Jenna Koehn

Planning Changes to the Environment

Week of:
Classroom:
Blocks

Dramatic Play

Building a Dino Environment

Add dinosaurs, trees/plant life
to the block area
Add green carpet squares to
lay as jungle flooring

Add dinosaur costumes, safari

hat, tan work vest, tool belt,
small brushes to dress as
paleontologists

Study/Project: Dinosaurs
Fine Motor/Games
Dinosaur puzzles: children
choose from different
dinosaur puzzles to put
together
Tracing in sand: straws and
shallow boxes of sand,
children use straws to draw
bones and dinosaurs in sand
Dinosaur Stencils: markers
and dinosaur stencils,
children trace different
dinosaurs on paper

Early Learning
Standards Addressed
this Week
1.

2.

Listening and Understanding:

4.

A.EL.3 Follows directions of increasing

complexity Follows a series of three or
more multi-step directions.
Creativity and Imagination: B.EL.1
Engages in imaginative play and inventive
thinking through interactions with people,
materials and the environment.

6.
7.

Stegosaurus Dinosaur: scissor

cutting, painting, gluing,
clothes pins
Add extra play-do to
encourage fossil making

Literacy
(Reading & Writing)
Flannel board: dinosaur
flannel pieces
My Big Dinosaur Book by
Rodger Priddy
Dinosaur Time by Michael
Foreman
The Very Dizzy Dinosaur by
Jack Trickle
The Dinosaurs Egg by Val
Biro

Adapted from the Creative Curriculum

Teaching Strategies, Inc. PO Box 42243 Washington, DC 20015

Discovery (Science)
Magnifying glasses, different
fossils (plant life, insects, sea
life, dinosaur bones) examine
the environment a dinosaur
could have lived in

eye hand coordination, strength, control,

and object manipulation Uses strength
and control to perform complex fine motor
tasks.
Self-Concept: B.EL.1 Develops positive
self-esteem Exhibits positive self-concept
and confidence in his/her abilities.

3.

5.

Art

Motor Development: B.EL.2 Exhibits

8.

9.

10.

11.

Exploration, Discovery and

Problem Solving: A.EL.2 Practices and
applies new information or vocabulary to an
activity or interaction (representation and
symbolic thinking)
Social Competence: C.EL.2
Participates in cooperative play with others.

Exploration, Discovery and

Problem Solving: A.EL.3 Applies
problem solving skills Determines and
evaluates solutions.
Early Literacy: C.EL.1 Shows an
appreciation of books and understands how
print works Chooses reading activities and
responds with interest and enjoyment.
Early Literacy: C.EL.4 Demonstrates the
use of strategies to read words Uses
picture cues and environmental contexts to
confirm a printed word.
Scientific Thinking: C.EL.2 Uses tools
to gather information, compare observed
objects, and seek answers to questions
through active investigation Uses
magnifying glass, binoculars and maps for
investigation of the environment.
Scientific Thinking: C.EL.3
Hypothesizes and makes predictions - Asks
simple scientific questions and draws
conclusions based on previous experience.

Jenna Koehn

12.

Sand/Water
Sand in sensory table, fossils,
brushes, small scoops.
Digging for bones and fossils.

Music/Movement
Bumpus Jumpus
Dinosaurumpus by Tony
Mitton
Dance of the Dinosaurs by
Colin and Jacqi Hawkins
Stomp like dinosaurs

with strength, control, balance, coordination,

locomotion, and endurance Walks, runs,
climbs, jumps, skips, and hops with control.

Cooking
Dinosaur salad- make a salad
using different greens and
vegetables like herbivore
dinosaurs would eat

Motor Development: B.EL. 1b Moves

13.

Physical Health and Development:

A.EL.1d Demonstrates behaviors to meet
self-help and physical needs Uses
appropriate table etiquette or manners
during meal times.

14.

15.

16.

17.

Physical Health and Development:

A.EL.1d Demonstrates behaviors to meet
self-help and physical needs Feeds self
with proficiency.
Mathematical Thinking: B.EL.4 Uses
the attributes of objects for comparison and
patterning Categorizes objects based on
physical or functional similarity.
Mathematical Thinking: B.EL.5
Understands the concept of measurement
Uses tools to explore measuring (nonstandard units)

Speaking and Communicating:

B.EL.2c Uses vocalizations and spoken
language to communicate Uses language
to effectively express feelings and thoughts,
describe experiences and observations,
interact with others and communicate
effectively in group activities and
discussions.

Math/Manipulative

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs

by Paul Strickland
Different size dinosaurs
Small, medium and big

Outdoor Play
Small swimming pool, bones
in sand box: children explore
digging for bones in the sand
box and create a prehistoric
environment acting like
dinosaurs around a watering
hole

Adapted from the Creative Curriculum

Teaching Strategies, Inc. PO Box 42243 Washington, DC 20015

Family & Community Involvement

Children will visit the Milwaukee Public Museum and explore
the dinosaur exhibits. They will learn if dinosaurs lived in our
area.