Nychole Parton

Planning Form

Name of Activity
Patterning Train
Originating Idea
During work time students were building with blocks and some of them were making patterns
with the different colored blocks, I want the students to be able to make and identify patterns in
other things.
Curriculum Area:
Choose 1: + KDI – include number
Approaches to learning
Social and emotional development
Physical development and health
Language, literacy, and communication
Mathematics 38. Patterns
Creative arts
Science and technology
Social studies

Materials
Students, chairs (2 different colors)

Appropriate Age group

3-5 years.

Beginning of Activity
This is intended as a large group activity. I will have the children gather on the carpet and
we will first talk about patterns. I will show some examples. Then I will ask the children to make
a pattern with themselves.

Middle of Activity
Your ideas for scaffolding children at different developmental levels
Early: I will provide examples of simpler patterns to those who need it. I will also help guide
them where to go if they do not know what comes next in the pattern. I will repeat what the
pattern is to help them figure out what comes next in the pattern.

Middle: I will ask the children to create a pattern using themselves. I will suggest they can start
with boy, girl, boy, girl. Then I will ask the class what other patterns they could come up with,
suggest hair color, or shirt color.
Later: I will ask the students how they can make the pattern different, such as boy, boy, girl, girl.
Etc. We can also introduce chairs into the activity by having two patterns going, 2 alternating
colored chairs and alternating genders.

End of Activity
I will end the activity by having the kids look at the patterns that they made. Ask them

Follow-up Ideas (2)

Have the children draw what patterns they could make if we did this activity again, they
could even suggest what we could make patterns with, if we didn’t use ourselves.

Another large group activity that we could do on patterning is go on a nature scavenger

hunt and have the kids collect things from outside and create patterns with the items that they
collect.