DB ASSIGNMENT

For this Discussion Board you will be developing a thematic unit for preschoolers. Choose your overarching theme and explain the main parts or features of your unit. Summarize the activities you will use to integrate content areas into you unit. 

·       Your activities need to focus on the creative arts as well as content areas and include activities that are open-ended and allow children to make choices.

·       Your unit needs to be your own and not one that you have discovered on the internet or in a teacher’s manual.

Read your classmates units carefully and respond to them by sharing another open-ended activity that could be included in their unit.

PLZ RESPOND TO THESE STUDENT ABOUT WHAT THEY WROT ABOUT THE DB ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT 1 (100 WORDS OR MORE)

The month of April is a wonderful time to talk about the weather so I chose it as my theme. We are going to learn the different types of weather, the impact weather has on our lives, and what causes different weather patterns. We will be using the reading, science, art, and music centers to ensure we include all the different ways children can learn. Although most themes for children this young are only a few weeks long we will be using the entire month in order to experience different types of weather and include the two field trips that are planned. We will be using both experienced-based and emerging curriculum (Isbell & Raines,2013) so that the children are comfortable learning things they already have experience with and challenging them with new knowledge. We will be introducing new vocabulary about the weather and taking clues from our discussions on what the children want to explore further.

On the first day we will read the book “Oh say can you say, what’s the weather today” by Tish Rabe. This book uses a familiar character, The Cat in the Hat, to introduce new words to the reader and even has a vocabulary list in the back to help define the words. Copies of this book and other weather related books will be added to the reading center for the children to look at during their free time. During circle time we will discuss some of the new words and what they mean. Observing the children as they talk about the weather the teacher will be able to decide where their interest is and what she needs to focus on. Knowing that children learn best what they are already interested in (Isbell & Raines,2013) is key to keeping these lessons fun and making sure the children get the most out of our projects.

The science center will be a major focus for this months theme. A water table and wind machine is added to give the children hands on learning opportunities. We will make a weather chart that will be hung in the science center and every day a child will go to the window, check the weather and add the appropriate label, a sun for sunny, a cloud for cloudy, etc. Giving the child the freedom to choose the correct symbol even if more than one applies helps all the children to accept the ideas of others without criticizing or judging(Isbell & Raines,2013). This is very important to the overall success of the project and is best for all the children involved. This also gives the teacher a great opportunity for open-ended questions and discussions that will further teach the children about the weather.

We will be making our own kites in the art center that we will take to the floodwall to fly. This is an ongoing project that will take several days. The children may not be able to visualize the final project but each step is a new learning experience. We will be using tissue paper that should be decorated by the children. The children can use paint, crayons, chalk or markers to color their 4 sections of the kite. This can be done over several days so that the children do not grow bored. They will also need to attach different objects to the kite’s string. There will be various buttons, bells, ribbons and small knick-knacks available for the children to choose from. The kites should be personal and will encourage the children to make choices which will motivate learning(Isbell & Raines,2013). Once all the pieces are completed we will assemble the kites and take our trip to fly them. Using the motion of the kites the teacher can explain wind and how important it is to everything we do.

In the music center we will use the rain maker, maracas, drums and other instruments to mimic rain and storm sounds. We will also sing songs such as “Rain Rain Go Away” and The Itsy Bitsy Spider””. Using these songs that the children have heard will encourage them to participate. Once the children are comfortable with the songs we will add the instruments and let the children preform for each other. We can encourage the children to add verses to the familiar songs furthering their creative thinking skills (Isbell & Raines,2013)

When teaching about severe weather such as hurricanes and tornadoes we must remember that most children do not have firsthand experience so we must make the connections between the known and unknown (Isbell & Raines,2013) for them. We will have discussions about hurricane Katrina and any other news worthy weather related stories the children may have heard of. Talking about the disaster and relating it to the children’s life will help them to understand what the children in New Orleans went through. We have also invited a local fireman to come in one day and discuss tornadoes warnings and how to be prepared.
The last field trip this month will be to COSI(The Center of Science and Industry). We will attend a live weather show and even take a bath in a real cloud(COSI,2013). Having the children see weather formations firsthand and getting to touch clouds and rain without any danger is ideal for the kinesthetic learners. We will conclude the month of April by making a collage with the pictures of us at COSI that will be hung for the parents night May,7th.

References:
Isbell,R.T. &Raines,S.C.(2013), Creativity and the arts for young children (3rd ed).Belmon, CA:Wadsworth Cengag Learning.COSI,(2012-2013) Retrived from: www.cosi.org/exhibits/lab-spaces

STUDENT 2 (100 WORDS OR MORE)

My thematic unit for preschoolers would be based on Weather. This would be a two week unit that would go over the many things that happen in weather.

I would introduce the unit of weather by reading the books Shapes in the Sky: A book about Clouds by Josepha Sherman and Splish! Splash! A Book about Rain by Josepha Sherman. I would read these books and others throughout the week so that the children can learn about different things about weather and why we have them. There would be different activities to cover math, language, dramatic play, music, arts, and social studies. There would be different books in each center to learn about different ways weather can be incorporated into each center. “The advantage of the thematic teaching approach is that it gives the child some interesting ways to apply what she is learning as a reader, writer, and mathematician” (Isbell & Raines, 2013).

In the math center I would have a picture of the four seasons that the children could glue onto paper plates. That way they can count how many seasons there are and learn what kind of weather is when. They could also have different stickers of weather like lightning, thunder, rain, etc. to place on different sheets and create their own mathematical papers. “All sorts of art activities teach the fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination needed to write mathematics symbols and functions” (Wardle, 2008).

In the writing center I would have different colored pencils and crayons so that the children can to create their own photos of weather. Writing is crucial to the arts and teaches motor skills (Isbell & Raines, 2013).

In dramatic play I would incorporate a rain center where the children can pour water (regulated by me or an assistant) onto flowers to watch how rain allows the flowers to grow and bloom. I would provide them with rain boots and jackets, hats, scarves, gloves and other clothing worn with different weather.  This is incorporating the arts into dramatic play because it is important to allow the children to do things on their own (Isbell & Raines, 2013).

Creating a puppet show that has children playing in the rain or with flowers that grow when it rains are fun ways to incorporate in the music/listening center. By having music play and possibly reading from different books while doing the puppet show children could learn a variety of things about weather like why it is important to have rain. In the art center the children could color different clouds and pictures of different kinds of weather like snow, rain, or sunshine. Music is important to the art of learning because it helps the children learn a variety of skills (Isbell & Raines, 2013).

For social studies we could create a mural of the timing of weather in the different seasons and what it happens when (Wardle, 2008).

To culminate the learning we would have a picnic in a park and ask the parents to bring sandwiches and other food and we could look at the different things growing the park from trees to grass because it rains, and we could look at clouds if there are any. “Well developed projects engage children’s minds and become adventures that teacher and children embark on together” (Isbell & Raines, 2013).

References

Isbell, R. T., & Raines, S. C. (2013). Creativity and the Arts for Young Children (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Reading Rockets. (2011). About Oceans: Integrating Language and Literacy Activities. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUfdA9nNvsk

Wardle, F. (2008). Art Across the Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=406

 

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