You know that feeling you get as a teacher when you're on break from the classroom for a bit? You know it...that overwhelming desire to gather and organize and plan for the NEXT year! Well, last week I definitely had that feeling!
I generally believe we need to plan daily for teaching young children; which is why I've never attempted to plan monthly or...gasp...even further ahead! However, there are those days, that I remember I have a meeting during my prep time, a parent calls or a child has had a very challenging time and I need to collaborate with specialists!
Now, of course, everything in my classroom is individualized and our group times are kept very short (10 min. or less) but these type of group activities really help the children build a sense of unity and group experience! Often the play the children engage in is directly based on activities, songs and stories we introduce in a group time!
So, here's what I did: I pulled up blank monthly calendars on word and used these as my template. I started by adding all the days off, early outs, conference and home visit days and regular events (music therapy for some children, story lady once a month).
I then began brainstorming! I know the children in my classroom very well! I know what they enjoy, what they will benefit from and how they learn best. For each week, I wrote down a focus area (basically, in my case, these look very similar to toddler "themes"- a focus on a tangible item...ex. "balls", "snow", "socks and shoes" etc.)
These areas are obviously VERY loosely tied together with the activities (they are really not themes in the true sense- just reminders of possible ideas)! The days on the calendar mean absolutely nothing; these are simply ideas I can draw from based on what the children are engaged in at the time (so I may or may not use the ideas on the weeks or days listed :).
Below are two examples of the calendars I created for August (large group time and circle time). I have calendars now for an entire year...in each of these areas:
So, now I'm quite excited for the "new year"...and I do believe I'm over that planning for the new year feeling now! I'm exhausted!
I generally believe we need to plan daily for teaching young children; which is why I've never attempted to plan monthly or...gasp...even further ahead! However, there are those days, that I remember I have a meeting during my prep time, a parent calls or a child has had a very challenging time and I need to collaborate with specialists!
Now, of course, everything in my classroom is individualized and our group times are kept very short (10 min. or less) but these type of group activities really help the children build a sense of unity and group experience! Often the play the children engage in is directly based on activities, songs and stories we introduce in a group time!
So, here's what I did: I pulled up blank monthly calendars on word and used these as my template. I started by adding all the days off, early outs, conference and home visit days and regular events (music therapy for some children, story lady once a month).
I then began brainstorming! I know the children in my classroom very well! I know what they enjoy, what they will benefit from and how they learn best. For each week, I wrote down a focus area (basically, in my case, these look very similar to toddler "themes"- a focus on a tangible item...ex. "balls", "snow", "socks and shoes" etc.)
These areas are obviously VERY loosely tied together with the activities (they are really not themes in the true sense- just reminders of possible ideas)! The days on the calendar mean absolutely nothing; these are simply ideas I can draw from based on what the children are engaged in at the time (so I may or may not use the ideas on the weeks or days listed :).
Below are two examples of the calendars I created for August (large group time and circle time). I have calendars now for an entire year...in each of these areas:
- circle time ideas,
- large group ideas,
- play dough and sensory table ideas,
- individual and center time ideas and
- books and sign language to use.
So, now I'm quite excited for the "new year"...and I do believe I'm over that planning for the new year feeling now! I'm exhausted!
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Large Group Activities AUGUST 2011
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SUNDAY
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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Focus area:
Bubbles:
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1 LG (Bubble Freeze to music)
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2 Speech group
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3 Story Lady
(Bubble Painting)
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4 Last water day (bubble table)
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5(Painting with cotton balls)
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6
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7
Bubbles:
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8 bubble “foamators”! delic.
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9 Speech
Group
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10 Bubble wrap fingerpainting
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11 no RM
Bubble wrap prints/bubble wrap bike riding. |
12 Painting with q-tips
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13
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14
Tents:
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15 “table tents”
Tent outside..
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16 Speech
Group
“
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17 Painting sheets for tents
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18 no RM
Painting canvases
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19
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20
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21
Hodge-Podge:
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22 tiny world with bird houses (painting houses)
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23 Speech
Group
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24 tiny world with bird houses etc.
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25 no RM
Gardening
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26
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27
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28
Fishing
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29 Gone Fishing snack
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30 Speech
Group
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31 Fish bowl snack
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Watercolors on fish shaped paper
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Circle Times AUGUST 2011
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SUNDAY
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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Focus area:
Bubbles
Sign to intro:
(bubble)
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Brown Bear Song (Greg and Steve)
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Going on a Bear Hunt (Greg & Steve)
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U letter and puppet (up)
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5
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6
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7 Bubbles
(bubble)
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Miss Lucy had a turtle
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9 Goolie, Goolie (Tiny Tunes)
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B puppet and letter (bubbles)
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12
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13
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14 Tents
(outside)
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Sleeping Bag Chant (HUM)
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5 Green and Speckled Frogs
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G puppet and letter (green)
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19
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20
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21Hodge-Podge:
(small)
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Going on a picnic (HUM)
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K letter and puppet (kisses are
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small)
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25
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26
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27
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28 Fishing
(fish, water)
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29 Octopus song (10 carrot diam.)
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30 Ducks Like Rain (HUM)
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31 with umbrella
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F letter and puppet (fish)
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5 Little Fish (with plate prop)
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