Preschool weekly themes: A list of over 100 ideas for weekly preschool theme ideas, plus a free printable planning page
Find over 200 of The Best Preschool Themes and Preschool Lesson Plans, Whether you need ideas for alphabet activities, 100th Day of School. All About Me, Apples, Transportation Theme, Beach theme, Fall Theme, Spring themes, Fall Leaves. Farm, Feelings. Use thematic unit studies to engage children in learning. Themes for Preschool and Kindergarten, Tons of Pre-K activities and Preschool Topics
Grab our free, clickable Mega List of Themes and Skills for Pre-K & Kindergarten Lesson Plans to see what themes/skills I cover in my classroom all year!
Do you teach a Community Helpers Preschool or Kindergarten Unit? You will LOVE this fun set of pretend play learning centers and no prep worksheets.
Kids will have fun learning about other countries, famous landmarks, and geography with this France for Kids FREE Printable Mini Book.
This worksheets will give you lots of ideas for your preschool apple theme. Letter A Worksheets FREE Worksheets Apple Ten Frames WorksheetFill in the ten frames to match the numbers on the apples. R
This moon craft is great for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or older kids. It's a great art extension during a space theme in the classroom.
Learn About the 7 Continents! Exploring the 7 Continents has never been more exciting! It’s a Small World Continent Study is filled with over 35 activities to help your students gain a greater understanding of the seven continents. This 130+ page unit is filled with great resources, posters, printables, activities, and projects that will open […]
FREE printable Paper Hats that kids can color and wear when learning about community helpers, occupations, or when doing dramatic and pretend play. Great for preschool and kindergarten!
Add elements of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to your preschool centers to integrate science and play while students explore their senses.
Montessori-inspired cards featuring terms such as dinosaur, plesiosaur, pterosaur, Pangaea, and Mesozoic Era.
Engage your early learners in hands-on fun and sharpen sorting skills with this Seasons Sort printable game.
Grab your FREE hair salon scissor skills printable to use with your preschool and kindergarten students! Use at home and at school!
Handy free printable leif erikson for kids worksheet and coloring pages to make into readers to learn about famous early explorer!
FUN shape activity for preschoolers using printable road shape mats and hotwheels for learning shapes with a car activity for toddlers.
The Fall Preschool Unit is packed full of hands on math & literacy activities as well as no prep worksheets for easy lesson planning.
Free X-Ray Themed Printables
Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about families Find more Family Theme Activities for Pre-K on the category page. Books Check here for a
Space activities and centers (literacy, math, fine motor, stem, blocks, sensory, and more) for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
Hi Teachers! If you’ve been following my blog, you may have seen recent posts about this new resource line, Interactive VocAppulary™! This resource is essentially an interactive vocabulary activity where students design apps for each vocabulary word for their themed Smartphone! What is unique about Interactive VocAPPulary™ is that it combines the use of
Kids will be WOWED with this hands-on, fall science experiment where they will explore Why do Leaves Change Color for kids! Fun Leaf Activity!
Try this fun pollination STEM activity for students to make a craft stick model bee then simulate pollination using mac and cheese powder!
This printable matching socks game is the perfect activity to keep your toddler entertained and learning through play. Download it for FREE!
Come play to learn with a fun (and safe) BUBBLY FIRE experiment for preschoolers! Great addition for fire safety week or a community helpers theme.
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
Get our Apples Pre-Writing Tracing Printables for more fun, engaging and exciting tracing activity! Trace the lines in the apples and
Put together a week’s worth of apple learning activities with these fun ideas for toddlers and preschoolers. Free printables included!
These free fall dot marker printables are a fun, no-prep activity for toddlers & preschoolers! Free printable dab a dot/do a dot marker worksheets for fall.
Outrageously FUN Exploding Pumpkin science experiment for kids is a great way to play and learn with halloween activities in October.
Welcome to the Free Resource Library for Montessori, early childhood and lower elementary teachers, parents and educators! I am thrilled to provide you with a curated selection of free printables. […]
This printable pumpkin alphabet activity is a hands-on way for children to learn the alphabet and letter sounds this fall. It's a fun pumpkin activity!
Whether you are teaching your prechooler at home or working with them in preparation for school, here is a preschool learning folder for you.
Download FREE coloring pages and activity sheets that you can print for children.
Looking for fun Preschool Halloween Activities? This set of fun Hands-on Centers and Printables are the perfect addition to your Preschool Halloween Theme.
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
FREE Community Helpers 2-piece puzzles, perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to learn about occupations and jobs around the community.
These Fall themed Pattern Block Printable mats are perfect for your preschooler or young learner and make learning math fun!
If you're looking for free printable worksheets for preschool & kindergarten, then look no further. Here are links to all of the printable worksheets that I've created for preschoolers and kindergartners. You'll find cutting and tracing, color by code, and of course everything in between.
Everyone loves a camping theme. Learning about nature, forest animals, insects, the night sky, rivers, fishing, and smores will get your students interested and excited to come to school. Parents and teachers all know that when students are interested, they are more engaged, and they develop a love of learning. In this post, I want to share some great ideas for camping centers and activities I do in the classroom with my little learners.
Teachers, homeschoolers! Visit the Imagination Box Blog for fun seasonal art ideas, freebies, tips, & offers. Do more art in your classroom 🎨
Combine name recognition and art with this Hidden Name Art Preschool Name Activity and sensory bin for preschoolers and kindergarteners learning their name
Grab our free, clickable Mega List of Themes and Skills for Pre-K & Kindergarten Lesson Plans to see what themes/skills I cover in my classroom all year!
