Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 26 (PreK Music): Music Storytelling

PreK music storytelling unit where children use sounds and movement to tell simple stories with a beginning, middle, and end.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 25 (PreK Music): Call & Response Songs

PreK music unit on echo and call-and-response songs, building listening, turn-taking, and pattern skills through singing, movement, and simple instruments.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 24 (PreK Music): Moving to Cultural Music

PreK world music movement unit where children explore beat and tempo through dancing, swaying, and jumping to music from different cultures.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 23 (PreK Music): Music from Around the World

PreK world music unit exploring global sounds with listening, movement, and art, comparing same/different music and connecting songs to cultures.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 22 (PreK Music): Music at Home & School

PreK music unit connecting familiar songs to home and school routines, helping children identify when music is used and how it supports daily activities.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 21 (PreK Music): Drawing What We Hear

PreK music unit where students respond to music through drawing, movement, and sharing ideas, showing how sounds create pictures, feelings, and stories.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 20 (PreK Music): Music Makes Me Feel

PreK music unit on feelings—students identify happy, sad, excited, and calm moods and connect music to home and school experiences.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 19 (PreK Music): Listening for Sound Clues

PreK music unit where students become sound detectives, identifying voices, instruments, and classroom sounds while building listening skills and sound vocabulary.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 18 (PreK Music): Performing with Confidence

PreK music unit building confidence through singing, movement, and simple performances, teaching kids to start/stop, face an audience, and share songs proudly.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 17 (PreK Music): Musical Turn-Taking

PreK music unit teaching start/stop cues, turn-taking, and listening skills through fun games and instruments to build teamwork and musical sharing.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 16 (PreK Music): Tempo—Fast & Slow

PreK music unit on fast and slow tempo, helping children move, play instruments, and describe how tempo changes how music feels through active listening and movement.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 15 (PreK Music): Music & Feelings

PreK music unit exploring happy, sad, excited, and calm sounds, connecting music to children’s feelings and real-life experiences through listening and movement.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 14 (PreK Music): Singing with Expression

PreK music unit on expressive singing—use facial expressions and loud/soft dynamics to show feelings, describe emotions, and perform for classmates.

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3-5 Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan (Grades 3-5): Storybook Statistics - A Comprehensive Grades 3–5 Data & Literacy Unit

I. Introduction Lesson Title: Storybook Statistics Grade Level: Grades 3–5 Subject Area: Mathematics (Data & Statistics) and Literacy Overview In Storybook Statistics, students integrate literacy and mathematics by using a narrative context to collect, represent, and interpret data. Over five sessions, learners will: 1. Engage with a counting- or

The Admin Angle

The Admin Angle: Why Principals Should Centralize Student Discipline - Not Delegate It to Teachers

Why principals should centralize discipline to ensure consistency, equity, and teacher support with clear classroom vs. office behavior thresholds.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 13 (PreK Music): Making Rhythm Patterns

PreK unit where children create rhythm patterns with clapping, tapping, and instruments while repeating, sharing, and echoing musical ideas.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 12 (PreK Music): Rhythm Echoes

PreK rhythm unit for echoing and creating simple patterns with clapping, body percussion, and instruments to build listening and steady beat skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 11 (PreK Music): Instrument Sounds & Names

PreK unit for instrument detective listening, naming sounds, describing loud/soft and high/low, and sharing favorite instrument sounds.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 10 (PreK Music): Exploring Classroom Instruments

PreK students explore percussion instruments safely—drums, shakers, sticks, bells—creating simple patterns, matching sounds to movement/feelings, and building listening skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 9 (PreK Music): Sharing Music with Others

PreK music unit where children perform songs and movements, practice turn-taking, and learn respectful audience skills through joyful music sharing.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 8 (PreK Music): Sound Exploration Stations

PreK sound exploration unit where children play instruments and found sounds, copy patterns, and create simple sound pieces while practicing sharing and listening.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 7 (PreK Music): Music & Movement Play

PreK tempo unit with fast/slow movement and freeze cues to build listening and movement skills.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 6 (PreK Music): Beat with Songs

PreK steady-beat singing unit builds rhythm through clapping, patting, movement, and simple instruments while students echo beat patterns and stay together in familiar songs.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 5 (PreK Music): Finding the Beat

PreK unit on steady beat using walking, clapping, and instruments to build rhythm skills, start-stop control, and joyful music-making.

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Pre-Kindergarten Music Units

Unit Plan 4 (PreK Music): Loud & Soft

PreK music unit exploring loud and soft sounds with voices, instruments, and movement, building dynamic awareness, safe sound use, and expressive listening.