that represent the colors of the toys in the classroom.
Point to a color and ask children to find and put away toys that are the chosen color.
Work Time:
 Label the room in every language that is represented in the classroom population
 Create communication boards for non-English speaking, or mute children
 Writing area (new materials, or activities)
 Letters/words in the sand/water table, writing area, book area, small toy
 New words added to word cards in the writing area, music and movement area, art area,
etc.
 Book/card making
 Templates and tools added for recreating letters (examples: stencils in the writing area.
laminated letters to form play dough onto in the art area, etc.)
 Create sign-in charts for water, sand and computer areas
 Place clip boards with paper and pencils in the Block Area, House Area, Safe Area, etc.
 Add literature around the room (ex: telephone books, restaurant menus and order forms,
magazines, newspapers, books with subject matter children are interested in)
 Add environmental print around the room – (ex: food boxes from home, restaurant signs,
traffic signs, etc.)
 Use novel vocabulary, including description and action words
 Use a Kindness Recorder Area – encourage children to describe the act of helpfulness they
witnessed
 Display writing attempts in the classroom – encourage children to sign their own artwork
Small Group:
 Create small group signs using children’s letter links. Encourage children to identify their
small group table by “reading” the sign
 Create and play Letter Link Bingo games
 Share books (1 or more books must be read daily to small groups of children)
 Use vocabulary about books, stories, reading and writing (ex: binding, title page, character,
plot, action, setting, fiction, poetry, narrative, etc)
 Create tally/graphing sheets (for children’s use) to record children’s observations (Ex:
measuring, sink/float, etc.)
 Matching letters
 Identifying sounds in the environment
 Practice listening by recording and playing back voices or sounds, going on “sound” walks
 Create class made books
 Use activities from Growing Readers, Preschool Readers and Writers, Fee-Fie-Foe
Phonetics, Letter Links
Large Group:
 Engage children in songs or games that include rhyming, or alliteration
 Engage children in finger plays and songs (include in a class song book)
 Engage children in puppet activities
 Act out stories and/or finger plays
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Encourage children to describe and name movements – record onto word cards for use
during movement activities
Encourage children to retell stories
Sing songs that include children’s names or alphabet letters – hold the name, letter up when
singing it
Transition:
 Post the daily routine in pictures and words. Review the routine daily. Refer to it with
children who have difficulty during transitions
 Allow a child to hold a sign that indicate a transition is coming
 Create and use song and finger play books
 Place personal routines in picture format and at children’s height (ex: steps to dressing in
winter apparel, getting ready for rest time)
 Play “I-Spy”
 Make up riddles (ex: I’m thinking of something that starts with an “m” and you put it on
cereal) – encourage children to create riddles too
 Play “Pass the Bear” Pass around a stuffed bear and say, “Bear, Bear, here comes the
bear. Your favorite ___ (book, food, toy, place, etc) he wants to share.” Whoever is holding
the bear tells the class his or her favorite ___ (book, food, toy, place, etc)
 Use familiar rhymes for children to fill in the missing word (ex: I’m going to huff and I’ll ____
and I’ll blow your house down!”)
 Play guessing games – hold up the icons for the daily routine, areas, labels for toys etc.
Have children guess what they are
 Play magic word games. Children have to listen for a pre-determined “magic word” and do
an action when they hear it
 Have children move like a character in a story they have heard recently
 Place letters or words in places children will see during a transition – give children checklists
to put checks by the letters and words they see
 While moving down the hall, sing rhyming songs that involve children’s participation (ex:
Military style chant: “Marching feet are really neat!” Children repeat, “Marching feet are really
neat!” Then sing numbers, or alphabet, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10.”)
Gross Motor:
 Discuss parts of letters, some are curves and some are straight lines. Encourage children to
create letter shaped pathways to follow
 Place large alphabet letters on the playground. Play games requiring children to run to one of the letters
 Go on “letter” walks finding letters in the environment – give children a tally sheet with 3 – 4
letters on it for them to check off as they see them
 Create and use a sign-up sheet for bikes, or another favorite structure
 Take books outside to read
 Take non-fiction books outside that identify plants, insects, animal tracks, for children’s use
 Create (or engage children in creating) maps of the play ground, or community for children
to follow
 Create an obstacle course. Instruct children about the sequence of activities in the obstacle
course. Provide children with a sheet of pictures that outline the sequence they are to follow
 Sing songs while walking to and from the gross motor area
 Place letters, familiar words and pictures of storybook characters along the walls on the way
to, or within the gross motor area. Encourage children to identify them
 Recall the gross motor area experiences with children as you walk back in
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Take paper and colored pencils outside. Encourage children to draw what they see – take
dictation for them.
Take crayons and heavy paper outside for children to make texture prints of different items.
Encourage labeling of the prints, either taking dictation , or helping children to write the label
on the print
Lunch:

Engage children in meaningful back and forth conversation. Encourage children to talk to
each other as well

Have lunch time helpers on the job board

During lunch show children the first letter of a food word card, tell children the sound the
letter makes and ask them what is on the table that starts with the same sound. Encourage
guessing. Show children the whole word when someone guesses it or if the children “give
up.” It’s helpful to have a picture of the food with the word card as well

Play “I-Spy” concerning lunch/snack items. Ex: “I spy something that rhymes with silk!”
Answer – Milk

Create a small chart of items children need to get to set their own places. Display it where
they gather the lunch items
Tooth Brushing:
 Label toothbrushes with children’s names and Letter Link symbols. Encourage children to
recognize their own and others’ toothbrushes
 Create a tooth brushing routine chart. Display it where children gather their supplies and/or
brush their teeth
 Read books with children while they are waiting to brush
 Encourage children to choose songs or finger plays from a song book to sing while they are
waiting to brush
 Create a game book of favorite games to play (Simon Says, Little Mouse, Doggie, Doggie,
Where’s Your Bone, etc.). Allow children to choose games to play while waiting
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MATHEMATICS
1. Number words and symbols: Children recognize and use number words and symbols.
 Children recognize and name numerals in their environment. They understand that
cardinal numbers (e.g., one, two, three) refer to quantity and that ordinal numbers (e.g.,
first, second, last) refer to the order of things. They write numerals.
2. Counting: Children count things.
 Children count with one-to-one correspondence (e.g., touch an object and say a
number). They understand that the last number counted tells “how many.” Children
compare and order quantities (e.g., more, fewer/less, same). They understand the
concepts of “adding to” and “taking away.”
3. Part-whole relationships: Children combine and separate quantities of objects.
 Children “compose” and “decompose” quantities. They use parts to make up the whole
set (e.g., combine two blocks and three blocks to make a set of five blocks). They also
divide the whole set into parts (e.g., separate five blocks into one block and four blocks).
4. Shapes: Children identify, name, and describe shapes.
 Children recognize, compare, and sort two- and three-dimensional shapes (e.g., triangle,
rectangle, circle, cone, cube, sphere). They understand what makes a shape a shape
(e.g., all triangles have three sides and three points). Children transform (change)
shapes by putting things together and taking them apart.
5. Spatial awareness: Children recognize spatial relationships among people and objects.
 Children use position, direction, and distance words to describe actions and the location
of objects in their environment. They solve simple spatial problems in play (e.g., building
with blocks, doing puzzles, wrapping objects).
6. Measuring: Children measure to describe, compare, and order things.
 Children use measurement terms to describe attributes (i.e., length, volume, weight,
temperature, and time). They compare quantities (e.g., same/different, bigger/smaller,
more/less, heavier/lighter) and order them (e.g., shortest/medium/longest). They
estimate relative quantities (e.g., whether something has more or less).
7. Unit: Children understand and use the concept of unit.
 Children understand that a unit is a standard (unvarying) quantity. They measure using
unconventional (e.g., block) and conventional (e.g., ruler) measuring tools. They use
correct measuring procedures (e.g., begin at the baseline and measure without gaps or
overlaps).
8. Patterns: Children identify, describe, copy, complete, and create patterns.
 Children lay the foundation for algebra by working with simple alternating patterns (e.g.,
ABABAB) and progressing to more complex patterns (e.g., AABAABAAB,
ABCABCABC). They recognize repeating sequences (e.g., the daily routine, movement
patterns) and begin to identify and describe increasing and decreasing patterns (e.g.,
height grows as age increases).
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9. Data analysis: Children use information about quantity to draw conclusions, make
decisions, and solve problems.
 Children collect, organize, and compare information based on measurable attributes.
They represent data in simple ways (e.g., tally marks, stacks of blocks, pictures, lists,
charts, graphs). They interpret and apply information in their work and play (e.g., how
many cups are needed if two children are absent).
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Mathematic Skills
Greeting:
 Use a message board with the messages numbered (1 or more, up to 4). Refer to the
numbers when talking about the message e.g. “Message two has a picture of a …”
 Record how many days are left of school, or how many days children will be home before
coming back to school (remember to use pictures, words and numbers)
 Count how many children are at school and how many are at home
 Count how many boys are present and how many girls. Follow-up with how many children
there are “all together”
 Have a question of the day that incorporates a graph. Have children place their letter link,
name card, or picture on the graph designating their choice. Count it up during greeting and
write the amounts on the graph
 Measure children’s growth from time to time – display the differences
Planning and Recall:
 Tape paper to the bottom of a table and allow children to draw their plans, or recall upside
down
 Have child choose a number, or point to a number on a chart and then sing rhymes that
involve that number: Ex: “jingle, jingle, jingle, jive, jump up and down and count to five. 1 –
2 – 3 – 4 – 5!” (Jingle, jingle, jingle, jeven, tap your shoulders and count to seven)
 Encourage children to tell the group, or draw a picture of where they played first, second,
and third (ordinal numbers), or first, next and last (sequence)
 Children bring one item to the table that they played with, or will play with. Encourage the
children to arrange the items by some attribute, size, color, weight, etc.
 Create a graph of how many children are planning to play in each area. Use the graph at
recall to discuss where children worked, if the areas were crowded, or if the children
changed their plan and played somewhere else. Record the numbers on the graph
Clean-up Time:
 At the 5 – minute signal tell children that in 5 minutes they will hear a Giant’s voice saying
“Fee – fie – foe – fean” and then the Giant will tell us how many toys to clean. At clean-up
time say (in your Giant’s voice), “Fee – fie – foe – fean, today we’ll find 6 things to clean!”
 If children have moved a lot of items to another area, lay down “stepping stones” (small
carpet samples, mats) between the areas for children to “follow” while returning the toys.
Encourage children to count the “stones” they are stepping on.
 Give children “clean-up buckets” to fill with items to put away. Talk about how much they
have fit into the bucket, whether the bucket is ½ full, ¾ full, etc. and how many buckets it will
take to finish the job.
 Give children tally cards. Children make marks on their cards for every 1 item that they
clean. Encourage children to count the tally marks
 Allow children to estimate how many children, or how long it will take to clean-up an area.
Write down their estimates and compare with the actual amount
 Label each area with a shape. Have children draw shapes from a bag – that is the area they
will clean in
 Encourage spatial vocabulary by telling children to put away the toys that belong on the
bottom shelf, then the middle, then the top.
 Encourage classification by size by telling children to find the largest items to put away, then
the medium and then the smallest.
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Work Time:
 Add materials that encourage math reasoning such as 2-D and 3-D shapes, bingo chips,
magnetic numbers, measuring tapes, rulers, balance beam, measuring cups and spoons,
seriation blocks, puzzles, sorting toys, abacus, dice, number magnets, straws to play
dough, books about math concepts, pots or pans in graduated sizes, small stones,
pinecones, shells
 Intentionally use cardinal and ordinal numbers throughout the day. Cardinal = 0, 1, 2, 3 etc.
Ordinal = first, second, third.
Small Group:

Exploration of shapes

Graphing many things. Make sure to include number outcomes.

Measure children on a growth chart. Write their names on a sticker and put it next to their
height. Later in the year, measure them again to see how much they grew.

Telling a story with props and involving patterning, lengths, or widths into it.

Supplying children with items of different sizes and allowing children to sort them into piles
according to size

Patterning activities.

Encourage data analysis by asking children to make predictions and then figuring out the
answer. Ex: “How many strips of paper will it take to reach from this side of the table to that
side of the table?” Show children how to use graphs, charts and lists to document their
discoveries.

Encourage children to describe attributes of items they are exploring. Compare attributes of
items also.

Encourage children to measure items in non-conventional ways – using feet, cubes, blocks,
turkey baster squirts, tape on a thermometer (to compare temperature) or tape on a cup (to
compare water level), etc.

Encourage children to make maps of the classroom, or school. Intentionally use distance
and spatial words.

Introduce children to measurement tools such as tape measures, thermometers, measuring
cups and spoons, timers, stopwatches, scales, etc.

Encourage children to find out if a group of objects is more than, the same or less than
another group. Lead children in using 1 to 1 correspondence to find out.
Large Group:

Finger plays involving number

Bend bodies into different shapes

Intentionally use position words while describing children’s movements

Pretend to be trees rooted to the ground, but blowing in the wind
Transition:
 Encourage children to arrange themselves according to size
 Have children count how many steps it takes to get from one area to another
 Encourage children to guess how long it will take them to get ready to go outdoors. Use a
timer to measure the time
 Clap out syllables of children’s names. Discuss how many claps the children heard
 If the transition requires more than 1 step, display the steps in pictures and number them.
Then use ordinal numbers to describe the transition e.g. “First we will walk to our lockers,
second we will get our coats and put them on, third we will wait at the door for the teacher.”
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
Give children shapes, release children by the shapes e.g. “If you have a circle, go to the
door.”
Put numbers on cards. Have a child pull a number card out of the “deck.” That amount of
children will transition at a time during a transition activity
Gross Motor:

Viewing bugs outdoors with a magnifying glass –count how many legs the bug has

Go on a shape walk – find different shapes in the environment

Go on a number walk – find numbers in the environment
Lunch:
 Create number cards of how many items children need to gather to prepare for a meal.
Display it where children get the supplies
 Discuss the shapes of different food items
 Discuss more, less, full and empty during lunch
Tooth Brushing:
 Use tooth brushing timers for children to time their brushing
 Take games involving math concepts to the bathroom for children to play while they are
waiting to brush
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CREATIVE REPRESENTATION
1. Art: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through
two- and three-dimensional art.
 Children explore and use a variety of materials and tools to draw and paint, mold and
sculpt, build and assemble. They use the properties of art materials (e.g., shape, color,
texture) to represent their ideas. Children’s representations and designs develop from
simple to complex and from accidental to intentional.
2. Music: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through
music.
 Children explore and experience sound through singing, moving, listening, and playing
instruments. They experiment with their voices and make up songs and chants. Children
explore and respond to musical elements such as pitch (high, low), tempo (fast, slow),
dynamics (loud, soft), and steady beat.
3. Movement: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel
through movement.
 Children explore moving their whole bodies, or parts of their bodies, with and without
music. They respond to the features and moods of music through movement.
4. Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel
through pretend play.
 Children imitate actions, use one object to stand for another, and take on roles
themselves based on their interests and experiences. They use figures to represent
characters in their pretend scenarios (e.g., having a “family” of toy bears talk to one
another). Their play themes develop in detail and complexity over time.
5. Appreciating the arts: Children appreciate the creative arts.
o Children express opinions and preferences about the arts. They identify the pieces (e.g.,
a painting or musical selection) and styles they do or do not like and offer simple
explanations about why. Children describe the effects they and other artists create and
develop a vocabulary to talk about the arts.
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Creative Representation Skills
Overall Support:
 Observe, identify and support the developmental stage of creative representation children
are portraying in the classroom:
o Exploratory – children explore materials using one or all of their senses. This may look
like mess making, scribbling, but it is developmentally appropriate for younger children
or children who have had limited exposure.
The exploration stage in dramatic play may look like solitary or parallel play; children
mimic actions they see in school or at home.
Remember that for these children process is important, not a product. Allow, support and
extend exploration activities for these children. Make sure that activities are open-ended
so that exploration can be included.
o Representational – children create something that represents their perspective. In the
early stages this will look like very simple drawings, objects and/or structures. Children
often vacillate between exploratory and representational play by creating a drawing, or
painting and then covering it over. In later stages representational art will have more and
more details. Support these children by accepting their perspective, talking about their
art, narrate what you see. Provide open-ended art activities that are inclusive of every
representational level.
Dramatic play in this stage takes on a richer and higher order thinking element. Children
don’t just mimic activities; they create complex roles and scenarios. Support children by
entering their play, matching their developmental level and affect. Take on roles and
scenarios that the children assign to you. Ask clarifying questions to scaffold children’s
thinking, but make sure not to “lead” the play.
Greeting:
 Encourage children to act out stories, finger plays or songs during greeting time
 Allow children to add messages to the message board
 Use puppets to tell stories, problem solve, etc.
 Sing songs and finger plays that include musical opposites in pitch (high/low), tempo
(fast/slow) and volume (loud/soft)
 Encourage children to make-up new words to favorite songs and finger plays
Planning and Recall:
 Encourage children to draw their plans or what they experienced during the day
 Encourage children to ‘demonstrate” what they are going to do, or have done during the
class session
 Create a planning/recall voice selector – provide pictures of different animals, creatures or
objects to pretend to be while planning verbally ex: kitty, monster, opera singer. Allow
children to use the selected voice to tell you his/her plan/recall
 Use puppets to plan and recall with
Clean-up Time:
 Engage children in pretend play at clean-up. Ex: Tell children that there is a sleeping bear in
the classroom and clean-up must be done quietly so that the bear does not wake up.
Encourage children to tip toe and whisper while they clean
 Allow children to choose an animal, creature, object to be while they clean. Encourage the
pretending
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
Allow children to clean-up in novel ways ex: accept child driving the truck to pick up toys
Play music during clean-up that is fast and then slow. Encourage children to follow the
music and clean-up fast, or slow
Work Time:
 Provide a rich variety of materials to encourage 2 dimensional art: smooth papers, papers
with differing textures, patterns and sheen, canvas, markers, crayons, stamps and stamp
pads, paints: tempera, water, puff, finger, charcoal, ink pens, pencils, play dough, rolling
pins and cookie cutters, collage and glue/paste, etc.
 Provide a rich variety of materials to encourage 3 dimensional art: play dough with sticks,
clay, paper, tape, newsprint and/or aluminum foil to roll up and tape to create structures,
empty boxes and canisters to create with, decoupage, large and small blocks, wood working
areas
 Promote dramatic play by providing real items that are represented in children’s home life.
Make sure that genders, abilities and children’s cultures are equally reflected in the dress-up
clothes and dramatic play props provided
 Engage in play with children. Ask clarifying questions to scaffold children’s thinking about
their play
 Acknowledge children’s creative rep attempts without praising them. Ex: Child – “Ms. Sally,
look at my picture!” Ms. Sally – “Look at that! You used blue, red and some white over here.
Here are some very bold up and down strokes and over here there are circles.”
 Allow children to use items in novel ways ex: bears become soup and to take items from
one area to another
Small Group:
 Introduce new materials. Allow children to explore and discuss ways to play with the
materials and where they could be stored in the room
 Provide small group activities that build on children’s creative representation abilities and
interests in 2D art such as collage, tearing/cutting paper, drawing, painting, creating murals,
rolling and cutting play dough, weaving, etc.
 Provide opportunities to build on children’s abilities and interests in 3D art such as exploring
3D block play, sculpture, decorating boxes, upright weaving then adding objects into the
weaving, Paper Mache, play dough with straws
 Provide opportunities for children to explore pretending by using puppets, dolls, stuffed
animals, props, providing children with roles and scenarios, encouraging children to act out
stories, songs, finger plays and books
 Provide children opportunities to explore new ways to move, discuss names of movements.
As children progress, encourage children to explore sequences of movements
 Encourage children to explore music by introducing elements of music e.g. stop/start,
high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft – use musical instruments, or play music while children draw or
paint
 Provide opportunities to explore singing by encouraging children to sing fast/slow, high/low,
loud/soft and stopping and starting. Encourage children to make up their own songs too
Large Group:
 Read interactive books that children can use props with, move like the characters, or act out
 Encourage children to act out favorite finger plays
 Engage children in musical stories like the “Bear Hunt”
 Introduce children to locomotor and non-locomotor movement by saying, “watch and copy.”
Tap or move to a steady beat. Tell children what the movement is called. After children have
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gained proficiency they can begin to make up movements and names for movements on
their own
Encourage children to explore different ways to move their own bodies, or objects. Refer
children to one another
Support children’s representation by allowing them to create movements instead of always
modeling movements for children to follow e.g. Ask, “How could we move to this music?”
When children model a movement name the movement for them
Encourage children to act out stories from their own lives
Work on a group project e.g. stuff a 3D representation with newspaper, create a mural
Play games based on children’s interests. Encourage children to create the rules and props
e.g. basketballs are created with newspaper and tape, children have to toss it into a basket
that is on the shelf, or bowl it into a basket that is lying on its side
Engage children in group problem solving e.g. provide children with a feather and a plate,
ask children to think of ways to move the feather without touching it. Encourage their
creative solutions
Transition:
 Allow children to move like machines, animals or people (e.g. robots, cats, ballerinas) as
they transition
 Encourage children to think of different ways to move. In the beginning of the year, name
movements for the children. Later in the year allow children to name the movements
themselves
 Pretend with children during transitions e.g. the children have just heard the story, “Three
Little Kittens” so the teacher re-enacts the story with 18 little kittens as they prepare to go
outside
 Allow children to draw murals on large pieces of roll paper if they have to wait during
transitions
Gross Motor:
 Take art outdoors. Clip roll paper to fences and allow children to paint
 Take paint brushes and buckets outdoors for children to fill with water and paint the building
 Encourage children to move their bodies in creative ways
 Encourage dramatic play outside – add props, or have children create props according to
children’s interests
 Sing songs and play games outdoors, especially during the transition in and out
 Create snow people with children
 Create snow paint ( water colored with food coloring) for children’s use on snowy days
Lunch:
 Notice and discuss textures, shapes and colors of food items
 Take pictures of favorite menu items. Add the pictures to the art area and create menus
using the pictures for the house area
Tooth Brushing:
 Take a piece of roll paper and crayons to the area where children are waiting to brush their
teeth. Allow children to draw on the paper while they are waiting
 Play games and sing songs while children are waiting to brush. Encourage children to make
up words to songs
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When children are done brushing, pretend that their teeth are so shiny you cannot bear to
look at them without sunglasses. Encourage them to pretend with other children too
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.
o Children are curious and use all their senses to learn more about the natural and
physical world. They gather information by observing what others do and discovering
how tools and materials work.
2. Classifying: Children classify materials, actions, people, and events.
o Children group similar things together. They identify relationships between things
and the categories they belong to. Children look for new ways to organize the
knowledge they already have and for ways to fit new discoveries into familiar
categories.
3. Experimenting: Children experiment to test their ideas.
o Children experiment to test whether an idea is true or a solution will work. They may
encounter problems with materials that they do not have answers for. They experiment
by manipulating materials, using trial and error, and then approaching the problem with
possible solutions in mind.
4. Predicting: Children predict what they expect will happen.
o Children indicate through words and/or actions what they expect an outcome to be. They
think about what happened in similar situations and anticipate what might happen.
Children make predictions based on experimentation.
5. Drawing conclusions: Children draw conclusions based on their experiences and
observations.
o Children attempt to fit their observations and reasoning into their existing knowledge and
understanding. They construct knowledge in their own way as they collect data to help
them form theories about how the world works (e.g., “It’s night because the sun goes to
bed”).
6. Communicating ideas: Children communicate their ideas about the characteristics of
things and how they work.
o Children share their questions, observations, investigations, predictions, and
conclusions. They talk about, demonstrate, and represent what they experience and
think. They express their interest in and wonder about the world.
7. Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical
world.
o Children become familiar with characteristics and processes in the natural and physical
world (e.g., characteristics of plants and animals, ramps and rocks; processes of growth
and death, freezing and melting). They explore change, transformation, and cause and
effect. They become aware of cycles that are meaningful to them.
8. Tools and technology: Children explore and use tools and technology.
o Children become familiar with tools and technology in their everyday environment (e.g.,
stapler, pliers, computer). They understand the functions of equipment and use it with
safety and care. They use tools and technology to support their play.
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Science and Technology Skills
Greeting:
 Use scientific terms in conjunction with the message board e.g. “Today we are going to
observe and predict what will happen to the snow we bring in. I wonder what our hypothesis
will be.”
 Use a microphone for children to talk into and pass during greeting
 Discuss the use and care of technological devices
 Discuss the weather and the clothing, tools and activities people use to endure it
Planning and Recall:
 Use a “feely box” for children to place a small item in that they plan to play with or played
with. Encourage the children to find the item they brought by feeling for it and then talking
about its properties.
 Comparing weights: Have a balance beam at the table. Encourage children to bring small
items that they will play with or played with to the table. When children finish planning, or
recall allow him or her to choose someone else who will plan or recall next. That person
brings his or her object over to compare weights with the object of the child who just
planned, or recalled. Encourage the children to make predictions of which object will be
heavier.
 Use a tape recorder to record children’s plans. Play it back at recall. Encourage children to
identify whose voice it was and then allow the child to recall.
Clean-up Time:

Predict how many toys will fit into a bucket, box or truck back while cleaning

Encourage children to clean up according to the toy’s properties e.g. clean the wood,
plastic, metal toys

Teach children how to shut the computer down correctly

Encourage children to think of different machines and technology. Choose one and try to
clean up like the machine
Work Time:
 Provide materials that lend themselves to scientific exploration and play such as: magnifying
glasses, prisms, flashlights, mirrors, test tubes, eye droppers, tweezers, tongs, natural items
(pine cones, acorns, pebbles, shells), bug viewers, bird feeders, animal track casts, books
about science and discovery, props and clothes for dramatic play (lab coats, clip boards,
paper and pencils, pretend scuba gear, pretend space suit, x-rays, etc.)
 Add measuring cups and spoons, water wheels, tubing, items that sink and float to the water
table
 Add real technology items such as keyboards, calculators, old cameras, telephones and
computers for children to pretend with
 Add old small appliances to a work bench for children to dismantle and discover
 Create sand timers for children to use throughout the day
 Create boxes to explore sound and scent. E.g. Sound canisters: In empty milk containers
that have been cleaned, bleached and dried place a nut and a bolt. Close the container,
tape it up and cover it with patterned, or colored contact paper (make sure it will not open),
then create an identical one. Continue making sound canisters with grass seed, pebbles,
paper clips, etc. Put them out for children to explore and match the sounds. Scent canisters:
Use small containers that have a lid to put cotton balls infused with scent – E.g. peppermint,
spearmint, and vanilla (can be found in the baking/candy making areas of grocery stores).
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Incorporate a wood working table with tools. Instruct children in how to use tools safely.
Support their exploration and proper use of tools.
Create exploration bottles e.g. tornado bottles, oil and water mixtures, etc.
Engage children in making mixtures e.g. – goop, play dough, puff paint
Set out paint containers with pumps in primary colors (blue, red, yellow). Set out several
small empty paint cups lined with baggies. Encourage children to mix their own colors for
use at the easel. (The baggies make clean-up easier)
Use a camera to photograph children’s work. Display the photo with an anecdote in the
hallway and/or use the photo to jog children’s memory during planning and recall
Small Group:

Experiments to discover temperature

Sink or float exploration, prediction and graphing results

Color mixing exploration, prediction and graphing results

Absorbency experiments, prediction and graphing results e.g. test sponges, paper towel,
regular paper, waxed paper

Planting activities e.g. grow grass seed in a cup of soil. Encourage children to water, care
for, measure and cut the grass

Discover properties of various materials e.g. magnetic, reflective, shape properties

Experimentation of any safe kind e.g. add “squeezable” items to the water table e.g.
sponges, turkey basters etc. encourage children to explore the use of the objects

Discuss and classify materials and objects by color, size, weight, texture, shape, type and/or
use
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Create and test hypotheses of many kinds

Observation and discovery walks

Discuss, experiment and observe symmetry

Read books with scientific content

Explore light and shadows
Large Group:

Encourage children to make machines out of their bodies e.g. provide pillows for children to
grab with their feet and put the pillows in a basket without using their hands

Discover and compare weights, and heights

Test ramps to see how far cars will travel from different ramp heights

Link hands and try to make different shapes

Encourage classroom visits by doctors, dentists, scientists, etc.

When new materials have been added to the school, or classroom, engage children in a
“search and report” activity. Children walk around noting any changes, when reassembled at
group time children report their findings while the teacher writes them on the board

Provide children with small baskets of everyday materials. Encourage children to see if they
can make music with the items in their baskets

Explore Slinkys. Provide each child with a Slinky, discuss how they move. Encourage
children to move their bodies like Slinkys
Transition:
 Allow children to move like machines during transitions
 Use classification to release children e.g.”If you are wearing tie shoes go to the door, if you
are wearing Velcro shoes…”
 Use problem solving while transitioning e.g. “What could we do if we could not use our eyes
and we wanted to go to the door?”
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Gross Motor:
 Discuss the changes of the seasons. Go on discovery walks to find clues that the season is
changing.
 Allow children to collect natural items to bring back to the classroom to sort or collage.
 While on discovery walks, encourage children to find and identify animal, vehicle or people
tracks.
 Encourage children to look for bugs. Give children magnifying glasses to look closer.
 While outdoors provide children with small mirrors to look at the under sides of plants and
objects. Encourage children to draw what they have observed.
 Give children small thermometers to explore the differences in temperature in the shade, in
the sun, or indoors and outdoors.
 Allow children to explore textures by feeling objects in the gross motor area. If children are
developmentally able give them paper and crayons to make a rubbing of the texture.
Encourage children to describe the texture when the class is back in the room.
 Go on a “Listening Walk.” Encourage children to listen for sounds. Take a small recorder to
capture the sounds heard. Play them back in the room.
 Plant gardens when possible. Encourage children to care for the plants.
 Build a snowman.
 Collect bottles with squirt tops. Fill the bottles with water and color the water with food
coloring. On snowy days allow children to “paint” the snow, by squirting the water.
 Take bubbles outside.
 Fly a kite. Allow children to make their own kites using plastic bags and string.
 Allow children to use an air pump to help blow up balls.
 On warm days take out buckets of water and various size paint brushes. Allow children to
“paint” the building.
 On foggy days, go “cloud walking.”
 After a good rain, go on a worm walk. Allow children to collect the worms in cups. Bring
them back inside to observe, measure and weigh. Encourage children to put the worms
back outside after the observation.
Lunch:

Discuss the properties of menu items e.g. texture, taste, aroma, color, size, shape

Notice and discuss different shapes of items on the table

Discuss how the different food items were cooked and the type of appliance that may have
been used

Discuss the temperature of the bowls – bring in a food thermometer to measure the
temperature of the food – (make sure it is sanitized before using)
Tooth Brushing:

Ask local dentists for x-rays of teeth and old dental appliances e.g. mouth mirror

Discuss the properties of toothbrushes and toothpaste

Discuss where the water goes when it drains out of the sink

Discuss how tooth brushing protects teeth

Discuss hygiene and reasons for it
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SOCIAL STUDIES
1. Diversity: Children understand that people have diverse characteristics, interests, and
abilities.
o Children see similarities and differences in personal attributes (including gender, culture,
age, religion, family structure, ability levels, and appearance) as natural and positive.
They are interested in how people are the same and/or different from themselves and
their families.
2. Community roles: Children recognize that people have different roles and functions in the
community.
o Children know about familiar roles in the communities they belong to (e.g., family,
school, neighborhood). They understand that people depend upon one another. Children
know that people need money to buy goods and services.
3. Decision making: Children participate in making classroom decisions.
o Children understand that everyone has the right to share ideas and be heard. They
participate as leaders and followers. With adult guidance, they join in class discussions,
help make decisions, and share ideas to resolve group problems.
4. Geography: Children recognize and interpret features and locations in their environment.
o Children identify familiar landmarks (e.g., home, school, park) and navigate simple
routes between them. They match objects and events to their locations (e.g., scissors/art
area; outside time/playground) and represent physical features (e.g., buildings, roads,
bridges) in their play. Children use simple maps to describe and locate things in their
environment (e..g., classroom areas, playground features).
5. History: Children understand past, present, and future.
o Children talk about what happened in the past (e.g., “Yesterday, when I was a baby…”)
and what will occur in the future (e.g., “When I’m bigger, I’ll go to my sister’s school”).
They describe a sequence of events (e.g., “First I painted a picture, and then I built a
tower”).
6. Ecology: Children understand the importance of taking care of their environment.
o Children share responsibility for taking care of their environment inside and outside the
classroom (e.g., picking up litter, watering plants, sorting things into recycling bins). They
understand that their actions affect the well-being of the environment.
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Strategies Throughout the Daily Routine to Build Social Studies Skills
Greeting:

Engage children in reading the message board about upcoming events, visitors, or new
materials. This is a communal activity and helps to build children’s affiliation with their
classmates

Incorporate the meaningful use of other languages (ex: speaking to children in their native
language daily, or saying hello in Swahili)

Use the job board daily with children to nurture a sense of belonging to the school
community

Encourage visitors to come to the classroom to discuss their community role.

Add visitors onto the message board by drawing a picture of them and putting a question
mark by it. Encourage children to guess who it could be before telling them and writing the
visitors name on the board.

Introduce visitors to the children when they arrive in the classroom.

Noticing differences and similarities in people while modeling acceptance e.g. graph hair or
eye color of the children

Add pictures of families and classroom visitors to the “Friends and Family” board

Draw simple maps on the message board of places your class will be going to that day e.g.
the gym, for a walk, on a parade, etc.

Draw simple representations of happenings in the classroom on the message board.
Intentionally use the terms yesterday, tomorrow, next week, a long time ago, in the future,
etc. to introduce concepts of time and history e.g. A long time ago, I was just a little baby…,
or tomorrow when you come to school there will be a special visitor.”

Use sequential drawings on the message board e.g. Draw a cup of soil with a picture of
adding seed

Use the Conscious Discipline structure of a “Greeting Center” to greet visitors and children
who have been absent.

Refer to the classroom as a “school family.” Point out when the group is “all together” and
doing something as a group to build a sense of community
Planning and Recall:

Divide a piece of paper into thirds, label the top, “first, second and third” or “first, next and
last.” Encourage children to draw their plans according to what they will do first, second and
third. For younger children use first and second or first and last. Use the planning pictures
for recall

Involve children in making a map of the classroom and/or school environment. Use the map
to discuss plans and to recall

Encourage children to buddy up during planning and recall. They can use a puppet to tell
each other their plans or to recall
Clean-up Time:

Discuss taking care of toys so that they don’t end up in the garbage. Discuss where garbage
goes when it is thrown away

Start a recycling bin

Encourage children to help one another clean. Acknowledge children’s helpfulness in taking
care of the toys and the classroom
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Work Time:

Use all of the steps of conflict resolution when children have altercations and/or strong
emotions

Incorporate a “Wish Well” center to encourage children to perform helpful acts for other
children e.g. put a small blanket and stuffed animal in a bag. When a classmate is upset it
can be a child’s job to take the bag over to the distressed child

Incorporate a “Kindness Recorder” area to encourage children to recognize helpfulness in
themselves and in other children in the classroom

Acknowledge children’s helpfulness often

Label materials and areas with all of the languages represented in the class room

Add books and posters that portray equity, sensitivity and acceptance in gender, race, class,
ability, family structure, etc.

Add multicultural dolls

Add figurines and dolls that depict differing abilities

Add clothing and props for both genders, children’s cultures and differing abilities

Add empty food containers donated by families, or relevant to family meals to the House
Area

Add colorful menus of ethnic and local restaurants to the House Area

Add props and clothing of community workers (real items are preferable) e.g. firefighter and
police officer uniforms, cash registers and money, empty food boxes, vases and flowers,
bags, doctor and nurse kits, etc.

Add phone books and cook books that represent the languages in the classroom
Small Group:

Explore ethnic foods, music, clothing and money

Share books about community, ecology, geography, history, etc.

Encourage families to make picture books about their life outside of school. Share these
books with the children

Refer children to one another often, using their names

Create small group boards with children’s names and letter links to build a sense of
belonging to a group

Discuss problems in the classroom. Encourage children to find solutions e.g. water keeps
getting spilled out of the water table making the floor slippery and unsafe. Discuss the
problem with children, encourage them to explore solutions, agree on one or two, draw a
picture representing the solution, post the picture and refer to it often.
Large Group:
 When gathering as a group keep the objective as building relationships, not whole group
instruction
 Create activities that help children learn each other’s names, letter links, likes and dislikes.
Treat all with acceptance and avoid favoring or targeting children. Focus and highlight
children’s strengths
 Engage children in creating classroom rules. Reframe the rules into positive statements e.g.
“Don’t hit” becomes “treat others with care.” Display and refer to the rules often
 Encourage dual language speaking visitors (family members of the children is best) to come
in to the classroom to read books in two languages, discuss differences in alphabet letters in
different languages and/or to talk about life in different countries e.g. the terrain, homes,
toys, daily routines, etc.
 Encourage children to share social stories. Act out the routines they describe e.g. going to
the grocery store, doctor, dentist, restaurant, etc.
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Sing songs about community helpers
Clip and discuss newspaper photos of community helpers, events, etc. Write simple
captions and display the photo
Plan field trips to local businesses. Extend the experience by adding relevant props to the
classroom, making books about the experience, graphing favorite aspects of the visit, etc.
Vote on choices of favorite activities with children. Tally the votes under simple
representations of the activities. Encourage children to count the tally marks and participate
in the activity that received the most marks
Take walks around the school building. Discuss staff members and their role in the school.
Make thank you notes to acknowledge the helpfulness of staff members
Pretend to take walks to different terrains e.g. “Let’s take a walk on a rocky road, what would
that be like?” or “Now we have to climb this big mountain! How are we going to do it?”
Encourage the children to come up with different places to walk.
Pretend to ice skate by supplying children with two pieces of waxed paper large enough for
their entire foot to fit onto. Encourage children to skate around on carpeting. Discuss where
and when they would be able to ice skate e.g. during the winter outdoors on ponds and
indoors at ice rinks anytime
Transition:
 Use a map of the room. Show children where they are going to go next in the classroom.
Discuss the names of the area
 Allow children to vote on how they want to transition (make sure there are no more than 3
choices)
 Play “Follow the Leader.” Discuss the role of leaders in the activity and society
 Allow children to choose how they will choose to move from one activity to the next (make
sure it is safe, if not , problem solve with the child by asking him/her how they can do the
activity and stay safe)
Gross Motor:

Put protective gloves on children. Lead children on a walk to find and pick up garbage. Put
the garbage in a garbage bag and discuss how you and the children are helping to take care
of the Earth. Celebrate how much garbage you were able to clean-up

Take walks around the community, discuss the community helpers that help keep the
community safe and clean, notice how residents decorate the outsides of their homes and/or
storefronts

Set –up dramatic play areas outdoors that represent community buildings and services e.g.
gas stations, restaurants, police headquarters, etc.
Lunch:

Discuss where food comes from, what it looks like in its natural form, how it is processed
and shipped to end up in stores, restaurants, the school and at home

Discuss the work of the kitchen and food preparation staff. Encourage children to thank staff
for their contribution

Engage children in meaningful conversations about their day, plans when they go home,
family and life events, etc.
Tooth Brushing:

Discuss dentistry and the role of dentists and hygienists in keeping teeth (and people)
healthy. Discuss how tooth brushing is a part of that role

Discuss family tooth brushing habits
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Discuss how children in other countries brush their teeth and go to dentists too
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