Student Activities for Early Learning in Focus: Pre-K to 1st Grade Lesson Plans
Early Learning in Focus Summary
The guide has one storyboard lesson for each unit:
- Pre-K, Focus on 3s: In Friends and Family, children make one picture of something they like to do with a friend at school. In World of Color, they change the color of a bus, door, or tree on a city street and name the color they see.
- Pre-K, Focus on 4s: In Together in Our Community, children retell a story in three parts and change a character's face to show how it feels. In Building Our Working City, they show a city worker, the tools the worker uses, and how the worker helps.
- Kindergarten: In Going Places, children show a special place and what they do there. In Living Together, they show what a pet needs to stay healthy.
- First Grade: In What is a neighborhood?, students plan a story about a day at school with First, Next, Then, and Last. In How do living things grow and change?, they show the four stages of a frog's life cycle.
Every lesson comes with a student template and a finished teacher example. Student instructions are short enough to read aloud. With 3s, the teacher leads and children point to what they want; 4s choose their own characters and props with adult support; kindergarten and first grade students work more on their own and write their own captions. The sentence starters give every child the same way in, and they work well with multilingual learners and children who are still building language.
Essential Questions for Early Learning in Focus
- How can pictures and words work together to show what we know?
- What makes the people and places in our community special?
- What do living things need, and how do they grow and change?
Frequently Asked Questions about Pre-K to 1st Grade Storyboard Lesson Plans
Can pre-K children really use a storyboard?
Yes, with an adult beside them. Three-year-olds point and choose while the teacher drags in the scene, characters, and props; four-year-olds start choosing on their own. Each lesson starts with a one-cell picture, so even the youngest children finish a page they can talk about.
How do these lessons change from pre-K to first grade?
The task grows with the child. Pre-K 3s make one picture and dictate a sentence, 4s retell in three cells and change a character's face, kindergartners add a caption with support, and first graders plan a First, Next, Then, Last story and write their own sentences.
How long does each lesson take?
Most lessons fit a 15- to 20-minute center rotation: a few minutes to talk about the topic, about ten minutes on the storyboard, and a few minutes to share. Older students can spread a three- or four-cell board across two sessions or use it as a culminating project at the end of a unit.
Do these lessons replace drawing and writing by hand?
No. Storyboard That goes alongside the hand drawing, dictation, and writing children already do. Many teachers print the finished page so children can trace, color, or copy their sentence, and use the digital page to help a child show an idea they can't yet draw.
How do sentence starters help young children and multilingual learners?
A sentence starter such as "I like to ___ with my friend" gives every child the same way into the task. Children only need to add one or two words, so multilingual learners and children who are still building language can share an idea right away and use the same pattern again.
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