1. Chapter 11: Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum
Teaching Young Children
Fifth Edition
Michael L. Henniger
Developed by:
Kaye A. Marshall
Mt. Baker School District and Whatcom Community College

2. Goals: Chapter 11
Study elements of developmentally appropriate curriculum
Learn about integrated curriculum
Identify observation strategies
Understand steps in developing activities and lessons
Clarify the importance and types of assessment used in early childhood programs

3. Creating a Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) - 3 kinds of knowledge
Knowledge of child development and learning
Understanding unique developmental abilities/interests of individual children
Knowledge of social/cultural settings of children and families

4. Prior Knowledge
What do you think are components of a lesson plan? Discuss with your 3:00 partner. Compare your ideas with the video:

5. Creating Curriculum: DAP Dimensions
DAP - 5 interrelated dimensions
Creating a caring community of learners
Enhancing child development and learning
Planning curriculum to achieve goals
Assessing learning and development
Establishing and maintaining strong family-school relationships

6. Creating Curriculum: DAP Guidelines
DAP – 9 guidelines for curriculum
Provides for all aspects of child’s development (physical, social, emotional, cognitive)
Intellectually interesting and meaningful
New knowledge is built upon existing understandings and abilities
Integrates subject matter areas
Emphasizes problem-solving skills and lifelong learning

7. Creating Curriculum: Guidelines, cont.
Intellectual integrity – challenges children to use concepts/tools of different disciplines
While supporting the home culture and language, strengthens the child’s ability to participate in the shared culture
Goals are reasonable and attainable
Technology is physically and philosophically integrated

8. Creating Curriculum: Process
Appropriate curriculum is created through a cyclical process – 3 elements
Identify children’s needs and interests
Plan the curriculum
Engage in assessment

9. Creating Curriculum: Process - Needs/Interests
Identify children’s needs and interests
Developmental considerations
Infants/toddlers – sensory learning
Preschool years – emotional development
Early elementary – local/state guidelines and abilities/interests
Observation
Essential element of teaching/learning process
Informal and formal strategies

10. Creating Curriculum: Process - Planning
Plan the curriculum
Goals - broad learning outcomes
Objectives - specific description of what children will know or do
Physical space – arrange for manipulation of real world materials
Activities and lessons – long/short term plans
Schedules – consider length of day, blocks of time, balance of activities, transitions, consistency

11. Creating Curriculum: Process - Assessment
Engage in assessment
Formative – informal, used throughout the curriculum cycle to check understandings
Summative – may be more formal, used at end of a unit of study for evidence of what children know or are able to do, organized for record keeping

12. The Integrated Curriculum
Why implement an integrated curriculum?
Essential component of DAP
Natural way of learning
Hands-on manipulation of materials
Organized around themes of interest
Makes curriculum more relevant
Allows for more in-depth study

13. Integrated Curriculum: Planning
Planning and preparation
Select appropriate themes
Learn about the topic selected
Find/organize related materials
Reflect on what you want children to learn
Identify open-ended questions for inquiry
Plan related activities/lessons
Invite family participation
Determine a closing event or activity
Evaluate theme and learning

14. Integrated Curriculum: Project Approach
Project: an in-depth investigation about a topic that incorporates children’s questions, interests, and theories
Phase one – getting started
Phase two – field work
Final phase – culminating/debriefing events that help children summarize their learning

15. Observation in Early Childhood Settings
Informal observations – spontaneous, simply stopping/listening/observing
Formal observations – written, with more specific purposes

16. Observation: Uses Uses for observations Build relationships
Document behaviors
Identify progress and potential problems
Assess the curriculum

17. Observation: Strategies
Become an objective observer
Record behaviors/words, not your interpretations
Strategies
Anecdotal records
Checklists
Rating scales
Running records
Meet with your 9:00 partner and discuss the differences between these four strategies.

18. Planning Activities and Lessons
Activity planning
Consider play as open-ended and child-directed
Flexibility is a key component
Essential elements
Purposes for the activity
Materials/preparation needed
Procedures
Variations
Evaluation component

19. Planning: Lessons Lesson planning
Engage in detailed steps now for success with future abbreviated written plans
Focus on specific learning
More structured than activity plans
Objectives, introduction, content, methods/procedure, closure, resources/materials, evaluation

20. Emergent Curriculum With your 6:00 partner, join with another pair:
EMERGENT CURRICULUM ACTIVITY PLANNING
In your groups you will pick out a scenario that you as ECE will take and build a web and lesson plan around:
1. A current event (political, social, cultural, natural) – elections, civil rights marches, earthquake….etc.
2. A bee-hive was recently discovered near the kindergarten community garden.
3. One of the children welcomed a new baby brother to their family.
4. The class found a limping bird in the playground and they are requesting that the class adopt it as a pet.
5. There is an upcoming fieldtrip to the museum that the teacher would like to prepare the children for.
6. Recent fires in the areas have excited children about fire fighters.

21. Emergent Curriculum (continued)
In your groups you will pick out an Emergent Curriculum scenario that you as an ECE will take and build a web around. As you web and prepare an activity you must respond to the following: Does it have a theme? What is the theme? How is your curriculum developmentally and culturally appropriate (what is the age group / cultural backgrounds of the children) How is it inclusive? Anti-Bias? Include activities that promote higher order thinking skills by asking open-ended questions

23. Assessment Standardized tests Developmental screening Observation
Documentation of children’s work
Portfolios

24. Assessment: Standardized Tests
Definition: carefully developed tests created by professional designers to measure performance compared to other children in relation to a standard or objective
Problematic: wrong content, bias issues, results used to make “high-stakes” decisions
Recommendation: use multiple assessment strategies

25. Assessment: Developmental Screening
Definition: short standardized assessment administered by a trained adult to identify children who may have a disability
Outcome: if a potential concern is identified, further assessment is encouraged
Example: Denver II – screens personal/social, fine motor/adaptive, language, and gross motor development

26. Assessment: Observation
Role of observation in assessment
How children use their environment
Example: Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 2003)
Emphasis on developing the whole child
Useful to identify problems/guide thinking when choosing strategies

27. Assessment: Documentation
Documentation of children’s learning
More widely used due to popularity of Reggio Emilia approach
Includes work from all of the children
Examples
Recording children’s discussions
Photographs of children’s work
Samples of children’s work

28. Assessment: Portfolios
The portfolio and its use
Used to compile and organize information about individual children
Assumptions
Systematic effort to collect meaningful work
Children actively involved in selection
Can contain materials from a variety of sources
Reflect actual daily learning activities
Demonstrate child’s progress over time
May have subcomponents
Variety of media can be used

29. Summary Creating a Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum
The Integrated Curriculum
Observation in Early Childhood Settings
Planning Activities and Lessons
Assessment