I have a professional afternoon on Tuesday and will be missing my Kindergarten students. It's easy to plan for the older grades, I have them chose a lesson from their sketchbooks but I always feel a bit challenged coming up with plans for a substitute to use with Kinders. It has to be easy enough for anyone to guide students, challenging enough to last the full class time, and engaging enough so that behaviors won't become a problem. In a capsule, it's hard to find that perfect lesson. As I have mentioned before, I always start a Kindergarten lesson with a book. For this lesson I have chosen "Not a Box" by Antoinette Portis. I could not find my lesson plan format saved on my computer, how do those things always seem to disappear? I headed to the Internet for some guidance which is the purpose of this post. I discovered a really terrific lesson plan generating site that I want to share with you. The site is here and is called the Lesson Builder. It is free, easy to use and creates a truly impressive looking lesson plan to leave for a substitute or to turn into an evaluator.
"Not a Box"
Grade Level : K
Subject: Visual Arts
Topic: Kindergarten Shapes and visual imagery
Objective: Kindergarten students will be able to identify and name shapes and
then make associations to everyday objects that are reflective of those shapes
Prep: Photo copy pages of shapes, one per student. Collate and staple together into a book. Cut covers in a variety of colored papers for students to chose from. Add student names to back cover of book.
Materials: Book: "Not a Box" by Antoinette Portis, copies of handouts, construction paper, crayons, Shape activities for "Not a Box" from The Best Children's Books.org. I will be using these for the first step of the lesson
Common Core Standards Met: (This was a drop down menu which I selected from)
Math.K.G.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations
or overall size.
Math.K.G.5 Model shapes in the world by building shapes from
components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.
Method: Direct Instruction (This was a drop down menu which I selected from)
Goal: Build Understanding (This was a drop down menu which I selected from)
Students will listen and interact with a reading of "Not a Box" by
They will be given a set of shape illustrations that they will identify by
appropriate name. Students will color in the shapes using primary and
secondary colors (crayons).
In the style of Portis' book, they will then turn the shape into an
imaginary object or an actual object that incorporates that shape. (ex:
cone - ice cream cone or top of a tower)
Next - Color in drawings.
When finished staple on a cover using constructions paper which students
I'll let you know how the lesson goes on Tuesday with the substitute. Until then, be sure to check out the Lesson Builder.