MANAGING TK CLASSROOMS THROUGH CENTERS

JUDY CRENSHAW, ADA HAND, DEBRA WELLER

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TK REQUIRES DAP

•  TK legislation requires developmentally appropriate practice (DAP).

• DAP -- an approach to teaching based on how young children develop & learn.

• DAP -- teachers meeting young children where they are (by stage of development), both as individuals and as part of a group; and helping each child meet challenging & achievable learning goals.

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3 CORE CONSIDERATIONS OF DAP

• Know about child development and learning

• Know what is individually appropriate

• Know what is culturally important

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KNOW ABOUT CHILD DEVELOPMENT & LEARNING

• Knowing what is typical at each age & stage helps teachers to make decisions about what & how to teach.

• Resource: Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 by Chip Wood

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KNOW WHAT IS INDIVIDUALLY APPROPRIATE

• Observe children’s play and their interactions with others.

• Note their conversations and classroom activities they choose.

• Plan experiences to enhance children’s learning.

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KNOW WHAT IS CULTURALLY IMPORTANT

•  We must get to know the children’s families & learn about the values, expectations, & factors that shape their lives at home and in their community.

•  This information helps us provide meaningful, relevant & respectful learning experiences for each child and family.

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TEACHERS WHO USE DAP ARE INTENTIONAL

• Are purposeful and thoughtful about strategies

• Teach toward outcomes they want children to achieve

• Capture teachable moments • Know what to do, why they are doing

it, and can describe their rationale

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HELP CHILDREN REACH CHALLENGING AND ACHIEVABLE GOALS

• Provide materials & time for children to build on what they already know and can do.

• Help children “stretch” a reasonable amount toward what they don’t yet know or cannot yet do (scaffold).

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INTEGRATE THE CURRICULUM

•  Integration = providing meaningful learning experiences that enable children to learn how to think and how to apply skills involving the various subject areas, rather than artificially dividing a school day into periods of study for each content area.

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5-YEAR-OLDS PILOT THEIR OWN PROJECT LEARNING

•  On YouTube is a video that shows project-based learning in action with young children.

•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eyucHMifto

•  Or go to YouTube and search for the title “5-year-olds pilot their own project learning”

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CHOOSING PROJECTS OR THEMES

• Do the theme/project and units relate to children’s daily lives?

• Does the theme help to balance the curriculum?

• Does the theme have value for their later life?

•  Is there an advantage to studying this theme at school?

•  Is it jointly selected by children and teachers?

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21ST CENTURY LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Creativity • Critical thinking • Collaboration • Communication

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COMMON CORE HABITS OF MIND

•  I make sense of problems •  I critique the reasoning of others •  I construct viable arguments •  I attend to precision •  I persevere in solving problems •  I use appropriate tools strategically •  I model mathematics •  I look for and express regularity in repeating

reasoning •  I look for and make use of structure •  I reason abstractly and quantitatively

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HABITS OF MIND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES •  Think-Pair- Share •  Showing thinking in the classroom • Questioning and wait time • Grouping and engaging problems • Questions and prompts with groups • Allowing struggle time • Encouraging reasoning

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THE TEACHER AS FACILITATOR

•  Asks Why?, How do you know?, What is the evidence?

•  Gathers resources: non-fiction and fiction texts, photographs and real objects.

•  Plans field trips and invites professionals to the classroom.

•  Assesses in ongoing manner.

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WHAT DO STUDENTS DO?

•  Look forward to learning •  Show a desire to learn • Work cooperatively • Are confident in learning •  Talk with peers & adults • Exhibit curiosity • Observe & make connections •  Try out ideas by using materials, observing,

evaluating & recording information 16

A MODEL FOR SCAFFOLDING

•  I do it: (the talk through) The teacher leads explicit modeling of the skill

•  We do it together: (the walk through) Teacher- guided student application of the skill

•  You do it with support-(the drive through)

•  You do it by yourself- (the student driver) Student use of the skill independently or collaboratively in a Common Core performance task.

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A P R O J E C T O N P L A N T S

INQUIRY- BASED LEARNING IN AN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOM

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A PLANT PROJECT DAY 1

1. KWL – “What do we Know about plants?”

2. Write the children’s ideas on chart paper.

3. Show the children a plant & ask them to identify the parts of a plant.

4. Have them match word/picture cards to label the parts of the plant.

5. Ask children to touch the plant and identify the stem, leaves, flower and roots. They draw the plant. This shows what they Learned.

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A PLANT PROJECT DAY 2

Read a non-fiction text about plants. • Children identify what a plant needs--air,

water, sunlight -- and draws .

• Children help build a plant with its parts on a flannel board.

• Children look at plant photos & identify the parts.

• Children walk around school grounds with clipboards to draw and label plants.

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A PLANT PROJECT DAY 3

•  Teacher sets various seeds out & invites children to explore. “ How can these seeds become plants?”

• Children sort the seeds & predict what plant will grow. They use magnifying lenses to examine the seeds & graph the size of the seeds on a chart.

•  The children draw pictures of their predictions & share with classmates.

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The teacher soaks large bean seeds overnight. Children examine seeds & look for seed coat, embryonic plant and seed food. They draw and label parts of the seed.

A PLANT PROJECT

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T H E S E E D S C A N B E P L A N T E D W I T H O R W I T H O U T S O I L . T H E P R O G R E S S O F T H E P L A N T S G R O W I N G I S R E C O R D E D , P R E D I C T I O N S A R E M A D E .

THE CHILDREN PLANT SEEDS

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The teacher provides fiction & non-fiction, videos and online resources. The teacher listens to children’s comments & questions, inserting new resources and photo- documenting the project.

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WEEK 2 – KINDS OF PLANTS

• What do we know about flowers?

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WEEK 2 PLANT PROJECT

Children look at real flowers and photos of flowers

Children construct flowers with construction paper.

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WEEK 3 - VEGETABLE & FRUIT GARDENS, ORCHARDS AND FARMS

•  They learn about farms, orchards & gardens.

• What plants can grow in a roof-top garden?

•  They visit a farm or orchard.

•  They taste fruit & vegetables.

•  They make vegetable prints.

•  They plan a garden for the school.

•  They plant fruit & vegetable seeds. 28

C H I L D R E N L E A R N A B O U T T H E WAT E R C Y C L E A N D C R E AT E A R T T O E X P L A I N E VA P O R AT I O N , C O N D E N S AT I O N , A N D P R E C I P I TAT I O N .

WEEK 4 -HOW DOES WEATHER AFFECT PLANTS?

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WEEK 5 - HOW DO INSECTS AFFECT PLANTS?

• Children learn how insects help or harm plants. The teacher provides fiction and non-fiction texts and resources.

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HOW DO BEES HELP PLANTS?

Learning about bees. Making bees from paper

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HOW DO BUTTERFLIES HELP PLANTS?

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INSECTS AND PLANTS

Painting butterfly wings Pretending to be butterflies

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I M A G I N AT I O N G A M E S A D D T O U N D E R S TA N D I N G

PRETENDING TO BE SEEDS GROWING IN A GARDEN

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CULMINATING PROJECTS

Learning about sunflowers

Making a project book

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PA R E N T A R E I N V I T E D T O S E E T H E M U R A L A N D I N D I V I D U A L P R O J E C T S

PLANT AND INSECT PROJECT MURAL

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JUDY CRENSHAW, ADA HAND, & DEBRA WELLER CALIFORNIA KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION

www.californiakindergartenassociation.org

CKA will offer professional development workshops this summer. Find out more via our website or emails.

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P L A N A P R O J E C T U N I T W I T H A PA R T N E R .

CAN YOU THINK OF AN INQUIRY –BASED LEARNING PROJECT?

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