Pre-K

Unit 1 (September) - What is Pre-K?

The first unit is “What is Pre-K?” We will introduce the children to the materials, daily routines and rules of our classroom and work to build friendships and a positive classroom culture. We will be exploring what it means to be a student in a pre-k classroom through hands-on learning experiences in centers, during meal times, through lots of songs and movement, and through large and small group lessons. We’re looking forward to an exciting year of learning and playing!

 Focus Questions:

1. What will I learn and do in PreK?
2. What do I bring to my classroom community?
3. Who are the people in my classroom community?
4. Who else is in my pre-K program?

 Vocabulary:

School, classroom, schedule, classmates, peers, feelings, emotions, friends, community, rules, sharing, taking turns, centers

 Unit 2 (October) - How do we use our senses to explore, investigate and understand the world around us? 

Students will use their Five Senses to explore, investigate and understand the world around them. They will learn about the Five Senses through hands-on experiences using their sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. The students bring this unit to life throughout the different learning centers, during mealtimes, through music and movement, and through large and small group lessons.

Focus Questions:

1. How do we use our Sense of Sight?
2. How do we use our Sense of Hearing?
3. How do we use our Sense of Touch?
4. How do we use our Sense of Smell and Taste?

Vocabulary: Fall, Autumn, foliage, senses

Sight - eyes, eyesight, view, vision, sign language

Hearing - ears, hear, listen, sound, volume, loud, quiet, deaf, hearing aid

Touch - feel, skin, fingers, surface, texture, dry, wet, hard, soft, rough, smooth

Taste - mouth, tongue, taste buds, flavor, savory, sweet

Smell - nose, odor, scent, aroma

Unit 3 (November)- Who am I and who are the people in my life?

We will be exploring the different ways that make each and every one of us unique and special.  We are the same in some ways but are also very different in other ways.  We each hold different backgrounds, cultures and interests and those are the things that make us so special.  But no matter what, we are all important! We will explore these lessons by sharing our interests with each other, reading lots of books, making self-portraits, and writing our own all about me books.

Focus Questions:

1. What makes me important and unique?
2. What feelings do I have and why?
3. What makes my class important and unique?
4. What makes my family important and unique?

Vocabulary:

 Unique - same, different, interest, favorite, important, special, individual

 Feelings - happy, angry, frustrated, mad, sad, excited, scared, silly

 Community – together, respect, kind, polite, manners,

Family – love, mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, culture

Unit 4 (December) - Where do the people and animals around me live?

Our new unit is “Where We Live.” We will explore the different types of homes people live in and the neighborhoods they live in across Brooklyn and New York City. They will read about different kinds of homes, including apartments, houses, etc. and discuss where different members of their families might live. Children will also learn about the homes of animals, such as pets living with families and animals that might create their own homes outside in different habitats.

Focus Questions:

1. Where do I live? Where do my family members live?
2. What types of homes do the people in my city (NYC) live in?
3. Where do animals live? How do animals make homes?

Vocabulary:

address, shelter, borough, city, home, neighborhood, skyscraper, street, near, far

house, apartment, brownstone, structure, construction, floorplans, blueprints,

habitat, shelter, den, farm, hibernate, nest

Unit 5 (January) - How does my community use various modes of transportation?

In this unit, students will explore how people move from place to place, using different types of vehicles and other methods of transportation. Through hands-on activities in our classroom and in the community, students will have a chance to understand similarities and differences among a major part of New York City life across all five boroughs and in their own neighborhoods. The full diversity of our city is reflected in this unit through the examination of trains, cars, buses, emergency vehicles and more!

Focus Questions:

1. What kinds of transportation do I use and why?
2. How are various modes of transportation similar and different?
3. Who operates the vehicles in my community?
4. How do we stay safe when using transportation?

Vocabulary:

Transportation - vehicle, bus, car, bicycle, scooter, skateboard, subway, taxi, train, ferry, truck, walk, airplane, helicopter, license plate, airport, train tracks, engine, bridge, tunnel, keys, MetroCard

Operators - crossing guard, conductor, driver, EMT, ambulance, engineer, fire engine, firefighter, mail carrier, mail truck, pilot, police car, police officer

Safety - ramp, safety, seatbelt, traffic, speed limit, stop, traffic light, traffic signs, wheelchair, helmet

Unit 6 (February) - How and Why do we use different kinds of light?

In this unit, students will explore what kinds of light there are in the world around us. Children will observe, discuss and explore what they know about natural and man made light. They will have learning experiences and activities that encourage them to think about darkness and shadows. They will also explore how light can help us, like by helping plants grow. Activities throughout the unit will prompt children to explore light, darkness and shadows with hands-on materials as well as provide opportunities for children to make predictions and think about their world. Through these explorations, students will become “light” scientists!

Focus Questions:

1. What kinds of lights are around us?
2. How does light help us?
3. What is darkness? What are shadows?

Vocabulary:

1. light, flashlight, lamp, lantern, light bulb, candle, flame, electricity, battery,

   street light, day, sun, night, moon, stars, opaque, translucent

2. see, day, grow, heat, melt, solar power, sun, mirror, reflection
3. dark, clouds, night, moon, stars, outline, weather, shade, shadow, silhouette

Unit 7 (March) - What does Water Do?

In the Water unit, children begin by thinking about where we can find water. Children will observe, discuss and explore water in their environment such as bodies of water and weather. In the second week, children will focus on changes in water temperature such as with ice. In the third week, children will think about why some items float in water and some sink. In the final week of the unit, children will be encouraged to think about how water helps living things. Our class “gardener” will have a very important job this month!

Focus Questions:

1. Where can we find water?
2. What happens to water when it changes temperature?
3. What happens when we put things in water?
4. How does water help us?

Vocabulary:

       lake, pond, swamp, river, stream, ocean, sea, water cycle, water, vapor, cloud, rain, snow

         state, temperature, liquid, boil, solid, freeze, gas, evaporate

         dissolve, float, saturate, sink, swim

         wash, hydrate, perspiration, thirst

Unit 8 (April) What are Babies?

The 8^th unit is all about Babies! In the first week, children explore what human babies need through reading stories, playing with friends and having conversations. Children may observe many of the things we discuss within their own families if there is a baby at home. In the second part of the unit, children explore how babies change and grow. The final part of the unit explores baby animals and what they eat, where they live, their typical family structure and their early care.  We discuss the many ways that human babies and animal babies may be similar or different.

Focus Questions:

1. What do human babies need?
2. How do babies change?
3. What can we learn about animal babies?

            Vocabulary:

             bib, bottle, car seat, crib, diaper, nursery,  rattle, stroller

             change, newborn, infant, toddler, grow, height, size, weight, crawl, walk, babble,  coo, talk

             calf, cow, elephant, egg, hatch, duckling, duck, tadpole, frog