Do you like to plan around themes in your kindergarten classroom? I sure do! There are so many benefits to planning each week around a theme and I can’t wait to share them with you this week! I’ve also got a giant list of kindergarten themes for the whole year for you to use when planning!
The Benefits of Teaching With Themes
On both the planning side and the student learning side there are a lot of benefits to planning your curriculum around themes.
- Cross-Curricular Organization – When planning for the week, lining all subjects around a common theme makes planning go much faster. It allows you to hit a wide variety of standards.
- Building a Depth of Knowledge – When students are learning about the same topic in multiple subjects their understanding of the concept is strengthened and multiplied. There are also more opportunities to build their vocabulary.
- Accessing Prior Knowledge – Using a theme can help students access what they already know about a subject (like pumpkins for example) and build on that knowledge and vocabulary base. Having some prior knowledge of the subject helps students feel confidant about their learning and builds excitement.
- It’s Motivational! – Adding in fun thematic resources to your math or reading center helps students stay interested and motivated about the subject.
How to Pick a Theme
Below I will provide you with a long list of possible themes for your classroom. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to use all of the themes in one school year. Here are some things I consider when I’m choosing my themes for the year.
- What themes does my existing curriculum already cover that I can just add to?
- What literature do I already have in my classroom library?
- Which themes were popular with previous classes and kept them engaged?
- What do I like teaching about and have a passion for?
Are you someone who likes to plan for the whole year? If you would like a copy of this themes list just fill out the information below:
I like to have a general sense of what I will be teaching each month. This helps me to be on the lookout for new literature or other resources that might be a great addition to an upcoming theme. I fill out this yearly planning template during the summer just so that I have an overview of what I will be teaching.
I make tweaks to it every year, but once I have my basic outline I can reuse a lot of it annually! Learn more about how I use cross-curricular themes along with some examples in this post.
Do you have any themes that you love to teach but aren’t on this list? Comment below and let me know!
