4 Kindergarten Lesson Plans to Help your School's Language Arts Curriculum

The kindergarten school curriculum is structured to give children a foundation on which to build their language skills. Pictures, sounds and activities engage the student to keep their attention focused during their early childhood education. Here are four sample lesson plans appropriate for kindergarten students learning to read and write.

Lesson Plan No. 1

Title: Where The Animals Live

Objective:

Students will learn what a “habitat” is, what makes them different from each other, and what can they expect to see in four habitats: desert, forest, grassland, wetland

Materials Needed:

• Books and magazines with pictures of the four habitats, some containing plants and animals in those areas
• Crayons or markers for each child to use
• Several large sheets of construction paper

Procedure:

• Define the term “habitat”
• Describe each of the four habitats, desert, forest, grassland, and wetland, and show photos from the books and magazines
• Describe the key elements in each habitat that make them different from each other
• Talk about the various animals that can be found in these habitats and show photos of each

• Emphasize the concepts by showing habitat photos and asking what plants and wildlife would they expect to see there
• Show photos of different animals, plants and trees and ask what habitat would be good for them

• Have each student draw a picture of a habitat they would like to visit
• Ask them to draw how the habitat looks with the animals and plants they would find living there
• Write the four habitats on the board and ask the students to write the correct one on their drawing

• When the students are done with their drawings, show each one to the class and discuss
• Ask the student why they would like to visit the habitat
• Ask if the drawing has the right animals and plants in it for that habitat

Lesson Plan No. 2

Title: The Way Letters Sound

Objective:

This lesson will help students recognize the sounds of the various letters in the alphabet and learn to identify them in the names of things typically found around them. Each lesson can focus on one particular letter. For this example, use the letter “D”

Materials Needed:

• Books and magazines with many pictures
• Markers or crayons
• Large white sheet of construction paper
• A 4×6 card with the letter “D” printed on it for each student

Procedure:

• Find a photo of an object with a name that starts with “D” and show it to the class
• Ask if anyone knows what the picture is and have them say it
• Have the class repeat the sound “D” then say the name associated with the picture
• Continue with this exercise to give every student the chance to identify a “D” item

• Ask the students what things around the room have the “D” sound
• Have them come up and write the “D” on their card on the chart and finish the word for them
• Continue by asking what other items around them at home have the “D” sound including people and place names
• Have the students continue to write on the chart

• Review the words that were written on the chart to make sure the students understand the “D” sound and some words that start with that letter

This exercise can be repeated with all of the letters of the alphabet. If the class is small, one may work with two or three letters in one lesson.

Lesson Plan No. 3

Title: The Difference Between Upper and Lower Case Letters

Objective:

This lesson teaches the students how to recognize the lower case equivalent of the corresponding upper case letter.

Materials Needed:

• The class will be divided into groups of two or three and the following sets of cards created for each team:
• 4×6 index cards with all of the uppercase letters of the alphabet written on them, one letter per card
• 4×6 index cards with all of the lowercase letters of the alphabet written on them, one letter per card
• A large chart on the wall with the alphabet visible to the children

Procedure:

• Review the alphabet on the wall chart with the students
• Point out the uppercase and lowercase character for each letter
• Write each letter on the board for emphasis

• Divide the class into groups of two or three depending on the overall class size
• Give each team a set of the uppercase cards and a set of the lowercase cards

• First have the teams sort their uppercase cards according to the order of the alphabet as shown on the wall chart
• Next have the teams sort their lowercase cards according to the order of the alphabet
• Finally have the teams combine the cards and sort them according to the alphabet with the uppercase letter first then the lowercase letter

• Walk around the class and observe the work to make sure each team understands the instructions and are able to match the wall chart with their cards
• A key to learning is the ability to combine the lowercase letter correctly with the uppercase letter

Lesson Plan No. 4

Title: The Shape of Things

Objective:

This lesson plan teaches the students how to draw four shapes, square, circle, triangle, and rectangle, and what items around them correspond to those shapes.

Materials Needed:

• White construction paper for each student
• Markers or crayons

Procedure:

• Describe each of the four shapes and draw them on the board
• Point out how each shape is different from the others
• Draw the shapes in different sizes to show that they are still the same shape no matter what size

• Have each student practice drawing the shapes on their paper
• Work with one shape at a time
• Have them draw different sizes of each shape

• Focusing on one shape at a time, have the students look around the room and find the shapes (for example, a globe for circle, a window for a rectangle)
• Have the student draw the object on their sheet of paper and point out the shape

• Now ask the students to look around the room and find where the shapes are together in the room (for example, a round doorknob is on the rectangular door)
• Have the students draw these objects and point out the shapes

Have students show their pictures to the class and point to the various shapes they found in the room.