Today's thoughts...

Hello Lynn,
I’m sorry to hear that you are not feeling well, but I have to admit I too have been a bit under the weather myself. I actually made myself take yesterday entirely away from Blackboard, although I certainly had work to do. I had been working every day for weeks and really needed a break. I had thought to take today off too, but wanted to attend to working on this course. Somehow, this seemed like a leisurely activity.
I agree completely with your idea of assigning elements of the final throughout the semester, and having revised versions stand as part of the final. Actually, this meshes nicely with ideas I learned in the Teaching with Writing course I took earlier in this semester; students should be required to do some revising throughout the semester as a way if improving their overall writing skills. I like the idea of using the rubric for the final product.
I am certainly interested in co-teaching with you again in the fall. If you are interested in doing this, let me know and then we can contact John. Since you have a curriculum for that course, it will likely take a lot less time to develop and tweak it for our purposes. Is the text book you used current enough to use again?
I have put together a draft of the syllabus for the course description. I have added very brief descriptions of the chapters we have left to plan, and please feel free to make changes to any wording I have used. I think it will give prospective students a good idea of the overall activities, as well as an inkling of what the final will be like.
I have added the outline of my ideas for the social studies and art chapters. I want to flesh them out a bit, but wanted to share my initial ideas with you. Hopefully I will have time during the next few days to work on the other two chapters. Please feel completely free to share any ideas or feedback on anything I have submitted. We might want to look for ways to connect these various assignments, similar to what I have done with the social studies assignment, and I am open to your ideas.
I hope you get some rest and feel better soon. If at any time you need a break from this process, just let me know. We can’t burn out before we even begin the class!
Suzanne

Curriculum Development for Early Childhood Education
Preliminary Syllabus
(Note: This syllabus is subject to change prior to the first class. Please see the Discussion Board Instructions for changes.)
The structure of this course will include weekly reading assignments in the text book and from other sources, weekly submission of homework assignments to the discussion board, and substantial participation in asynchronous discussion on the discussion board every week. Grading will be judged based on quality of your submissions, depth of your contributions to discussions, and evidence of critical thinking as you relate what you are learning to what you know, and how you will use what you are learning.
In this course, learners develop an understanding of the philosophical principles, societal expectations, and practical demands of building curriculum for early childhood education. Emphasis is on developing a child-centered, integrated, and developmentally appropriate curriculum for the early years from infancy to age 8. A variety of curricular approaches will be modeled and assessed.
Topics covered in this course include Started the Process; Creating Curriculum; Language and Literacy; Literature; Math; Science; Social Studies; Art; Sensory Centers; Music and Movement; Puppets; Dramatic Play and Creative Dramatics.
Activities and projects shared in this course will include (but are not limited to) essays in response to significant issues in curriculum development; substantial participation in discussions; development of lesson plans and activities related to learning domains, as well as activities for helping students bridge the gaps between learning domains; strategies for making curriculum accessible to diverse classroom populations, including students with different learning styles and special needs; the development, over the course of the semester, of a curriculum for use with a particular age group.

May 26: Chapter 1 – Starting the Process
Reading Assignment: Pg. 2-35
Submission of an introductory essay and your response to the discussion board questions, substantial participation in the discussion.

June 2: Chapter 2 – Creating Curriculum
Reading Assignment: Pg. 36-84
Submission of your response to your choice of several discussion board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

June 9: Chapter 3 – Language and Literacy
Reading Assignment: Pg. 86-116
Development of a language activity for a chosen grade level, submission of your response to the Discussion Board, substantial participation in the discussion.

June 16: Chapter 4 – Literature
Reading Assignment: Pg. 117-154
Creation of an annotated bibliography for a selected grade level. Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

June 23: Chapter 5 – Math
Reading Assignment: Pg. 155-184
Development of a math activity for young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; Parent involvement activity; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

June 30: Chapter 6 – Science
Reading Assignment: Pg. 185-213
Development of a science activity for young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

July 7: Chapter 7 – Social Studies
Reading Assignment: Pg. 214-238
Development of a family survey, which will be used in creating a social studies lesson for young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

July 14: Chapter 8 – Art
Reading Assignment: Pg. 239-268
Development of an age appropriate art activity for young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

July 21: Chapter 9 – Sensory Centers
Reading Assignment: Pg. 269-298
Development of a multi-cultural cooking activity to be used with young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

July 28: Chapter 10 – Music and Movement
Reading Assignment: Pg. 299-324
Development of a music and movement activity to be used with young children; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

August 4: Chapter 11 – Puppets
Reading Assignment: Pg. 325-349
Development of an activity in which puppets play an important role; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

August 11: Chapter 12 – Dramatic Play and Creative Dramatics
Reading Assignment: Pg. 350-401
Development of an activity for the Dramatic play area of the classroom; Submission of your response to the Discussion Board questions; substantial participation in the discussion is required.

August 17: Presentation of finals, including Culmination Essays

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(Lynn, What follows could be used for our narrative evaluations. I have no idea how other teachers approach this task, but I compile a paragraph of general topics covered, a paragraph of activities and projects, and than add a paragraph about the individual student’s progress and contributions. As always, feel free to make changes to this.)

Narrative Evaluation
In this course, learners develop an understanding of the philosophical principles, societal expectations, and practical demands of building curriculum for early childhood education. Emphasis is on developing a child-centered, integrated, and developmentally appropriate curriculum for the early years from infancy to age 8. A variety of curricular approaches will be modeled and assessed.
Topics covered in this course include Started the Process; Creating Curriculum; Language and Literacy; Literature; Math; Science; Social Studies; Art; Sensory Centers; Music and Movement; Puppets; Dramatic Play and Creative Dramatics.
Activities and projects shared in this course will include (but are not limited to) essays in response to significant issues in curriculum development; substantial participation in discussions; development of lesson plans and activities related to learning domains, as well as activities for helping students bridge the gaps between learning domains; strategies for making curriculum accessible to diverse classroom populations, including students with different learning styles and special needs; the develop, over the course of the semester, a curriculum for use with a particular grade level.



Assignments for Chapters 7 & 8
July 7:
Chapter 7 – Social Studies
Reading Assignment: Pg. 214-238

Discussion Board by midnight on Friday:
After reading the chapter (and other related resources, to be announced)
1. Using information gleaned from your reading, create a family survey to be used to gather information from the families in your classroom. The goal is to gain an understanding of the family culture and genealogical information that might be used to ensure that these elements are addressed in your classroom activities.
2. Using the information from these surveys, as well as the tenets outlined on page 218, create a lesson plan for a particular grade level geared toward helping children understand their role in their family, classroom, community and greater circles of culture. Include the following elements in your plan:
• Identify cultural elements that your lesson addresses
• Identify at least one guest visitor who will help you with this lesson
• Identify at least 3 age-appropriate books to be used in this lesson. Give a brief annotation and your reason for including them in this lesson
• Include at least one idea for each learning center in your classroom that will support and/or expand your lesson

By midnight on Sunday: Respond to at least 3 of your peer’s posts in a substantial way.


July 14: Chapter 8 – Art
Reading Assignment: Pg. 239-268
Discussion Board by midnight on Friday:
Compose a philosophy statement in which you outline what will be the framework for art education in your classroom. Include at least three ideas from the reading assignment and cite them within your statement.
Choose one of the learning domains already studied this semester and create an art activity to support and expand it. How will you incorporate the activity into the lesson? How does your lesson expand and support the other lessons?

By midnight on Sunday: Respond to at least 3 of your peer’s posts in a substantial way.