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15. Creation and Implementation of Structured Activities

The teacher plans and implements the structured activities in Physical content through

the making of their own Hershey’s kiss candy wrapper. For Valentine’s Day, the teacher

gathered manila folders, tinfoil, and glue in order to make Hershey’s kiss for the children to

make their own wrapper. She traced out the shape in Sharpie and cut it out so the children only

had to cut and glue the tinfoil to the paper. It’s part of the physical part because the children

are using motor skills to put things together and to celebrate Valentine’s Day through age

appropriate activities of making paper kisses. The teacher planned for this activity by having the

outlines traced and cut out, having all the glue bottles filled up and enough aluminum foil for

each child to cover the manila folder paper with.

In the Language content, the teacher plans and implements a curriculum based on what

languages the children speak. For example, one of the girls speaks Chinese to her parents at

home and English at the learning center. The teacher has an assistant teacher who does not

speak Chinese but because the girl works better with her the girl often goes where the second

teacher is. The curriculum is based on expanding the repertoire of English words the girl knows

through writing practice and by showing the class how to say certain words in Chinese and

translating them to the best of her ability. That way, both the class and the girl can learn how to

speak certain words in multiple languages.

The teacher plans and implements the Creative content by allowing the students to

draw their representation of what a plant needs. The class had been learning about plants and

how they grow, what they need to grow, and what their favorite type of plant was. The teacher

used a sheet of paper with a grown plant on it and four empty circles to represent what a plant

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needs to grow. After she had four children at the drawing center, she had them draw what they

thought represented the sun, water, love, and soil to help the plant grow. Some of the circles

were fully colored and did not show what each one represented, but the teacher accepted

them all and told each child individually that their representation of water, soil, sun and love

would help their plant grow because each child planted their own seed, filled it with water and

hung it on a window on a door so it could get enough sunlight.

16. Curricular Planning in Using of Play and Learning Centers

The teacher uses play and learning centers to help in the Cognition content by allowing

each child to recognize what each word is through charades. During circle time, once the

teacher asks a child to see what the weather is like outside she has them stand up and act like

the weather. For example, if it is raining outside, she will have each child stand up and pretend

that their hands are like the rain coming down. In that way, each child knows that because

water is coming down it is raining outside, and there will be no outside play. This way, most of

the more active children will be able to sit still longer and not be as fidgety during reading time

where she reads a book to each child.

The teacher also uses play and learning centers to help in the Social-Emotional content

by allowing each child to act out how they feel. Sometimes when a child starts crying and they

do not want to use the words to solve the problem just yet, the teacher acts out how a problem

should be solved or how a child should act to solve the problem. For example, last Friday one of

the children took the cube from another child without permission, and the second child started

crying. The teacher talked to him, but he did not respond and later was found behind the

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dramatic play area. When the second teacher came and talked to him, he started acting with

his hands on how he wanted to play with the cube but the child who had it first did not share it

with everyone. That way, the child who felt like he was wronged got to tell the teacher how he

felt about the situation and what else the child could do if other children do not share the

materials.

The teacher uses play and learning centers for Cultural content through International

Day during the class. For example, one week each month she will have different students come

up during circle time to do show and tell about their country and cultures. She also posts

reminders up on the whiteboard outside the classroom reminding parents about it, and

sometimes because grandparents drop off the children will stay and explain more about their

culture. For example, one boy whose parents are from India had his mom stay and talk about

different festivals that occur during the month of May. For example, one holiday she talked

about were the birthdays of Ravindranath and Hazarat Ali as well as the Buddha

Purnima/Vesak, all of whom are prominent in Indian culture. Then she talked about the foods

they eat during the festival and what they eat daily. For example, because cows are sacred

animals and pigs are unclean, almost everyone is vegetarian so they find other ways to make up

for the lack of protein in their diet.

17. Lesson/Activity Outcomes

Three learning skills observed in physical content was that the children gained better

motor skills and fine-tuned the some motor skills through paper cutting and folding, running

around during soccer and outdoor play where they learned to not bump into each other and

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how to move certain objects around, and through dramatic play where they learn to walk

around in larger clothing and by pretending to play restaurant or housekeeping. Using these

three learning skills the children are able to become better at handing larger objects to play and

learn with as well as making better crafts.

Another set of learning skills observed in the language content was that the children

were able to better speak more coherently, behave better in class, and talk to each other

without one child breaking into tears if another child hurt their feelings or a problem arises that

they learn how to solve. For example, the teacher often admonishes each child that comes to

her in tears or frustrated because of a problem to “Use your words”, which can help each child

talk out the problems with each other instead of the teacher solving all the problems for the

children. The children are also speaking more coherently, so everybody can understand each

other better. For example, one of the girls has a softer voice so she often whispers the answer

into the teacher’s ear instead of talking out loud to everyone. However, she is slowly gaining

confidence in her answers and is able to speak up louder so everyone can hear instead of just

whispering the answer to one person. Finally, by learning better communication skills in the

language content the children were able to behave better in class. For example, one of the

more fidgety boys is unable to sit still for a long amount of time. However, by letting him

answers questions and speak up during class the fidgetiness was able to be toned down.

Three learning skills in the creative content area is that the children are able to express

themselves through artwork, dramatic play, and what they feel like drawing at the art center.

For example, the teacher often has the children do artwork of what they are learning in class

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and is posted up on the walls outside the classroom. Last week, the children made flowers by

using handprints to create the flower itself on a piece of white paper and then glued on a piece

of green paper to represent the stem and leaves. The children are able to express themselves

through dramatic play as well. By roleplaying, they are learning how to handle different items

because of size and how to treat different people. For example, when the children were playing

restaurant the “waiter” would treat the customers differently than if they were roleplaying

“house”. For example, the waiter would ask what food the customer would like to order with

the restaurant role play; however, with the house role play the mom would set a plate of food

and tell each person to eat it.

18. Research-based Instruction

For working with children who stutter, I would take each child to an empty table and

talk with them about solutions to slowly stop the stuttering. For example, the girl who speaks

softly into the teacher’s ear also has a small stuttering problem, so I would help her by letting

the entire class know that because she has a speech impediment her answers may come out

slower than the others and we should not make fun of her for that. I would also help by role-

playing the role of a child who makes fun of the speech impediment so the child would know

what to do the next time it occurs. Instead of going to the teacher crying, the girl would be able

to tell the other child that while she may have a speech problem, I’m just like any of the other

children in the classroom.

For working with children that have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, I would do

more play-based activities and something that deals with what they learn through more

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pictures and less words. For example, I would let the children stay out longer in outdoor play or

during center times so that way, they can move around more freely and not have to sit still for

long periods of time. I would also use books that have more pictures so the children can draw

their own conclusion of what the book would be about. For example, last week they were

learning about animals under the sea and learned about lionfish. The book had words on every

page, but I felt that if the words were less or maybe on just one page the children could look at

the pictures longer and see how the lionfish behaves in its natural environment.

APA Citation:

Panico, James, Daniels, Derek E., Claflin, M. Susan. (2011). “Working in the Classroom with

Young Children Who Stutter.” ProQuest Education Journals, pp. 91-95.

Jakobson, Angela, Kikas, Eve. (2007). “Cognitive Functioning in Children With and Without

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder With and Without Comorbid Learning Disabilities.”

ProQuest Education Journals, pp. 1944-202.

19. Reflection

Three factors that have influenced the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom

is how the children take to the teacher, how well-qualified the learning center is, and how the

teacher deals with multiple students at once. If the children take well to the teacher, they will

be more likely to be more open around them and tell them everything that is going on in their

lives. The quality of the learning center is also a big influence on how well the children learn.

While lower-qualified schools may not have the same amount of qualifications that a better

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school would have, they would also have less resources and materials, so they would have to

recycle old ideas and materials or have the teacher buy the materials and resources out of their

own pocket. Finally, how well the teacher deals with multiple students at once. Because the age

group of the children is higher, there is a 2:20 ration of teacher to students, so one teacher is

responsible for many students. While the teachers take turns there is one main teacher and

multiple support teachers for each classroom so if the children take well to the different

teachers in their own classroom, it would be easier for them to behave and listen to them. It

would help me as a teacher in a future early childhood education classroom by showing me the

differences between an early childhood classroom, elementary school classroom and a

kindergarten classroom. The differences in the children’s behaviors and how the teacher deals

with it also shapes how well prepared I would be in my future as an early childhood education

teacher.