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Lesson plans

  • 1.  Lesson plans

    Posted 02-15-2019 10:40 AM
    I use play based curriculum. I was asked to do lesson plans. How would one do that since i let the kids dictate and our day differs from day to day??? Any help would be appreciated. 
    Thank you

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    christina randall
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  • 2.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-16-2019 08:38 AM
    Christina:
    Hooray for play-based curriculum!  I understand that you do less structured planning and don't dictate what kids use but that doesn't mean that the kids are on their own. You're still observing, making choices about what to highlight each day and part of the day. When they've been very involved in using a certain building material and so you decide to put that material on a table--that can go in a lesson plan. If you put new things in your sensory table, different art projects, add materials to the block corner, change out items in the kitchen, put all the dress up clothes away and put out 20 bandanas instead, rotate materials on the shelves, etc.--those are all choices that you're making within a play-based classroom and you're making them based on their interests.  That can go into a lesson plan. If the group has a great interest in flowers you can spend a week planting seeds, having books about flowers in the reading area, making up songs and stories about gardens, etc. That all can go in a lesson plan (even if some kids don't participate).  Hopefully, the supervisor who asked for this will give you some examples of what they mean.  It can seem overwhelming to make a lesson plan if you haven't done it before, so keep it fairly simple, based on things you're doing already.  Good luck.

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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
    she/her
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  • 3.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-16-2019 10:21 AM
    Thank you!!!  That makes it a little easier.  I wasnt given any examples so it was hard to get my brain around it.  We play board games alot.  Some times we spend all morning doing just that. So i was racking my brain.  I have never written a lesson plan.  Kinda confusing.  Again thank you!!!!??

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    christina randall
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  • 4.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 10:37 AM
    I work with one year old children so our curriculum is definitely play based. The center I work at uses Creative Curriculum and I strongly dislike it. Granted, I believe we have an older version so there may have been some changes but what I have for my age group is useless in my opinion. We're getting ready to start Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in our program. I usually take the guide for the preschool age group and adapt as much as possible and throw some of my created information in. At my center we are to focus on at least two foundations per week. With one year olds that often carries over for much longer. So for this next week we're practicing counting which means we'll be counting everything--each other, how many blocks we stacked, how many birds we see, etc. I'll also read some counting books. This is just one example. For my age group I don't have sit down lessons with them so the academic part is included in my play with them and with our daily activities. We'll sing the alphabet song while washing our hands. I point out colors on clothes, toys, pictures in books, etc. Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy to make lesson plans and see where each thing you are doing fits. Board games were mentioned and depending on the game there is a lot you can include. Math being the most obvious as most board games involve counting spaces. Jenga involves engineering and logic when it comes to building and removing blocks. Yahtzee is definitely math as you have to be able to add up points but there is also decision making as you try to decide where to place those points.

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    Lisa Wall
    Greenfield IN
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  • 5.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 11:07 AM
    We play hi ho cheerio, candy land, lucky ducks, dominoes, memory, pld mc donald, alphabet bingo, etc

    for the older we play cooties, break the ice, dominoes, uno, skipbo, yahtzee, etc

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    christina randall
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  • 6.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-17-2019 10:08 AM
    Hi Christina,
    Depending on the age group you are working with, lesson planning can be simplified to meet the developmental needs of the children. I would find out if the center or school has a lesson plan template that they prefer. If so, use it to build your lesson plan. As far as activities base it on the experience you want them to have. If your focus is science, use the Looking Bookby P. K. Hallinan. Materials could include sunglasses with the lenses popped out,  magnifying glasses, and various items that the children find during either a classroom or outdoor exploration. During circle time you read the book. Let the children explore things by looking through the magnifying glass.  What do they see? What does the material feel like? Allow them to use small journals or paper to draw, scribble or write what they see. This of course is for older children. For younger children create a treasure basket of textures for them to explore. There are a vast amount of resources available to assist you with lessons.
    Best of luck!

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    J. Malone-Barnes
    Practicum Coordinator
    Children and Families Program
    Henry Ford College
    Dearborn, MI
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  • 7.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-17-2019 10:21 AM
    Board games can be part of a play-based program, but play-based usually refers to setting up the environment so children can choose their play with other children, such as dramatic play in a restaurant taking orders and serving food, or a pet shelter with toy doctor equipment to help the stuffed animal pets that are brought to the shelter.  The board games are fine, because it seems the children are enjoying them.  If they are school-aged this makes sense, but younger children can enjoy this too.  The play-based ideas can be posted on a calendar with the note at the bottom that these are subject to change based on children's interests.  Perhaps the board games are interesting mainly because there are not a lot of other options for dramatic play they can readily see.  Look at your environment and be sure several dramatic play options are available and inviting for the children.  You can still interact with them, such as be the customer that comes to the restaurant.  You can be someone who brings an animal to the animal shelter for them to help with the doctor kit supplies.

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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 8.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-17-2019 10:58 AM
    Thank you for all your input. I have a dramatic play area with all sorts of props. I have 2 kitchens, cleaning supplies, farm house, doll houses and things to go with them. I change them out often. I have other items as well. 

    I think the reason the children like to play board games is because they dont do them at home. 

    I do not have available lesson plan template. Thats why its so hard for me to write one up.

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    christina randall
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  • 9.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-17-2019 11:15 AM
    Play can also be purposeful/intentional, even with two-year-olds. You can introduce materials that reflect what you notice the children are interested in. When I was the Director of a coop nursery school, the two-year-olds showed high interest in trains. The teacher then introduced books, props, etc. to further their play. They sang songs, etc. related to this interest. They built pretend trains with chairs and big hollow blocks. The teacher even found a "record" with a pretend train ride from NYC to Chicago, which introduced the conductor, etc. Hearing this, furthered the way they played "train riding" and increased their knowledge of trains.

    The above does not negate having regular ongoing play items in all your centers. But observing what children are doing and listening to what children are saying, and then following their interests with planning that introduces items related to their interests brings excitement to the classroom and unleashes the children's imaginations and learning.

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    Nora Krieger
    Associate Professor Emerita/ Chair NJEEPRE
    Bloomfield College/ New Jersey Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
    Highland Park NJ
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  • 10.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 11:17 AM
    Lisa, I also use Creative Curriculum. It was purchased a year ago, so it is very up-to-date.  I use it for 4 and 5-year-olds, which is what it is intended for (actually age 3 to 5).  They also have a curriculum for "Infants, Toddlers, and Two's," which is what you need.  It is much more play based and focused on the learning for that age group.  They don't have "studies" like Creative Curriculum has.  I LOVE Creative Curriculum for 4's and 5's, though.  The children are learning SO much and the parents love it.  We did the DIAL pre-testing at the beginning of the year last year and again at the end for a pilot program we are involved in, and the children really made huge advances in knowledge!  The main part, however, is they love coming to school each day and love learning while playing.  Getting the right curriculum for the right age group is very important.

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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 11.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 11:34 AM
    DeAnn,
    We do have the curriculum for Infants and Toddlers and I don't find it very useful. I'm not sure how old our materials are so it may have been updated since my director purchased it. My director wants us all on the same page so to speak so I am expected to incorporate the same study in my curriculum as the other classes. Some studies are easier than others though. What I would want is something with the same studies with activities geared toward infants and toddlers. In my case, it might just be how my director incorporates the curriculum in the program. Since the infant/toddler curriculum doesn't have studies yet my director wants a uniform study throughout the program. I am making it work. Our building study that we just finished was very easy to do for my age group. The one we're on now is a little more difficult.

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    Lisa Wall
    Greenfield IN
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  • 12.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 11:44 AM
    Lisa, I see what you are up against.  That would be difficult.  I know that I will be pilot testing some "mini studies" for toddlers this fall that Teaching Strategies is working on.  I don't think those studies will coincide with the preschool studies, but you might ask your director about those once they come out.  I'll be teaching toddlers in the fall once all my 4 and 5-year-olds graduate on to Kindergarten.  How do you like the "Infants, Toddlers, and Two's" curriculum (as long as you take out the need to integrate the preschool curriculum)?

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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 13.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-17-2019 02:12 PM
    If you are looking for a template, I just use a blank calendar you can find on-line with the month at the top.  I post what we are doing each day in the spaces for each day on a calendar.  I have additional lesson plans beyond the calendar, but I fit what I can in the space for each day.  When this is posted where parents can see it, it seems to satisfy licensing and even that is what I had posted when I obtained NAFCC accreditation.  I write out more notes for what I'll do for our group time, etc.  

    A book I recommend is "Serious Fun!--How Guided Play Extends Children's Learning."  This helps you explain to parents and to licensing the value of your play-based curriculum and gives a ton of ideas for how you can facilitate learning through play.

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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 14.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-16-2019 10:19 AM


    Christina,

    Curriculum can be play based and also have lesson plans.  For example, I use Creative Curriculum that is produced by Teaching Strategies.  You can ask them for a sample packet of materials for free. 

    Google: Teaching Strategies- The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool

     Here is an example of using a play-based curriculum with lesson plans that comes from Creative Curriculum.  We are doing a study on "Pets".  We chose that study based on what we observed from the children.  Several of them got new pets and they were talking a lot about their pets in their play.  The curriculum has us ask them during large group time what they already know about pets and what they would like to know.  We write it on a large paper and add to it as children have more ideas.  We get books about pets and have resources available for them, such as a pet store set up with the cash register, etc.  The curriculum also suggests setting up an animal shelter.  You ask the children what they will need in their shelter, such as a doctor kit, blankets, etc. It also suggests creating a waiting room for the shelter and ideas on how to get the children's suggestions and how to expand on the children's ideas.   One of the days suggests doing a walk through the neighborhood to see what pets we can see in our area, such as dogs in back yards or dogs being walked.  We also have planned for a neighbor to come who has a pet hedgehog and a veterinarian will come talk with the children about their profession.  All this is pre-planned in the curriculum, such as what questions to ask the children and what to have on hand to set up.  Each day is written out in the curriculum, including books, ways to incorporate use of alphabet, science, math, etc., so you can have your daily curriculum posted for parents, but it does have you adapt it to your own needs.  I always put a disclaimer at the bottom of our calendar saying that these activities are subject to change based on the children's interests or weather, etc.  

    If you understand Vygotsky's ideas about scaffolding and zone of proximal development, you remember that parents are there to support children's interests.  They guide the child in ways the child is ready, yet not able to succeed without help.  Caregivers are there to provide that help.  Having the curriculum be totally driven by the children might not help them achieve their greatest potential without some guidance.  Play based curriculum with well though-out lesson plans helps to accomplish that.

    I hope this helps.



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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 15.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-16-2019 03:38 PM
    How old are the children?

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    Nora Krieger
    Associate Professor Emerita/ Chair NJEEPRE
    Bloomfield College/ New Jersey Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
    Highland Park NJ
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  • 16.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-16-2019 04:01 PM
    My children are all 4 and 5-year-olds in their last year before Kindergarten.  However, I have been using the same curriculum since they were 3 (Creative Curriculum for Preschool).  Creative Curriculum also has curriculum for "Infants, Toddlers, and Twos" that is really awesome as well.  I started my current childcare children at ages 18 months to 30 months and kept this cohort until now 4 years later they are graduating to Kindergarten.  This curriculum is play-based and has imbedded learning in their play.  For example, in setting up a restaurant, we supply notebooks for children to take people's orders.  We create menus that have simple pictures of foods with a word underneath so they can copy the word or just pretend to be writing down words in the notebook.  At the restaurant they can create recipes or we can supply recipes for them to look at and identify numbers (like cups of flour, etc.).  We can also work as a group to read a recipe as we make muffins, for example.  I can point to the words that say "cups flour" and ask them to see how many cups of flour.  All of this is math and literacy.  We can embed math learning in playing games where you need to count dots on the dice to know how many spaces to move.  In our short "group time" I can do some intentional teaching and then support it through play during the rest of the day.

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    DeAnn Jones
    Director, teacher
    Discovery Place Child Care, LLC
    Bozeman MT
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  • 17.  RE: Lesson plans

    Posted 02-18-2019 06:18 AM

    <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">Play</g> is what children understand and at a very young age, this cannot be taken away them. They have to see learning as fun. Your lesson plan can be built around the children's interest. You need a lesson plan to focus and guide you through what you need to do each week. However, this is a guide and not something set on <g class="gr_ gr_492 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="492" data-gr-id="492">stone</g> so you can be flexible about your teaching in practice and just note your observation or evaluate your lessons at the end of each lesson/week. With young children, I find that it is easier to plan your lessons around where their interest lies and find objectives from the curriculum that can be addressed within their play. For you to do this effectively, you need to be familiar with the milestones/expected outcome.

    Google the following leaflet for some ideas:

    Early Childhood Ireland Play Based Curriculum Why Play


    Best wishes,
    Catherine

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    Catherine Akpan
    Teacher
    Education
    FCT
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