Making the Most of Small Group Instruction....Pre K Edition!

Hey Y'all! 

This is Lisa from ALL Y'all Need and I'm going to share a few tips and tricks that I use in my small-group instruction. Pre K small-group instruction looks a little different than any other grade level. Basically, I have 3 rounds of small group a day. After morning greeting and calendar time, I work with half of my class at my table for what I call "Play Planning." Once the kiddos are at my table, they choose a center they would like to go to. My centers include home, sensory, puzzles, light table, iPads, dramatic play, blocks, etc... Once they have chosen a center, they must write a sentence and draw a picture of themselves at the center. Play Planning gives me time to reinforce correct pencil grip, letter formation and one to one correspondence with my kiddos. It's completely differentiation. Some kiddos are tracing the sentence, some are writing the sentence independently, and others are extending the sentence and labeling their picture. Here's what my play plans look like: 

A little while later, I work with my reading small group. With some kiddos, I am focusing on letter identification while other groups are doing Guided Reading. After lunch, I work with my math groups. During those times, we play games to focus on our weekly concept and use our iPads to practice writing our numbers. My Pre K kiddos' absolute favorite writing app is called Doodle Buddy. The kids love being able to change the background picture. It's the little things, people! haha 

Happy Teaching!