This lesson uses music and art in a vocabulary study of unfamiliar words from the song "America the Beautiful," increasing students' vocabulary while also increasing their knowledge of U.S. geography. A discussion to activate students' prior knowledge about sights and scenery throughout the United States is followed by a read-aloud and introduction to the song "America the Beautiful," which is then sung in each session of the lesson.

Students are prompted to use comparisons to discuss what they see as they picture walk through books about the ocean. They identify what these comparisons have in common to arrive at an informal name and definition of simile. They then create illustrations showing these comparisons. Next, students picture walk through two additional picture books about the ocean and comment about what they see. They are introduced to metaphor by rewording some of their comments into metaphors. They continue to note metaphors as the books are read aloud, and then name and define this new type of comparison. They again draw pictures to illustrate some of these metaphors. Students discuss why writers use these types of comparisons, then work to revise existing writing to incorporate figurative language through guided practice or independent work. Finally, students use templates to create a book on the ocean that features similes and metaphors.

This lesson is for Grades PreK - K on literacy. At Home Learning Lessons are a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, PBS North Carolina, and the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.  Each lesson contains a video instructional lesson, a PDF lesson plan with a transcript, and a PDF file of extension activities.

In this lesson, students will read a nonfiction book about butterflies and will study vocabulary words in the book.

Students and the teacher produce a class book through a group-writing activity, focusing on a basic before-during-after sequence of events. After discussing what they know about pumpkins, the class carves a jack-o-lantern, pausing at each step to chart their observations on before, during, and after charts. The class then uses their sentences from the chart to write the sequence of events for carving the pumpkin. Finally, the class publishes their work, using one of several publishing options.

In this lesson, students will use KWL charts and interactive writing as key components of organizing information. As a class, students list what they know about insects, prompted by examining pictures in an insect book. Students them pose questions they have about insects, again using picture books as a visual prompt. Students then search for answers to the questions they have posed, using Websites, read-alouds, and easy readers. Periodic reviews of gathered information become the backdrop to ongoing inquiry, discussion, reporting, and confirming information. The lesson culminates with the publishing of a collaborative question and answer book which reports on information about the chosen topic, with each student contributing one page to the book.

Getting children to use their imaginations when writing a story can sometimes be difficult. Drawing, however, can create a bridge between the ideas in a child's head and the blank piece of paper on the desk. In this lesson, students use factual information gathered from the Internet as the basis for creating a nonfiction story. Story elements, including setting, characters, problem, solution, and endings, are then used as a structure for assembling students' ideas into a fiction story.

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the Kindergarten English Language Arts content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink Kindergarten ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.  

This unit was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for Kindergarten ELA in Non-Fiction.

Read the story, The Gingerbread Man. Discuss the plot and what happens in the beginning, middle and end. Discuss an alternate ending. Guide the students to think of another way he could safely get across the river. Then get the students to work together in groups of two to build rafts using straws that will float on water and hold up a penny that’s represents the fox.

In this lesson, students will learn that building a snowman is one way to provide food for birds and animals during the winter. Students begin by listening to a book about snow. Students are then introduced to a K-W-L chart and discuss what they know about how animals find food in the winter. As students listen to Henrietta Bancroft's Animals in Winter, they listen for details about how some animals survive during the winter and record those details in the last column of the chart. To continue to build students' knowledge of the topic, they listen to additional fiction and nonfiction books and view a website about animals in winter. As a culminating activity, students use their charts to write and illustrate a story.

In this lesson, students count the days between Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Valentine’s Day and are challenged to complete 100 acts of kindness during that time. They brainstorm examples of kind acts they could do and discuss how to report acts of kindness they witness. They also select a service project to plan and complete together as a class. For the project’s duration, acts of kindness are tracked on a classroom chart. Students are encouraged to acknowledge kind acts by others through thank you notes, and families are encouraged to help report acts of kindness. The project culminates with a Valentine’s Day celebration.

This document provides a description of what each standard means a student will know, understand and be able to do. The "unpacking" of the standards done in this document is an effort to answer a simple question, "What does this standard mean that a student must know and be able to do?" and to ensure the description is helpful, specific and comprehensive for educators.

The NC Office of Early Learning strongly encourages incorporating play into the daily routine of each classroom.
Children grow and learn in all developmental domains through their engagement in centers; cognitive, physical, social, and emotional. Authentic learning and meaningful connections are made when a teacher intentionally weaves standards and supports development throughout children’s play. PlaytoLearn Center Posters provide information about common areas of development supported during play centers along with prompts connected to kindergarten standards and NC ELI dimensions.

PlaytoLearn Planning Guides (also shared on #GoOpenNC) provide information on why each center is important to children's development, tips for setting up centers, sugessted materials, actions of an intentional teacher, and common connections children make to content. Although these resources are specifically written for kindergarten, teaching and learning strategies can be applied to many grade levels.

The NC Office of Early Learning strongly encourages incorporating play into the daily routine of each classroom.
Children grow and learn in all developmental domains through their engagement in centers; cognitive, physical, social, and emotional. Authentic learning and meaningful connections are made when a teacher intentionally weaves standards and supports development throughout children’s play. PlaytoLearn Planning Guides provide information on why each center is important to children's development, tips for setting up centers, sugessted materials, actions of an intentional teacher, and common connections children make to content. Prompts connected to kindergarten standards and NC ELI dimensions can be found on PlaytoLearn Center Posters which are also shared on #GoOpenNC. Although these resources are specifically written for kindergarten, teaching and learning strategies can be applied to many grade levels.

This teacher's curriculum guide presents strategies for engaging readers before, during, and after reading Jason Chin’s books. It also provides an extension strategy to further students’ understanding and enjoyment of the books. Before reading students will use prior knowledge to think about the topic, make predictions about the possible meaning of the text, and preview the text by skimming and scanning to get a sense of the overall meaning. During reading students will monitor interpretation and understanding by questioning, thinking about, and reflecting on ideas and information presented in the text. After reading students will reflect upon the ideas and information in the text, relate what they have read to their own experiences and knowledge, clarify their comprehension of the text, and extend their understanding in critical and creative ways.

This is a kindergarten unit that covers the topic of weather. It has built-in scaffolds that support language and content development appropriate for grade K.