Kindergarten - MATH
1: Letters
Unit 1: A - A Is for Musk Ox
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to use materials to make letters and pictures (e.g., "Cut pieces of yarn to form the different parts of letters," and "Use any kind of interesting material -- pasta pieces, pipe cleaners, cereal pieces, blocks, etc. -- to have your child make pictures and letters"). Students also manipulate a large die-cut letter A and apply apple stickers to form the letter, and are optionally asked to draw a picture of a musk ox.
Lesson 3
Day 3
In Activity 2 Option 2, students are asked to see the lowercase a as a circle with a stick, make a big circle in the air, then draw four large lowercase a letters and use yarn pieces glued onto the letter outlines to form the circle and the stick. Option 1 also directs students to form the letter starting at the top, creating a circle and then a straight down stroke, and the student activity page provides traceable outlines for writing the lowercase a. These instructional steps have students physically build and trace a composite shape (circle + stick) using components.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 2 students tear cotton, cut brown yarn into 6-inch strips, and glue the cotton and yarn onto a printed musk ox outline to create the animal's fur, physically assembling the creature from component materials. The activity has students color, cut, and glue pieces to build the musk ox form, requiring them to place and attach multiple parts to make a recognizable object. Activity 3 has students cut and paste pictures, which gives additional practice manipulating components to assemble a page.
Unit 2: H - Hondo and Fabian
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson asks students (Option 2) to form the lowercase and uppercase h using playdough, and to trace the lowercase h with their finger, which has students build and draw a shape from a malleable material. The handwriting worksheet provides dashed letters for students to trace and blank lines for freehand writing, giving students practice drawing letter-shapes. The lesson prompts students to consider why popsicle sticks could not make the lowercase h because it has a curved line, asking them to compare straight and curved components.
Unit 3: I - The Little Island
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are instructed to draw a large circle to represent the island and to color the surrounding water, directly practicing drawing a shape to model an object. Students cut a circle from gray construction paper and glue it on as the one rock, practicing building a shape from components. Students also place and glue/count trees, fireflies, and bushes on the island, applying shapes in a real-world depiction.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to make a simple landform painting of an island as seen from above and to choose any shape for the island, which requires them to draw and represent a shape. The directions to paint the island distinct from the surrounding water prompt students to create a visual model of a real-world shape (an island) on paper.
Unit 4: T - What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students cut out and glue tail pieces onto animal outlines in Activity 1, assembling components to complete each animal. In Activity 3, students design and construct a new tail using provided and household materials, physically building a form from parts. In Activity 2, students trace and write an uppercase T, practicing drawing a specific shape-like form.
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson asks students to form a lowercase 't' with tape by placing one long (vertical) piece and one short (horizontal) piece and then tracing the letter with a finger, which has students build a shape from components. Activity 3 has students cut out tails, attach tape to them, and place each tail on a monkey silhouette, which requires students to manipulate and place cut-out shape components in a real-world picture. Several Student Activity Pages show columns of repeated shapes and curved S-like shapes that students could trace, cut, or place, providing additional practice handling shape-like components.
Unit 5: L - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are instructed to gather a variety of leaves and to keep at least 50 leaves to use in activities. Students are directed to make rows of 10 leaves, count them by touching each one, and to arrange the leaves in different ways, including explicitly trying a circle or a square. The activities require students to manipulate multiple leaf pieces to form recognizable arrangements on a flat surface.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to construct a simple map by drawing sketches of a mountain, maple tree, dark forest, waterfall, pond, and bush and to use arrows showing the path, which requires drawing shapes that represent real-world objects. Students are given an option to form the lowercase "l" by lacing yarn through punched holes in card stock, which has them build a linear shape using components.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students cut out the center circle from a paper plate and glue leaves to the rim so that no white from the rim is showing, thereby assembling a circular wreath from many leaf components. Students glue a red bow as a finishing touch and are optionally challenged to create patterns as they place leaves around the rim.
Unit 6: F - Fireflies
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students build a model firefly using three connected egg carton sections, pipe cleaners for antennae and legs, googly eyes, and wax paper wings as described in the craft instructions. The student activity page provides step-by-step assembly directions and illustrations that require students to combine components into a single constructed object.
Unit 7: E - But No Elephants
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students cut out, name, sort, count, and order circles, rectangles, and triangles and then assemble those cut shapes to create a paper elephant following a step-by-step diagram (Activity 3). Students also manipulate simple components (gluing circles for ears, attaching rectangles for legs, adding triangles for a tail) to build a composite real-world object from shapes. Option 2 has students build the letter E using 4 popsicle sticks and trace the sticks with a finger, and the handwriting sheet has students trace and freehand write the uppercase E.
Unit 8: C - Millions of Cats
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students use playdough to make landforms: they roll blue playdough like a snake and flatten it to form a river, form ponds and lakes as different-sized blue circles, and press a small ball of green playdough flat to make an island. Students shape green playdough into rounded hills and flatten it for meadows, with the area between hills described as a valley. These activities ask students to build physical forms from playdough components (rolled snakes and pressed balls).
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to arrange a handful of coins into a lowercase letter c, which has them build a shape from components. Students complete a lowercase c handwriting sheet that has them trace and write the curved shape multiple times. The instructions also prompt discussion of shape properties by noting that uppercase C and lowercase c share the same shape but differ in height.
Unit 9: G - The Real Mother Goose
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to identify the circular shape of real objects (the face of a clock, a well, a button, and a pancake) and to find circles around the room. Students practice describing circles (size and color) and physically moving in circular paths (walking, skipping, hopping, jumping, crawling, rolling). The lesson's listed skills explicitly include identifying and describing two- and three-dimensional shapes and naming shapes in the environment.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to identify a circular object in the room and to recognize that lids and tops form circular shapes. In Activity 2 students order the round objects by size, sort them into groups, and then dip lids in paint to stamp circles on paper to make circle pictures, patterns, or "make a shape out of circles." The lesson also prompts students to experiment with different sizes of circles when stamping.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are shown a die-cut circle and a ball and are asked to identify and compare the shapes, using the terms "circle" and "sphere" and distinguishing 2-dimensional from 3-dimensional. Students read poems that describe spherical objects and are challenged to name many spheres in the world (balls, globes, marbles, planets). Students use an actual ball to describe its location relative to other objects, practicing the vocabulary and identifying a real-world example of the shape.
Unit 10: O - Owl Babies
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students cut out template shapes and sort circles, ovals, and triangles while discussing attributes such as number of sides and differences between circles and ovals. Students order shapes by size, count each category, color specified pieces, and assemble the owl by arranging and pasting the cut shapes and attaching googly eyes. Students also form owl cookies by using two balls of dough, flattening and pinching them to create features, and adding candies for eyes and a cashew for a beak, modeling an object from components.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to find a circle, an oval, and a triangle in the room, providing direct shape identification practice. Students practice drawing/forming the letter O by tracing an Uppercase O handwriting sheet and by drawing circles with an orange crayon, linking letter formation to the circular shape. The teacher is instructed to prepare a triangle, an oval, and a circle on construction paper and index cards, which indicates students will see and potentially draw or reference those shapes.
Lesson 4
Day 4
The review explicitly directs the child to make a circle, an oval, and a triangle in the air with her finger, which has students form and trace basic shapes. The materials also ask the child to practice writing letters, which involves making controlled drawn strokes analogous to drawing shapes.
Lesson 5
Day 5
The step-by-step drawing guide directs students to draw specific shapes (a large oval for the body, a circle for the head, ovals for wings and feet, and a triangle for the beak) and to combine those shapes into a single owl figure. The drawing instructions use shape names and show students how to compose multiple simple shapes into a recognizable object.
Unit 11: S - Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students handle a ball/globe and are asked to name it as a solid ball (sphere) and to compare it to a flat map, so they practice recognizing a three-dimensional shape and contrasting 2D vs 3D. Students are prompted to identify and name shapes and to distinguish between two-dimensional ("flat") and three-dimensional ("solid") shapes. A student activity page describes cutting out outlines and assembling parts (tree crown and barrel/cylinder sections), which suggests students may construct a physical model from cut components.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students shape materials into representations of trees by gluing tissue paper squares and adding pom-poms and cotton balls to create seasonal tree examples. Students use cut pipe cleaners to form bare branches and place them on the winter tree, which involves assembling components to make a real-world object. Optionally, students roll green playdough into a snake shape and shape it into an uppercase S, tracing the shape with their finger.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are shown a die-cut circle and asked to identify it as a circle while told that the Sun is a sphere. Students take yellow playdough and form it into a sphere to represent the Sun. Students go on a circle-and-sphere hunt, moving around the house to find real-world examples and grouping items with either the circle or the playdough sphere and then naming each as "circle" or "sphere."
Unit 12: D - Dinosaurs Big and Small
Lesson 1
Day 1
Activity 2 asks the child to create a dinosaur by removing perforated puzzle pieces, optionally coloring the parts, and assembling the pieces into a complete dinosaur. The activity has students manipulate components and join them to form a recognizable object, and asks the child to describe characteristics of the dinosaur they assembled.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students roll and flatten playdough and press household and outdoor objects into it to notice imprints, and they cover a twig with playdough and remove it to see the shape left behind. Students cut a foot shape from foam, assemble it into wearable dinosaur feet, and decorate those feet with a variety of adhesive foam shapes, explicitly adding triangle "claws."
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to make a drawing of a dinosaur they researched, which requires them to represent a real object with drawn shapes. In the Shadow Prints activity, students place a dinosaur die-cut on paper and daub paint around it to produce a silhouette, directly engaging with the outline and form of a shape and observing positive/negative space. The image description explicitly contrasts negative and positive space, supporting recognition of shape outlines.
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students are asked to identify and sort purple squares and rectangles cut from card stock, describe their attributes, and count each group in Activity 2. An optional extension asks students to draw how Harold solved a predicament with a purple crayon, which has them produce drawings related to story problems. A preparatory note instructs cutting out and assembling a cube and a rectangular prism before Lesson 3, indicating students will work with component pieces to create three-dimensional shapes.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to point out a square and a rectangle in the room, which requires identifying real-world shapes. Students cut out illustrated moon-phase circles (each in a dashed border) and glue those shapes into a large circular diagram, which involves manipulating and assembling pre-drawn shapes. Students practice forming the uppercase letter P in the air and on paper, which has them trace and draw a specific shape.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students cut out and assemble a cube and a rectangular prism from provided nets, then handle cube- and prism-shaped objects (e.g., shoebox, dice) to match 2D faces to 3D solids. Students trace the bottom of each assembled shape and are asked to identify which bottom matches a square or rectangle and to count faces, edges, and corners. Students are also prompted to find squares and rectangles in the room and to note that those flat shapes can be drawn on paper.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are shown a square, rectangle, cube, and rectangular prism and asked to name each and identify which are flat shapes and which are solids. Students draw simple roadways and place provided building images on butcher paper to construct a neighborhood map. Students make a purple collage and are encouraged to use purple shapes to form a picture.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are given 12 toothpicks and 8 marshmallows to construct a square and then assisted to construct a cube, directly modeling 2D and 3D shapes with components. Students are guided to make a rectangle by adding a toothpick to a square and then to construct a rectangular prism from those components. Students are asked to count edges, corners, and faces of the constructed cube and rectangular prism, reinforcing shape properties through hands-on construction.
Unit 16: N - Night in the Country
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students scratch dried black paint to create a moon by making a large circle and can make stars, including a traditional five-point star shape. Students cut out paper dolls and clothing and glue a craft stick to the back to create puppets, which has them combine parts into a constructed figure.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Activity 3 has students create models of landforms in sand or a baking pan, including making a long trench for a river, flattening a rectangular area for fields, and forming hills as mounds. Activity 1 Option 2 has students build a lowercase "n" by gluing noodles to a die-cut and then tracing the letter with a finger. The lowercase letter writing activity has students trace and independently write the letter n, practicing formation by drawing its strokes.
Unit 17: M - Marshmallow
Lesson 3
Day 3
In Activity 3, students construct a rabbit out of marshmallows and toothpicks—stacking two large marshmallows for body and head and attaching mini marshmallows for ears, tail, and feet—so students model an object by building it from components. The Marshmallow Bunny diagram describes the animal as composed of cylindrical shapes (body, head, ears, feet), showing how component shapes form a whole. Option 2 of the handwriting activity has students glue mini marshmallows to a die-cut letter m, having students form a recognizable shape by assembling small pieces.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 2 ("Charcoal" Drawing) students are instructed to experiment with black chalk, make lines and marks, blend and smudge, and are explicitly encouraged to "draw simple shapes" as they create a picture of a favorite animal. The activity has students produce drawings and display them, practicing mark-making and simple shape construction in the context of drawing animals.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students identify spheres, cubes, rectangular prisms, and cylinders as three-dimensional solids and count their faces (sphere 0, cube 6, rectangular prism 6, cylinder 2). Students stack large marshmallows to build a taller cylinder from components and observe that stacking preserves the cylindrical shape. Students move around the house to find and point out real-world examples of cylinders (cans, pencils, cups, tubes), modeling shapes found in the environment.
Unit 18: U - Umbrella
Lesson 2
Day 2
The lesson asks students to bend a pipe cleaner into the shape of a U (Option 2), and to trace the pipe cleaner with their finger. The Student Activity Page has students trace multiple dashed uppercase 'U's and then practice freehand writing U on provided lines. These activities require students to construct a shape from a material and to draw/trace that shape.
Unit 19: J - Jump Frog Jump
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students divide a paper plate into four equal parts to construct a circular life-cycle diagram, providing practice with partitioning a circle. Students cut a circle from construction paper for the froglet, glue googly eyes and a black bean as components for eggs and tadpoles, and draw tails and legs to complete the images, which requires assembling and drawing simple shapes/components.
Unit 20: K - Kindness
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students trace three circles of varying sizes from provided stencils and cut them out. Students glue the smaller pink circles onto larger white circles to create ears and attach those components to a wooden spoon to build a mouse puppet. Students also cut lengths of string and attach a bead and googly eyes, assembling multiple components into a single modeled object.
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's skills list asks students to identify and describe 2-D and 3-D shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres), which gives students explicit practice naming and classifying shapes. Activity 2 asks students to create an instrument using a variety of household materials and recyclables, so students assemble components to build a three-dimensional object. The lesson also includes cutting out instrument pictures for matching, which has students manipulate paper components of pictured objects.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students practice forming and drawing an uppercase V by using their finger in the air and by tracing/writing on a handwriting sheet (Option 1). In Option 2, students build a large letter V on the carpet with two pieces of tape, roll a toy vehicle along the taped lines to form the V, and trace the tape V with their finger. The activities use physical components (tape, toy) and drawing/tracing actions to produce a V-shaped form.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students assemble a three-dimensional die-cut cone by bending tabs, twisting the piece into a cone shape, and taping the parts together, providing direct practice building a solid shape from components. Students compare real-world objects (a can and a paper towel roll) and identify them as cylinders and classify instrument pictures by cylinder or cone shapes, describing attributes (round bottom, pointy top).
Unit 22: Y - Little Blue and Little Yellow
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students make a batch of dough or use Playdoh, divide it into parts, color each part, and form each section into a ball; the text explicitly asks the child what shape she has made (spheres). The activity gives an example of using clay-like material (dough/Playdoh) to build a shape from components and asks students to identify that shape. The lesson also asks students to draw a picture to give to a friend, which provides an instance of students drawing.
Lesson 4
Day 4
In Activity 2 students tear construction paper into pieces to represent characters and use torn paper to make houses (bigger shapes) and a mountain (torn black paper shaped like a mountain). Students are asked to choose one scene, glue the torn-paper pieces onto paper, and write or dictate what is happening in that scene. In Activity 1 students sketch items that are too large to collect on a nature walk and sort collected items into colored boxes, which requires drawing or representing observed objects.
Unit 23: W - George Washington's Birthday
Lesson 2
Day 2
The lesson's Option 2 asks students to arrange 4 twigs to form the letter W, which uses sticks as components to build a shape-like form. The handwriting sheet and traceable letters require students to trace and practice forming the letter W. The lesson also has students trace the W with their finger after arranging the twigs.
Unit 24: Q - The Quilt Story
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students sort and name plane shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, hexagon) and count sides and corners, demonstrating shape identification. Students combine shapes to make new shapes: placing 2 squares to form a rectangle, arranging 6 triangles to make a hexagon, and joining 2 rectangles to form a square. Students cut a square into two triangles and then reassemble the triangles back into a square, showing modeling shapes from components. Students design and assemble a paper quilt using cut shapes and markers, which involves composing and drawing shapes into a larger modeled object.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students are asked to identify a circle, triangle, square, and rectangle in the room, which practices recognizing shapes in the environment. The review also challenges students to draw a hexagon, which has students produce a shape by drawing. The quilt coloring activity has students work with a pattern made of squares and triangles, reinforcing recognition and engagement with drawn shapes.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students identify and trace five dashed-line shapes (triangle, square, circle, rectangle, hexagon) on the "Shape Tracing" page, practicing drawing shapes. Students choose a simple shape to sew on a burlap square, trace it with markers and stitch along marked dots, bringing the needle up and down through points to form the shape. Students practice creating a sewn patch shape by placing stitches and tying off thread, producing a physical shape from thread and fabric.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students gather and name household examples of solid shapes (cylinder, sphere, cube, cone, rectangular prism) and compare them to paper shapes. Students distinguish two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and match flat shapes to corresponding solids (for example, circle with sphere, square with cube). Students physically travel to shapes placed around the floor in response to verbal clues and identify the shapes by name.
Unit 25: X - An Extraordinary Egg
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students form an X using two pencils and other pairs of straight objects (popsicle sticks, crayons, straight pretzels, rulers) and trace that X with their finger, which has them build a shape from components. Students practice drawing the uppercase X by tracing dotted Xs and then writing X independently on the handwriting sheet. Students build a three-dimensional "extraordinary egg" by layering tissue paper and paste over a balloon, then removing the balloon, which has them construct an egg-shaped object from materials.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are asked to lay physical eggs into 4 rows of 10 eggs each and to divide eggs into two unequal groups, which has them manipulate concrete objects and arrange them spatially. Students are asked to draw the extraordinary egg in their journal and write or dictate a story about it, which has them produce a drawn representation of an object from the world. The text also references an "extraordinary egg she created earlier in the week," indicating students have previously worked with a physical egg artifact.
2: Holidays
Unit 27: Halloween
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students cut a piece of black construction paper into two 9" x 6" pieces and fold one piece in half to form a greeting card (creating and manipulating rectangles). Students use a hole punch to create two circles for eyes and glue a white ghost die-cut and a piece of white paper to fit below the eyes. Students assemble ghosts by covering cotton balls with tissue and tying string, and students draw a picture or write a message on the glued white paper.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students trace the bat mask template onto black foam and cut out the foam, which involves drawing and reproducing a provided shape. Students punch holes and attach yarn to assemble the mask, and the student activity page describes a cut-out pattern with lines and shapes intended for folding or assembly.
Unit 28: Thanksgiving
Lesson 1
Day 1
The Student Activity Page explicitly describes the turkey as composed of basic geometric shapes (a circle for the head, an oval for the body, and triangular shapes for the beak), which students color and use as a base for construction. Activity 2 directs students to draw a circle on construction paper, cut out the body and head circles, cut a triangular nose, and glue the pieces together. Students also form pipe cleaners into legs and glue paper feathers to the body, which involves assembling shapes and components into a recognizable object.
Lesson 2
Day 2
In Activity 2 students build a replica of the Mayflower using popsicle sticks as masts and lumps of playdough to attach the sticks to the boat, which matches the idea of building shapes from components (sticks and clay-like material). Students also cut paper sails and glue them to the sticks, and the accompanying image shows triangular sails and a boat composed of basic shapes.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students roll a 1/2 sheet of construction paper into a cone and secure it with tape or a stapler, creating a horn-shaped (cone) model. Students tape or staple die-cut food pieces to the opening of the cornucopia, attaching components to a constructed shape. Students write or draw pictures on each die-cut food item, engaging in drawing related to the project.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are instructed to draw Abe Lincoln's mouth and nose and to draw large circles for the eyes, then cut out the eye holes, which requires drawing and using circular shapes. Students are told to "use three rectangles to make a stovepipe hat," assemble it, and glue it on, which has them build a recognizable object from rectangular components. Students cut strips of paper (about 1"x3") and shape them to form Lincoln's beard, which further has them construct a feature from component pieces.
Unit 29: Christmas
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students manipulate pre-cut rectangular strips, a triangle, a star, and a square and glue them together to form the shape of a Christmas tree, explicitly building a larger shape from component shapes. Students place and stick foam shapes onto the tree and discuss the number of sides and names of each shape, practicing decomposition and composition of shapes. Students are also asked to draw a picture of a real Christmas tree after reading about conifers, providing an opportunity to draw shapes in a real-world context.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 3 has students mix and handle 'snow dough' and then use that dough to create a snowy scene in a shoebox lid. The text explicitly tells students to use playdough or colored paper to create animals and to add outside materials (e.g., greenery) to create small trees. These student actions involve building objects from malleable components.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students string five bells onto a pipe cleaner and tie it off to create a bell wreath, which involves assembling components into a circular object. Students use crayons to create colored bands and add white dots/circles to represent stars, then cover with watercolor paint, which includes drawing circles. Students cut out trees or other landscape features from white paper to add shapes to their artwork.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students trace and cut out the Santa hat on red construction paper, which requires drawing or tracing a shape. Students assemble a paper-plate Santa face by gluing a hat, a row of cotton balls around the base and beard, and adding googly eyes, a pom-pom nose, and yarn for a smile—this requires building a figure from multiple components.
Unit 30: February Celebrations
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students fold construction paper and draw a large heart with the fold in the middle, then cut it out (Steps 1–2), which has them draw and create a shape. Students cut additional heart shapes from pink and red paper and glue them onto the larger heart (Steps 3–6), using heart-shaped components as ears, a beak, feet, and decorative layers. Students assemble those cut pieces (gluing a doily, attaching a tail, adding glitter) to create a composite mouse-shaped valentine (Steps 7–9), physically building a new form from shape components.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students outline a cloud title page with glue and stick cotton balls, physically creating a shape from components. Students write or trace their name on the cloud, engaging in drawing/tracing within a defined shape. Students fold and cut a "Paper Dolls" template to produce a chain of people and color the figures, producing and decorating paper shapes.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students cut card stock into fourths, fold each fourth in half, and cut on the fold lines, which has them manipulate paper to create smaller rectangles. Students select and place a googly eye (a circular component) and a red heart cut from construction paper to assemble a valentine and decorate it with stickers and ribbon. The valentine example image shows a large eye illustration above a heart shape, indicating use and recognition of simple shapes in a visual composition.