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Preschool Playbook Co.
COMMUNITY UNIT · WEEK 1 WE BELONG Building Classroom Community AGES 2.5–5

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Community UnitWeek 1Ages 2.5–5

We Belong

Building Classroom Community

One planned week that turns a room full of strangers into a class. Five scripted circle times, ten low-prep centers, and family pages that carry the learning home — every activity written in two age bands, so your youngest twos and your pre-K kids are both doing real work.

$9.00 One-time purchase · instant digital download
  • 72+ Pages
  • Lesson Plans
  • Centers & Activities
  • Assessment Tools
  • Parent Newsletter
  • Editable Templates
Add to Cart

or get every unit with Playbook+ — founding rate $7/mo or $69/yr, locked for life, opens when the library reaches 10+ units.

  • Instant Download
  • Editable Templates
  • Classroom License

What’s inside

Five days, planned down to the script

We Belong is the back to school preschool theme Ariel opens every year with. Each day has one circle time with a full teacher script, two centers, one small-group activity, and a family connection — in that order, so you always know what comes next.

Day 1 — Names Are Special

Every child hears their name sung, said, and celebrated before lunch.

Circle Time

The name song, fully scripted — sing each child’s name, clap the syllables together, and let each child answer in their own way. A script line for the child who hides behind their hands is included.

Centers

Art — mirror self-portraits with table mirrors and skin-tone crayons.

Literacy — name cards with clothespin letter-matching.

Small Group

Start the class-family chart: each child adds their photo card, then the group counts how many friends are in the class so far.

Family Connection

A take-home card asks families for the story of their child’s name. Answers come back all week and feed Day 5’s class book.

Day 2 — Same and Different

We notice what we share and what makes each of us one of a kind.

Circle Time

A partner look-and-find game — find one thing that is the same as your partner and one thing that is different — with sentence stems written out for both age bands.

Centers

Math — button sorting by color, by size, and by “your own rule.”

Art — fingerprint prints, examined under a magnifier.

Small Group

Eye-color floor graph: children place their token in a column, then compare using more, fewer, and the same.

Family Connection

Families send in (or draw) a family photo for the classroom family wall that grows all unit long.

Day 3 — Our Classroom Promises

Children co-author how we treat each other — promises, not rules.

Circle Time

A guided script for writing three classroom promises in the children’s own words — including how to steer “no hitting” toward “gentle hands” without dismissing the child who said it.

Centers

Blocks — build our classroom and label the areas with photo cards.

Dramatic play — “our school” prop set with drop-off and snack routines.

Small Group

Vote with blocks on a class mascot for the family wall, then count and compare the two towers of votes together.

Family Connection

The parent newsletter goes home with the promise language, so families can use the same words at the dinner table.

Day 4 — Friends Help Friends

Concrete friendship skills: asking to play, taking turns, helping.

Circle Time

A puppet script: the class coaches a puppet who grabbed a toy, then everyone practices the three-step ask-to-play script — stop, say the friend’s name, ask “Can I play?”

Centers

Art — partner painting: one paper, two brushes.

Fine motor — “helping hands” collage with tracing and cutting options by age.

Small Group

Role-play cards for the conflicts you will actually see — both hands on the truck, no room at the table — with teacher coaching lines on each card.

Family Connection

A “helping at home” checklist: three small jobs a preschooler can own this week.

Day 5 — We Belong Together

The week ends with proof: a class book made by every child.

Circle Time

Assemble and read the class book aloud — every child’s self-portrait and name story gets its own page and its own moment. Close with the unit’s belonging song one more time.

Centers

Math — the Count Our Friends grid, using the class photo cards.

Fine motor — friendship lacing cards.

Small Group

Introduce the feelings check-in cards and practice naming one feeling from today. The cards stay in your circle time basket all year.

Family Connection

The “My Classroom Family” page goes home, so children can introduce their new friends to the people at home.

72+ pages

Everything in the download

One organized packet — no hunting through folders. Here is exactly where the pages go.

Components of the We Belong unit with page counts
ComponentWhat it includesPages
Teacher guideWeek-at-a-glance, prep list, supply list, and how the age bands work6
Daily lesson plansDays 1–5 with scripted circle times and age-band notes on every activity15
Circle time cardsSong charts, discussion cards, the puppet script, and feelings check-in cards10
Center printablesTen centers across art, math, literacy, blocks, and dramatic play18
Small-group activitiesClass-family chart, floor graph, block voting, and role-play cards8
Assessment toolsObservation checklist per age band plus anecdotal record pages6
Family connectionParent newsletter, name-story card, helping-at-home checklist, take-home page5
Editable templatesNewsletter, name cards, and lesson-plan template in PowerPoint6
TotalPDF + PowerPoint, formatted for US Letter74

Every printable is designed for real ink budgets — color where it matters, printer-friendly everywhere else.

Preview

Sample pages from the unit

Three real spreads, so you can judge the level of detail before you buy: a scripted circle time, an age-banded math center, and a family take-home page.

Circle Time DAY 1 Names Are Special OBJECTIVE Children hear and respond to their own names and begin learning friends’ names. THE NAME SONG “Hickety Pickety Bumblebee, won’t you say your name for me?” Then clap the syllables together: A · ri · el TEACHER SCRIPT If a child hides: “You can wave, whisper, or just smile — we’re glad you’re here.” Keep it moving — one verse per child. AGES 2.5–3 One verse each. A wave or a smile counts as an answer. AGES 4–5 Add syllable claps. Learn two friends’ names by Friday. WE BELONG · PRESCHOOL PLAYBOOK CO. · 12
Circle Time, Day 1. Every circle time reads like this: an objective, the exact words to sing and say, and age-band tips in the margin.
Math Center Count Our Friends Put one friend card in each box. Count out loud. 1 2 3 4 5 FOR FOURS AND FIVES Make one tally mark for each friend you count. AGES 2.5–3 Count 3 cards with a teacher’s help. AGES 4–5 Count to 10 and tally each friend. WE BELONG · PRESCHOOL PLAYBOOK CO. · 41
Math Center, Day 5. The same page works for a 2.5-year-old and a 5-year-old — the age bands at the bottom tell you how.
My Classroom Family Draw the friends in your classroom family. FAMILY NOTE Tonight, ask: “Who did you play with today?” WE BELONG · PRESCHOOL PLAYBOOK CO. · 68
Family page, Day 5. Take-home pages give families one concrete thing to do — a question to ask, not homework to grade.

How teachers use it

Print Sunday, teach Monday

  1. Download & print

    One packet, one prep list. Expect 30–45 minutes of printing, cutting, and laminating — once, before the week starts.

  2. Teach the week

    Each day card gives you the circle time script, two centers, and the small group in order. Daily prep stays under five minutes.

  3. Send it home

    Family pages go home midweek and Friday, so the learning shows up at the dinner table — and families learn your classroom language.

Development goals

What children practice this week

We Belong is a social-emotional unit first — belonging and friendship skills are the point, and the literacy, math, and fine-motor work ride along inside them.

  • Self-identity — recognizes their own name; describes themselves in the mirror portrait
  • Belonging — names classmates; joins and stays with group routines
  • Friendship skills — asks to play with the three-step script; takes turns with support
  • Oral language — answers circle questions; uses new words like same, different, promise
  • Early math — counts with one-to-one correspondence; sorts and graphs real classroom data
  • Fine motor — draws a self-portrait; laces, traces, or cuts depending on the band
Ages 2.5–3

For your youngest group

Watch for parallel play — it is developmentally right on time, and the plans never force partner work. The younger band focuses on name recognition, routines, and staying with the group for a 5–8 minute circle arc.

Every center card lists a sensory-friendly swap, and the assessment checklist looks for participation, not products.

Ages 4–5

For your fours and fives

Older children get discussion prompts, letter awareness inside their own names, counting to ten with tally marks, and writing attempts on the family pages.

The role-play cards add a harder second step — what to do when a friend says no — and the assessment adds pre-writing and counting checkpoints.

Questions

Before you buy

How much prep time does this unit take?

Plan on 30–45 minutes once, before the week starts: print the packet, cut the circle-time and center cards, and laminate the pieces you’ll reuse (the feelings check-in cards and name cards are worth it). After that, daily prep is under five minutes — each lesson plan lists exactly what to pull the night before.

What can I actually edit?

The parent newsletter, the name cards, and the lesson-plan template come as editable PowerPoint files, so you can type in your own class list and school details. The illustrated printables are print-ready PDFs and aren’t editable — that keeps the artwork licensing clean and the files printer-friendly.

What does the license cover?

Your purchase covers one teacher and their own classroom, including any aides or co-teachers working in that room. Colleagues who want to run the unit in their own classrooms each need their own copy. If your whole school is interested, reach out through the contact page about school licensing.

Will it fit both my young 2.5s and my pre-K kids?

Yes — that’s what the age bands are for. Every activity lists a 2.5–3 version and a 4–5 version side by side. In the Count Our Friends center, for example, younger children count three photo cards with a teacher while older children count to ten and record tally marks. Circle times include a shorter 5–8 minute arc for the youngest group.

What’s NOT included?

No physical materials — this is a digital download, and it assumes basic classroom supplies: crayons, blocks, paper, a table mirror. Picture books aren’t included either; you get a suggested read-aloud list built around common library titles instead. And this is one week, not a full-year scope and sequence — it’s Week 1 of the Community Unit.

Created by

Ariel, preschool Assistant Director

Ariel is a working Assistant Director who still spends her mornings in classrooms. She writes every Playbook unit the way she trains her own teachers: a script you can hold in one hand, centers that survive a real Tuesday, and age bands — because a 2.5-year-old and a 5-year-old are not the same student. We Belong is the unit she opens every school year with.

Meet Ariel

Start the year with a classroom that belongs together.

One week, 72+ pages, two age bands, and a script for every circle time. Download it today, teach it Monday.

$9.00 Add to Cart

Prefer the whole library? Playbook+ opens at 10+ units — founding rate $7/mo or $69/yr, locked for life.

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