"The More We Get Together" Lesson Plan

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What We Are Learning

 

Social and Emotional Learning Focus:

friendship/community

 

Theme Vocabulary Words:

together, include

 

Skills We’re Practicing:

group discussion, vocabulary, critical thinking, visual discrimination

  • In Rosie Goes to Preschool by Karen Katz, Rosie has her first day of preschool. After reading, encourage children to share their feelings about school.

Build Your Classroom

Materials: cardboard, modeling clay, craft sticks, small manipulatives (e.g., plastic cubes)

  • Pretend play and teamwork meet engineering this this activity. Put out cardboard to build on, and set out other materials. Tell children that they will be building their classroom together in pairs using the materials. As they build, ask about their work. Record their comments. They can add details and “people” using manipulatives or more clay.
  • Display children’s comments near their structures so people can learn about what they built!
  • This can also be done with blocks. engineering/teamwork

Just Like Me!

Materials: none

  • This game helps create community by showing commonalities.
  • Sit in a circle. One child stands and says a fact about themself, like their favorite color. All children for whom the fact is also true stand and say, “Just like me!” Then everyone sits. Continue until everyone has a turn! building relationships
Apple chunks connected with toothpicks

Materials: 2 or 3 paper cups, rubber band, 4 pipe cleaners (or yarn or string)

  • This collaborative activity lets classmates practice working together as a team.
  • To prepare, bend the pipe cleaners in half. Loop the pipe cleaners through the rubber band so the rubber band is in the bent nook. Then twist the pipe cleaners to make handles. There should be two handles on one side of the rubber band, and two handles on the other.
  • Have students work in pairs. Students will hold the pipe cleaner handles and pull them apart to stretch the rubber band. Once the rubber band is wide enough, the children will work together to close the rubber band around a cup. Then they’ll lift the cup and stack it onto another cup. Children should continue to work together to stack and unstack the cups.
  • When they’re done, ask children about the activity. What was difficult about it? What was easy? How did it feel to work together? teamwork/fine-motor skills