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Description
The lesson I chose to analyze was from my observation of an Early Childhood
Special Education Class. The class was beginning a thematic unit on dinosaurs.
To start the unit the teacher read the book, The Berenstain Bears and the
Help with essay on Early childhood Education
Missing Dinosaur Bone. The book was read on the rug with seven students who
disabilities range from being autistic to having a learning disability. There
was no display of any other dinosaur books around the room. Upon finishing the
book the teacher had materials ready for the students to make a stuffed pre-cut
dinosaur with the use of newspaper. Their next job was to color and cut out
body parts of a Triceratop and paste them on cardboard. This was just day 1 of
a half day of Early Childhood Special Education Class.
Day - The teacher had the students cut out upper/lower case Nn. They were then
suppose to find the letter n in magazines and paste it to there construction
sheet. Getting back to the dinosaur unit, the teacher had students finish
stuffing their paper dinosaurs and paint a picture of a dinosaur only using four
colors (green, red, orange, brown). The last activity of the day consisted of
the students counting and graphing the dinosaurs.
Day - Today the students were given a booklet on different types of dinosaurs,
where they were expected to color each dinosaur and copy the dinosaue name.
Day 4- Many students had to complete their dinosaur booklets and then create a
textured dinosaur using sandpaper under the picture of the dinosaur. They were
then expected to create a habitat of where the dinosaurs would live with green
trees and brown tissue paper to represent the bark of the tree. Next, on the
agenda was to create giant dinosaur foot prints on butcher paper with a sponge.
Day 5- Show students how tall a dinosaur was by marking it off in the hallway
(0 feet long).
Critique
To begin with there was no consistent flow from one lesson to the next. The
actual room should have been covered with big dinosaur foot prints from corner
to corner. This would of grabbed all of the students attention in a heart
beat. The teacher could have also turned her room into a forest where the
dinosaurs would have lived by making huge trees out of construction paper with
tall grass. After grabbing their attention with all these visual props, she
could of then assessed their prior knowledge of what they do know about
dinosaurs using a web on a board with simple words (big, teeth, meat). The
teacher did a poor job in making the students focus on the subject at hand which
was about dinosaurs. The activities also took up a majority of the teachers
time because she was doing all the work for the students. Some of the
activities were not child centered. There was no anticipatory set. She began
it with reading a book that most of the kids could not sit still for. I would
of displayed a wide arrange of books (big books) with all sorts of dinosaurs.
The students would of listened to the story on a tape with dinosaur noises.
Barney is a great dinosaur to bring into this activity.
For the actual activities, I would have had two centers a day that rotated
around the theme of dinosaurs.
One center would focus on the three different kinds of dinosaurs and the
students are expected to cut the dinosaurs out and place them on popsicle sticks
where they can act out how dinosaurs would of moved and the noises they would of
made. Other centers might have the actual dinosaur play figures, where the
students can manipulate them as well as get a visual picture of what they may
have looked like. The use of centers will give the opportunity for the teacher
to work with half of the class in one place while the other half is at another
center with a teachers aid. Other centers can include the children working
with clay to form their own dinosaurs. These centers would have incorporated a
variety of hands on experiences that will stimulate the minds of young
children. That would incorporate Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, which are identified as being
Linguistic (language)- skills used for reading, writing, listening, and talking
Logical-mathematical - Involves computing numbers, solving logical
puzzles, and thinking scientifically. It combines with
linguistic
intelligence in the solution of mathematical word
problems.
Spatial- Includes the skills necessary for driving a car, piloting a plane, and
figuring
out how to get from one location to another. It is
important in the
visual arts and in playing games like chess where it is
important
to imagine what the board will look like after certain
moves have
been made.
Musical- Involves singing,
playing an instrument, conducting an orchestra,
composing, and
to some extent appreciating music.
Bodily-kinesthetic- Involves
the ability to use the whole body or portions of it in
the solution
to problems or in the construction of objects. It is
used by
dancers, athletes, actors, surgeons and others who use
physical
movement to achieve their goals.
Interpersonal intelligence- Includes both understanding others and acting
upon that understanding. It involves noting distinctions
among
others, becoming aware of what they are thinking or
feeling, and
realizing what their needs might be. It can be expressed
both
verbally and nonverbally through gesture and facial
expression. It
is especially helpful for those engaged in politics,
sales,
psychotherapy, and teaching.
Intrapersonal intelligence- Includes both understanding others and acting
upon that understanding. It involves noting distinctions
among
others, becoming aware of what they are thinking or
feeling, and
realizing what their needs might be. It can be expressed
both
verbally and nonverbally through gesture and facial
expression. It
is especially helpful for those engaged in politics,
sales,
psychotherapy, and teaching.
I would also like to mention that many of the activites were not child centered
at all. The teacher and the aid had to do a majority of the activities. They
were all basically created by the teacher. The children were not creating their
own dinosaurs from paint, tissue paper or clay. The teacher did not explain
everything very well and she helped asebly most of the activities. I am
thinking that the children have to be able to do something on their own. Young
children grow through their experiences. Now if I were the teacher of that
class this is what I would do or how I would plan my week on the teheme of
dinosaurs.
Early Childhood Curriculum
Judith Colbert
Brain Development Research and Your Classroom
You will find that other, more recent scientific studies into
the importance of
early stimulation largely confirm what you regularly observe
in child care
settings. Such studies are valuable because they help you
fully understand the
processes behind what you see as you interact with young
children. On a
practical level, they help you develop strategies that will
make your work more
effective.
Planning for Developmental Stages
When you develop curriculum within your own program, research
findings
remind you of the importance of thinking about the daily
activities you are
planning, especially the activities for the youngest infants
in your care. These
findings validate the concept of developmental
appropriateness for all ages by
reinforcing the need to respect the developing brain and what
it can
accommodate at particular stages.
Planning for Groups
When you make curriculum plans for groups of children,
research results also
remind you that each child within the group is a distinctive
individual. You can
build on what Gardner and others have written about multiple
intelligences and
the many ways that each of us comprehends the world around us
by
considering the variety of individuals in your group and
ensuring that each kind
of intelligence is represented in the plans that you make.
Such ideas are not new to the early childhood community. In
its most recent
position statement on developmentally appropriate practice,
the National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
states that children
demonstrate different modes of knowing and learning and
different ways of
representing what they know (Bredekamp & Copple, 17).
NAEYC cites
Gardners work in its discussion of this position and echoes
his theories in its
teacher guidelines. For example, in fulfilling their role as
educators, teachers
are advised to make plans to enable children to attain key
curriculum goals
across various disciplines such as language arts,
mathematics, social studies,
art, music, physical education, and health (Bredekamp &
Copple, 17).
Assisting Individual Children
Research also shows how curriculum planning and ongoing
observation can be
used to assist individual children. Each childs
intelligence profile is different.
In some cases, you will be called upon to develop curriculum
and teacher
behavior to support a particular childs dominant
intelligence. In others, it will
be necessary to strengthen an area of weakness.
Identifying and Supporting Individual Strengths
Teachers are in a position of providing activities that
support particular
strengths and increase a childs likelihood of success. Such
support is
especially important when a childs dominant intelligence is
not typical of the
group or valued in the culture. Most would agree with Gardner
that North
American culture, and educational practice in particular,
places the highest
value on linguistic intelligence and to a lesser extent on
logical-mathematical
intelligence (11). Individuals with strengths in areas
other than linguistics
often find it difficult to succeed.
Gardner himself shows how early childhood curriculum planners
and teachers
can use their knowledge of multiple intelligences to support
children in the
classroom in a paper he co-authored with Jessica Davis of
Harvards Project
Zero (1). The Arts and Early Childhood Education A
Cognitive
Developmental Portrait of the Young Child as Artist presents
two approaches
to a childs drawing of her family.
The first approach is likely the more typical. The teacher
compliments the child
named Lucy on a lovely drawing, then asks her to tell me
about it. As Lucy
talks, the teacher prints on the top of each figure, My
mother. My father. Me.
My brother. In the space above, the teacher writes Lucys
Family and
whispers in her ear, Nice work. The teacher is supportive,
positive, and
responsive to the childs effort. Yet, as the authors point
out, the teachers
response focuses on language and implies that the drawing
says nothing on
its own. The teachers response suggests, however
indirectly, that words
convey meaning more effectively than the drawing itself. It
says that linguistic
intelligence is superior to artistic (spatial) intelligence,
and that the symbolic
domain of language is more effective than the symbolic domain
of art.
However, each domain is distinctive and fully capable of
expressing meaning.
Davis and Gardner (1) point out that the teacher would
have left a very
different impression by commenting on the action in this
line; by telling the
child, This is a nicely balanced drawing; or by saying,
This drawing is very
strong. By focusing on the aesthetic elements of the
drawing, the teacher
would have introduced Lucy to a vocabulary that could
strengthen her spatial
intelligence and provide a foundation for its further
development.
Identifying and Strengthening Skills
As an early childhood professional, you are also in a
position to observe a
child and to encourage activities which will broaden his or
her skills. As you
watch curriculum unfold within your classroom, it is
important to observe how
each child responds to the task at hand. Is there a variation
that would be
more appropriate for that child? Are there other ways in
which all of the
children could approach a particular task/activity? Are you
ensuring that they
are tapping the potential of as many of their intelligences
as possible?
Once again, research into how the brain works can help you
develop ways of
assisting the children in your care. Many researchers use
information
processing theory to model human thinking after the workings
of a computer.
For example, Kelvin Seiferts summary of research into
cognitive development
reveals differences in the ways that young children process
information in
relation to older children and in relation to each other
(Seifert, 1). These
differences, he believes, have implications for
developmentally appropriate
practice. Teachers are advised to observe how children prefer
to organize new
knowledge and, as a result of their observations, think of
new ways to
introduce unfamiliar topics to them. Instead of organizing
animals according to
biological classes, for example, teachers might present them
by petability.
(Presumably, a kitten is more petable than a frog.) When
considered in
relation to Gardners classifications, such advice means
appealing to the
childrens bodily intelligence more strongly than their
logical intelligence.
While Seiferts summary of research shows the importance of
broadening
childrens knowledge bases, he stresses that such an
extension can take
place only with adult help. Teachers must assume a directive
and supportive
role to enable the children in their care to reach their
fullest potential.
Therefore, the child who always chooses crafts could be
encouraged to try
another activity and be supported until that activity is
mastered. Similarly, the
child who always paints and never reads could be encouraged
to make
paintings about books; a child who always reads and never
paints can read a
book about painting (Seifert, 1).
Although this research focuses on the cognitive development
of children, it also
addresses issues raised by Gardner. In these examples,
teachers are being
encouraged to appeal to another intelligence in their
efforts to broaden the
experience of the children in their care.
For example, teachers who plan curriculum in early childhood settings often
encounter children who have either short, fleeting attention
spans or long,
focused attention spans. Wider and Greenspan suggest that
when a child has
difficulty paying attention, the solution may not be to
provide increasingly
structured activities. Rather, it may be more helpful to give
the child an
opportunity to learn how to learn by providing shared
attention. They believe
that when an adult shows an interest in what a child is
doing, regardless of the
type of activity, the child becomes aware of that interest;
the adults interest
gives the activity meaning for the child. Therefore, the
child understands that
the activity is important, and gains experience in choosing
an activity and
regulating how long that activity will last. In other words,
the child learns how to
learn. In the process, the child can feel the adults tone
and gestures and
experience the adults empathy. The child is calmed and
acquires emotional
understanding and control.
Wider and Greenspan also suggest that teachers encourage
symbolic play
and representational thinking. They recommend addressing
negative themes
such as jealousy and fear and supporting the children as they
come to
understand what these themes mean. To promote what they term
a more
process-oriented approach to learning, they suggest that
teachers
Ensure that children have access to a rich environment
that encourages
exploration and choices. Children need to learn to
choose and to focus
and move on to make another choice.
Provide children with enough time to get fully involved
in an activity and
benefit from it. Children who wander before making a
choice may have
little time to experience their selection.
Consider play an opportunity to integrate all learning
processes and
skills.
Realize play is complex and requires the integration of
all of the childs
abilities on a common pathway.
Make learning interactive and fun. This combination
provides a
motivation and a basis for further learning.
Identify and make goals for the specific learning tasks
of each stage of
emotional development. Such tasks address the processes
children
need to learn on their own.
Conclusion
Although the research cited has been carried out by different
individuals at
different times, certain elements appear to be consistent.
For example, what
happens in the earliest months and years is of greatest
importance and has
long-term consequences for later life. There are a number of
ways of knowing,
and Gardners theory of multiple intelligences seems to
provide a framework for
discussing the findings of other researchers. All children,
including very young
children, should be exposed to the broadest possible range of
positive
experiences and encouraged to learn in all ways. There are
direct links
between brain development research findings and early
childhood curriculum
decisions and practice.
Play as Curriculum
Francis Wardle, Ph.D.
Play! There are two radically different views on the value of
play. Early
childhood educators, child development specialists, and some
parents believe
play is the best way for young children to learn the
concepts, skills, and tasks
needed to set a solid foundation for later school and life
success. School
administrators, many parents, and most politicians believe
play is a waste of
time, off task behavior, needless coddling of young children,
messy and noisy,
unstructured and uneducational-an unaffordable luxury in an
ever-more
competitive world. With the new emphasis on national and
state standards and
school accountability, many early childhood programs are
eliminating play. Is
play worth fighting for? If so, why?
Definition of Play
While most of us know play when we see it, academics have had
trouble
defining it (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1). Play
involves a free choice
activity that is non-literal, self-motivated, enjoyable and
process oriented.
Critical to this definition is the non-literal, non-realistic
aspect. This means
external aspects of time, use of materials, the environment,
rules of the play
activity, and roles of the participants are all made up by
the children playing.
They are based on the childs sense of reality (Wardle,
187, p. 7). Children
do not play for a reward-praise, money, or food. They play
because they like
it.(p. 8). Children who compete to make the best wooden
ship are not
playing. Children who are told they must use the block with
an A on it to
create a word are not playing, and children who are asked to
label the colors of
their paints, instead of using them to create a picture, are
not playing.
This child-centered aspect of play creates the central
dilemma. Increasingly,
we expect education programs to meet prescribed adult
objectives. Schools,
funding sources, and curricular developers expect programs to
teach specific
outcomes and provide child-based results (Kagan & Cohen,
17). And more
and more parents expect their young children to be learning
specific academic
skills. If adults develop these standards and outcomes, there
is no room left for
child-centered learning-play. Ironically, at the same time we
are eliminating
play from the formal education of young children. Therefore,
many of our
children do not have access to the natural play experiences
we experienced as
children. They dont walk in the park collecting leaves,
throw stones in the
water to see the ever-expanding ripples, play
racing-of-the-sticks under the
bridge, build muddy castles on the banks of a cold stream, or
create a frontier
fort with their buddies. They dont scramble up gnarled
trees, skip across
meadows full of flowers, pick nuts from low branches, use a
fallen tree as a
natural balance beam, or sit on an old tractor imagining that
they are leading a
convoy of explorers across the Sahara Desert.
Why is Play Critical to Future Academic Success?
As we push more academics and computer instruction on young
children; as
we observe many of our childrens homes become dominated by
passive TV
watching and computer games; and as we see many of our
publicly funded
early childhood programs become downward extensions of public
schools, we
need to advocate for childrens right to play. More and more
parents question
the value of young children climbing trees, playing in the
sandbox, and
splashing paint all over themselves. Below are some of the
various kinds of
play, and why they are important.
Types of Play
Motor/Physical Play
Motor play provides critical opportunities for children to
develop both individual
gross and fine muscle strength and an overall integration of
muscles, nerves,
and brain functions. Recent research has confirmed the
critical link between
stimulating activity and brain development (Shore, 17).
Young children must
have ample opportunities to develop physically, and motor
play instills this
disposition toward physical activity. With so many American
adults
experiencing health problems from being overweight, we have a
responsibility
to encourage physical activity in young children.
Social Play
A variety of opportunities for children to engage in social
play are the best
mechanisms for progressing through the different social
stages. By interacting
with others in play settings, children learn social rules
such as, give and take,
reciprocity, cooperation, and sharing. Through a range of
interactions with
children at different social stages, children also learn to
use moral reasoning to
develop a mature sense of values. To be prepared to function
effectively in the
adult world, children need to participate in lots of social
play.
Constructive Play
Constructive play is when children manipulate their
environment to create
things. This type of play occurs when children build towers
and cities with
blocks, play in the sand, construct contraptions on the
woodworking bench,
and draw murals with chalk on the sidewalk. Constructive play
allows children
to experiment with objects; find out combinations that work
and dont work;
and learn basic knowledge about stacking, building, drawing,
damming, and
constructing. It also gives children a sense of
accomplishment and empowers
them with control of their environment. Children who are
comfortable
manipulating objects and materials also become good at
manipulating words,
ideas, and concepts.
Fantasy Play
Children learn to abstract, to try out new roles and possible
situations, and to
experiment with language and emotions with fantasy play. In
addition, children
develop flexible thinking; learn to create beyond the here
and now; stretch their
imaginations; use new words and word combinations in a
risk-free
environment; and use numbers and words to express ideas,
concepts,
dreams, and histories. In an ever-more technological society,
lots of practice
with all forms of abstraction-time, place, amount, symbols,
words, and ideas-is
essential.
Games With Rules
Developmentally, most children progress from an egocentric
view of the world
to an understanding of the importance of social contracts and
rules. Part of
this development occurs as they learn that games like Follow
the Leader, Red
Rover, Simon Says, baseball, and soccer cannot function
without everyone
adhering to the same set of rules. This games with rules
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