Themes in an Early Childhood Classroom
- Sangeeta Lama
- Feb 26, 2023
- 3 min read
Kindergarten Classroom Themes - Inquiry and Observation - Winter
Young learners have massive imaginations, and what better way to fuel their imagination and curiosity than using themes in classrooms. Themes facilitate the understanding of connections between real world facts. It also helps students to assimilate all the information gathered during the week, across all content areas, giving it a greater sense of purpose.
I chose “Inquiry” and “Observation” as the two themes that I would like to use in my Kindergarten classroom. I chose these two because, in my opinion, one complements the other.
“Observation”, which means “an act or instance of viewing or noting a fact or occurrence for a
special purpose” leads to “Inquiry”, which is, “a seeking or request for information, or knowledge”, or “a question.” It works the other way around too because when a question needs to be answered, one needs to observe and find facts.
In my Kindergarten classroom, I will use the Winter Theme and use inquiry and observation for students to learn about the topic in a fun way.
The essential lesson topics that will be addressed under each subject are as follows:
Subject | Lesson Objective |
Literacy - Reading Poetry | Students will be able to identify rhyming words. |
Literacy - Writing | Students will write their own poem using rhyming words. |
Science | Students will describe the habitat of an animal found in cold places. |
Math | Students will practice estimation. |
Art | Students will be introduced to Pull Off Art. |
Literacy
During literacy, we will read winter poems and then brainstorm and practice rhyming words.
Here inquiry will take place when they brainstorm “What should rhyming words have?”. They will
then make observations and pick out the rhyming words. Here is an example:
Students will then pick out the rhyming words and write them down. We will then say them
aloud.
Dramatic Play - Students will be divided into groups and each group will act out the poems.
Each group will also be given the opportunity to be creative and add their own ideas to the
poems.
Science
In the science class, for the unit on Animal Habitats, students will complete a KWL chart about
animals found in cold places and their habitats. This will be the inquiry part. They will write
names of animals found in cold places that they know about, and things that they would like to
know. They will then learn about the habitat of a specific animal - The Polar Bear through these
As we watch, we will address the big questions as a part of classroom discussion:
What do we human beings need to survive?
Do animals need the same things as we do, to survive?
What do you think the word “habitat” means?
What do you think is the Polar Bear’s natural habitat?
Students will then complete the “Learnt” section of the KWL chart.
Math
In the Math class, students will practice estimation. Students will be given a bag of cotton balls
and they will estimate the number of cotton balls required to cover the Polar Bear in the picture.
This will be the inquiry part. They will then cover the Polar Bear with cotton balls and observe
and determine how many balls they actually need.
Art
Students will complete this pull off painting project with winter colors.
Theme based learning is not just great for students because it helps them develop a love for learning and build deeper connections, but also a lot of fun for teachers, who actually take on the role of facilitators in students’ active learning process.
References:
Blanchet, M. (2020, October 13). Using themes to give young students a sense of purpose. Edutopia. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-themes-give-young-students-sense-purpose
Play-based learning in a culture of inquiry. ontario.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2021, from
Simpson, L. (2020, December 23). 22 winter themed activities for the kindergarten classroom. KindergartenWorks. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from
Comments