KOT SAMPLE Lessons and Activities
*Italicized activities were generated by KOT—Kindergarten Observation Tool—trainers during our Trainthe-Trainer professional development.
Rubric
Context(s) for
Observation
 Playground
 Physical
education
 Free-choice/play
1.1 COORDINATION
AND STRENGTH
 Transitional
times
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Art class
 Free choice/play
2.1A FINE MOTOR
TOOLS
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
5.2 FOLLOWS
DIRECTIONS
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
Sample Lessons or Activities for Observation
 Provide opportunities for students to participate in activities that
utilize large muscles (e.g., soccer, basketball, free play with balls,
dance, bicycle riding).
 Engage students in follow-the-leader activities in transitions around
classroom/school.
 Engage students in playground games/activities to engage different
ways to move around (e.g., run, skip, hop, bear walk, alligator crawl).
 Observe physical education lessons focused on developing gross
motor skills.
 Provide opportunities for students to participate in classroom songs
and activities that engage movement. You can also use approved
videos to accompany the songs.
 Use approved internet resources/sites that provide “brain breaks” that
foster movement (e.g., GoNoodle.com, TeacherTube.com).
 Engage students in playing Simon Says to target gross motor
movements.
 Provide opportunities for students to use art supplies that require fine
motor skills (e.g., crayons, chalk, pencils, scissors, glue, stickers).
 Provide opportunities for students to create various arts and crafts
projects.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in a writing center.
 Engage students in handwriting activities.
 Engage students in coloring activities with an academic or leisure
focus.
 Engage students in morning sign-in sheets.
 Provide graphic organizers that require cutting, coloring, and writing.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in a housekeeping station
in which they manipulate small objects.
 Provide opportunities for students to journal.
 Provide opportunities for students to draw and paint.
 Engage students in setting up classroom routines and procedures in
the first week of school (e.g., organizing materials, lining up, cleaning
up work and play areas).
 Provide explicit assignment directions (single and multi-day
assignments).
 Provide opportunities for students to participate in songs, poems,
chants.
 Engage students in participating in Simon Says game.
 Observe students during classroom routines (e.g., unpack backpack,
put library book in basket, put away backpack).
 Provide activities with explicit instructions (e.g., color, cut, paste).
 Free Choice/play
5.3A RHYME
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Free Choice/play
5.3B LETTERSOUND, BEGINNING
SOUND
5.4 VOCABULARY
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 While listening to rhyming songs, provide opportunities for students
to pick out the rhyming words.
 When reading to students, involve them in the storytelling (e.g., omit a
word that they fill in, encourage them to make appropriate sounds
and hand motions, engage them with open-ended questions).
 Play listening games with students in which you provide the onset (the
first sound/phoneme of a syllable) and the rime (the ending part of
the syllable) and s/he blends them into the word (e.g., “m...an”
“r...an.” Then change rimes “r...ice,” “r...oad.”).
 Engage students in rhyme-matching games, puzzles, and activities.
 Engage students in identifying the word that does not belong in
exclusion sets (dog, bone, frog)
 Provide opportunities for students to create rhymes, songs, chants,
and books.
 Read Dr. Seuss books or other rhyming books, pausing to let children
fill in the rhyming words.
 Dismiss students from group settings by rhyming children’s name (e.g.,
to dismiss Jacob: “if your name rhymes with Macob go line up).
 Engage students in interacting with various online rhyming activities
(e.g., Erase a Rhyme, Draw a Rhyme).
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in rhyming songs, poems,
chants, and stories (e.g., “Quick as a Cricket,” “Down by the Bay,”
“Piggle,” “Is Your Mama a Llama?”, “Willoby Walloby”).
 Engage students in beginning/end sound matching activities.
 Engage students in “quick erase” white board activities (remove the
/t/ and put a /d/. What is the new word?)
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in the free-choice
centers that, with inquiry from teacher, encourage the manipulation
of letters (e.g., magnetic, foam, cardstock).
 Engage students in reading nursery rhymes.
 Facilitate an activity in which students draw a picture and write the
sounds they hear in the name of the picture.
 Provide opportunities for students to write a shopping list or menu
using the sounds they hear in the words.
 Engage students in “Quick as a Cricket” read aloud.
 Engage students in classroom book and topic discussions.
 Engage students during read-aloud discussions. Review the book prior
to read-aloud to identify key vocabulary words.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in “Think-Pair-Share”
discussions (pose a question, allow time to think, pair with your
partner, share as a whole group).
 Provide opportunities for students to dictate to or write in their
journals or participate at the writing center.
 Engage students in retelling activities and in discussions involving
classroom books and favorite stories.
 Provide opportunities for individual reading time, followed by text
discussion.
 Provide opportunities for show-and-tell presentations.
 Provide opportunities for academic presentations and gallery walks
that encourage conversation.
 Provide opportunities to discuss vocabulary during planned math or
 Playground
6.1
CONVERSATIONAL
ABILITY
 Pull-out/specials
classes
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
7.1 BOOK
ENJOYMENT




7.2 READING
COMPREHENSION
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual
science activities.
 Collect objects and pictures that students can sort into groups; engage
students about their sorting.
 Display books and listen in on the resulting student conversations.
 Engage students in read-alouds and discussions about words in
context.
 Provide anchor charts with vocabulary words for students to share.
 Act out vocabulary words that come up in a read-aloud.
 Engage students in conversation about a student-selected photograph
or object by asking open-ended questions (e.g., “Tell me about this
picture.” “What else can you tell me?”).
 Provide opportunities for students to retell and/or respond to a story
or event in their own words.
 Ask questions that encourage students to use vocabulary to express
complex or abstract ideas (e.g., “What would this look like if...?”).
 Provide play opportunities that incorporate materials to demonstrate
oral and written communication skills (e.g., tape recorders, writing
implements, paper, story props, telephones).
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in “Think-Pair-Share”
discussions (pose a question, allow time to think, pair with a partner,
share as a whole group).
 Engage students during read-aloud discussions.
 Provide opportunities for students to dictate their work samples for
journaling or free-choice activities.
 Provide dramatic play opportunities in which students act out
different roles.
 Engage students in discussing their artwork individually or in a gallery
walk.
 Provide opportunities for show-and-tell presentations.
 Provide opportunities for academic presentations and gallery walks
that encourage conversation.
 Provide numerous opportunities for peer-to-peer and student-toteacher, open-ended discussions and interactions.
 Pending approval, use voice recorders to record conversations
amongst students.
 Engage students in whole-group reading activities.
 Engage students in reading group activities.
 Provide opportunities for students to use computer-based reading
programs (e.g., Raz-Kids, Starfall).
 Provide opportunities for students to work in a reading center (e.g.,
buddy reading, reading to a stuffed animal)
 Provide opportunities for students to use graphic organizers to
support retelling of stories read in groups and individually.
 Engage students in discussing and in retelling stories with partners or
in group settings.
 Provide students with their own book bags or book boxes.
 Provide opportunities for students to write or dictate responses to
comprehension questions.
 Read to students individually and in small groups with frequent checks
for understanding.
 Engage students during read-aloud discussions.
7.3 BOOK
CONVENTIONS




Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual
7.4 CONCEPTS OF
PRINT




Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual
8.3 WRITING
 Free choice/play
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in “Think-Pair-Share”
discussions (pose a question, allow time to think, pair with a partner,
share as a whole group).
 Model “think alouds” to support student comprehension.
 Provide graphic organizers (e.g., Venn diagrams, KWL—know, want to
know, learned—charts).
 Support students in making connections such as building schema with
approved YouTube videos and challenging them to decide what they
would like to learn about the topic.
 Provide opportunities for students to have access to books and
magazines.
 Ask questions while reading books (e.g., “Where is the title of the
book? Where do I go next?”).
 Provide students the opportunity to explore the library center.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in a reading center (e.g.,
buddy reading, reading to a stuffed animal).
 Provide reading materials in the dramatic play center (e.g., set up a
library or a book store).
 Engage students in creating their own books based on classroom
topics or student choice.
 Provide opportunities for partners to share books.
 Provide opportunities for student helpers to assist the teacher during
read alouds (e.g., hold the text, show the cover, point to first word,
turn the page).
 Provide opportunities for students to practice writing letters of the
alphabet (e.g., ask children to help in making signs or addressing an
envelope).
 Point to the initial letters of words when reading a book and ask for its
sound or its name.
 Adapt the game “I Spy” to help students locate upper- and lower-case
letters.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in a reading center (e.g.,
buddy reading, reading to a stuffed animal, using pictures to guide
their “reading” of stories).
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in the literacy center
with letters (e.g., magnetic, foam, cardstock).
 Engage students in group work reading.
 Engage students in creating alphabet rainbows (letters on card stock
are jumbled, and students alphabetize them in a rainbow shape).
 Engage students in name puzzles (from a collection, they locate and
read the individual letters and build their name).
 Provide multiple resources from which students can engage with
letters (e.g., letter beads, letter blocks, ABC floor puzzles).
 Point out letters and words in the environment (e.g., student name,
street names, billboards, signs, printed material).
 Engage students in letter-sorting activities with various types of letters
(e.g., magnetic, foam, cardstock) of different fonts and colors.
 Engage students in various sight word games.
 Facilitate letter searches in which students are asked to find the upperand lower-case letters in various texts and environmental print.
 Provide opportunities for students to journal (written, dictated).
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
9.1 ONE-TO-ONE
CORRESPONDENCE,
NUMBER
RELATIONSHIPS
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
 Free choice/play
9.3A NUMBER
WORDS
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
9.3B NUMERALS
 Small group
 Individual
11.3
MEASUREMENT
 Playground
 Free choice/play
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in writing centers with
various activities (e.g., droodles, sentence starters, theme-based
writing).
 Engage students in discussion during the art center (e.g., students
dictate the title or story of their artwork).
 Engage students in providing written responses to content and story
questions.
 Engage students in sharing their drawings and writing with a
partner/friend.
 Provide a variety of objects for students to manipulate (e.g., buttons,
stones, pine cones).
 Have students divide objects equally among a group of people by
assigning, in turn, one to each person and checking that the quantities
are equal (e.g., each person has received five different color crayons).
 Play simple games with dice.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in a math center (with
manipulatives to count).
 Engage students in math read alouds.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the blocks center (ask
questions that guide them to count the blocks and other materials).
 Engage students in counting activities during calendar time/morning
meeting.
 Engage students in counting students as they enter and exit the
classroom or school.
 Provide opportunities for students to play board games.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in dramatic play center
(with food or other props to count).
 Engage students in “Show Me” game (e.g., “Show me 3 bears.”).
 Pose math questions that apply to daily life (e.g., “How many days
until we have school again?” “How many boys/girls do we have in class
today?”).
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in a math center (with
manipulatives to count).
 Engage students in counting as they do physical activities (e.g., count
as you march, count as you climb the stairs).
 Provide opportunities for students to count various objects throughout
the day.
 Engage students in counting with a partner (alternating numbers).
 Have students divide objects equally among a group of people by
assigning, in turn, one for each person and checking that the
quantities are equal (e.g., each person has received five different color
crayons).
 Provide picture, dot, and numeral cards, and have students match
cards with equivalent objects.
 Facilitate an activity in which students, numbered randomly, line
themselves up sequentially.
 Provide students with numeral flash cards and devise games for them
to play.
 Engage students in math games with dice and playing cards.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in a math center (with
objects to measure and compare).
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
12.1 SORTING
14.1
INVESTIGATIONS





Playground
Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual






Playground
Outdoor area
Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual
 Provide multiple “non-standard units” (e.g., unifix cubes, crayons,
hand width) for students to use to measure items in the classroom.
 Engage students in math read alouds focused on measuring and
comparisons.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the blocks center (ask
questions that lead students to measure and compare materials).
 Provide opportunities to measure and compare objects (e.g., students,
number and size of books) during calendar time/ morning meeting.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the dramatic play center
(set up a doctor’s office, a zoo, or a lumber yard in which students
measure and compare objects).
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the science/ exploration
center with scales and objects to measure and compare (e.g., insects,
leaves).
 Provide objects and/or pictures to be sorted into groups and listen to
students’ conversations as they compare and contrast objects.
 Provide different measuring tools and observe how students use the
tools (e.g., scale, measuring tape).
 Provide string the length of each student. Students then find items in
the class and compare them to their own height.
 Provide a variety of objects for students to manipulate in the math
center and during whole group instruction (e.g., buttons, stones, pine
cones).
 Ask students to look for, and describe, patterns in the classroom and
in nature.
 Provide opportunities for students to recognize and create patterns
(e.g., leaves, insects, rocks).
 Encourage students to arrange collections of objects into groupings
using different rules.
 Engage students in math read alouds.
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the blocks center
(sorting building materials by characteristics).
 Provide opportunities for students to work in the dramatic play center
(sorting props like food in a kitchen).
 Use Venn diagrams to sort objects (e.g., children, defining traits, art
materials).
 Provide sorting or ice cube trays with buttons or other small objects to
categorize.
 Provide opportunities for students to play sorting games like Memory
and others on the computer or Smart Board.
 Engage students in coloring activities that require sorting/matching.
 Ask students to clean up their materials by a defining trait (e.g., clean
up the blue bears).
 Provide seasonal pictures, and have students sort the pictures by
season.
 Provide opportunities for students to explore materials in the
science/exploration center (magnets, bubbles, textures, seeds,
footprints, etc.).
 Provide opportunities for students to explore at a sand/water table.
 Provide opportunities for students to explore in the block center.
 Provide opportunities for students to explore outside, either on the
playground or school grounds.
 Engage students in trying to identify what is inside a sensory box (box
which allows students to smell, hear, and feel an object without seeing
it).
 Engage students in a hidden object paper bag activity (hide different
objects in paper bags, and students use their senses to theorize what
is inside).
16.1 EARTH
SCIENCE






Playground
Outdoor area
Free choice/play
Whole group
Small group
Individual
 Engage students in recording and analyzing data records for
calendar/morning meeting activities (e.g., favorite foods, student
ages, weather patterns).
 Throughout the day, engage students in discussions about the
weather—while welcoming students to school in the morning,
greeting them as they return from recess, or dismissing them at the
end of the day.
 Provide opportunities for students to write or dictate journal entries
with weather as the focus.
 Provide opportunities for students to draw images related to weather
(e.g., weather observations, seasonal weather changes, different types
of weather).
 At recess or during indoor exploration, engage in conversations with
students regarding weather and weather patterns.
 Engage students in weather-related read alouds.
 Take regular nature walks to observe changes in plants, shadows, and
trees.
 Provide opportunities for students to talk about their favorite outdoor
activities during various times of the year.
 Provide opportunities for students to make predictions of what may
change, based on information provided by the weather calendar.
 Engage students in keeping a classroom/individual weather journal.
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
18.1 SELF CONTROL
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Provide opportunities for role-play, free play, and structured games.
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time,
especially crucial in the first few weeks, when you are setting up your
classroom routines and culture.
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
19.1 CARES FOR
POSSESSIONS
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
20.1 COOPERATIVE
 Playground
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time.
 Observe student behavior during beginning-of-day transitions into
classroom (placing backpack in cubby, hanging up coat, etc.).
 Observe students during clean up times. Note if students follow
routines and procedures.
 Provide students the responsibility to keep track of a homework
calendar or a behavior chart.
 Provide opportunities for role-play, free play, and structured games.
 Provide opportunities for students to share materials. Observe if
students return the materials to the rightful owner at the end of the
activity.
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time.
PLAY
 Pull-out/specials
classes
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
20.2 SOCIAL
PROBLEM SOLVING
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
21.2 GUIDANCE
AND SUPPORT
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 Individual
 Provide opportunities for participation in group games, allowing
students to make up or modify rules.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in “Think-Pair-Share”
discussions (pose a question, allow time to think, pair with your
partner, share as a whole group).
 Provide opportunities for students to interact in a dramatic play center
where children are taking on various roles (e.g., teacher, veterinarian,
sales clerk).
 Provide opportunities for open-ended play on the playground.
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time.
 Provide opportunities for participation in group games, allowing
students to make up or modify rules.
 Provide opportunities for students to solve their own conflicts before
stepping in. Notice how the children interact with each other.
 Provide opportunities for several students to share limited materials
(e.g., blocks, crayons, scissors, pencils).
 Observe group behaviors when students are given a challenge.
 Provide opportunities for students to build together.
 Provide opportunities for students to “role play” different scenarios
that have occurred or may occur. Teachers may also use puppets to
facilitate.
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time.
 Provide opportunities in which different people are in the role of
authority (e.g., art teacher, counselor, peer). Notice how students
respond to guidance from different authority and peer figures.
 Engage other teachers in a discussion about how your students
behave in other classrooms throughout the school day.
 Observe students during a guidance counselor class lesson.
 Provide scenario picture cards as prompts to see how students solve
the situation posed by the card.
 Use puppets to provide scenarios that require action (e.g., “Kelly spilled
her milk. What should she do?”).
 Playground
 Pull-out/specials
classes
24.2
INDEPENDENCE
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any time.
 Provide opportunities for students to initiate self-directed activities in
various centers and during different instructional periods. Focus your
attention on the student’s ability to initiate new activities and
maintain independence in the face of challenges.
 Provide students the opportunity and guidance to create a flow chart
to manage their routines and procedures.
 Individual
 Playground
27.1
FOCUS
 Pull-out/specials
classes
 Free choice/play
 Whole group
 Small group
 This indicator can be observed almost anywhere and at any
time.
 Create projects for students to develop over a period of time
(e.g., planting seeds, nurturing them, and watching them grow;
feeding, watching, and charting gerbil behavior for a week).
 Provide opportunities for students to complete increasingly
complex games or tasks.
 Provide opportunities to engage in problem solving with peers.
 Ask questions that elicit multiple answers.
 Individual
 Provide opportunities to work independently.
 Provide opportunities for self-selection (e.g., puzzles, center
activities).
 Provide opportunities for students to journal.
 Provide opportunities for students to engage in the Daily 5
activities: working on words, working on writing, reading to
self, reading to someone, listening to reading.
*Remember to be developmentally appropriate with regard to
the amount of time students are being asked to stay on task.
While teacher-led instruction should not exceed 15–20 minutes,
play/self-directed learning can well-exceed 40 minutes.