Child Development One Teachers with our Little Lancers
Mrs. Lane's Child Development One Class at Linganore High School is the first of three courses a high school student can take to meet Maryland State requirements to receive a 90-clock hour Preschool Certification before graduation. This course introduces the student to the study of early childhood, with emphasis on the preschool child.
During the first six weeks, students learn about types of early childhood programs, careers in early childhood, developmental theories, and developmentally appropriate practices, developmental milestones are emphasized. As we prepare for our Little Lancers Preschool’s Opening day, the high school student work independently and in teaching groups to develop lessons. Our classroom text book is an excellent resource. Students use technology such as the Inspiration Software program, Microsoft Word, Excel and numerous websites to gain useful and practical knowledge.
Students receive practical hands on experience before they develop and teach picture book lesson focusing on concepts that develop pre-reading, comprehension and vocabulary skills, and a sense of story. Preschool math concepts are taught with manipulative working on concrete number and problem solving techniques that are developmentally approprate for Kindergarten Readiness. Our Fall and Spring - ten week Little Lancer preschool program is based on themes that engage a child’s wonder and love of learning.
During the first six weeks, students learn about types of early childhood programs, careers in early childhood, developmental theories, and developmentally appropriate practices, developmental milestones are emphasized. As we prepare for our Little Lancers Preschool’s Opening day, the high school student work independently and in teaching groups to develop lessons. Our classroom text book is an excellent resource. Students use technology such as the Inspiration Software program, Microsoft Word, Excel and numerous websites to gain useful and practical knowledge.
Students receive practical hands on experience before they develop and teach picture book lesson focusing on concepts that develop pre-reading, comprehension and vocabulary skills, and a sense of story. Preschool math concepts are taught with manipulative working on concrete number and problem solving techniques that are developmentally approprate for Kindergarten Readiness. Our Fall and Spring - ten week Little Lancer preschool program is based on themes that engage a child’s wonder and love of learning.
The First Six Week... Learning to Teach Preschool
Environmental Print - Mini Poster – Portfolio Assignment
What is Environmental Print?
Vanessa from PreK pages states that "Reading print from the world around us is one of the beginning stages of literacy development. The letters, numbers, shapes, and colors found in logos for products and stores such as McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Coke, and Campbell’s soup all provide opportunities for emerging readers to interact with print and the written word in their own environment. We see Environmental Print everywhere, we see logos and signs in our daily lives but as adults we don’t consider it real “reading”. However, Environmental Print is the first print a child learns to “read”. " To learn more about environmental print in the preschool classroom visit Vanessa's website. http://www.pre-kpages.com/environmental_print/
Assignment download file here. This is a portfolio assignment and needs to be kept through all three course for your 90 Hour Certificate Portfolio.
Brainstorming Web - Themes
"Getting the right answer” is not always the mental process to fostering creatively and imagination. In my Child Development classroom I try to have my high school student open their minds to all the answers, a creative classroom full of imagination. I have always viewed the preschool curriculum as endless themes about the world around the students. That is why our curriculum is based on “themes”. I would love to explore the Project Approach developed by Lilian Katz, and have two and three week long themes that are children driven and centered, but the reality of my classroom environment is that 45 high school "teachers" interact with 15 to 17 Little Lancers weekly. Using themes based to spontaneity and preschool student interest is not structured enough for the needs of the high school students curriculum. Our classrooms are structured so that our highs school teachers can plan two weeks in advance and materials for lessons can be prepared and if neccessary purchased.
The WEB THEME BRAINSTORMING project allows Child Development One students to record all possible possibility not just the obvious ones. In class, I demonstrate how to create a Brainstorming Web on the white board. A large white sheet of paper is given to each student with a simple directions. They are to choose one of the semester’s themes. Our Fall and Spring semesters both have 12 weeks of preschool with a 12 theme. The students each record all the things they can think of until the end of class. They are then told to take it to lunch and record their friend’s ideas with a different color ink. At home they are to ask their families to add even more ideas, concepts and topics with a third ink or pencil. These webs are turned in for a grade. Grades are based on the amount of effort
and detail put into the theme.
We take the handwritten webs to the computer lab and use a software program – Inspirations. Students learn how to use the program that has a web and formal outline element. It is important for the students to use technology to convey their work. The software Inspirations allows the students to quickly organize and add visually appealing designs to their theme web. All work is printed in both outline and web view. All three elements become part of each student's portfolios.
LESSON PLANS - Each high school student is responsible for creating a lesson plan to be taught each week in the preschool. Students without a grade of a "C" or above will not teach their lesson. A substitute from the class will teach your lesson while you complete and alternate written assignment.
Lesson plans are turned in two weeks in advanced of the assigned lesson date. Your lesson will be graded. Any items that need to be purchased for the lesson must be written on the "Master Shopping List", located on the refrigerator in the preschool classroom. Your lesson should contain a developmentally appropriate objective with a authentic assessment. Use one of the classroom many resources or the websites to create your lesson. To obtain a copy of this file click here.
Lesson plans are turned in two weeks in advanced of the assigned lesson date. Your lesson will be graded. Any items that need to be purchased for the lesson must be written on the "Master Shopping List", located on the refrigerator in the preschool classroom. Your lesson should contain a developmentally appropriate objective with a authentic assessment. Use one of the classroom many resources or the websites to create your lesson. To obtain a copy of this file click here.
LESSON REFLECTION-- The day after you teach, it is your classroom assignment to complete a Lesson Reflection. The purpose of this assignment is for your to think about your lesson and think about the things you did well and to learn from the things you should reconsider the next time you teach. To obtain a copy of this file chick here.
FOOD IN THE CLASSROOM /
ARTICLE ASSIGNMENT- As part of our Nutrition Unit in Child Development One, each high school student is required to create a one month, nutritional snack calendar with a shopping list. The attached article by Lisa Murphy, AKA the OOEY GOOEY LADY. Is assigned reading for this unit of study. Through this article high school student should gain an understanding of why and how food can be used for developmentally appropriate learning activities in a preschool classroom and when it is just economically or culturally incorrect. READ the article and download the file for your written response. submit it to Mrs. Lane via EDMODO or email.
Food in the Classroom Article and the Written Response Assignment.
ARTICLE ASSIGNMENT- As part of our Nutrition Unit in Child Development One, each high school student is required to create a one month, nutritional snack calendar with a shopping list. The attached article by Lisa Murphy, AKA the OOEY GOOEY LADY. Is assigned reading for this unit of study. Through this article high school student should gain an understanding of why and how food can be used for developmentally appropriate learning activities in a preschool classroom and when it is just economically or culturally incorrect. READ the article and download the file for your written response. submit it to Mrs. Lane via EDMODO or email.
Food in the Classroom Article and the Written Response Assignment.
Virtual Prop Box -
Download the Prop Box Power Point Template here.
The Virtual Prop box assignment grew out of a need for the Child Development student to demonstrate what they had learned in the first course of study without having a comprehensive test that required a lengthy review of the material while we were still conducting preschool lessons. I wanted the student to create a Prop Box as a Final Project Assignment but did not want them to be limited by the added cost it may add in this very economic challenging time.
The Virtual Prop Box Assignment was born - I created a Power Point project that allowed the Child Development students to be creative, demonstrate their learning and to spend virtual money. (I found spending virtual money, is very developmentally suitable for many of my teenage female students). This eliminated the budget barrier.
With the use of images off the World Wide Web the Child Development Student are able to create the Prop Box that truly meets their vision without the limits of time and money. Sometimes the students found items on the web they had not consider and the images made them reconsider and evaluate more education opportunities for their center.
The students are given three weeks to research their center and Prop Box topic. This time is used to review their notes and text book, answer questions and created an informative Prop Box presentation that will be educational and fun for our preschool students as well as demonstrate their competences of the material taught in Child Development One.
Many of our Prop Box topic has turned becomes reality as we have enjoyed the idea so much we create the Prop Box for our Little Lancer Preschool Classroom. An example of a well done Prop Box is here for you to review.
Prop Box Assignment - As the Final Project of Child Development One Each student create a "Virtual Prop Box" using MS Power Point. This enables the student to share the content they have learned in the course in a creative way. Students use any preschool center and theme to create their own "prop box" which include props, picture books, environmental and functional print elements. The student use the basic Power Point provided by Mrs. Lane as the foundation for their project. They are able to modify the Power Point to fit there thematic topic or seasonal prop box. The Virtual Prop Box allows student to create their ideal child centered center without the monetary restrictions that could be placed on high school students. The Prop Box is present to the entire Child Development class during the last days of the course for peer review. This a presentation can be a very rewarding demonstration of what the student has learned and the creative thought they put in to the fun child centered learning experience called a prop box. MASTER PROP BOX FILE download here. for the written directions download the next file - Prop Box Word Document
Sight Words:
Learning to READ. The Dolch list of 25 Sight Words
Definition: Sight words are words that are immediately recognizable and do not need to be decoded.
Sight Word Facts:
Assignment - download this file for your Seek & Find Sight Word Assignment - Happy Hunting
Learning to READ. The Dolch list of 25 Sight Words
Definition: Sight words are words that are immediately recognizable and do not need to be decoded.
Sight Word Facts:
- Sight words are the most frequently used words in the English language.
- Sight words make up about 50% of any written text.
- Students will be able to read more fluently if they have learned to recognize sight words instantly.
Assignment - download this file for your Seek & Find Sight Word Assignment - Happy Hunting
Brainstorming Web - Themes
Pass - Fail Classroom Setup
Environmental Print
Cloud Book
Number Book
General Lesson Plan
Picture Book Lesson
Virtual Prop Box
Pass - Fail Classroom Setup
Environmental Print
Cloud Book
Number Book
General Lesson Plan
Picture Book Lesson
Virtual Prop Box