My school housed the preschool program for the entire school district for 5 years.  During that time, i was the solo Media Specialist providing services to preschool students.  While that is no longer the case, I still have 3 preschool classes that I service on a weekly basis for 30 or 45 minutes depending on the class (2 different programs . . .)  Due to the length of the class period, I use a learning centers approach.  Here's what I do to break up the time, especially the 45 minute block.

I start the children on the rug in my story area.  I take attendance (a name learning strategy) and do a read aloud with them.  I use both fiction and nonfiction.  This takes about 10 minutes.  Next we do centers.  Depending on the length of the class, I use 1-3 centers.   I divide the kids into 2-3 groups and rotate them through centers.  (Colored silicon bracelets work wonders for keep track of groups.)  The class paras help me run the centers.  This takes about 10-20 minutes depending on the number of centers.  The last 10 minutes of class is for book selection.  I preselect a stack of books and the children choose from that selection.  Here's a sample class:

read aloud:  R R Ralph by Lois Ehlert

Centers: 

1. magnetic letters (I have sight word cards that the kids use to practice making words.  They also spell their names.)

2. ABC Bingo (abcya.com) on the smartboard

3. one of my go-tos when I don't have another lesson related center - legos, reading center (aka a basket of books fro browsing, or QR Code listening center

Book selection

I hope this helps!  Contact me off list if you have questions or want further details.

Kate

Kate Candido

Library Media Specialist

Orange Avenue School

Milford, CT

Google Certified Educator

CASL Board - Membership Chair