Why use themed lesson plans?
Preschool themes are not essential to a successful preschool lesson, but they do help tie it all together and keep students engaged in learning. For that reason, it is strongly recommended that preschool themes help teachers save time and energy in their planning.
preschool themes Also help teachers show students how different things can be interrelated. It allows them to delve into the topic and explore it from different angles.
How to use themes
Once a teacher has chosen a topic, the next requirement is to determine how a lesson will fit within the constraints of the topic. There should be several components in a thematic lesson. The first would be the main objectives, whether it is to teach geography or animals or new vocabulary. These objectives should be related to the theme. For example, if the theme is animals, the learning objective might be to teach about animals in the rainforest and why they are colored.
Then the lesson should have a physical activity to get students moving and engaged. This activity could be a song, dance, scavenger hunt, or follow-the-leader game. Again, the activity should relate to the topic and allow students to explore it further. If the topic is animals, students could imitate animals and ask them to guess the correct animal.
Finally, the lesson should include a craft project. This project should engage students in creative ways, encouraging them to use art to express themselves and learn more about the subject.
sample themes
Because preschoolers are interested in the world around them, good topics relate to the things they see every day. The following list is a good starting point for preschool teachers who need the ease of flexibility and a way to tie it all together.
or Automobiles
or world geography
o Mountains and volcanoes
or in the kitchen
or Farts
or at the zoo
or the weather
oFlowers
or Holidays
or winter activities
or Holidays
or Seasons
Daily vs. Long-Term Themes
Teachers using preschool themes have a few options when it comes to theme length. They can choose a theme for one day or one for more time. Less than one day is not enough for students to understand the connection of the activities.
If teachers want to extend the preschool themes for a week or more, they should choose a theme broad enough that all the days can be linked in some way. For example, if the topic is weather, Monday could be the basic elemental movements that make up the weather, Tuesday natural disasters, Wednesday the water cycle, Thursday clouds, and Friday can tie it all together.
Final Thoughts on Preschool Issues
Preschool themes can help teachers tie lessons together and explore ideas in more depth than they could with less time. Topics should not be less than a day, but can be much longer, such as a week or even longer. Topics should be broad enough that teachers can touch on many different aspects, but focused enough that students can see the connection of the ideas.