From the category archives:

Lesson Plans

Building connections to math, art, and more through children’s literature

by Deborah J. Stewart August 27, 2010 Lesson Plans

When I am at a loss as to what to do in my preschool classroom, I always sit down and start thumbing through all my children’s books. As I read through my collection of children’s books, my mind begins to swirl with all the ways each book can be extended throughout my curriculum content. I [...]

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At play with baby: My Family

by Deborah J. Stewart August 12, 2010 Infant and Toddler

Clara has a mommy… Clara has a daddy… Clara has a grandma and a great grandma… Clara has a grandpa… Clara has a family! Photos were used by permission from Clara’s family and Photography by Karena DeMerchant

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Organizing your daily lesson plan materials

by Deborah J. Stewart August 3, 2010 Classroom Management

This is a simple way to keep your daily lesson plans materials organized as you prepare for each week of school. Gather a nice sized basket (a lesson plan box). Make sure your lesson plan box is large enough to hold file folders and large children’s books. Label a set of pocket folders with each day [...]

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At play with baby: musical instruments

by Deborah J. Stewart July 29, 2010 Infant and Toddler

When baby Clara kicks the tambourine it goes “jingle, jingle!” When baby Clara kicks the maraca it goes “shake, shake!” The rhythm sticks go “tap, tap, tap!” “Jingle, jingle, shake, shake, tap, tap, tap!” I wander if Clara can go clap, clap, clap? See why reading to your baby is so important from Room to Grow: [...]

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At play with baby: Up and Down

by Deborah J. Stewart July 21, 2010 Infant and Toddler

Baby Clara sits on mommy’s knee! And mommy’s knee goes up and down… Baby Clara goes up! Baby Clara goes down!

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At play with baby: There is a baby in the bucket

by Deborah J. Stewart July 15, 2010 Infant and Toddler

Three colorful buckets Clara goes inside the bucket Clara goes outside of the bucket Clara goes on top of the bucket Clara goes under the bucket Where’s Clara? There she is! Clara goes behind the orange bucket Clara goes behind the yellow bucket Clara goes behind the blue bucket Infant Lesson Plan You can find [...]

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Watermelon ideas for preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 13, 2010 Lesson Plans

Looking for some watermelon ideas? Here are a few ideas I put together… And I thought this was a fun little tutorial on drawing watermelons!

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At play with baby: Big bear-little bear

by Deborah J. Stewart July 8, 2010 Infant and Toddler

For all you who are looking for activities to do with infants, I have started putting together some blog posts for you. This is my very first one and I will continue to post more each Thursday (as long as I have material ready and can keep up)!  Thank you to my niece for sharing [...]

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Lesson plans for the infant room

by Deborah J. Stewart May 3, 2010 Infant and Toddler

An infant room is a special place where babies are nurtured, loved, and are given opportunities to learn! Infants are learning about themselves and their world every single minute of every single day. 1. To prepare an infant lesson plan, the first thing I like to consider is the developmental stages of an infant. Each [...]

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Webbing for lesson plans in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart May 1, 2010 Lesson Plans

It was recently suggested that I talk a little bit about how to create a web that will help you in creating lesson plans. I am going to present a few very basic webs just to get you thinking! Centers This first web is focused on centers. This web is simply an example of how webbing [...]

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Toddler lesson plan overview

by Deborah J. Stewart March 20, 2010 Infant and Toddler

Several years back, I was contracted with a local childcare program to write toddler lesson plans. In all my years of teaching, I had never worked in a toddler classroom. I raised my own toddler which helps but I know it isn’t the same as managing 10 toddler all at once. To prepare, I did [...]

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Mini-Lessons

by Deborah J. Stewart May 14, 2009 Classroom Management

A Mini-lesson focuses on skills preschoolers need to learn in managing everyday life skills. Unlike a teachable-moment, a mini-lesson is planned out ahead of time. Like a teachable moment, the idea or topic of a mini-lesson often originates from an unexpected occurence that a teacher begins to notice or observe happening repeatedly in the classroom. [...]

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Teachable Moments

by Deborah J. Stewart May 12, 2009 Classroom Management

Teachable moments are times when something unexpected occurs and the teacher turns the unexpected occurrence into a learning opportunity. Preschoolers are discovering the world around them. Their natural curiosity and need-to-know creates many opportunities for teachable moments. The teacher has to develop a teaching perspective in order to not miss out on unexpected learning opportunities. [...]

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Lesson Plans: A Basic Approach

by Deborah J. Stewart May 8, 2009 Lesson Plans

Before writing your next lesson plan, consider the “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How” approach. For each activity you plan to do, ask yourself the six questions below. Who are you writing these activities for? The “who” focuses on keeping the lesson plan age appropriate. What activity are you going to do? The “what” [...]

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What is a Daily Lesson Plan?

by Deborah J. Stewart May 3, 2009 Lesson Plans

A daily lesson plan is a clearly defined schedule of activities that you plan to implement throughout the classroom day. Lesson plans come in many formats. Some teachers write their own lesson plans and other teachers follow a lesson plan provided by the school. In either case, the key to success in any classroom is [...]

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