Ideas for Kindergarten Teachers

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Integration Ideas for Kindergarten Teachers

Click on any of the underlined unit topics in the right hand column below to link to some curriculum integration ideas using a variety of technology tools. Use the grey arrow buttons to link to integration ideas at other grade levels or to return to the main menu.

Literacy Component	Unit/Topic
Modeled / Shared Reading	Rebus Rhymes
Modeled / Shared Reading	Riddles
Guided Reading	Rainforest
Guided Reading	Alphabet Books
Collaborative / Independent Reading and Writing	Shapes and Patterns
Collaborative / Independent Reading and Writing	Animal Habitats

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Unit Integration Ideas

Kindergarten: Modeled/Shared Reading Rebus Rhymes
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books Come Out To Play: Mother Goose Rhymes from Ladybug Ladybug Magazine Rebus Stories Monster and Muffin, A Picture Reader by Joanna Cole Barney's Favorite Mother Goose Rhymes, by Stephen White Mother Goose, by William Wegman	Use listening skills to build background and familiarity with nursery rhymes as modeled by teacher; revisit texts to share orally with partners or silently
Computer Software Mixed - Up Mother Goose	Use listening skills and background knowledge about familiar nursery rhymes to lead characters back to their corresponding rhymes
Productivity Tool Kid Pix Studio	Use stamping tools and drawing or text tools to create a rebus sentence or poem with a partner / small group
Internet Web Sites Enchanted Learning: Rebus Rhymes Mama Lisa's House of Rhymes IPL Storyhour: Mother Goose	Revisit rebus rhymes with partners (printed out or online) after they are used as teaching models on chart paper; Print out and cut text and pictures up for children to reassemble; view and listen to interactive rhymes online
screenshots / templates for Rebus Unit

Kindergarten: Modeled / Shared Reading Riddles
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books My First Riddles, Pictures by Judith Hoffman Corwin (Read-Aloud) A Basket Full of White Eggs, by Brian Swann (Read-Aloud) Ten Copycats in a Boat and Other Riddles, by Alvin Schwartz The Riddle Book, by Roy McKie	Share out loud with children, modeling good intonation and differences between questions and statements in clues. Encourage predicting and verifying and point out repetitive patterns of this in the story.
Computer Software JumpStart Preschool by Knowledge Adventure (Riddle Activity screen shot)	Listen to a series of clues presented orally and then select the correct object that answers the riddle.
Productivity Tool Microsoft PowerPoint (with teacher created template)	Fill in a template designed for small groups of students to create a riddle on one page (help typing in) and an animated second page that reveals the answer with a drawing and a student's voice reading the text after an interesting transition. Discuss pattern of predicting and verifying.
Internet Web Sites Ranger Rick's Riddles and Match'em Games Animals You Can See at The Zoo Knock Knock Jokes to share with your students	Solve easy riddles that match animals to their footprints; share online riddles and knock-knock jokes with students by modeling reading out loud; listen to animal sounds to repeat book's pattern of predicting and verifying;
screenshots / templates for Riddles Unit

Kindergarten: Guided Reading Rainforest
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books Rainforest Jane Goodall & the Chimpanzees Who Lives in the Rainforest? (all part of Scholastic Emergent Reader Series) Read-Aloud: Amazon Alphabet	Share all stories out loud with students and discuss. Encourage students to choose one to read in small groups or with a partner. Encourage use of picture clues and point out repetition of easy sight words. (do, too, she, and, this, is, a, it) Students should try to follow with finger and encourage use of initial letters for decoding strategies. Make a word wall of animals that live in the rainforest.
Computer Software Let's Explore the Jungle, by Humungous Entertainment (see screen shot)	Explore behaviors of rainforest animals, locate animals in certain rainforests, use index (reads-aloud to children) to search for particular animals and hear / read facts about them; learn scientific names of animals; print out information
Productivity Tool Kid Pix Studio	Capture images and sounds of rainforest animals using Internet sources, software or scanning or drawing. Fill in a template textbox to create one page of a multimedia slide show. Record voice reading text and combine into a class slide show.
Internet Web Sites Rainforests Website created by fourth graders Rainforest Animals Slide Show by 3rd graders Rainforest Video / Sound Clips by Kid Explorers Rainforest ABC Coloring Book Enchanted Learning Rainforests Unit Virtual Field Trip to the Congo Gorilla Forest from BigChalk	Access close up photographs of rainforest animals; listen to video and sound clips captured from the jungle; review an online ABC book and print out picture to color; see a slide show created by students (use as model for own slide show); visit Enchanted Learning's Zoom Rainforests Unit to expand study with age-appropriate information to share out loud.
screenshots / templates for Rainforest Unit

Kindergarten: Guided Reading Alphabet Books
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books The Alphabet Book, by P.D. Eastman (Read-Aloud) The Little Lookouts Discover the Alphabet, by Cliff Ellwood Dr. Seuss's ABC The Ocean Alphabet Book (and others in the series) by Jerry Palotta Everything to Spend the Night From A to Z, by Ann Whitford Paul	Share out loud with students. Discuss highlighted letter and large letter on each page. Discuss alliteration. Point out sight words (with, on, in, under, at, for) and encourage use of pictures to aid decoding. Encourage students to revisit the book with a partner. Locate large and small letter on each page. Explore the humor of Dr. Suess's ABC and of Everything to Spend the Night.
Computer Software JumpStart Preschool (Letter activities screen shot) Ready to Read with Pooh (Forming letters activity sreen shot) Living Books: Dr. Suess' ABC	Jumpstart: Locate matching letters and drag to paint box to color in large picture with paint Read with Pooh: Use mouse to connect dots in correct sequence to form letters Dr. Suess's ABC: Meet all the zany characters and learn lots of new words while exploring this interactive book.
Productivity Tool Kid Pix Studio	Focus on one letter of the alphabet. Use drawing tools to create a picture using this letter. Locate and sort stamps that begin with particular letters of alphabet (can also use name as acronym, or letters of the week) Create a funny alliterative phrase like the pattern in the book and draw picture Use Tools menu to access Spanish letter sounds; stamp and pronounce Create a class book about what you'd bring on an overnight trip, as in the book Everything to Spend the Night from A to Z
Internet Web Sites These Are The Letters of the Alphabet Emmi's Critter ABC's Internet ABC Project: most of the links don't work, but it's a good model Kindergarten ABC Book Dinosaur ABC, Enchanted Learning Swahili Alphabet Book InfoKids Animal Alphabet Book Little Explorers Picture Dictionary	Share and discuss these online alphabet books and use as models of an ABC class book you could make using Kid Pix Studio. Learn more about dinosaurs, how to pronouse words in Swahili, and objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet too. There are many, many alphabet books online (check out this huge list of online alphabet activities)
screenshots / templates for Alphabet Unit

Kindergarten: Collaborative / Independent Reading and Writing Shapes and Patterns
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books There's a Square: A Book About Shapes (by Mary Serfozo, Scholastic) (Read-Aloud) If You Look Around You, by Fulvio Testa Shape Space, by Cathryn Falwell (Teacher Resource) Shapes and Patterns, by Ellen Booth Church	Share out loud with students. Discuss shape names and identify rhyming words in text. Locate shapes in illustrations and in environment. Encourage students to revisit the book with a partner to locate shapes and "quiz" each other on shape names.
Computer Software JumpStart Preschool(Matching Shapes) Millies Math House by Edmark (Build a House Activity) Carnival Countdown by Edmark (Pattern Block Roundup screen shot) (Exploring Patterns screen shot)	Jumpstart: Locate matching shapes and drag to paint box to color in large picture with paint Millies: Build a house based on various sizes of shapes; match to name of shape Carnival: Build larger shapes or designs by dragging / rotating / flipping smaller geometric shapes to fit inside outline
Productivity Tool Kid Pix Studio	Use stamping tools to select and sort stamps made up of various shapes; Create a pattern with shapes using painting tools for color or Shift Key for sizes; Use fill in paint can tool to create patterns inside shapes like in the book; Create a picture using just one shape (in different sizes, colors and at different angles) like in book
Internet Web Sites Draw and Color with Uncle Fred (using simple shapes) Draw Me Shapes from Lil' Fingers.com Shapes from Sesame Street Patterns in Nature IC Shapes	Follow directions to create drawings using simple shapes; read about identifying characteristics of shapes (or share out loud) for a guessing game; practice watching / repoducing how shapes are drawn; print out color sheets with shapes around us; expand on pattern theme by locating repeating non-geometric shapes in photographs of nature
screenshots / templates for Shapes and Patterns Unit

Kindergarten: Collaborative / Independent Reading and Writing Animal Habitats
Resource	Task / Purpose
Trade Books Who Lives in a Tree? (by Susan Canizares, Scholastic Emergent Reader Series) 100 Words About Animals, illus. by Richard Brown (Read-Aloud) Who Lives in the Zoo?, illustrated by Lisa Bonforte (Read-Aloud) In The Woods: Who's Been Here? by Lindsay B. George (Read-Aloud) Big Red Barn, by Margaret Wise Brown	Share out loud with students. Introduce "habitats" and predict first. Discuss other habitats and animals living within each. Encourage students to use illustrations and initial letters to decode animal names. Discuss forming plurals of each animal. Leave time for students to revisit the book to share out loud with a partner.
Computer Software Sammy's Science House by Edmark (Backyard Activity screen shot or Sorting Station screen shot)	Locate different animals inside their homes in different seasons; learn about animal behaviors and learn how to pronouse names correctly; sort animals based on type, habitat, or characteristic
Productivity Tool Kid Pix Studio or Microsoft PowerPoint Inspiration (template)	Use textbox template in either program to create slide show about animals in a certain habitat. Use Kid Pix Studio's drawing tools to draw animals and habitat; use PowerPoint to import photographs or animals from Internet or scanner; Use repetitive text patterns to learn new sight words; Use Inspiration to create sorting activity of animals and habitats.
Internet Web Sites Animals in Our Backyard by Second Graders Who lives in which habitat? Animals that live in ponds or streams All About Nature Animals from Enchanted Learning Habitat Action Pack (free for teachers)	Explore a variety of habitats and learn more about the animals that live within each. Play a game to guess which animals live in which habitats. Access information to download or export into slide shows or print out for coloring, reading and discussing.
screenshots / templates for Habitat Unit

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