Kindergarten Lesson Plans...

Lesson plans for Kindergarten are a kick unless you’re the one that is supposed to execute them. There are just SOME things I WON’T do!

I’m just fine with upper grade plans dealing with Math, Reading, English (except for maybe transitive/intransitive verbs), but Kindergarten AM class is a whole different animal. Especially for Mr. Perry the substitute!

Going over the morning lesson plan:

1. Put on the “Good Morning” song CD and take roll – check!
2. Have them do the calendar and days of the week – check!
3. Read the story from the book on my desk – check!
4. Recess – check
5. Have them do the “Earth Day” mobile craft- (…Uh well, maybe!)
6. Another recess – check
7. Clean up – check
8. Read another book – check
9. Sing a song – che….Uh, What THE ???
10. Dismiss –

Singing is not something I do well. In fact, it’s something I do really, really bad. I lip sync when required. Usually in church. William Hung of American Idle fame has a better chance, and the guts to do it in front of 19 five year olds than I do.

Fortunately, this school has AM and PM Kindergarten where both teachers overlap and act as aids for each other. At craft time, the PM Kinder teacher jumped in to rescue me from figuring out on the fly what I was suppose to do directing the kids with the mobile project. I’m hoping she’s around for lesson item #9 later in the afternoon.

She wasn’t.

The thing about kids this age is that they know the routine. They need the routine. They will protest LOUDLY if you deviate from the routine.

The routine for them, at the end of the day, was clean up, story, song and go home. They expected clean up, story, song and go home.

So when we completed the clean up followed by the lesson plan indicated story, I destroyed their perception of reality by announcing…

Instead of a song, we’re going to ……………………..READ ANOTHER STORY!

You should have seen the looks on their angelic little faces. Wonder! Amazement! Horror?

“You can’t do that, Mrs Perry!” one little guy blurted! “It’s supposed to be story, then the song and then go home!”

My response: “It’s MR. Perry little guy, and today we’re doing it a little different”.

With a few more protests, grumblings and a few resentful looks they did finally settle down for the story about a kid that made play dough cookies and tricked his parents into eating them.

I guarantee it was much better than any song sung by me…