Pre-K Core Components

Whole group instruction should include a targeted Mini Lesson and Oral Language Development. Plans should incorporate scaffolded instruction, interactive read alouds and UDL principles; teachers should engage with technology, as appropriate, to support instruction

Mini Lessons will include:

• Standards-based instruction for social foundations, mathematics, language and literacy, or content
• Targeted focus to support small group practice or instruction.

Oral Language Development will target areas including:

• Direct instruction of target skills and content vocabulary
• Introduction and reinforcement of speaking and listening standards, including collaborative conversation skills, etc.
• Interactive read aloud, including a variety of texts and materials, as appropriate.
• Oral Language Development should be integrated into the Mini Lesson and Circle Time.

Circle Time is a time for the entire group to share important information and to actively participate in activities that are suitable for large groups. Children initiate ideas, offer suggestions, and generate solutions. Props, such as balls and scarves, can be used during a story. This is a time to encourage children to make choices and support active learning. Typically, literacy-based themes and key concepts are introduced to access and build prior knowledge of skills. It is important to allow this time to become an opportunity for student-led discussion about various topics and for children to learn to attend to teacher-lead activities in a larger group. Circle time is a good opportunity for a shared story experience that is related to the small group activities that will follow later. 

Suggested Examples:

• Greeting song
• Daily schedule
• Morning message or daily news
• Classroom jobs
• Calendar or days of the week
• Letter, color, shape
• Rhyming words of the day
• Counting box
• Weather chart (may also be done during more natural times to observe the weather)
• Puppets
• Musical instruments

Listening to music, moving with music, and making music are vital components of the prekindergarten day. It allows children to express themselves in a variety of musical genres. Prekindergarten children experience the world primarily through their senses, and they engage in fairly simple ways of moving. Music and movement can also be used for transitioning between activities. Integrating music and movement into circle time provides a gross motor break that helps sustain children's attention during the teacher-directed activities. Movement experiences in young children help to construct an understanding of the physical and social world through the direct actions of their bodies and senses.

Suggested Examples:

• Visit the "Brain Gym" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. website for suggested movement-based activities
• Share favorite CD tracks
• Use musical instruments to create music
• Encourage creative movement and dance
• Create opportunities to imitate the teacher's movements
• Play movement games such as Hokey Pokey, Going on a Bear Hunt, and Simon Says
• Provide action and positioning games such as bend, twist, shake, or "who can be a tree?"
• Use the "Catch a Brain Wave Guide" and CD throughout the year
• Talk with the physical education teacher(s) on what items or activities would be appropriate for prekindergarten children
• Refer to the Early Childhood Gross Motor Skills Module

Each standards-based group should meet daily; dependent on class size and staffing, a two or four group model may be utilized. Six students per group is ideal; it is recommended that groups not exceed eight students. A three group model is illustrated below.

Small groups are lead by teachers, paraeducators, or a related service provider such as the speech and language pathologist or occupational therapist. Data collection occurs on a frequent basis to assess learning and facilitate instructional planning. 

Suggested Examples

• Reading small books or shared reading experiences such as concepts of words, concepts of letters, identifying first/last letters or words in a sentence and other concepts of print, 1:1 matching, cut up sentences, components of Jan Richardson’s The Next Steps in Guided Reading Pre-A Lesson Plans (as appropriate), etc.
• Mathematics experiences related to the Counting and Cardinality, Geometry, Measurement & Data, and Addition and Subtraction domains (see Prekindergarten Mathematics Canvas course)
• Guided handwriting experiences such as letter formation, rainbow writing, play-doh letters, magna-doodles, do-a-dot formation, etc. Teachers should use the Early Childhood Handwriting Resource Guide for appropriate activities.
• Writing experiences provide opportunities to share opinions, state information, or communicate a personal story that includes modeled and shared writing experiences that use a combination of drawing, dictating, and developmentally appropriate writing
• Integrated content instruction, including Health, Science, and Social Studies.
• Social Foundations instruction, including Second Step, SEFEL, or Mr. Rogers
• Paraeducators should implement instructional plans developed by the classroom teacher during small groups

Independent time, scaffolded to meet student needs, is an important component of the instructional day. Through intentional planning and careful selection of materials, independent work allows students to gain first hand knowledge by engaging with instructional materials without teacher direction. It also helps develop executive functioning, allows for trial and error in a low-risk environment, enhances self-esteem and sufficiency, and allows for student choice.

Suggested Examples

• Fine motor experiences such as letter and number formation, pattern blocks, snap cubes, rainbow writing, play-doh letters or numbers, magna-doodles, do-a-dot, etc. Teachers should use The Early Childhood Handwriting/Fine Motor Skills Resource Guide for appropriate activities.
• Phonological and phonemic awareness experiences such as clapping syllables, rhyming sorts, picture sorts, finding letters that make given sounds, letter sound production, naming words that start with given letters, naming letters that begins a word, etc.
• Alphabet or number knowledge experiences such as name puzzles, matching magnetic letters or numbers, alphabet or number strips and/or charts, sequencing letters or numbers, matching capital to lowercase letters, naming letters and numbers left to right, matching numbers to sets, etc.
• Students should engage with technology, as appropriate, to support instruction (iPads or desktop computers).
• Exploration of materials introduced during Teacher Directed Small Groups.
• Snack can be incorporated as an independent station, as appropriate.
• Etc.

Snack is an optional time to work on communication, social, math, literacy, and self-care skills. Children have repeated opportunities to make choices, request, comment, wait, and share. Depending on the program, some children will bring snacks from home while others have snacks provided to them by staff.

 15 Minutes

Suggested Strategies for Instruction During Snack Time

• Washing hands
• Choosing a snack
• Practicing expressive language
• Counting snack items
• Working as snack helper (e.g., setting the table and 1:1 correspondence)
• Encouraging appropriate eating habits and table manners
• Identifying shapes, sizes, and colors of snack
• Establishing snack time rules (e.g., sit while eating, no throwing food, and no sharing food)
• Focusing on good nutrition skills
• Making good choices
• Cleaning up
• Snack can be incorporated into the independent table during teacher-directed small groups.

Structured play, center time, and work time are intentional opportunities that provide children a variety of occasions to independently learn and explore new concepts through hands-on activities . Basic centers should always be labeled, organized, and conveniently placed for children to access. Self-selected activities allow children to make their own choices and direct their own play. Adults provide guidance and facilitation and assist all children in building independence. A variety of strategies are used for children to select, transition between, and recall their time spent in centers. Learning through play is a critical component of learning. Play helps children learn new concepts and problem-solving skills in a natural and uninterrupted way. Centers are also a time for teachers to focus on teaching social scripts, conversational rules, and taking turns. Teachers are mindful to always keep play centers current with the content themes and change them frequently.

 30/70 Minutes

Suggested Examples

Centers can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Dramatic Play
• Listening Center
• Computer Center
• Blocks
• Transportation Center
• Sand/Water Table
• Clay/Play-Doh
• Art Center
• Reading Corner
• Science Exploration Center
• ABC/Writing Center
• Post Office
• Veterinarian’s Office
• Doctor’s Office
• Restaurant
• Housekeeping
• Music Center
• Puppet Stage
• Math Manipulatives
• Teacher Talk Center

• Climbing apparatus
• Hula hoops
• Balls
• Beanbags
• Parachutes
• Balance beams
• Trampoline
• Monthly motor skills (Refer to Early Childhood Gross Motor Skills Resource and Activities Guide)

• Describe pictures, setting, characters, and theme of the story
• Ask a variety of high order thinking questions pertaining to the topic of the story
• Retell the story through other materials or by acting it out
• Select different areas in the room to read a story for motivation
• Use props, puppets, stick puppets, felt characters, and other items to tell the story and promote student engagement
• Have vocabulary cards accessible throughout the reading of the story
• Review and revisit the parts that have already been read
• Repeat, elaborate, rephrase
• Use Think-Pair-Share
• Review vocabulary words

The Vocabulary Improvement and Oral Language Enrichment Through Stories (VIOLETS) program is an early childhood language program that promotes the development of pre-reading skills, oral language proficiency, and background knowledge through the use of paraphrasing and questioning techniques. Teachers may use this optional curriculum resource to develop these skills through interactive read alouds of beloved children's literature titles. The curricular resources have been developed in partnership with Ready at Five, Frederick and Howard County Public School Systems, and the Maryland State Department of Education - Division of Early Childhood Development. Visit the VIOLETS module in the Prekindergarten Language Arts course for resources that support the optional use of this program in prekindergarten classrooms.