Entering my first preschool classroom, I was excited and eager to begin teaching.  I was hired mid March and was the third teacher the kids had that year.  Many parents had pulled their children from the program and the parents that had hung in had threatened to leave if change did not happen. 

I worked tirelessly with the social worker and parent coordinator to gain the trust of the parents.  Our first priority was to invite parents in and involve them in their children’s learning. 

I planned literacy, math and art activities centered around the book Pizza Party! By Grace Maccarone.  Additionally, parents made mini pizzas with their children - it was a huge success!  Word spread and enrollment was up.  Teachers in the building began enrolling their children as well. 

Since there wasn’t a formal curriculum to follow, I structured my lessons around a book that I focused on for about two weeks.  It was successful but I realized I needed mores structure and more of a plan to guide my teaching.  At the end of the year, I sat down with my colleagues and we mapped out our monthly themes for the year. I have provided a copy for you to use, you can access it here http://community.educationworld.com/content/monthly-preschool-literacy-guide.  The guide I have uploaded is a small sampling of what I use – merely a framework to begin with.  As each class is different it needs to be adjusted to meet their needs. 

Additionally, I added a section for letters, word study and jingles I teach according to A Blueprint for Literacy Success by Sandra Iverson.  I do adjust it just a bit.  I start off each year with a name study.  I work through the children’s names.  A child's name is the most important and interesting word he or she knows and probably the first word they will learn to write.   After working through the first letter in each child's name, I then move on to any heavy duty letters which were not covered in our name study.  

The monthly literacy guide I have uploaded in the resource section contains a word work section.  I have included about 2-3 high frequency words to teach each month.  How do you feel about teaching sight words at the preschool level?  Share your thoughts and experience here http://community.educationworld.com/content/sight-words?gid=NDYzMg== ">http:// http://community.educationworld.com/content/sight-words?gid=NDYzMg==.

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