Lesson plan Kindergarten English Language Arts
Two Sink Rules at Ginnybrook School: An Opinion Lesson
A 25-minute kindergarten opinion lesson where students compare two hand-washing rules for the Ginnybrook School sink, pick one, and give a reason for the choice.
Objectives
- Students will describe the difference between two hand-washing rules at a sink.
- Students will state a clear preference for one of the two rules.
- Students will give one reason that supports the rule they chose.
Vocabulary
Key words: rule, save, handle, reason
Teacher overview
Ginnybrook School is a fictional school used for this lesson, and its kindergarten class is choosing one hand-washing rule to post above the sink. The two candidate rules are both real ways to use less water, so students have a genuine preference to state rather than an obvious right answer to guess. The misconception this lesson addresses is one teachers hear often at this age: students frequently say that water left running at the sink simply goes back to where it came from and can be used again a moment later, so waiting to turn the tap off costs nothing. The jug demonstration in the hook shows that the water poured out is gone from the jug, and it does not come back on its own.
Fill the jug before class and set out the jug and the clear cup where every student can see the jug's level drop.
Procedure
Hook (3 min): Show the empty cup and the full jug. Ask, "If I pour water out, does it come back into the jug by itself?" Take answers, then pour a cup out and set the cup aside without refilling the jug. Point out the lower level in the jug.
Introducing the two rules (6 min): Hold up the Rule A card and read it aloud: "Soap Stop. Wet your hands. Turn the tap off. Rub in the soap. Turn the tap on. Rinse." Hold up the Rule B card and read it: "Half Turn. Turn the handle only halfway. Leave it there the whole time you wash." Act out each rule at the classroom sink or in the air, and say plainly that both rules use less water than leaving the tap on all the way.
Compare and vote (5 min): Put both cards side by side. Ask, "Which rule would be easier for our class to follow every day?" Have students vote by walking to the side of the room under the card they pick. Ask two students from each side to say one reason out loud.
Handout work (8 min): Give each student the handout page. Students name the two rules, mark the one they picked, give a reason, and draw the sign they would hang above the sink. Circulate and scribe for students who dictate.
Closure and formative check (3 min): Read three student reasons aloud without naming the writer. Ask the class to give a thumbs-up each time the reason matches the rule the student picked. If more than five students give a thumbs-down on a reason that actually matches, model one reason-and-rule pair again before dismissal.
Student Handout
Two Sink Rules at Ginnybrook School
- Rule A is called Soap Stop. What do you do with the tap while you rub in the soap?
- Rule B is called Half Turn. How far do you turn the handle?
- Which rule do you pick for our sink, Rule A or Rule B?
- Tell one reason you picked that rule.
- Draw the sign you would hang above the sink. Write or copy the name of your rule on the sign.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: You turn the tap off. The Soap Stop rule has students shut the water off while the soap is on their hands, then turn it back on to rinse.
- Answer: Halfway. The Half Turn rule has students move the handle only halfway, so less water comes out the whole time they wash.
- Answer: Answers will vary. Accept either Rule A or Rule B, as long as the student marks one rule clearly and does not mark both.
- Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any reason tied to the rule the student chose, such as "Rule A saves more water because the tap is all the way off" or "Rule B is easier because I do not have to touch the handle again with soapy hands."
- Answer: A drawn sign carrying the name of the chosen rule. Accept "Soap Stop," "Half Turn," an approximate spelling by sound, or a copied word, along with any picture of a sink, a tap, or hands.
Differentiation
Support
Give these students the two rule cards with pictures instead of words: a tap with a red X for Soap Stop and a handle turned halfway for Half Turn. Offer a spoken sentence frame for item 4 ("I picked ___ because ___.") and accept a single word or a pointed picture in the blank.
Extension
Ask confident students to think of a third rule the class could try at the sink, write or dictate it, and explain in one sentence why it might work better than the two rules on the cards. Invite them to present the third rule to the class for a second vote.
ELL supports
Pre-teach rule, handle, and save with the physical objects: point to a classroom rule already posted, turn a real tap handle, and hold up the jug that still has water in it. Allow students to answer items 1 through 3 by pointing to the matching rule card, and accept a drawing alone for item 4 if a spoken reason is still out of reach.
Extensions
Post the winning sign above the classroom sink and keep a simple class tally on the wall for one week, adding a mark each morning that every student followed the rule at snack-time hand washing. Revisit the vote at the end of the week and ask whether anyone would now pick the other rule.