Running Head: CREATIVE CURRICULUM 1

Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan

Andrew Smith
ECE 101: Introduction to Early Childhood Education
Instructor Bullock
September 24, 2014



















Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan 2
Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan
Subject: Early Mathematics
Grade: Kindergarten
Topic: Counting
Duration: 1 day
Goals/Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will have a better understanding of numbers, addition, and
subtraction. Students will also gain experience in working together in groups. This lesson
should target multiple creative curriculum objectives for development and learning, such as
socio-emotional (Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations), physical
(Demonstrates fine-motor manipulative skills), and mathematics (Uses number concepts and
operations) (Estes & Krogh, 2012).
Standards Covered:
1.B.08: Teaching staff support childrens competent and self-reliant exploration and use of
classroom materials.
1.C.02: Teaching staff support childrens development of friendships and provide opportunities
for children to play with and learn from each other
2.B.06: Children have varied opportunities to (A) interact positively, respectfully, and
cooperatively with others, and (B) learn from and with one another.
2.F.02: Children are provided varied opportunities and materials to build an understanding of
numbers, number names, and their relationship to object quantities and to symbols.
3.D.03: Teachers provide time and materials daily for children to select their own activities.
Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan 3
3.G.01: Teachers have and use a variety of teaching strategies that include a broad range of
approaches and responses.
9.A.08: Materials and equipment are available (A) to facilitate focused individual play or play
with peers and (B) in sufficient quantities to occupy each child in activities that meet his or her
interests.
9.A.13: Staff select and use materials, equipment, and furnishings to (A) support the curriculum,
(B) meet program goals, and (C) foster the achievement of desired outcomes for children.
(National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2013).
Materials:
This lesson will involve several different activities so the materials needed would include: dice,
playing cards, board game boards, computers or tablets with internet connection, bingo cards,
balls, and spinner, disposal paper cups and beans, and string and beads. It is important to have
enough of these for a couple different groups to be able to do the same activities at the same
time, so we would need multiple sets of dice, playing cards, board game boards, and have plenty
of cups, string, beans, and beads.
Introduction:
The lesson starts off with a game of bingo; this will activate prior knowledge of numbers in a fun
way the kids can enjoy. After bingo, the teacher will ask random counting questions to the class.
After this questions and answer session, the teacher will separate the students into groups
according to what materials the kids want to use.
Lesson Development:
The information covered is basic counting skills, from small numbers, all the way up to 100. It
will be covered by providing many different counting games and activities that will target
Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan 4
different learning styles. Some activities can be done solo, with a partner, and in a group. There
will be computer counting games, however, many students may want to use the computer or
tablets, and if there are not enough, there will be a time limit and waiting list to make it fair for
others. Two sites that will be used are kindergarten math practice (IXL Learning, 2014) and
learn to count with fun counting games (Topmarks Online Ltd, n.d.). Around the room, several
other materials will be set up. The dice will be used to play counting games; students can use
one die and then figure out how much more is needed to count to ten. The dice will also be used
for the board game boards, but instead of playing the games, students will just roll two dice and
move that number of spaces. The cups and beans will be used together; each group doing this
activity will have 11 cups, numbered 1-11, and 70 beans. They will place the appropriate
number of beans in the marked cups. The string and beads will also be used together; each
student doing this activity will have a piece of string and a bunch of beads of different colors.
The object of this is too put 100 beads on the string.
Practice/Checking for Understanding:
After the students have had a chance to do all the activities they wanted to try, the materials will
be put away, and the computers will be logged off. The students will return to their desks, and
will be given work sheets to complete; they will cover basic number features and counting
questions. For example, a question would have them circle the corresponding number to a
written number (one, five, ten, etc.), to count the number of objects in a particular box and write
the number, and to do basic addition or subtraction.

Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan 5
Closing:
After the worksheets have been completed, the teacher will ask the class questions from the
worksheet so the class can go over the answers. Students will also be able to ask any questions
they may have.
Personal Reflection:
With using different activities that involve solo, partner, or group work students will be able to
work in a way that is suitable for them. Some students have preferences for the type of work
they do, and the number of other students they feel comfortable working with in these activities.
These activities also involve different learning styles, visual (computer activities), auditory
(bingo), kinesthetic (cups/beans and string/beads), and read/write (worksheets), so all students
will be able to work with their preferred learning style as well as improve on one or more of their
weaker ones.

Creative Curriculum Approach: Lesson Plan 6
References
Estes,LA., Krogh, S. (2012). Pathways to teaching young children: An introduction to early
childhood education. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
IXL Learning. (2014). Kindergarten math practice. Retrieved from
http://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2013, October 1). NAEYC early
childhood program standards and accreditation criteria & guidance for assessment.
Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/academy/files/academy/file/
AllCriteriaDocument.pdf
Topmarks Online Ltd. (n.d.). Learn to count with fun counting games. Retrieved February 24,
2014, from http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting