Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-27-2018 09:51 PM
    ​I would like to encourage some discussion around assessment item 2L.2

    2L.2 Children have chances to learn specific details about the actual communities in which they live.

     How would a program meet this standard during their classroom observation?



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    Lisa Schultz
    Philadelphia PA
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  • 2.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-29-2018 06:30 AM
    I think it depends upon the your school environment to start. I teach in a public magnet school that serves 42 town in CT. A class of 20 students could have several home communities. I start with a map of my state and pictures of my students placed around the map. We attach one end of string to the students' pictures and another to the town they live in. I might ask families to take a picture of their favorite store in town, or restaurant, or place to visit. These could be made into a 'Where I Live' book. Perhaps play a game of 'Where in (town) is (child)?' 
    If your school is town based, you could do the map activity with a town map, invite a community member to come talk to the class, etc. I've done a walk around the school neighborhood with a camera, taking pictures of the things you notice along the way, street signs, buildings, plants/trees. Then back at school use the pics to make a map of your school neighborhood. 
    Do any of those help?

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    Jean Barresii
    ECE Consultant
    www.jeanbarresi.com
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  • 3.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-29-2018 07:33 AM
    Take pictures of buildings in the community and put in the block center.

    Maps of community in relation to maps the children draw of their bedroom or house.




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    Paula Hance
    Zion Early Childhood Center
    Hopkins MN
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  • 4.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-29-2018 08:35 AM
    Great ideas so far!  Take walks around the block and when you get back to the classroom the kids can dictate, individually, in small groups, or in large groups, stories about what they see while an adult writes the stories down.  Stories can be written on large paper, small paper for children to illustrate, made into books, etc. and then put on the wall or bulletin board.  I would encourage that children not be censored in telling their stories.  Let them tell factual stories, fantasy, happy, sad--whatever they come up with.  And a story can simply be "On the sidewalk" if that's all that a child can manage.  Sometimes a gentle prompt, such as "And what happened next?" or "What did you see around the corner?" can help encourage a child to expand their story and their thinking. With repeated walks and stories it also encourages children to really observe their surroundings and community to learn more about it.   Incorporates many standards, including the one you're asking about.

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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
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  • 5.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-29-2018 09:24 AM
    That is a very interesting question. How do you show 2l.2 during an observation? What age group is this question for?

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    Teri Ismail
    Assistant Director
    Ms.
    Palmdale CA
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  • 6.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 09-30-2018 07:29 AM

    Children may also describe their knowledge and experience with the plant and animal life they observe in the physical environments around the school and in the greater community, an important piece of how their local community functions and how they can contribute to the well-being of their community.

    "Topic 2.L addresses program plans and materials for supporting children's understanding of social roles and rules, the local community, their own contributions to the well-being of the social and physical environments in which they live, and diversity not only within their classroom but also in the larger world." 

    As Aren mentioned, with repeated "weekly walks" (or daily or monthly) and discussions children will have more times to observe and think and to share their thinking.

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    Peggy Ashbrook
    Early childhood science teacher
    Alexandria, VA
    NSTA The Early Years columnist, Science and Children
    Early Years blogger, www.nsta.org/earlyyears
    Author: Science Learning in the Early Years, and
    Science Is Simple
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  • 7.  RE: standard 2L.2

    Posted 10-01-2018 08:43 AM
    I love the idea of families sending in photos of where they tend to spend time together on the weekends (or time when they are not working).  That makes the conversations that ensue very pertinent to the child.

    Those photos (or photos that the staff have taken from around the community) can be used in so many different ways:  making memory games, matching picture halves, lotto games, etc.  Each time those class made materials are used, the intentional teacher can initiate conversation about the places seen in the photos.  The class can also make a book:  when open, one page can have a photo of a local place or local people (i.e. fire fighters, police, grocery store staff, etc.) and the facing page can be comments that the children tell about their experiences with those people or places.

    A tech savvy teacher could also arrange to do some skyping with a local person (interview the local grocery store manager with the children for example) or show brief videoclips of the local community (i.e. brief videos of the local waterfall, the local city bus picking up passengers, the local postal carrier delivering mail, etc.).

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    Kristen Kennen
    Early Childhood Education Specialist
    EdAdvance
    Danbury, CT
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