Giddy-Up Kindergarten

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This fun unit gets the students ready for an extremely special culminating event, a Round Up party. To prepare students for the big event, the cowgirls and cowboys in my class learn about the Pony Express, create WANTED posters, construct maps of the school, and learn about the Wild West in order to compare the past to the present. This unit makes a great introduction to the concept of history, plus it's a nifty focus for their drawing, guided writing, and craft-making practice.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

1. Make a wanted poster
2. Draw a self portrait
3. Participate in guided writing
4. Create an ABCABC pattern
5. Understand how people lived in earlier times
6. Construct maps of the school
7. Learn how to make an invitation

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Wanted
Lesson 2: Bandanas & Boleros: Making an ABCABC Pattern
Lesson 3: The Pony Express

REPRODUCIBLES
Round-Up Invitation (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

We’re ready for Round-Up

As a way to end Giddy-Up Kindergarten, plan a Round Up party and invite parents and colleagues.  At the Round Up, students perform songs from the old West, like "Old Susanna," "My Darlin' Clemintime," "Home on the Range," "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad," and "She'll be Comin' Around the Mountain."  In my class, the students then show off their newly acquired dancing skills and square dance to "Oh Belinda."  All the students are dressed in western attire and proudly wear bandanas and boleros that they made in class.  To make the Round Up a very special school event, consider setting up stations like food booths and face painting.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Giddy-Up Kindergarten Booklist

Playing With Language: Tall Tales and Codes
Students brainstorm the evolution of communication, explore folktales and their elements, and study and create cryptology (secret codes).

Remembering the Holocaust
Students gain insight into the causes and enormous effects of the Holocaust.

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