This teacher lesson plan uses a children’s book, Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes, to coach and fortify math and reading skills for beginners. Children count and add differing body parts during this multi-sensory lesson, and it ends with enthusiastic gross motor skills exercise.
5 Senses Themed Lesson Plans
This lesson plan is targeted to early childhood education students and emergent readers. It can be taught in roughly 45 minutes, and used as-is or adapted to fit specific teaching plans. It is age-appropriate for preschool and kindergarten students.
The teaching objectives are:
- Language arts skills – letter recognition
- Counting, numerals, and number words
- Practice counting by ones
- Vocabulary development and word recognition
- Gross motor skills and exercising large muscle groups
These short activities develop concentration and attention span while introducing children to how their bodies are designed and function. The children develop reading readiness using sight-and-sound techniques and rote repetition. Learning while playing is a favorite preschooler activity so the kids will love sorting and counting the flashcards.
The 5 Senses Lesson Supply List
Teachers use hand-on projects with this easy-to-teach literature lesson plan, and teaching aids are simple to make and inexpensive. Using these flash cards in conjunction with the book supplies a sequenced learning program for beginning readers and mathematicians.
Here is a suggested supply list:
- Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes, Judy Hindley, [Candlewick Press, 1999]
- Flash cards for the following words: eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, neck, arms, hands, fingers, thumbs, toes, feet
- Flash cards for the cardinal numbers one to ten
- A recorded copy of the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Teaching this lesson plan is as easy as 1-2-3. The lesson is entertaining and focuses on the earliest language arts and math skills. Start the lesson by reading the children’s book Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes, and encourage the children to interact by following instructions.
- Show the book cover to the children, and using the point-and-pronounce method, say the book title and author’s name.
- Invite the children to make predictions about what the story will be about.
- As the story is read, encourage the children to point to or touch the appropriate body part. Ask conversational discussion questions such as: “How many eyes do we have?” or “What can we do with our eyes?”
Continue in this manner throughout the story, looking for ways to build pre-reading skills by connecting the written words with the spoken words. This provides a strong literacy foundation for beginning readers.
Language Arts – Math Lesson Plan
To teach the vocabulary reinforcement segment of the lesson, let the children take turns drawing one of the flash cards. The teacher asks the child to point to the word, say the word, and trace the word with her finger.
After everyone has taken a turn, the teacher uses the flashcards to work with the group. The teacher points the word, pronounces it, and traces it with her finger. The children point to the card, say the word, and trace the word in the air. This language arts activity exercises auditory skills, word to sound matching, and fine motor skills.
The math lesson is taught in a similar fashion using flash cards to encourage the brain connection between seeing a word, hearing a word, and writing the word. Hand-eye coordination is developed in this tactile activity teaching the numbers one to ten. Some suggested math activities for this section of the lesson activities are:
- Sorting
- Counting
- Adding
- Subtracting
- Making sets
Gross Motor Skills Activity
To conclude the lesson, play a recording of the children’s song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”. The teacher models actions as the music plays and encourages the children to imitate him. Finishing seated activities like working with flash cards with an active large muscle activity develops gross motor skills and allows the children to expend pent-up energy.
Using a targeted lesson plan like this teacher lesson plans for teaching about the five senses and cardinal numbers helps busy teachers maximize their time and effort. By the end of this class, the children have heard a story, practiced vocabulary and emergent reader skills, and learned the numbers one to ten.
Donna Cosmato - Donna is a Certified Image Consultant, author and public speaker, whose first book Buying Your First Home? will be available in bookstores ...
