Kindergarten Lesson Plans Week 1 is HERE! I’ve been there!  I know what it is like.  You worked so HARD to get your classroom ready and now you are about to meet your new friends that will be with you all year.  So how do you get started?

For years, I have posted my Peek at my Week lesson plans and shared them with you all.  This last year, I took the year off and I received so many requests to bring them back, that I promised they would return!  So here they are!

Week 1: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

I have blogged about this great book before, so instead of restating some ideas, I will just point you to the blog post.  Click Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Lesson Ideas to read more. 

Easing into routines

The first week of school is all about learning new routines.  As you know, I teach a lot of my differentiated instruction during my center times.  So for the first 5-6 weeks of school, we are learning routines and activities that will be used during our center time.  During the first few weeks of school, we play these games and do these activities in a whole group setting.  

When you download my lesson plans you will see that I have set aside 45 minutes for centers.  But honestly, this center time is more like 20 minutes the first few weeks of school.  Students are still working on their stamina, so those extra minutes are a perfect time to learn a few activities.

Roll and Write Games

We love Roll and Write games.  We play them all year long in our Just Roll With It activities.  Because I want to be sure my students know exactly how to do it, I show them using a super simple task.  One by one, I invite students to take turns to roll the cube and to complete the recording sheet.  I have done this under my document camera where students take turns and I have also done this where students are partnered up with the recording sheet.  Then I roll the cube  and they color (or write) the result.

After a few weeks, this activity can easily be placed in a center and they are ready to go.

You can find this activity in my Just Roll With It Center.

Bump Games

We play a LOT of Bump Games.  BUT first, students need to know how to play it.  Just like the roll and trace games, we learn to play this game as part of our first week in kindergarten.  With this game, students take turns playing under the document camera.  This is a quick activity that can be squeaked in with just a few minutes of spare time (think about those 5 minutes before lunch or 6 minutes after recess.)

You can grab this activity for free at the end of this blog post.

This simple game structure can be easily swapped out for other skills.

You can find this activity in my Back to School Center pack:  A Cat, a Bear, and a Tree.

Sentence work

Yes, I also introduce this activity as a whole group task.  Students take turns reading the sentence as we swap out the picture cards.  

After a week or two of practice, this becomes a student center.

You can find this Sentence Center by clicking HERE.

Puzzles and sorting

Throughout the school year, we do a lot of picture sorts and puzzles, so these color centers are a great way to introduce the tasks.

You can find these Color Centers by clicking HERE.

Lesson Plans

You may download these lesson plans.  I have used Hello Literacy Fonts (which are free for non-commercial use).  You may want to download her fonts and install them on your computer first.  This way the formatting will not be off.  Naturally, you can change the fonts if you prefer.

Want to see other lesson plans like this?

To see additional Lesson Plan Posts like this, click HERE.

You may also be interested in:

• How I manage stations (Click HERE to view)
• How to introduce stations at the beginning of the year
• What does a guided reading lesson look like
• Literacy station ideas
• Math station ideas
• Early Finishers “I’m DONE!”
• Writers workshop nuts and bolts
• Reading workshop nuts and bolts
• Math workshop questions answered
• Classroom behavior and expectations
• Organizing for Instruction (click HERE to view)
• Guided Reading 2 Day Lesson Plans

Free File

Simply add your email to the box below and the file will be sent to your inbox.