Themes & Freebie

 I LOVE theme teaching!  Not only do I think it is marvelous for little learners but it gets me excited about what's coming up next.  I am always happy to look at my plan book and start thinking ahead.  Seeing as we are now in Fall my mind is going bats, spiders, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and more!  It is an exciting time in the school year because things are finally starting to run pretty smooth and there are a number of fun topics to get our little learners excited!  

Do you use themes in your class?  I know many primary teachers do but I have known some who do not.   I just really like themes because it allows me to look at a topic, look at the standards, and where we are at in the year, and from that I can pull ideas for lessons and activities.  It all truthfulness it makes things A LOT simpler in my mind. And without themes I think I might be a little lost.  Plus for students I believe it is best because they are able to engage in new topics which helps create excitement, allows opportunity for talking, teaches skills in context, and leads to great comparison activities along the way.  Here's a list of possible Kinder themes by month that I like to use, with my favorites for each month "glowing."

Credits: kevinandamanda.com & SweetTimesinFirst.blogspot.com
Click on picture to download

So what do my themes almost always have....

-Theme KickOff:  This might be done with observation charts, a mystery event, a field trip, a schema anchor chart or KWL, or a story.

- Use of Fiction & NonFiction Texts where possible.

- Science/Social Studies (or Both) activities which relate to topic.

- Art Piece or Craft

- Writing Activity

- Songs/Poems

- A few themed math/literacy centers

- Printable Emergent Reader

- Collaborative Work (This is my goal!)

- Wrap Up Activity:  Presentation, class speaker, cooking activity, group shares, closing circle, class video etc.

What are your favorite themes and what kind of activities do you do?

I'm currently working on my pumpkin theme unit and am excited to share it with you all in the very near future but for now I found these adorable candy corn pieces by Lindsey Law from Miss Law's Kinders and just knew I had to make a Fall/Halloween activity.  So click the image below to grab yours FREE!