Cross-Curricular Adventures in

the Early Childhood Classroom

Presenter: Julie Vine 5K Teacher at Prince of Peace Catholic School

Behind the scenes... How I get started

Letter of the week

Standards

Incorporate Dallas Diocese’s standards

Goals

Goal: Week’s and Review

Activity: what we are learning that day

Target: Work or Social habits ( yearly or monthly)

Living Lab

Towards the end of the week

Overall learning

Areas of Learning

Throughout the week, the students incorporate all subjects in their learning.

STEAM, Art, Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies,

Geography, Technology

Supplies

Books for the week, both non fiction and fiction.

Allows for close reads

Examples: Tree cookies, newspapers, tape, marbles.

Donated supplies for the classroom: phones, cash

registers, dress up clothes, etc.

Example of a Cross-Curricular Unit

○ White House Unit

○ Literacy: Pull books about the White House,

close read, handwriting practice (naming

their White House)

○ STEAM: Picture of White House on

projector, supplies given for students to

build their White House

○ Background knowledge: Review of

America’s history

○ Social skills: Students learned work

together, problem solved, and organized

their project.

Literacy

• Magnets with words

• Friends’ names on sentence strips

• Dictation

• Dr. Seuss Day

Math

• Patterns with real objects

• Venn Diagrams

• 3D shapes with clay

• Number puzzles

Science and STEAM

• Elephant Jaw

• Alligator heads

• Animal habitats with recycled

materials

• Explore materials

Social Studies

• Voting Booth

• American Flag Design

• President’s Day

• Maps

• Dr. Seuss’s books

• Lorax, Sneetches,

Yertle the Turtle

Creative

Art

• Real life paintings and drawings

• Examples of art

• Circle art

• Marble, tree cookies, beads, clay

• Paint, oil pastels, crayons, markers

Social Skills

• Collaboration projects

• Play-based with some guidance

• Indoor/outdoor learning

• Architect, design, engineering

• Scientific method

• Problem solving

Technology

• Overhead projector for

visuals

• See Saw to

communicate with

parents

• Videos using iPad

• Vowel Bat

• Pebble Go

Learning Goals

• Learning Goal: weekly unit and lesson

plans

• Learning Activities: change daily, math

worksheets, dictation, thinking maps

• Learning Target: achieved throughout

the year, everyday procedures

(carpool, unpacking, responsibilities,

lunch, specials of the day)

Living Lab Example: Texas Day

Living Lab Example: V is for Vet

Umbrella Unit: Living Lab

Egg Hatching: Chickens

Antique Road Show

○ Bring something that was created or

invented before they were born

○ “Show and Tell”

Caine’s ArcadeCardboard Challenge Imagination Foundation

My Favorite Books to Read

○ Bev Bos

○ Robert Munsch

○ Dr. Seuss

○ The Umbrella by Jan Brett

○ Roxenboxen by Alice McLerran

○ Iggy Peck Architect by Andre Beaty

○ Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

○ Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

○ The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds