discussion

CHAPTER 4

4.1 Issues to Consider When Creating a Curriculum

In upcoming sections, designs for curriculum planning will be described and examples given. While these designs are, for the most part, fairly straightforward and easy to follow, the actual complexity of the planning process must be attended to first. Without considering certain elements, such as the diverse needs of the children in your classroom or the classroom's physical environment, the most interesting curriculum may not be successful. Whether you are planning a single-subject curriculum or one of the integrated models, these elements must be taken into consideration. Where and when you begin to make these considerations will differ depending on your plans. The issues are presented below in alphabetical order. A checklist is provided at the end of the section that should prove practical for your future planning.

Assessment

Before beginning to teach any curriculum, it is important to know, and state, the level of knowledge, skills, and understanding that each child already possesses. This not only provides a baseline for going forward, but it also helps in determining what needs to be done in terms of differentiation. There may be assessments throughout the teaching of the curriculum, and there are usually plans for some sort of summative assessment. For example, you might be planning a unit on poetry and need a pre-assessment that will tell you which children know what a poem is. Throughout the curriculum, informal observation will tell you if everyone is getting the idea. A post-assessment might include an activity in which children write poems of their own, or in which the class engages in group poetry composition. Chapter 5 will address assessment in more depth.

Connections to Early Childhood Models

You have read about specific early childhood models such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia, forest schools, and the project approach, and elements of these models may be positive additions to your own teaching. For example, it might be possible to consider taking some of your activities outside when you would ordinarily do them in the classroom, thus gaining the advantage of the forest schools model. The three phases of the project approach might provide needed structure, even if the curriculum you are planning does not contain the research of a project.

Curriculum Context and Long-Term Goals

Curriculum context gives an overview of the environment or learning site, the ages of the children and their applicable stages of development, and how the plans fit into the larger picture of what the children are learning over the next weeks or months. Goals are longer term than the objectives for the specific curriculum being designed are. Two-year-olds, for example, would have much to learn from basic lessons in how to sit at the lunch table and how to serve themselves from the big bowls of food. Primary grade children in their cafeteria are assumed to have these skills, and such a lesson would usually be unnecessary. A long-term goal for the 2-year-olds would be to know how to engage appropriately in eating etiquette and to transfer their new skills to other situations.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

Most of the items on this list of considerations are referenced in NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009). Because NAEYC's positions in this document are based on sound theory and research, they can offer further direction during curriculum planning. Keeping this book handy can help any teacher determine if he or she is creating a curriculum that is appropriate for children's development. When creating a toddler curriculum, for example, a teacher might believe that keeping new materials out of children's reach will be the safest plan. However, one DAP statement argues that play materials should be stored on open shelves at children's eye level and within their reach. Some caregivers, NAEYC says, "are unaware that how they arrange toys and materials can affect how children interact with the items" (p. 100).

Diverse Needs

Not every child will respond to every activity or learning experience in the same way. Youngsters who are at different stages of learning English may need help with vocabulary or culturally unfamiliar concepts. Children who are academically ahead in one or more subjects may need additional or different things to study or do. Those with cognitive challenges might require more basic materials or extra help to stay on track. Extra thought might need to be given to physical challenges for some children, or to social challenges for others. Planning in advance for children's diverse needs will make for smoother teaching and learning. According to NAEYC's position concerning toddler learning and availability of materials, caregivers are cautioned against making materials inaccessible to children with mobility challenges. Toys and other materials should be easily within reach, and should not be "too unwieldy for children to access on their own" (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, p. 100).

Environment

Consideration in planning needs to be given to all aspects of the child's environment, whether this refers to the physical, social, or affective world surrounding the child.

The Physical Environment

Some otherwise excellent plans might not work if the available space is too small, crowded, or inconveniently designed. Furniture might need to be repositioned, removed, or added. Certain activities might work well, or not work at all, on the existing flooring or carpeting. Some physical environments may be especially suited to new and interesting activities that could be added to the curriculum. Use of the outdoors needs to be considered whenever possible. One example of a physical layout that reflects curriculum design is a room divided into centers. For younger children, that might mean semi-permanent or permanent centers, such as those for books, blocks, art, dramatic play, and small manipulatives. As children move into the primary grades, centers might be based on a study unit. For example, a study of reptiles might include a terrarium for observation, a reading section within a more permanent book center, and an art center for making clay models.

The Social Environment

Activities and learning experiences can be planned based, in part, on the social climate of the class. They might include a large number of small group activities, or focus more on the full class or individual work, depending on what would best develop the children's skills. In the pre-primary years especially, dividing into small groups can often be done by providing a limited number of places at any one center, or by posting a sign on each center that tells how many children are allowed there at one time. Teachers retain more direct control when they divide children into groups or committees for research and other assignments (usually in the primary grades). At such a time, it is important to consider what the social interactions will be: Placing children of similar abilities into each group will have a very different dynamic than creating groups of cross-abilities will. The same might be true, depending on the individual class, if genders are separated.

The Affective Environment

Closely related to the social environment, the affective environment takes into account the psychological needs of the children. Some of the same decisions might be applied to social needs. In general, the affective, or psychological, environment of any center or classroom should be supportive of all children. There might be children with specific needs to be attended to, and flexibility required for some learning experiences. If there is unusual chaos at home, for example, any child from infancy onward can bring disturbed feelings to the classroom. Finding a quiet, and perhaps solitary, activity for the child to do for a while might prove helpful.

Family Involvement

Families often provide wonderful resources as they share life experiences, materials, cultural information, and creative ideas. It is a good idea to do more than simply inform them of an upcoming curriculum project. They might be invited to do presentations or to help prepare materials at home, such as folding easy reader books. If new centers are to be set up that require more supervision than the teaching staff can comfortably provide, extra help from families will be welcome. The same will be true for any field trips.

Goals and Objectives of the Specific Curriculum

In curriculum design, goals refer to the overarching or umbrella expectations for the plan as a whole. Objectives are more specific and are usually listed as needed as they pertain to each activity or lesson. They should state outcomes that can be observed and possibly measured (see the beginning of each chapter in this book as examples).

Instructional Materials

Before deciding to carry out any activity or lesson, you should ensure it is practical based on the availability of materials. Materials should be chosen for their developmental appropriateness and their contribution to children's learning. They should be listed if they need to be acquired; they should be created in advance if possible. Adults who work with young children quickly learn that they cannot take time to look for or complete last-minute preparations when those children are ready to be active now. If they are to move to music while holding and waving scarves, or do a group painting on a large sheet of butcher paper, or go outside to gather leaves into baskets, then the correct number of scarves or paintbrushes or baskets should be ready in advance.

Legal Requirements or Mandates

Teachers of kindergarten or the primary grades no doubt will need to attend to state or local guidelines, as will some caregivers of younger children. School and center administrators will ensure that teachers are aware of the requirements and are following them. While incorporation of these government requirements may seem like an extra burden, NAEYC positions are often referenced and adhered to by these requirements, thus providing one more check on developmental appropriateness. Teaching geometry concepts in kindergarten provides one example of how NAEYC and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) complement each other. NAEYC says that teachers "engage children in thinking about and working with geometric/spatial relationships (describing shapes and space, ordering and comparing lengths of two objects)" rather than providing low-level experiences such as "identifying common two-dimensional shapes (circle, triangle, square)" (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009, p. 240). The CCSS emphasizes identifying shapes as two- or three-dimensional, being able to name the shapes no matter what position they are in, and using formal language to describe their similarities, differences, and parts (National Governors, 2010).

Management and Guidance

As plans are created for a curriculum, the teacher needs to keep in mind the actual children in his or her class. Some experiences may call for special guidance to keep chaos at bay, whereas others may present challenges for specific children. Attending to such concerns should be a proactive part of the planning process. Introducing a new painting center, for example, requires attention to expected behavior and use. Letting children know in advance that there is room for only three children at the new easels, there is a paintbrush located in each separate color and it should be returned to its original jar after use, and only an adult will remove a picture when finished will make for a much smoother experience for everyone. Without such management planning, any resulting chaos cannot be deemed the fault of the children.

Methods of Teaching

As the content of the curriculum is chosen, each lesson or activity should be viewed according to the way in which children will gain the knowledge and skills pertaining to the content. Will the teacher instruct the children directly? Will the lesson allow the children to practice their group skills, or will they be working individually? Has play been incorporated? At different times and under different circumstances, children (and for that matter, adults) may prefer one method of learning over another, so there should be a balance of approaches.

In the following curriculum design sections, reference will be made to these planning issues as appropriate. The curriculum planning checklist (see Template 4.1) is one that you can use as you develop your own curricula.

4.2 Models of Curriculum Design

We are now ready to make an in-depth exploration of five different methods, or models, of creating a curriculum. As you will recall from Chapter 3, Table 3.1 showed a progression from single subjects to integration so complete that the identity of the subjects became of little or no importance. We have reproduced the table here to refresh your memory regarding the five curriculum models.

Table 3.1: Models of Single-Subject and Integrated Curriculum
Method	Description	Early Childhood Examples
Fragmented or Dispersed	Focus is on a single subject.	Children listen to a musical recording.  Children recite the alphabet.
Nested	Skills are inserted into a single  academic subject.	To promote social skills, children are divided into groups to solve math problems.
Themed	A collection of learning experiencesrelate to a single theme. This may, ormay not, include integration of morethan one academic subject.	A preschool class engages in a week of activities focused on fall leaves.
Webbed	A single theme or topic is integratedacross two or more subjects.	A teacher expands a science study of a nearby creek to include experiences in art and music.
Immersed	The class (or a single child) focuses on atopic of inquiry that often incorporatesmore than a single subject.	Two or three children choose to delve more deeply into a topic the rest of the class has completed. The teacher helps them find resources, but they research primarily on their own.

We will spend the rest of the chapter looking at these models. For four of the models, we present an example of a "web" or "mind map" that can be used for planning purposes. As will soon be seen, these are graphic organizers, reminiscent of spider webs, as opposed to vertical lists or outlines. None of these should be considered appropriate only to that model of curriculum design. They are reasonably interchangeable, and you might wish to experiment with them in different ways. You should also feel free to invent your own. In the section on Thematic Curriculum, we use an outlined schedule instead of a web. Some teachers may find this more structured mode of planning easier to work with. Here is a suggestion: If you are someone who does like more structure, challenge yourself to work at least once from a web; if your thinking works best in a web or mind map format, give yourself the challenge of an outline or schedule.

4.5 A Webbed Curriculum Design

As noted in Chapter 3, curriculum units are more structured than themes are, though on the surface they might appear to be identical. Units are often planned far in advance, sometimes carried over from one academic year to the next. Although we have already made use of curriculum webs, the webbed curriculum model referenced in Table 3.1 is most closely related to units. As subjects are "spun" together to form a cohesive whole, they are designed to not only focus on the learning theme, but to take into account any applicable state and local objectives. While this can make planning complex, it also helps ensure that learning experiences are developmentally appropriate, meaningful, and engaging for children.

The following example of a unit is for children who are learning to tell time, read a calendar, and understand sequences of events. Historical periods and the remote future are just beginning to make sense. For most children, a true understanding of these concepts does not emerge until a few years later, so this unit is designed to be practical rather than fully scientific or philosophical. It is based on learning requirements from several state departments of education.

The curriculum web that accompanies this unit is perhaps the most common of all models. It incorporates each of the academic subjects included in the unit. It will be seen that About Time lacks experiences in music and physical education. A unit does not need to cover every subject, only those that are important for the study being undertaken. However, the visual feedback provided by the web reminds the teacher that other subjects need to be remembered and attended to. In the primary grades, incorporating physical activities is sometimes a challenge, and a way to address this deficit will be discussed in an upcoming section.

CASE STUDY: Designing a Lesson Plan for a Webbed Curriculum

About Time

Subjects: Science, Literacy, Movement, Mathematics

Ages: Early primary (ages 6–7)

Curriculum context and long-term goals: This first grade class, with its 20 children, is in its second half of the year. By the end ofthe year, the children are expected to be able to name the days of the week and the months of the year in order, use a calendarto determine the day and date, and tell time using a non-digital clock, at least to the half hour.

Pre-assessment: This learning has taken place informally since the beginning of the year. Most, but not all, children have apractical understanding of the concepts of time. The unit will bring into focus each of the state's required long-term goals toensure that everyone is prepared for more advanced concepts in second grade.

Goals: At the conclusion of this unit, all children will have an understanding oftime sufficient for meeting state standards.

Objectives: Children will be able to

· create a time line of their school days that is properly sequenced(Calendar Time Line).

· match calendar words and numbers from one calendar to another(Matching and Reading).

· make a calendar that accurately matches the real one in use (PersonalCalendar).

· read and define words associated with time (Date Game).

· make and accurately work with individual clocks (Paper Plate Clocks).

· use Paper Plate Clocks and a United States map to identify time zones(Time Zones).

· use Paper Plate Clocks to predict and record classroom activities (Daily Events).

· use Paper Plate Clocks in conjunction with a classroom clock to determine finish times for projects such as cleanup (Raceagainst Time).

· work cooperatively in pairs or groups to finish projects such as cleanup, using a sand timer (Sand Timer).

· use a simple stopwatch in conjunction with the sand timer to see the consistency of each (Sand Timer and Stopwatch).

· observe the difference in perceived amounts of time when they sit in silence versus engaging in conversation or activity(Time Flies or Crawls).

Post-assessment: Built into several activities are materials, available from the district's curriculum, that assess the level of studentunderstanding. This unit will use or adapt all those that are related to state standards.

Special needs:

· Three children have advanced capabilities in most areas of the curriculum. For differentiation purposes, they will be providedwith more complex instructions for activities that lend themselves to such: Calendar Time Line, Personal Calendar, TimeZones, Sand Timer, and Stopwatch.

· One boy has been diagnosed as having obsessive-compulsive disorder. This sometimes means difficulty with new, unfamiliarexperiences. He will be observed with each new activity, but he has already learned several coping techniques, whichgenerally work for him.

Management and guidance: We have spent the year learning to work together and have created a viable learning community.Everyone understands expected behaviors, and no special adjustments need to be made.

Instructional materials:

· Butcher paper

· Glue

· Three copies of an 8 × 11 calendar

· Pocket envelopes

· Paper plates

· Marking pens

· Large United States map

· Sand timer

· Simple stopwatch

Experiences: See Figure 4.2 for a planning web that includes the activities.

Krogh, S. (2013).  A Bridge to the Classroom and Early Care: ECE Capstone  [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/