BUILDING A LAYERED CURRICULUM
Align the Objectives to the Curriculum Standards, which are aligned to the Show-Me-Standards

Gloria Ruttman
Kindergarten - Kansas City

 
Step One: Decide on a Topic for the Unit

My Unit Topic Will Be: The Virtues, Loyalty and Responsibility, Affect Our Emotions and Interpersonal Relationships. Objectives: Students will be able to:
  • Identify different emotions with special focus on ways they can be nice to others.
  • Identify some of their needs to help them become more aware of themselves
  • Identify the behaviors and things that make people happy and unhappy.
  • Explain the term "Loyalty."
  • Explain the term "Responsibility."
  • Demonstrate their ability to make correct choices.
  • Recognize that responsibility and Loyalty are included in "The Pledge of Allegiance. " Step Two: Decide on the duration of the unit
    My Unit will last: Two Weeks
    Step Three: Establish a central/key topic for each day. First Week Day 1. All Emotions Are Normal Day 2. All Emotions Are Normal Day 3. Establishing a Self-Awareness Day 4. Behaviors and Things That Can Make People Happy Day 5. Behaviors and Things That Can Make People Unhappy
    • Second Week
    Day 6. Our Loyalties Make Us the Kind of Persons We Are
    Day 7. Practicing Responsibility Day 8. Introducing the Meaning of "The Pledge of Allegiance." Day 9. Loyalty Is Inherent in "The Pledge of Allegiance." Day 10. Responsibility is Inherent in "The Pledge of Allegiance."
    Step Four: Building the C Layer
    Day One Topic: All Emotions Are Normal
    *Required: 1. Have students examine pictures of persons being nice to one another. Follow with discussion. 2. Students introduced to Journal Writing and given directions for completing the f following phrases:" Today I am feeling.." and "Today my correct choice was…" C LAYER ACTIVITIES
    Students Choose Three:
      1. Students match Feeling Words with pictures.
      2. Students complete sentences written on poster board with Word Cards found in the Word Box. Words showing different emotions are used.
      3. Students work in pairs and complete the Sound Box activity. Students with the use of the Phonics Bus sound out the emotional words written on the index cards in the Sound Box. . The emotional words are: angry, happy, surprised, scared, sad, and confused Teacher checks their word recognition skills. Teacher doesn’t need to check each word but do a random sample. 4. Student listens to a story on tape that talks about It Is OK To Be Angry and answers questions regarding the main ideas in the story. 5. Students work in their "ME BOOK" --complete the pages 1- 3. Students are to circle all the living things on all 3 pages. Students discuss "How living things are different from non- living things.
      4. Students may work with the Moveable Alphabet using magnet letters. Students write the alphabet on the magnetic board and using the phonic bus pronounces each letter of the alphabet. Students then given emotional words to copy with the magnetic letters. Students copy the words in their journals and asked to draw a face picture depicting the emotions. Also, asked to explain "Why" the person in the picture may have that emotion.
      5. Students do the Pantomime Game with a partner. Blue cards represent action words/pictures; Red represents living things and Green cards represent non-living things. Students asked to identify the different emotions they observed and felt while playing this game.
      6. Match colors with identical colored clothes items. Match names of colors and clothes items with pictures. Have picture card available with crayons depicting the names of colors. Students to write the colors in journal when completed. Also, asked to identify colors with different emotions.
      7. Clip colored clothespins with matching colors on color wheel. Write colors in journal when completed. Also, asked to identify colors with different emotions.
    Day Two Topic: All Emotions Are Normal
    *Required: 1. Teacher discusses some of the essential needs of all living organisms. 2. Teacher discusses the ways people feel when their needs are met or not met. C LAYER ACTIVITIES
    Students Choose Three
      1. Make a My Book of Colors: English and Spanish. Have pictures of Teddy Bears wearing vests with the color of the vest identified on the pictures. Students color the vest according to the color written on the page. Color card available to help students. Students to write colors in their journal. Also the Teddy Bears are showing different emotions in their faces and students are to identify the different emotions and asked to explain the reasons for the different emotions.
      2. Listen to tape about George’s Anger" and have student write down his/her feeling if he/she experienced George’s anger. Draw a picture showing this feeling. Also, time for problem solving. Have student with use of finger puppets role- play a solution.
      3. Students can make a collage of persons showing different emotions.
      4. Complete the sentence Today I Am Feeling……. Because….
      5. Two students to share this activity. They do the Someone Else’s Shoes activity. One dresses up in costume for example, a mother’s outfit and she becomes the mother whose house is very messy and her child will not help her. The mother asks for help repeatedly and the child says "NO." How does the Mother feel? How does the child feel?
    Also the first day activities remain available.
    DAY Three Topic: Establishing Self-Awareness
    *Required    : Circle time focuses on the introduction of the term "Self-Awareness.
    Teacher reads a Want Add that is selling herself to the school, community and friends. Teacher then has the whole class participate in the Design Your Own "All About Me" folder. Students encouraged to personalize her/his own folder by drawing on it, pasting pictures on the cover, etc. Teacher passes out paper sacks to each student and has them write his/her name on the sack and place them on the chalk ledge at the front of the room. C LAYER ACTIVITIES
    Students Choose Three:
      1. Students may use cut outs of silhouettes that have been made by the teacher. Students are to find words in a newspaper or magazine that describe him or her. The student also looks for pictures and glues these words and/or pictures to the silhouette that best describe that individual.
      2. Teacher provides paper sacks and a list of each student in the classroom at this activity center. Each student who chooses this center writes a positive statement about one of the classmates on the list and places it in the sack with that person’s name on it. Before, the student can do this he/she must first read it to the teacher.
      3. Students make two lists (using word adjective cards available) that describe things they like about themselves and things they would like to change. Students to work in pairs and discuss the lists with one another.
      4. Students do the Good Manners Suitcase activity. Materials available for students to make a suitcase out of construction paper. They are to copy on a card the good manners they displayed that day from the Good Manners List provided. They then place the Good Manner card in their Good Manner Suitcase. The teacher then will ask them to give examples of when they used those good manners. The Good Manners listed are: Excuse Me, Thank You, Raise your hand, Please, I am sorry, Hello, how are you? And listen without interruptions.
      5. Students asked to draw a picture when they were kind to either their pet, teacher, mother, sister, brother and friend. They are to write the feeling they experienced when they were being kind in their journal along with the drawing.
      6. Student writes his/her name vertically on a page in their journal. He/she then looks for pictures that start with each letter of his/her name and cuts them out and place them by the correct letter.
    Day Four Topic: Behaviors and Things That Can Make People Happy
    *Required:     Students with help from teacher write the class’s Morning Message, which states their feelings regarding their experiences in school this week. Teacher focuses on helping students recognize the behaviors of people and things that made them happy.
    B LAYER ACTIVITIES
    Students Choose Two:     1. Create a story by arranging the available pictures (pictures with no words) in sequence from left to right. Tell story to teacher and write the story on butcher block with markers. (The pictures would show persons doing things to make people happy.) Create a title for the story.
  • Using the picture puppets showing the different emotions: scared, surprised, angry, happy and sad; students create a story and act it out for the teacher.
  • Four pictures are presented to students. They are to do the I Spy activity with these pictures. They are to circle the things in the pictures that they think would make them happy.
  • Students create their own Cinquains poetry. Start with the word "HAPPINESS." Students would write their poem on laminated poster paper with washable marker. After checked by teacher they then copy it in their journal. Their inserted words for the poem are washed off and a new group of students would be ready to write their poem. There are five lines to the Cinquaine Poetry. For the First line the students write the title: Happiness, Second line, they choose two words from a list of words ending in "ing" that are associated with Happiness, Third line, they choose three words from another list of adjectives that describe Happiness, Fourth line, they choose four words from either list and write them and for the Fifth line, they repeat the title word "Happiness."
  • Student listens to the tape Rude Giants. A story about a cow teaching two rude giants how to use good manners. Student to tell the teacher the Main Idea of the story and then summarize the story.
  • Student chooses three items from a variety of things in a large box. These things must tell something special about the student. The student must either draw or describe these things in her/his journal and explain verbally to the teacher why they were chosen.  
    Day Five Topic: Behaviors and Things That Can Make People Unhappy
    *Required    : 1. Teacher directed group discussion. Teacher identifies specific situations that involves personal relationships and asks the question, "What Would You Do If?" 2. Teacher reads a book on Feelings and Relationships. A LAYER ACTIVITIES:
    Students Choose Two:
      1. Read or listen on tape to "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" (or any other book showing a character with hurt feelings) have students reenact story using stick puppets and explain why Rudolph was sad. Teacher asks students open ended questions such as a)"What could the reindeers have done to prevent Rudolph from becoming sad?", b) " Have they ever experienced what Rudolph did ?", c)" What did they do?"
      2. A felt board is arranged in two columns: one titled Things I like and the other titled Things I don’t like. Students are to choose from the Word Box five things they like and five they don’t like and place them in the correct columns. They are to copy this activity in their journals.
      3. Students may read or listen on tape to the "Little Red Riding Hood" story. Students are to arrange picture cards of the story characters in sequence retelling the story. They are to respond to the question, "What things happened to make Grandma and Red Riding Hood unhappy?"
      4. Students may read or listen on tape to the Problem Solving Poems. Poems with Pictures are available for students. Students have to tell some reasons why Peggy and George were unhappy. Also, what would they do differently to avoid Peggy and George from becoming angry? Students’ role- play their solution. They write the main idea of their solution in their journals.
      5. Students given the problem of your friends say that you "Can not play." How do you feel? Write your feelings and draw a picture of the way you feel. How would you solve the problem?
      6. A written Situation is given :
        1. Mary always gets angry and snaps at people when she is tired.
        2. Are you supposed to let Mary treat others in a nasty way every time she is tired? Can you suggest that she get more rest? Can you avoid making her angry when she is tired? How can you help Mary? What feelings would you have in helping her?
        3. Two students are to discuss situation and together come to a consensus in answering the questions. They share their responses with the teacher. They are to draw a picture in their journals showing the situation and the way they helped Mary.      
    • Second Week:
    Day One Topic: Our Loyalties Make Us The Kind Of Persons We Are. *Required: 1. Listen to the teacher read the poem, "Little Boy Blue" and participate in the discussion about the compassion and loyalties of toy friends.
  • Students to share with their classmates their most loyal toy friends.
  • Teacher asks students to brainstorm their ideas of the meaning of loyalty. Uses graphic organizer method. C LAYER ACTIVITIES:
    Students Choose Three
      1. Students use word cards displayed on work- table to form sentences. Teacher reviews these when completed by students. Students then copy these sentences into their Journals. The word cards would consist of words that reinforce the loyalty concept.
      2. Students listen to the tape, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and identify the part of the Story Plan: Beginning with who and where, Middle with key events and End with outcome. Students would decide if the boy was loyal to the mouse. Students to write one sentence telling the reason for their decision.
      3. Students to view the video tape, "The Mouse and The Mole" and decide if the mouse was loyal to the mole and give example. Students to write one example in their journal.
      4. After teacher reads the "Three Little Pigs" story have students choose their role and then draw their house and a mask that depicts their character. One student plays the wolf. They rehearse the play and then perform it for the class. Students need to tell audience why the brick house did not blow down and if any of the pigs showed loyalty.
      5. Students write the letters LOYALTY vertical on a page in their journal and then have to write a word that starts with each of the letters horizontally.
      6. Students make a collage showing examples of loyalty.
      7. Students listen on tape to the poem, "Little Boy Blue." Students to discuss the ways the toys showed their loyalty. Students asked to draw a picture of their most loyal toy friend and to write their toy friends name. They may bring their toy friend to school the next day with his/her name tag.
     
    Day Two Topic: Practicing Responsibility *Required: Teacher reads a poem about children who make their mother happy because they show responsibility and some who do not. Discussion follows regarding which children made mother happy and which did not and reasons why. C LAYER ACTIVITIES:
    Students Choose Three
      1. Students may do the "Care For The Bear" activity. Students match words to sentences and then do the task that the sentence states the bear needs. For example, Wash the bear’s face; Comb the bear’s hair and Put a jacket on the bear. Have all utensils available plus a bear. Students identify the behaviors that show responsibility for taking care of the bear. Write these responsibilities in their journal.
      2. Create a book titled, " I am Responsible." Have students write ways they are responsible at home, and in school. They may draw pictures and/or find pictures from magazines to support their writings.
      3. Students to match Tasks with Persons Responsible for Tasks. For example, a picture of a fireman matched with a fire., custodian in school matched with cleaning the floors, mother cooking supper, boy doing homework.
      4. Students listen to the tape, We All Make Mistakes and identify the part of the Story Plan: Beginning with who and where, Middle with key events and End with outcome.
      5. Review the Little Red Riding Hood story and put the picture cards in order to match the story. Retell the story to the teacher with the picture cards. Do you think that Red Riding Hood was responsible? Explain why and write your reason in your journal.
      6. Students read or listen to the tape of "Three Little Kittens." Students use the kitten puppets to act out the poem and explain to teacher what the kittens did wrong. Students asked to write in their journal what the kittens were not being. They may copy the word "Responsible" from the sight word taped to the table for this center. Day Three Topic: Introducing The Meaning of "The Pledge of Allegiance." *Required Teacher reads the story about the writing of "The Pledge of Allegiance." Teacher discusses with children the elements of the Flag, i.e. the number of red stripes and etc.
    • C LAYER ACTIVITIES:
    Students Choose Three
    1. Index cards have vocabulary words from the Pledge of Allegiance that need an explanation. One side of the card is the actual word from the Pledge of Allegiance on the other side is its synonym. A second set of the synonyms is available. Students to match the vocabulary word with its synonym. Check for understanding by turning the Allegiance vocabulary card over. Have a book with The Pledge of Allegiance available and have students read it and substitute the newly learned synonyms for the Allegiance vocabulary words. Have small American Flags available for students to examine for details.
    2. Have children color the ditto Flags. And explain the meaning of the stars and the different colored strips. Children paste the Flag in their journals.
    3. Have students say in their own words what these words mean: pledge, loyalty, indivisible, liberty and justice. Students write their own definitions in their journals.
    4. Students use the printed ditto with The Pledge of Allegiance on it and write the synonym for the highlighted word above that word. The students then read The Pledge of Allegiance to the teacher using the synonym instead of the actual word.
    5. Student make a collage of where the American Flag may be seen. Children search through magazines, old books, and newspapers to find pictures of places displaying the flag.
    6. Students make a high flying American Flag from their handprints. To make this project have red, white and blue construction paper at the center and large blue rectangular pieces of paper. Have students trace their handprints on white and red paper and cut hem out. Students then arrange thie handprints on the blue background piece of paper. Have students add the stars available to the blue rectangle paper to finish the flag.
    Day Four Topic: Loyalty Is Inherent in "The Pledge of Allegiance."
    *Required: 1. Teacher asks children what loyal and responsible behavior on the playground look like?
      1. Teacher has each student copy a line or part of a line from "The Pledge of Allegiance" on colored construction paper of red, white or blue. Each child’s picture is taken and pasted on his/her piece of construction paper. Then each child’s copied line is put up in the classroom to make a replica of the American Flag.
    B Layer Activities
    Students Choose Two
    1. Students underline the parts of the Pledge that refer to them. Students asked, " How can they become a loyal and responsible citizen?" Show their answers in drawings or sound out their words and write this in their journals. Discuss with teacher.
    2. Students draw a picture of a playground where children show loyalty and responsibility.
    3. Students to design their own Classroom Flag. The Classroom Flag needs to show the virtues loyalty and responsibility.
    4. Student to read the ditto "Flag Day." Students to color the ditto depicting the American Flag. And explain why some strips are red and why some are white. Students then make a booklet using the above items plus writing on white paper the things they like about their 1) their own school, 2) neighborhood, 3) their country. One page for each of these items.
    Day Five Topic: Responsibility is Inherent in "The Pledge of Allegiance."
    A LAYER ACTIVITIES:
    Students Choose One
    1. Should we continue to say "The Pledge of Allegiance" everyday in school?
    2. Have students record their response on the tape recorder provided.
    3. Read "The Pledge of Allegiance" written on the ditto at this center and circle the word Liberty. Using the synonym word cards find the synonym for Liberty and explain why we all have to be responsible for obeying the laws of our country. Do you have to obey the laws (rules) of our classroom? Why?
    4. Create a Booklet that shows and tells how you are a responsible citizen in this classroom using some of the words in "The Pledge of Allegiance."
    In upper grades, the layers would be identified for the students and each activity would be assigned points and a grade scale would be given to students, for example: Grade ScaleC41-55 = D, 56-70 = C, 71-85 = B, ad 86 + = A. However, in Kindergarten this did not appear appropriate instead students were taught to check themselves off on the Activities Poster when they successfully passed the Oral Defense. Each child is orally assessed when he/she has completed an activity. Teacher keeps a record of the Layer of Activities that child completes. Students must finish three activities for the C Layers, two for the B Layers and One for the A Layers. Students make the choice of which activity they prefer to do. Teacher confers with each student during oral defense regarding the challenge of his or her choice. Students who complete the number of activities for each session may go to the contingency center. This center is the creative center for arts, crafts, reading, puzzles and writing and any other activity that teacher thinks is rewarding learning. It became more practical to leave some of the centers up even though the schedule progressed to a new level. Some of the students did not always get to finish the number of required centers and yet would want to start the new level of activities. So instead of them going to the contingence center they could return to an unfinished center of the previous day/days. The centers completed by the students were eliminated when a new level was introduced.