Us Time / Feelings: Lesson 1: Us Time Intro (Toddlers)

Feelings Unit (Toddlers)
Lesson 1: Us Time Introduction

Lesson Goals

Introducing the structure of Us Time
Introducing the purpose of Us Time
Sharing the songs!

Lesson Description

Us Time is a framework for classroom community meetings for young students, encouraging teachers to use activities, songs, and stories from Sparkler and our partners to grow kids’ hearts. In this lesson, teachers introduce the idea of “Us Time” to their students and start practicing the skills they will use as they dive into rich classroom discussions.

Lesson Plan: Us time Introduction

Play "Us Time" Song

(1 minute)

Open Us Time with the “Us Time” song. Sing it together or play the video.

Introduce the Idea of "Us Time"

(1 minute)

Sit down in a circle. Tell your students when they hear the “Us Time” song, they know that it’s Us Time — a time for community thinking, feeling, helping, and sharing.

Introduce Agreements

(3-8 minutes)

Introduce the idea of “agreements” to the students. Us Time agreements are the rules that we all agree to follow when we are together. They are meant to ensure that everyone feels safe and heard. You can share some “agreements” with the students by naming them and drawing a little picture of each on the board or on a piece of paper. You might use these:

We will stay together
We will listen to each other
We will keep our hands and feet to ourselves

Ask students to raise their hand or say “I agree!” to show that they agree. Your class can add additional agreements together in future sessions.

Thank You: Share the Us Time Closing Song

(2 minutes)

Conclude with “Thank You,” the Us Time “goodbye” song. This song marks the end of Us Time. Invite children to share what they want to say “thank you” for! Find the song online at playsparkler.org/UsTimeSongs.

Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Goal P-SE 1, Goal P-SE 2, Goal P-SE 3, Goal P-SE 7, Goal P-SE 11, Goal P-ATL 2, Goal P-ATL 5, Goal P-ATL 11, Goal P-LC 1, Goal P-LC 2, Goal P-LC 4, Goal P-LC 5, Goal P-LC 6.

CT:ELDS: SE.36.1, SE.48.1, SE.60.1, SE.36.6, SE.48.6, SE.60.8, SE.36.13, SE.48.12, SE.60.15, SE.36.7, SE.48.6, SE.48.7, SE.48.8, SE.60.9, SE.60.10, SE.60.11, SS.60.1, L.36.5, L.48.5, L.60.5, L.36.7, L.48.7, L.48.11, L.36.14, L.48.13, L.48.15

What You'll Need

Physical Space: during Us Time, students gather together on a rug or in a corner of the classroom
Us Time Songs
Paper or board for writing/drawing agreements