High-Quality Early Childhood Education

As you develop as an early childhood education leader, it is essential that you stay current on the components of high-quality early childhood education concepts and practices so that you can begin to implement them into, and maintain them, in your early childhood education program. Virtual learning environments are an efficient and cost-effective way to be engaged in ongoing learning and development. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, visit the Ashford University Early Childhood Education Virtual Community (Links to an external site.). After becoming familiar with the website, please visit the 2019 Conference Presentations page (Links to an external site.), and select one presentation that is of interest to you to view entirely.

After you view the presentation, address the following in a two to three page paper. See the provided exemplar and the Writing Center if you have questions.

Your paper must address the following:

• Explain the main points presented the presentation.
• Describe how this learning is new to you or how it has shaped your existing thinking.
• Create a plan for how you as an early childhood education leader will use this knowledge to design, maintain, and lead an overall high-quality program.
• Locate, share, and summarize an additional two online credible resources that you can use to further support this concept in your high-quality program.

The High-Quality Early Childhood Education Program paper

• Must be two double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least two credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

 

Required Resources

Text

Gadzikowski, A. (2013). Administration of early childhood education programs. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

• Chapter 5: Facility and Equipment
  • This chapter addresses the relationships between the physical environment and the program’s mission, philosophy, vision, and goals.
• Chapter 6: Nutrition, Health, and Safety
  • This chapter will describe the role of administrators in leading and overseeing the program in the area of health as well as nutrition and safety.

Book

American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. (2011). Caring for our children: National health and safety performance standards; Guidelines for early care and education programs (Links to an external site.) (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://nrckids.org/files/CFOC3_updated_final.pdf

• This book provides a handy reference laid out by subject area that outlines the national standards that represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today’s early care and education settings and will assist you in your Nutrition, Health, and Safety Scenario discussion this week.
  Accessibility Statement does not exist.
  Privacy Policy does not exist.

Multimedia

Biermeier, M. A. [Mary Ann Biermeier]. (2017, June 28). Powerful learning environments (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/BlLFZbRx1F8

• This video provides an example of an early childhood environment. This is one of your viewing options if you are not able to visit an environment where there are infants, toddlers or preschool children present for the Child Care Facility Analysis discussion this week.
  Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
  Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

ChildCareResourcesMT. (2011, April 20). Indicators of a quality early learning environment (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/fm7hIwLXuTU

• This video provides information about early childhood environment and will assist you in your Child Care Facility Analysis discussion this week.
  Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
  Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

escswa. (2014, May 1). 3 minutes in a Head Start classroom (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/weoneSV3lnU

• A glimpse of an early childhood environment is shown in this clip. This is one of your viewing options if you are not able to visit an environment where there are infants, toddlers or preschool children present for the Child Care Facility Analysis discussion this week.
  Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
  Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Web Pages

Ashford University Early Childhood Education Virtual Community. (n.d.) 2019 conference presentations (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/auecevirtualconference/2018-ece-conference-proposal-template?authuser=0

 (Links to an external site.)

• This web page provides videos of conference presentations about various relevant topics in the field of early childhood education. You will choose one of the presentations on this web page to watch in order to complete the High Quality Early Childhood Education assignment this week.
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The IRIS Center. (n.d.). Early childhood environments: Designing effective classrooms. (Links to an external site.) Retrieved from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/env/

 (Links to an external site.)

• This multimedia module provides information about early childhood environments and will assist you in your Child Care Facility Analysis discussion this week.
  Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)
  Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Website

Ashford University Early Childhood Education Virtual Community (Links to an external site.). (https://sites.google.com/site/auecevirtualconference/home)

 (Links to an external site.)

• This website provides a plethora of early childhood education resources and information surrounding key concepts in early childhood and will assist you in your High Quality Early Childhood Education assignment this week.
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  Privacy Policy does not exist.

Elementary teachers frequently develop and implement unit plans designed to enhance students’ learning in the English language arts. Well-conceived unit plans take into account a broad range of needs, including literacy skills, standards, text selections, students’ unique learning abilities and backgrounds, and sound instructional strategies and assessments.

The purpose of this assignment is to practice developing and delivering literacy instruction that is appropriate for the elementary English language arts classroom and designed for students in your field experience classroom.

Utilizing the needs assessment data you collected for the student from your field experience classroom in Topic 6, as well as other data you have learned about all of the students in your field experience classroom, create a week-long unit, composed of 3 individual lesson plans on literacy, utilizing the Common Core or your state’s literacy strands for that grade level. These strands should include reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

Use the “COE Lesson Plan Template” for each of the lessons. You may adapt any previous assignments in the creation of this mini-unit plan,
as long as the lessons form a planned, cohesive unit.

The unit should include the following:

• Lesson activities that include reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language/vocabulary and are aligned to state or national standards.
• A grade-level appropriate text selection.
• Use of at least one digitalresource that promotes effective communication and creates opportunities for active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
• Connection, through instruction or assessment, to students’ prior learning knowledge and students’ personal culture/background.
• Formative and summative assessment strategies to promote learning.
• At least one homework or an extension activity that encourages students to apply what they learned in the unit to literacy in a different curricular content area like science, social studies, or mathematics.
• Differentiation of strategies, assessments, and extension activities for all of the following: Students with special needs, gifted students, and English language learners.

Along with the unit, write a 250-500 word rationale describing your reasoning for your instructional choices, your integration of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, and your differentiation for various learning needs. Be sure to cite any resources used.

Submit your unit plan and rationale as one deliverable.

While APA style format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and in-text citations and references should be presented using APA documentation guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

 GCU College of Education

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

 

Section 1: Lesson Preparation

Teacher Candidate Name:
Grade Level:
Date:
Unit/Subject:
Instructional Plan Title:
Lesson Summary and Focus:	In 2-3 sentences, summarize the lesson, identifying the central focus based on the content and skills you are teaching.
Classroom and Student Factors/Grouping:	Describe the important classroom factors (demographics and environment) and student factors (IEPs, 504s, ELLs, students with behavior concerns, gifted learners), and the effect of those factors on planning, teaching, and assessing students to facilitate learning for all students. This should be limited to 2-3 sentences and the information should inform the differentiation components of the lesson.
National/State Learning Standards:	Review national and state standards to become familiar with the standards you will be working with in the classroom environment. Your goal in this section is to identify the standards that are the focus of the lesson being presented. Standards must address learning initiatives from one or more content areas, as well as align with the lesson’s learning targets/objectives and assessments. Include the standards with the performance indicators and the standard language in its entirety.
Specific Learning Target(s)/Objectives:	Learning objectives are designed to identify what the teacher intends to measure in learning. These must be aligned with the standards. When creating objectives, a learner must consider the following: · Who is the audience · What action verb will be measured during instruction/assessment · What tools or conditions are being used to meet the learning   What is being assessed in the lesson must align directly to the objective created. This should not be a summary of the lesson, but a measurable statement demonstrating what the student will be assessed on at the completion of the lesson. For instance, “understand” is not measureable, but “describe” and “identify” are. For example: Given an unlabeled map outlining the 50 states, students will accurately label all state names.
Academic Language	In this section, include a bulleted list of the general academic vocabulary and content-specific vocabulary you need to teach. In a few sentences, describe how you will teach students those terms in the lesson.
Resources, Materials, Equipment, and Technology:	List all resources, materials, equipment, and technology you and the students will use during the lesson. As required by your instructor, add or attach copies of ALL printed and online materials at the end of this template. Include links needed for online resources.

 

Section 2: Instructional Planning

Anticipatory Set Your goal in this section is to open the lesson by activating students’ prior knowledge, linking previous learning with what they will be learning in this lesson and gaining student interest for the lesson. Consider various learning preferences (movement, music, visuals) as a tool to engage interest and motivate learners for the lesson. In a bulleted list, describe the materials and activities you will use to open the lesson. Bold any materials you will need to prepare for the lesson.   For example: · I will use a visual of the planet Earth and ask students to describe what Earth looks like. · I will record their ideas on the white board and ask more questions about the amount of water they think is on planet Earth and where the water is located.	Time Needed
Multiple Means of Representation Learners perceive and comprehend information differently. Your goal in this section is to explain how you would present content in various ways to meet the needs of different learners. For example, you may present the material using guided notes, graphic organizers, video or other visual media, annotation tools, anchor charts, hands-on manipulatives, adaptive technologies, etc. In a bulleted list, describe the materials you will use to differentiate instruction and how you will use these materials throughout the lesson to support learning. Bold any materials you will need to prepare for the lesson.   For example: · I will use a Venn diagram graphic organizer to teach students how to compare and contrast the two main characters in the read-aloud story. · I will model one example on the white board before allowing students to work on the Venn diagram graphic organizer with their elbow partner.                       Explain how you will differentiate materials for each of the following groups:   · English language learners (ELL):       · Students with special needs:       · Students with gifted abilities:       · Early finishers (those students who finish early and may need additional resources/support):	Time Needed
Multiple Means of Engagement Your goal for this section is to outline how you will engage students in interacting with the content and academic language. How will students explore, practice, and apply the content? For example, you may engage students through collaborative group work, Kagan cooperative learning structures, hands-on activities, structured discussions, reading and writing activities, experiments, problem solving, etc. In a bulleted list, describe the activities you will engage students in to allow them to explore, practice, and apply the content and academic language. Bold any activities you will use in the lesson. Also, include formative questioning strategies and higher order thinking questions you might pose.   For example: · I will use a matching card activity where students will need to find a partner with a card that has an answer that matches their number sentence. · I will model one example of solving a number sentence on the white board before having students search for the matching card. · I will then have the partner who has the number sentence explain to their partner how they got the answer.                 Explain how you will differentiate activities for each of the following groups: · English language learners (ELL):       · Students with special needs:       · Students with gifted abilities:       · Early finishers (those students who finish early and may need additional resources/support):	Time Needed
Multiple Means of Expression Learners differ in the ways they navigate a learning environment and express what they know. Your goal in this section is to explain the various ways in which your students will demonstrate what they have learned. Explain how you will provide alternative means for response, selection, and composition to accommodate all learners. Will you tier any of these products? Will you offer students choices to demonstrate mastery? This section is essentially differentiated assessment. In a bulleted list, explain the options you will provide for your students to express their knowledge about the topic. For example, students may demonstrate their knowledge in more summative ways through a short answer or multiple-choice test, multimedia presentation, video, speech to text, website, written sentence, paragraph, essay, poster, portfolio, hands-on project, experiment, reflection, blog post, or skit. Bold the names of any summative assessments. Students may also demonstrate their knowledge in ways that are more formative. For example, students may take part in thumbs up-thumbs middle-thumbs down, a short essay or drawing, an entrance slip or exit ticket, mini-whiteboard answers, fist to five, electronic quiz games, running records, four corners, or hand raising. Underline the names of any formative assessments. For example: Students will complete a one-paragraph reflection on the in-class simulation they experienced. They will be expected to write the reflection using complete sentences, proper capitalization and punctuation, and utilize an example from the simulation to demonstrate their understanding. Students will also take part in formative assessments throughout the lesson, such as thumbs up-thumbs middle-thumbs down and pair-share discussions, where you will determine if you need to re-teach or re-direct learning.                 Explain how you will differentiate assessments for each of the following groups: · English language learners (ELL):         · Students with special needs:       · Students with gifted abilities:       · Early finishers (those students who finish early and may need additional resources/support):	Time Needed
Extension Activity and/or Homework Identify and describe any extension activities or homework tasks as appropriate. Explain how the extension activity or homework assignment supports the learning targets/objectives. As required by your instructor, attach any copies of homework at the end of this template.	Time Needed

 

 

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