1. Mary Kramer Reinwasser, M.Ed. Arizona State-Based TTA Manager
Head Start
Arizona Head Start TTA Office Summer Webinar Series: Intentional Teaching
Slide #1 Introduction
Welcome to the Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office 2010 Summer Webinar Series. Please remember to mute your phone (*6) in order to assure the clarity of the audio portion of the program. For those who attend today’s webinar, a certificate of attendance will be ed within 48 hours. For those who are viewing this webinar as a group, the address signed on will be the recipient of the certificate and will be that person’s responsibility for forwarding the certificate to other attendees. This webinar today is Intentional Teaching, the first in a two part series.
Mary Kramer Reinwasser, M.Ed.
Arizona State-Based TTA Manager
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2. Agenda Part One: Part Two: (strategies continued)
Defining intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Principles of intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Intentional Teaching strategies:
Principles of effective teaching strategies
Child-guided versus adult-guided
Differentiated teaching
Multisensory approach
Part Two: (strategies continued)
Language Development
Conversations
Open-ended questions
Vocabulary Development
Approaches to learning
Initiative and curiosity
Engagement and persistence
Reasoning and problem solving
Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Guidelines for Teaching Teams
 Slide #2 Agenda
Part One
Part One:
Defining intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Principles of intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Intentional Teaching strategies:
Principles of effective teaching strategies
Child-guided versus adult-guided
Differentiated teaching
Multisensory approach
Part Two
Part Two: (strategies continued)
Language Development
Conversations
Open-ended questions
Vocabulary Development
Approaches to learning
Initiative and curiosity
Engagement and persistence
Reasoning and problem solving
Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Guidelines for Teaching Teams
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3. Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to define intentional teaching
Participants will be able to name the principles of intentional teaching
Participants will be able to identify strategies for language development and approaches to learning
Participants will be able to describe the continuum of teaching behaviors
Slide #3 Learning Outcomes
As a result of the two part webinar, the following learning outcomes will be demonstrated:
Participants will be able to define intentional teaching
Participants will be able to name the principles of intentional teaching
Participants will be able to identify strategies for language development and approaches to learning
Participants will be able to describe the continuum of teaching behaviors
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4. Why intentionality?
The gap in achievement between low-income children and their middle-class peers is real and significant.
Using an intentional curriculum is an important strategy to reduce the achievement gap, and since no curriculum is teacher-proof, strategies to help teachers effectively use the curriculum are equally important.
Low-income children make gains in early literacy and early math when high-quality preschool programs include an intentional curriculum
An intentional curriculum is research-based, emphasizes teachers actively engaged with children, includes attention to social and regulatory skills, is responsive to cultural diversity and English language learners, is not teacher-proof, and requires new ways to measure classroom quality, teacher effectiveness, and student progress.
Slide #4 Why intentionality?
The gap in achievement between low-income children and their middle-class peers is real and significant.
Using an intentional curriculum is an important strategy to reduce the achievement gap, and since no curriculum is teacher-proof, strategies to help teachers effectively use the curriculum are equally important.
Low-income children make gains in early literacy and early math when high-quality preschool programs include an intentional curriculum
An intentional curriculum is research-based, emphasizes teachers actively engaged with children, includes attention to social and regulatory skills, is responsive to cultural diversity and English language learners, is not teacher-proof, and requires new ways to measure classroom quality, teacher effectiveness, and student progress.
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5. What is intentional teaching?
Intentional teaching is “to always be thinking about what we are doing and how it will foster children’s development and produce real and lasting learning.”
(Epstein, 2007, p.10)
“In everything teachers plan and do in the Head Start education program, they need to be highly intentional. That is, they need to work with the outcomes for children in mind and consciously seek out every opportunity to help children achieve these outcomes through the learning experiences they plan, the ways they interact with children, and the ways they create and regularly modify the environment.”
From "Seeing the Big Picture in Head Start." Head Start Leaders Guide to Positive Child Outcomes. HHS/ACF/ACYF/HSB English.
Slide #5 What is intentional teaching?
Intentional teaching is “to always be thinking about what we are doing and how it will foster children’s development and produce real and lasting learning.”
(Epstein, 2007, p.10)
“In everything teachers plan and do in the Head Start education program, they need to be highly intentional. That is, they need to work with the outcomes for children in mind and consciously seek out every opportunity to help children achieve these outcomes through the learning experiences they plan, the ways they interact with children, and the ways they create and regularly modify the environment.”
From "Seeing the Big Picture in Head Start." Head Start Leaders Guide to Positive Child Outcomes. HHS/ACF/ACYF/HSB English.
Ann S. Epstein, Director of Early Childhood at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan, advocates for an intermediate stance, in which both young children and teachers have active roles in the learning process. According to Dr. Epstein, "an effective early childhood program combines both child-guided and adult-guided educational experiences." Children have significant, active roles in adult-guided experiences, and adults play intentional roles in child-guided experiences, taking advantage of both planned and unexpected learning opportunities. This is what Dr. Epstein calls intentional teaching, the focus of her two new books, The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning (National Association for the Education of Young Children 2007) and Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool: Getting to Know the HighScope Curriculum (HighScope Educational Research Foundation 2007). "To be intentional," explains Dr. Epstein, "is to act purposefully, with a goal in mind and a plan for accomplishing it…intentional teaching is not an accident." Intentional teachers use their knowledge, judgment, and expertise to organize learning experiences for children. And, "when an unexpected situation arises, as it always does," notes Dr. Epstein, "intentional teachers recognize a teaching opportunity and are able to take advantage of it." Take, for example, preschool teacher Peter, who is observing Tony and Salima, two of his students, sitting on the floor and playing with the acorns the class collected outside. As Salima divides the acorns between them, putting hers in a long row and Tony's in a pile, Tony becomes frustrated because he thinks Salima has more acorns than he has. Peter, as an intentional teacher, wonders out loud how the children could find out whether they have the same number of acorns. Tony suggests counting them in the two arrangements, and as Peter observes, asks thoughtful questions, and adds supportive comments, the children discover together that they do indeed have the same number of acorns regardless of how they are arranged.
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6. What is an intentional teacher?
The one attribute that seems to be characteristic of outstanding teachers is intentionality, doing things on purpose.
(Slavin, 2000, p. 7)
What am I trying to accomplish?
What are my students' relevant experiences and needs?
What approaches and materials are available to help me challenge every student?
How will I know whether and when to change my strategy or modify my instruction?
What information will I accept as evidence that my students and I are experiencing success?
Slide #6 What is an intentional teacher?
The one attribute that seems to be characteristic of outstanding teachers is intentionality, doing things on purpose.
(Slavin, 2000, p. 7)
Robert Slavin, Co-Director of the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, Johns Hopkins University, asserts that, while there is no formula for good teaching, the one attribute that seems to be characteristic of outstanding teachers is intentionality, doing things on purpose (Slavin, 2000, p. 7). Expert teachers are critical thinkers (Anderson et al., 1995; Floden and Klinzing, 1990; Swanson et al, 1990; quoted in Slavin, 2000, p. 8). Slavin asserts, "Teachers who get better each year are the ones who are open to new ideas and who look at their own teaching critically" (Slavin, 2000, p. 8). Teachers need to be aware of the results of educational research, and they need the time, energy, and inclination to reflect on the effectiveness of their lessons.
Intentional teachers maintain a "working knowledge of relevant research, are purposeful and think about why they do what they do,… and combine knowledge of research with professional common sense" (Slavin 2000, p. 17). Intentional teachers establish the habit of informed reflection on their teaching. To facilitate reflection, Slavin (2000, p. 11) suggests five questions that teachers should consider as they plan, teach, reflect on, and revise their practices:
What am I trying to accomplish?
What are the childrens’ relevant experiences and needs?
What approaches and materials are available to help me challenge every child?
How will I know whether and when to change my strategy or modify my instruction?
What information will I accept as evidence that the children and I are experiencing success?
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7. What is an intentional curriculum?
An intentional curriculum is a research-based curriculum that includes “planned, organized, sequenced activities and lessons focusing on academic readiness”. (p.7)
The curriculum is age-appropriate and fun for young children.
It emphasizes active engagement of teachers and children,
Addresses social and adaptive skill development,
Is culturally sensitive, and
Contains a process to rate
classroom quality,
teacher effectiveness, and
student progress.
Slide #7 What is an intentional curriculum?
An Intentional Curriculum Emphasizes Teachers Actively Engaging with Young Children
Successful early learning occurs when both teachers and children are actively engaged. The challenge for teachers is to help children to think, explore, talk about concepts, and practice new skills. This approach requires far more than simply telling facts to the children. Optimally, early literacy teaching strategies allow teachers to explicitly and systematically help children develop a conceptual knowledge base that underlies the meaning of words rather than only focusing on letters and sounds.
An Intentional Curriculum Includes Attention to Social and Regulatory Skills
Research on early brain development and the impact of a child’s earliest relationships and experiences makes it clear that children who have strong social, emotional, and behavioral skills are more successful in the classroom. An intentional curriculum addresses both social and regulatory skills in addition to academic skills. It also focuses on promoting a warm and nurturing classroom climate and encouraging interactions between teachers and children (as well as among peers). Helping children interact positively with teachers and classmates, be excited about learning, be willing to engage in new challenges, manage their impulses, and take turns are key components of school success and important components of intentional curriculum.
An Intentional Curriculum is Responsive to Cultural Diversity and English Language Learners
There is a growing presence of young English language learners, children whose families speak little or no English, in preschool settings. An intentional curriculum should be responsive to cultural diversity and children with limited English proficiency.
An Intentional Curriculum is Not Teacher-Proof
While the balance between child-centered and direct instruction has been a part of the discussion about early learning in the past, the future conversation is more likely to be around the kind and quality of instructional interactions that teachers should have with children. According to new evidence, focused, direct, intentional interactions that are characterized by feedback loops about student performance have the greatest value for increasing student achievement. This is not to be confused with what have been called “drill and kill” approaches that have not been found to be effective for engaging children actively in the learning process. At the same time, it is also important to recognize that a curriculum itself, however rich in activities and conceptual understanding of how young children learn, is simply a tool in the hands of a teacher. Even the best curriculum can be implemented poorly, while a talented teacher can make up for a poor curriculum.
An Intentional Curriculum Requires New Ways to Define and Measure Classroom Quality, Teacher Effectiveness, and Student Progress
One of the consequences of the recognition of the importance of an intentional curriculum is a parallel recognition of the importance of measuring how well teachers teach an intentional curriculum. In turn, this is stretching the definition of quality that has long guided the early childhood field. To date, much of the emphasis on quality in research has been on structural issues, such as the ratio of adults to children, or the overall group size, and on creating rich environments. Structural variables are usually defined and monitored in part by state licensing regulations and national accreditation systems and are typically used as a stand in for quality. Much of the early research on child care quality looked at structural variables. Two factors are consistently related to better child outcomes for low-income children: lower adult-child ratios and more time spent in programs. Now, the focus on measurements of quality early learning has expanded to include what are called “process variables” of teaching. These include things like the actual experiences of teachers and children in classrooms, teacher and child interactions in social, emotional, and instructional areas, and how well teachers are teaching the content-linked aspects of the curriculum. Measures of process quality are now being used to examine the actual interactions of teachers and children in classrooms and focus on the teaching of curriculum content.
An Intentional Curriculum is Research-Based
A longitudinal study to identify important preschool predictors of elementary school reading success found that specific prereading skills such as knowledge of print (for example, letter names), phonological awareness (for example, being able to rhyme), and writing (for example, being able to print one’s name) were strong predictors of reading success well into elementary school. Half of the differences in reading ability in children at the end of kindergarten could be predicted from these same abilities measured at the end of their pre-k year when they were 4-year-olds in Head Start. The authors of the research concluded that children who had begun to learn content that included print, sounds, and writing during the preschool period were more likely to be ready to read at the end of kindergarten, and more likely to be reading successfully in elementary school. An intentional curriculum incorporates explicit strategies that build these skills.
An intentional curriculum can be effective in mathematics as well as in literacy. In fact, there is evidence that the two content areas overlap. Research shows that many preschool-age children have an “everyday mathematics”—informal ideas about mathematics and methods for solving problems. However, they are often unable to express the ideas clearly or are unable to describe the methods in words. The language difficulty may be one important reason why low-income children generally perform lower on tests of mathematical abilities than middle-class children. The need to focus on mathematical language is articulated by both NAEYC and the National Conference of Teachers of Mathematics, whose joint position statement proposes that mathematics education emphasize both language (vocabulary) and communication. Let’s take a look at the joint statement.
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8. Joint Position Statement on Curriculum
Policymakers, the early childhood profession, and other stakeholders in young children’s lives have a shared responsibility to implement a curriculum that is:
• Thoughtfully planned
• Challenging
• Engaging
• Developmentally appropriate
• Culturally and linguistically responsive
• Comprehensive across all developmental domains
• Likely to promote positive outcomes for all young children
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists
in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building
an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Washington, DC: NAEYC
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Slide #8 Joint Position Statement on Curriculum
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) developed a position statement on curriculum in conjunction with the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE). The goal, according to this position paper, is not to identify the single best curriculum, but to identify what features of a curriculum are most effective for what outcomes and under what conditions. Recognizing the importance of curriculum to increase the achievement of low-income children, here are the key points of the NAEYC and NAECS/SDE joint position statement for a high quality intentional preschool curriculum.
• Thoughtfully planned
• Challenging
• Engaging
• Developmentally appropriate
• Culturally and linguistically responsive
• Comprehensive across all developmental domains
• Likely to promote positive outcomes for all young children
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9. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Plan the Curriculum
Ensure a research-based developmentally–appropriate curriculum is in place
Provide daily opportunities for children to choose their play activities indoors and outdoors
Take dictations from children frequently and post them in locations visible to children and families
Equip centers with various writing materials in order to encourage children create print during play
Use questions that encourage children to think and reason, and also use expanded language
Slide #9 Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Ensure a research-based developmentally–appropriate curriculum is in place that includes language and literacy, social skills and understandings, physical movement, and visual arts.
Plan the Curriculum
So let’s take a deeper look at what makes a curriculum intentional. The following six components reflect best practice principles for intentional teaching and are taken from The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children’s Learning (2007) by Anne S. Epstein.
Equip centers with various writing materials in order to encourage children create print during play.(Ex. blank paper with markers in one area, shopping lists and pencils in the House Area, clipboard with tickets to write for the “policeman” in the Block Area).
Take dictations from children frequently and post them in locations visible to children and families.
Provide daily opportunities for children to choose their play activities indoors and outdoors. This self-directed play period allows time for child planning, and engaging in activity and cleaning up, thereby practicing various social skills.
Use questions that encourage children to think and reason, and also use expanded language:
“How do you know that?”
“How can you tell?”
“I wonder what would happen if…?”
“What do you think made that happen?”
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10. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Structure the physical learning environment
Ensure both indoor and outdoor environments are safe for children
Use interest areas or centers to organize the classroom space. Have plenty of different types of equipment and materials
Display what children have created and topics in which they are interested. Good physical learning environments will have the following:
Child-sized furniture
Materials that are labeled and on open shelves
Quiet and active centers
Slide #10 Structure the physical learning environment
Ensure both indoor and outdoor environments are safe for children. Use interest areas or centers to organize the classroom space. Have plenty of different types of equipment and materials. Display what children have created and topics in which they are interested. Good physical learning environments will have the following:
Child-sized furniture with an adequate number of chairs/tables to allow all children to participate
Materials that are labeled and on open shelves within children’s reach to encourage independent selection and use. If containers have lids, they should be easy for a child to remove
Quiet and active centers that do not interfere with one another (e.g. the quiet Reading Area is separated from louder, more active areas, such as the House or Block Area.)
Assistive technology that is used to increase participation of children with disabilities indoors and outdoors. This may include: adaptive positioning equipment; Switches, switch toys, sensory ; toys adapted with hand splints/straps for grasping; adapted swing/tricycle
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11. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Schedule the program day
Have a consistent, yet flexible daily routine and include a variety of types of activities
Use a variety of groupings, including opportunities for children to work alone or with another child
Use lesson plans that reflect activities consistent with the curriculum
Provide a variety of activities within recurrent routines that provide structure for the children’s day
Post a picture schedule at the child’s eye level to reflect child initiated play, small group and whole group instructional time, and refer to it throughout the day
Slide #11 Schedule the program day
Have a consistent, yet flexible daily routine and include a variety of types of activities. Use a variety of groupings, including opportunities for children to work alone or with another child. Carefully allot enough time for each type of activity, neither too short, nor too long.
Use lesson plans that reflect activities consistent with the curriculum
Provide a variety of activities within recurrent routines that provide structure for the children’s day
Post a picture schedule at the child’s eye level to reflect child initiated play, small group and whole group instructional time, and refer to it throughout the day
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12. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Interact with children
Connect with children and build relationships with them
Help children feel secure by providing a warm and caring environment
Encourage and support language and communication
Encourage initiative in children by respecting their choices and interests and welcoming their ideas
Acknowledge children’s activities and accomplishments through praise and encouragement
Support peer interactions by modeling reciprocal relationships with the children
Encourage independent problem-solving
Slide #12 Interact with children
Connecting with children and building relationships with them is the basis of instruction and learning. Understand child development and offer supports and encouragement that promotes growth and progress for the children.
Help children feel secure by providing a warm and caring environment
Encourage and support language and communication through use of books and conversations
Encourage initiative in children by respecting their choices and interests and welcoming their ideas
Acknowledge children’s activities and accomplishments through praise and encouragement
Support peer interactions by modeling reciprocal relationships with the children
Encourage independent problem-solving
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13. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Build relationships with families
Exchange information with families about the curriculum and how it promotes children’s development
Provide information and strategies to families about how to extend learning at home
Explain activities to family members and encourage them to participate, according to school rules, in the classroom, outdoors, and in other class activities and events
Encourage family members to share cultural heritage and practices, stories, activities and languages
Examples of ways families can extend learning at home through naturally occurring learning experiences
Slide #13 Build relationships with families
Exchange information with families about the curriculum and how it promotes children’s development. Provide information and strategies to families about how to extend learning at home.
Explain activities to family members and encourage them to participate, according to school rules, in the classroom, outdoors, and in other class activities and events
Encourage family members to share cultural heritage and practices, stories, activities and languages
Examples of ways families can extend learning at home through naturally occurring learning experiences:
Talking with children on a walk, in the car or at the supermarket
Read to children every day
Sorting laundry – classifying, counting
Setting the table – one-to-one correspondence
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14. Principles of an Intentional Curriculum
Assess children’s development
Use assessment results and on-going progress monitoring to plan for individual children and for the whole group
Observe children to obtain information on how they learn, interact with others, engage with new materials, expand ideas, etc.
Assess mastery of a skill as well as the ability of the child to demonstrate the skill across other settings and with other people
When necessary, realign expected outcomes based on ongoing monitoring of progress
Slide #14 Assess children’s development
Use assessment results and on-going progress monitoring to plan for individual children and for the whole group.
Observe children to obtain information on how they learn, interact with others, engage with new materials, expand ideas, etc.
Assess mastery of a skill as well as the ability of the child to demonstrate the skill across other settings and with other people
When necessary, realign expected outcomes based on on-going monitoring of progress
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15. Intentional Teaching Strategies
Slide #15 Intentional Teaching Strategies
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16. Key Principles about Effective Early Learning Strategies
High quality, continuous early care and education helps low-income children do better in school.
Social-emotional development is the foundation for, and intertwined with, early cognitive development.
Formal early learning occurs in a variety of settings, including school-based, center-based, and home-based programs, so it is important to pay attention to all settings when considering strategies to improve achievement and close the gap.
Closing or reducing the achievement gap is not simple and requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond only efforts to improve what children know and can do and must consider how families, schools, and communities can support early learning and the transition to school.
Slide #16 Key Principles about Effective Early Learning Strategies
Now, if we are going to reflect on our current instructional strategies and possible implement some new approaches, it is important to understand how to identify an effective strategy. These key principles are from a position paper from the National Center for Children in Poverty titled the 10 Effective Preschool Curricula and Teaching Strategies.
Principle #1: High quality, continuous early care and education helps low-income children do better in school.
Getting young children started on the right track is essential to getting them where they need to go. Reviews of empirical research show that children are born eager to learn and that learning occurs faster in the first five years of life than at any other time. Economist James Heckman’s research applies an economic principle to early learning and shows that “early success begets later success, “implying that children who do not have good early learning experiences are more likely to fail.” In fact, there is strong experimental evidence, primarily from early childhood demonstration programs, that high-quality interventions beginning in the earliest years help children learn and achieve. But others have found that middle-class children benefit from center-based, high-quality early learning programs as well. However, most research shows that these programs are most effective for low-income children. The most practical issue may be to consider the magnitude of the gain that is seen, with low-income and minority children generally making more progress than their middle-income peers.
There is a sizable amount of evidence that shows length of time in programs has a positive effect on children’s achievement. Low-income children make the most gains in pre-reading and pre-math when they are in high-quality early learning programs for either more than 30 hours per week, full-day programs, or programs for more than one year. Results from the two-year follow-up to the Early Head Start (EHS) impact study show that the most positive results for children were found when they went into formal preschool care after participating in high- quality EHS programs.
Principle #2: Social-emotional development is the foundation for, and intertwined with, early cognitive development.
During the past decade, an explosion of knowledge in both brain science and child development research underscores the importance of early relationships as the foundation for developing social and emotional competencies. Young children learn and perform well in school as a result of stable and supportive social relationships that form the base for self-confidence, self-management, and the ability to get along well with peers and adults. Two years after participating in EHS, parents reported that their children still had fewer behavior problems and more positive approaches to learning when they were 5 years old. There is also evidence that links social-emotional development to early literacy and early math. An age-appropriate ability to manage emotions, relate to others, and understand the emotional cues of others can facilitate the development of early literacy and math skills. The reverse is also true, so that helping children to succeed in early literacy and math can reduce some behavioral and emotional problems. At the same time, research also tell us that young children who start preschool with antisocial or aggressive behavior are more likely to do poorly on academic tasks, be held back in the early years, and be at greater risk for dropping out in the later school years. And there is now evidence that preschoolers are being expelled from their classes for behavior problems three times more than students in kindergarten-12 schools. Therefore, systematic attention to social and emotional issues in the context of early learning is important to successful academic outcomes.
State funded pre-k programs, Head Start, and preschool special education programs collectively served 35 percent of the nation’s 4-year-olds during the school year and only 17 percent were in state-funded pre-k programs. There is limited research on the impact that different settings have on children’s achievement in early literacy and early math. Some new evidence is however showing that increased letter-word recognition and decreased aggression in children who participated in EHS were maintained regardless of whether they transitioned into community center-based child care, Head Start, or public pre-k programs.
Principle #3: Formal early learning occurs in a variety of settings, including school-based, center-based, and home-based programs, so it is important to pay attention to all settings when considering strategies to improve achievement and close the gap.
Principle #4: Closing or reducing the achievement gap is not simple and requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond only efforts to improve what children know and can do and must consider how families, schools, and communities can support early learning and the transition to school.
This principle is perhaps the least explored; it reflects experiential knowledge that piecemeal efforts (a new curriculum here, a new workshop there) are not likely to pay off. Instead, sustained strategic reform efforts that include comprehensive services and supports are required. From this perspective, the challenge is not just choosing a curriculum, providing some professional development, or creating a program, but building a comprehensive early childhood system where families and communities help support the social, emotional, and cognitive growth children need to be successful as they enter and continue through school.
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17. Child-guided versus adult-guided experiences
Child-guided: refers to experience that proceeds primarily along the lines of children’s interest and actions, although teachers often provide the materials and other support.
Adult-guided: refers to experience that proceeds primarily along the lines of the teacher’s goals, although that experience may also be shaped by children’s active engagement (Epstein, 2007, p. vii).
Slide #17 Child-guided versus adult-guided experiences
Developmentally appropriate practice encourages a mixture of teacher-directed and child-directed activities. Teacher-directed learning involves the teacher as a facilitator who models learning strategies and gives guided instruction. Child-directed learning allows the child to assume some responsibility for learning goals. At some times, or for some content, children seem to learn best from child-guided experience  - that is, they acquire knowledge and skills through their own exploration and experience, including through interactions with peers. At other times and for other content, children seem to learn best from adult-guided experience – that is, in set-up situations in which their teachers introduce information, model skills, and the life (Epstein, 2007, p. 2).
The point is that teachers need to be reflective about the approach they use, selecting the one that creates the optimal learning experience.
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18. Differentiated teaching
Provide a focus to hold children’s attention
Break teaching into small parts
Provide hands-on practice
Use an integrated approach.
Slide #18 Differentiated teaching
The term differentiated once meant that teachers planned ways to address children’s differences in age, development, and learning styles. Now, this term encompasses everything that makes a child unique, such as culture, family, temperament, multiple intelligences profile, personality style, and special needs or developmental delays. These differences are even greater in the primary years because young children develop on individual timetables that often vary greatly.
I have often been asked the question, “Is it even possible to teach every child as an individual?” What teachers can do is begin by first looking at how learning is consistent.
Provide a focus to hold children’s attention. This might be a photograph, a finger play, a song, or a provocative question. For example, in the primary grades, play a song in French before starting a discussion about France.
Break teaching into small parts. Children are better able to focus on important information when they receive less, rather than more, information. When children are learning about animals, focus on one species at a time. Teach the two critical attributes of mammals: they nurse their young and they have hair. Have the children sort animals into mammals and non-mammals. When they are successful, use the same process to add reptiles and eventually amphibians and birds.
Provide hands-on practice. Hands-on manipulation increases the chance by 75 percent that new information will be stored in long-term memory (Hannaford 1995; Sousa 2006). Hands-on investigation increases sensory input, which helps learners focus. It allows for experimentation by letting children use trial and error, which increases the chance that learners will make sense of and establish relevancy for what they are learning (Sousa 2006).
Use an integrated approach. Combine math, reading, spelling, and writing to teach children about plants.
Application of these strategies and commitment to the concept that all children learn based on their development and experience level make differentiated teaching possible in every classroom.
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19. Multisensory practices make sense
Use real materials
Use chants and rhymes.
Make it fun!
Provide natural environments
Slide #19 Multisensory practices make sense
The more senses involved during learning, the more likely the brain will receive and process information. By using multiple senses to learn, children find it easier to match new information to their existing knowledge (Schiller 1999; Willis in press).
Use real materials. Familiar and tangible objects demonstrating concepts can help make ideas concrete. For example, rather than talking about birds with preschoolers, go outside to observe them, then make a graph of all the different birds the children see and hear.
Use chants and rhymes. Rhythmic patterns stick in the brain.
Make it fun! Sing, dance, play games, and laugh. These activities use multiple senses and at the same time increase memory (Jensen 2005).
Provide natural environments. Use places where an activity would ordinarily occur—home, school, outdoors, the zoo, or anyplace where learning is more meaningful than sitting at a desk. For example, when studying nature, go outdoors for a nature hunt rather than show children pictures of trees. Teach a child how to brush his teeth in the bathroom instead of the classroom.
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20. Making sense and meaning are essential
Tap into prior knowledge
Use organizers.
Provide hands-on practice
Give the children time to reflect
Slide #20 Making sense and meaning
The brain processes new information by making sense and meaning of it (Sousa 2006). The process of sense making requires finding the patterns. One way to do this is by having children ask themselves questions, such as: How is this new information like the information I already have? How is it different? What parts of this information do I understand? Which parts are confusing? For information to have meaning children must find its relevance. Teachers can help children when they
Tap into prior knowledge. Review what the children already know before introducing new information. Point out any patterns in children’s prior knowledge that overlap with new information. For example, “Remember last week, when we talked about the days of the week and we found them on a calendar? Today we are going to talk about the months of the year, which are also found on a calendar.”
Use organizers. Graphic organizers help children to see relationships between several pieces of information. Story maps, word wheels, and chart or graphic representation that reflects “What I know, What I want to know, and What I just learned”
Provide hands-on practice. Offer magnetic, sandpaper, and three-dimensional letters to help children learn alphabet letters.
Give the children time to reflect. After a group activity or discussion, teachers can ask questions such as,
How will you use this new information?
How would what we learned today be different if _______?
How do you feel about _______?
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21. Questions
Slide #21 Questions
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22. The Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office and STG International thank you for joining our webinar today!
Please continue to join the 2010 Summer Webinar Series occurring every Tuesday and Thursday during the months of June and July at 3:00 Pacific Daylight Time.
Please contact Mary Kramer Reinwasser at for more information.
The Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office and STG International thank you for joining our webinar today. Please contact me, Mary Kramer Reinwasser, at for more information about our 2010 Summer Webinar Series occurring every Tuesday and Thursday during the months of June and July at 3:00 Pacific Daylight Time. Enjoy the rest of your day!
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23. Intentional Teaching: Part Two
Slide #23
Welcome to the Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office 2010 Summer Webinar Series. Please remember to mute your phone (*6) in order to assure the clarity of the audio portion of the program. For those who attend today’s webinar, a certificate of attendance will be ed within 48 hours. For those who are viewing this webinar as a group, the address signed on will be the recipient of the certificate and will be that person’s responsibility for forwarding the certificate to other attendees. This webinar today is Intentional Teaching, the second in a two part series.
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24. Agenda – Part Two Part One: Part Two: (strategies continued)
Defining intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Principles of intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Intentional Teaching strategies:
Principles of effective teaching strategies
Child-guided versus adult-guided
Differentiated teaching
Multisensory approach
Part Two: (strategies continued)
Language Development
Conversations
Open-ended questions
Vocabulary Development
Approaches to learning
Initiative and curiosity
Engagement and persistence
Reasoning and problem solving
Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Guidelines for Teaching Teams
Slide #24 Agenda
Part One
Part One:
Defining intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Principles of intentional teaching and intentional curriculum
Intentional Teaching strategies:
Principles of effective teaching strategies
Child-guided versus adult-guided
Differentiated teaching
Multisensory approach
Part Two
Part Two: (strategies continued)
Language Development
Conversations
Open-ended questions
Vocabulary Development
Approaches to learning
Initiative and curiosity
Engagement and persistence
Reasoning and problem solving
Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Guidelines for Teaching Teams
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25. Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to define intentional teaching
Participants will be able to name the principles of intentional teaching
Participants will be able to identify strategies for language development and approaches to learning
Participants will be able to describe the continuum of teaching behaviors
Slide #25 Learning Outcomes
As a result of the two part webinar, the following learning outcomes will be demonstrated:
Participants will be able to define intentional teaching
Participants will be able to name the principles of intentional teaching
Participants will be able to identify strategies for language development and approaches to learning
Participants will be able to describe the continuum of teaching behaviors
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26. Language Modeling
Slide #26 Language Modeling
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27. Language Modeling Conversations Open-ended questions
Vocabulary development
Slide #27 Language Modeling
Teachers model language when they intentionally encourage, respond to, and expand on children's speech. Strong language modeling also consists of engagement in meaningful conversations between teachers and children. That is, teachers repeat children's words in more complex forms and ask follow-up questions. Children are consistently exposed to a variety of language uses and forms, such so requesting, rejecting, commenting, conversing, predicting, and affirming.
Children's language expands when they are given opportunities to use the language that they know and when adults model more complex language. By hearing various uses and forms of language, children develop new language skills. These language skills are important ion children's academic and social success. For some children, a language-rich classroom con be on important supplement to the language they hero in their home environment.
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28. Conversation: Respectful Listening
How do we show respect for the other person in a conversation?
By giving people time to form thoughts, to respond, and to complete their statements
By focusing on the concern that the other person is expressing.
By letting the other person begin the conversation or do a lot of the talking.
From the ECLKC on Speaking and Listening Respectively
Slide #28 Conversation: Respectful Listening
How do we show respect for the other person in a conversation?
By giving people time to form thoughts, to respond, and to complete their statements
By focusing on the concern that the other person is expressing.
By letting the other person begin the conversation or do a lot of the talking.
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29. Conversation: Respectful Listening
How do we help keep a conversation open an moving forward?
Door Openers ("Would you like to talk?)
Encourages ("I'd like to hear more about what you think" or "I'm here if you want to talk over your ideas")
Open Questions ("What are some of your ideas?“)
Nodding, saying "yes" or "no" or "I hear you" or "uh-huh" or "tell me more“
Facial and body expressions that show interest
From the ECLKC on Speaking and Listening Respectively
Slide #29 Conversation: Respectful Listening
How do we help keep a conversation open an moving forward?
Door Openers ("Would you like to talk?)
Encourages ("I'd like to hear more about what you think" or "I'm here if you want to talk over your ideas")
Open Questions ("What are some of your ideas?“)
Nodding, saying "yes" or "no" or "I hear you" or "uh-huh" or "tell me more“
Facial and body expressions that show interest
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30. Conversation: Respectful Listening
What should we avoid doing so that we don't block the progress of a conversation?
Saying “always” or “never”
Lecturing
Facial or body expression that shows a lack of interest
From the ECLKC on Speaking and Listening Respectively
Slide #30 Conversation: Respectful Listening
What should we avoid doing so that we don't block the progress of a conversation?
Saying “always” or “never”
Lecturing
Facial or body expression that shows a lack of interest
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31. Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions don’t have right and wrong answers.
Open-ended questions encourage children to recall what they’ve done and to practice talking about it.
Open-ended questions can produce more than one kind of response.
Open-ended questions are appropriate almost any time during almost any activity.
Open-ended questions can be used to help teach children to solve problems.
Asking open-ended questions can stimulate children to use more specific vocabulary to explain what they’re doing.
Slide #31 Open-Ended Questions
Questions are a natural part of our conversations. They help us exchange information and clarify what is being said. However, closed questions, the kind we most often ask, don’t usually help keep conversations going.
Some examples are:
What color is this?…Blue
Is that your toy?…Yes
How are you?…Fine
Closed questions require a one or two-word response or just a nod of the head. Closed questions also tend to have right or wrong answers. They can make children feel as if they’re being quizzed. Once a child has answered a closed question, there is really not much more to say.
Open-ended questions have many possible answers. They invite the children to think and solve problems. As children express their ideas, they learn to participate in the back-and-forth flow of conversation. Here are some examples:
What do you think will happen now?
If you were the cook, what kinds of things would you fix us for lunch?
If you were the mayor of our city, how would you solve the pollution problem?
When asked open-ended questions, children can choose to say whatever they’re thinking, and these questions often lead to interesting conversations. Open-ended questions
don’t demand a response; it’s okay for the child not to answer,
don’t have right or wrong answers,
encourage thinking and problem-solving,
ask children to use their imaginations,
end a strong message that says, “I value what you think; I’m interested in hearing your ideas.”
Asking open-ended questions can be an effective way to encourage conversation. Skilled adults ask open-ended questions that encourage children to explore new possibilities, clarify their thinking, and solve problems. They ask questions that encourage children to talk and share ideas.
Learn to ask open-ended questions by becoming familiar with some of the most common ways to phrase them:
What would happen if…?
I wonder…?
What do you suppose…?
In what way…?
How did that happen…?
What do you think…?
Tell me about…?
What would you do…?
How can we…?
How did you…?
By incorporating these phrases into their thinking and talking, you will be able to have richer and more varied conversations with your children.
Open-ended questions don’t have right and wrong answers. They invite children to express their own ideas in their own words. These questions signal to children that their opinion counts, and you would like to hear what they think.
Open-ended questions encourage children to recall what they’ve done and to practice talking about it. Children love to explain to an interested adult how they did something. These questions help them share how they accomplished something, what happened, why things came out the way they did, and how they felt. The conversation is all about what really interests the children.
Open-ended questions can produce more than one kind of response. Asking questions can encourage children to become even more involved in their activities, or they can produce an extended conversation. It encourages the children to use their imaginations, to think a little differently about what they are doing, and to respond in whatever way they like.
Open-ended questions are appropriate almost any time during almost any activity. When a child is beginning a task you can ask, “I wonder what you’re going to do with these blocks?” This encourages the child to plan ahead and talk about it.
Open-ended questions can be used to help teach children to solve problems. Questions like, “Tell me, what is it you want to do here?” and “What else might work?” encourage children to clarify their ideas and generate alternatives. Another aspect of problem-solving is learning to predict. “What do you think will happen?” and “Well, that’s a good idea. I wonder what would happen if you tried it?” are questions that send the message, “You’re in charge and I’m interested in how you’re going to do that.” They encourage children to follow through on their own ideas, test them, discover what works, and talk about them.
Asking open-ended questions can stimulate children to use more specific vocabulary to explain what they’re doing.
For example:
Adult: (Watching a child paint­ing) How did you get that orange color?
Child: Mixed it.
Adult: Mixed it. How do you mean? Tell me more.
Child: Put red in yellow.
Problem solving also requires the ability to think and talk in specific rather than general or global terms.
Help your children grow by learning to ask more open-ended questions.
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32. Vocabulary Development
To enhance children’s ability to communicate and to use an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary…
Respond to children's speech with expansions and questions that point out causes and consequences.
Introduce new words and using new words
Talk about a book you are going to read to children before reading it, asking them to predict from the title or cover what the story will be about or what might happen next.
Talk with children after reading a story; ask them to retell the story or act it out. Encourage them to talk about the characters and events, answering their questions and responding to their comments.
 The desired learning outcome is to increase both the quantity and quality of children's receptive and expressive vocabulary. It is not enough that children speak a lot. We must pay attention to the range of words they understand and use—the vocabulary, which is the number of words a person knows when listening or speaking, and the use of pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech. Another important element of language development is the complexity of sentence structure—in other words, the syntax or grammar that children use. A related learning goal is for children to begin to acquire the "scripts" that people use to communicate in different settings. For example, what the doctor says is different from what the grocery clerk says, and the way one talks during circle time is different from the way one talks outside on the playground.
     Children are developing language and early literacy skills during roughly the same period, and the two are interrelated (Dickinson & Tabors 2001). Reading to children enhances their language development, especially vocabulary, because the structures and words used in books are more varied than those in speech. Knowing more words, in turn, helps children make sense of print and find what they read more meaningful and interesting. And talking with children about what is read, further boosts both vocabulary and comprehension.
Receptive Vocabulary—the number of different words that children know and understand —is one of the most powerful predictors of children's success in learning to read and write and in their later comprehension of what they read. The more words a child understands, the more easily she can use contextual clues to help her read new words. Receptive vocabulary may be viewed as the labels for concepts that we are learning, as well as for those we already know and understand. Young children typically think out loud, with interpersonal language coming before internal thought (Vygotsky 1978). So the more limited the vocabulary, the more limited the child's conceptual understanding of the world.
Reread favorite books. Children love to hear their favorite books over and over again. Hearing books read several times helps children understand and notice new things. For example, they may figure out what an unfamiliar word means when they have heard the story several times. They may notice repeated sound patterns. If you point out some letters and words as you read the book repeatedly, children also may pick up specific words that are easily recognized and specific letter-sound relationships.
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33. Vocabulary Development
To enhance children’s ability to communicate and to use an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary…
Write down children's messages to parents or others, dictations for language experience charts, or stories, and read them back.
Participate in play to get it going if children have difficulty or to extend it to include more language interaction.
Get in the habit of giving children plenty of time—five seconds or so—to respond to a question or conversational comment.
Plan in-depth projects with children to investigate questions or topics of interest that expand vocabulary and provide opportunities for extended discussion and different points of view.
Slide #33 Vocabulary Development (cont’d.)
Write down children's messages to parents or others, dictations for language experience charts, or stories, and read them back.
Provide dramatic play areas, props, materials, and themes that encourage talking and listening, such as office, post office, bookstore, restaurant, library, supermarket, medical clinic, and construction site.
Participate in play to get it going if children have difficulty or to extend it to include more language interaction. For instance, the teacher may enter the restaurant and pretend to be a customer: “Could I see a menu please. I’d like to order dinner.” In play, children naturally try to imitate adults and their language becomes more complex and sophisticated. They need many opportunities to practice such verbal interaction with other children and occasionally with adults.
Get in the habit of giving children plenty of time—five seconds or so—to respond to a question or conversational comment. Adults rarely allow sufficient time for children to respond, rushing ahead to answer for them or going on to a different question. The simple act of providing wait time increases children's verbal responses, especially for children who tend to speak less often.
Plan in-depth projects with children to investigate questions or topics of interest that expand vocabulary and provide opportunities for extended discussion and different points of view.
Encourage parents to talk with and read or tell stories to their children at home.
Invite parents, older siblings, and other family members to talk with the group about special events or home experiences of all kinds.
Provide good language models for children. If possible, model standard grammatical speech in the child's home language. Recognize that many of children's errors in English ("I wented there", or "I saw three sheeps") show their efforts to learn a rule, like the ed of the past tense, which they overgeneralize. Instead of correcting the child, pick up on what he says but say it correctly. For example, a child may say, "I gots two foots" and the teacher replies, "Yes, you have two feet so you need two socks."
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34. Approaches to Learning
The following is an excerpt from the Head Start Leaders Guide to Positive Child Outcomes. Domain 7: Approaches to Learning
Slide #34 Approaches to Learning
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35. Initiative and Curiosity Strategies
Encourage children's natural inclination to ask questions and to wonder. Help them refine their questions and think of ways they might get answers.
Provide meaningful, realistic choices of play and work experiences.
Help children who have difficulty making choices by limiting choices or helping them think through their options.
Engage children in science and math experiences that start with asking questions, forming hypotheses or making guesses, collecting data, and drawing conclusions.
Read or write stories in which children change or make up their own endings.
Slide #35 Initiative and Curiosity
Decades ago, Erik Erikson (1963) described the primary struggle of the preschool years as initiative versus guilt. Most children of this age are naturally curious and eager to learn, but they can become easily discouraged if their initiatives are regularly ignored or punished. In Eager to Learn: Educating Our Preschoolers (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns 2001), a distinguished panel of scholars concludes that preschool curriculum is most effective when it takes advantage of children’s own interests and curiosity to help them acquire the skills and knowledge needed for success in school. During the early years of life, children's initiative and curiosity lead them to explore and experiment in ways that literally contribute to brain development.
To encourage initiative and curiosity:
Encourage children's natural inclination to ask questions and to wonder. Help them refine their questions and think of ways they might get answers.
Provide meaningful, realistic choices of play and work experiences.
Help children who have difficulty making choices by limiting choices or helping them think through their options.
Engage children in science and math experiences that start with asking questions, forming hypotheses or making guesses, collecting data, and drawing conclusions.
Read or write stories in which children change or make up their own endings.
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36. Initiative and Curiosity
Play games that build on and extend children's curiosity, such as, "I Spy" or "Mystery Bag."
Be flexible enough to change plans if children initiate a more interesting idea or experience.
Slide #36 Initiative and Curiosity Strategies (cont’d)
Play games that build on and extend children's curiosity, such as, "I Spy" or "Mystery Bag."
Be flexible enough to change plans if children initiate a more interesting idea or experience.
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37. Engagement & Persistence Strategies
Play games in which children must listen carefully and follow more than one direction, such as "Simon says, stand on one foot and touch your nose."
Assign children important, necessary tasks that involve following multiple-step directions: "Take your coat off, hang it in the cubby, and pick out a book to enjoy."
When children quit or give up too easily, gently encourage them by saying, "Try one more time" or "Think of something else you could try."
Gradually lengthen the time children are expected to remain engaged in activities or experiences; for instance, read longer stories to extend children's attention span.
Slide #37 Engagement & Persistence Strategies
Success in school requires that children engage and persist in tasks and activities that are often not of intrinsic interest to them. School readiness includes the ability to tackle and persist at challenging or frustrating tasks, to follow directions, to take risks and make mistakes, and to work as part of the group. Yet, kindergarten teachers report that many children lack these abilities. These capacities develop over time and build from children's ability to engage and persist in those activities that are of greatest interest to them, such as self-chosen play or interesting projects, and their feelings of joy or pride in their accomplishments.
 Teachers' comments to children can encourage them to persist and to take pride in their work. Research shows that if children can attribute their successes, even at a young age, to their efforts, rather than to their intelligence or luck, they will be more engaged and motivated (Dweck 1999).
To promote engagement and persistence
Play games in which children must listen carefully and follow more than one direction, such as "Simon says, stand on one foot and touch your nose."
Assign children important, necessary tasks that involve following multiple-step directions: "Take your coat off, hang it in the cubby, and pick out a book to enjoy."
When children quit or give up too easily, gently encourage them by saying, "Try one more time" or "Think of something else you could try."
Gradually lengthen the time children are expected to remain engaged in activities or experiences; for instance, read longer stories to extend children's attention span.
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38. Engagement & Persistence Strategies
Engage children in prior planning of their own and remind them of their plans as needed: "What was it you planned to do today? Are you finished?"
Provide ways for children to revisit and reflect on their experiences and learning.
Make frequent comments about children's efforts: "Look how hard you've been trying to put that puzzle together. You're almost finished."
Help children identify successful strategies for problem-solving: "It really helps when you look for the very first letter of your name to find your cubby."
Offer praise that is specific and meaningful to what a child (or children) have actually done
Slide #38 Engagement & Persistence Strategies (cont’d)
Engage children in prior planning of their own and remind them of their plans as needed: "What was it you planned to do today? Are you finished?"
Provide ways for children to revisit and reflect on their experiences and learning.
Make frequent comments about children's efforts: "Look how hard you've been trying to put that puzzle together. You're almost finished." "You didn't give up until you got just the right color. You must be very proud."
Help children identify successful strategies for problem-solving: "It really helps when you look for the very first letter of your name to find your cubby." "Let's repeat the directions together, so everyone will know what to do next."
Offer praise that is specific and meaningful to what a child has actually done: "You really had to push hard to turn the pedals." "You all spoke in such a kind, gentle way when Jose hurt his foot." Avoid vague words like "Nice" and exaggerated praise, such as "You’re the best painter in the whole world."
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39. Reasoning & Problem Solving Strategies
Engage children in generating multiple solutions to questions or problems: "It is raining and we can’t go outside. What could we do instead?"
When exploring or experimenting with a science or math topic, engage children in the scientific method of asking questions, generating hypotheses, gathering data, predicting what will happen, and observing consequences.
Play games that involve classifying, comparing, and contrasting, such as Dominoes, Lotto, and other matching and sorting games.
Ask children to classify objects using more than one attribute ("Find the large, blue square; find the small, red circle.").
Slide #39 Reasoning & Problem Solving Strategies
The ability to reason and solve problems cuts across all Domains of The Head Start Child Outcomes Framework. These are skills that serve children well throughout school and life. The Framework gives reasoning and problem solving special emphasis as a Domain Element of Approaches to Learning, but children develop and use their reasoning and problem-solving abilities across every aspect of the curriculum and in all their daily interactions. Science and mathematics provide concrete opportunities for children to question, experiment, reason, and solve problems, but so do reading and writing, the arts, and interpersonal problem solving. In good children's literature, characters inevitably encounter problems that can be solved in multiple ways. Reading aloud to children from a variety of materials exposes them to a multitude of problem-solving strategies and ways of thinking. Children's social experiences inevitably result in conflicts that require thinking through and discussing possible solutions, trying them out, and negotiating to solve problems. All of these experiences draw on children’s increasingly sophisticated language skills.
To develop reasoning and problem solving
Engage children in generating multiple solutions to questions or problems: "It is raining and we can’t go outside. What could we do instead?"
When exploring or experimenting with a science or math topic, engage children in the scientific method of asking questions, generating hypotheses, gathering data, predicting what will happen, and observing consequences.
Play games that involve classifying, comparing, and contrasting, such as Dominoes, Lotto, and other matching and sorting games.
Ask children to classify objects using more than one attribute ("Find the large, blue square; find the small, red circle.").
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40. Reasoning & Problem Solving Strategies
Help children verbalize their reasoning, thinking out loud about how to solve a problem or answer a question. Write down children's recommended ways of solving problems as well as their solutions to problems. Try them out.
Model open-mindedness and creativity. Demonstrate that there may be more than one way to do things or to solve problems.
Encourage children to think of as many solutions as they can to interpersonal problem situations. Ask them to think about what would happen next if they use a certain solution or to anticipate the consequences of an action.
Read and act out stories in which characters reason and solve challenging problems.
Slide #40 Reasoning & Problem Solving Strategies
Help children verbalize their reasoning, thinking out loud about how to solve a problem or answer a question. Write down children's recommended ways of solving problems as well as their solutions to problems. Try them out.
Model open-mindedness and creativity. Demonstrate that there may be more than one way to do things or to solve problems.
Encourage children to think of as many solutions as they can to interpersonal problem situations. Ask them to think about what would happen next if they use a certain solution or to anticipate the consequences of an action.
Read and act out stories in which characters reason and solve challenging problems.
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41. Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Slide # Continuum of Teaching Behaviors
Teachers should continue to use a variety of teaching strategies. Appropriate teaching practices may be seen as varying along a continuum from least directive to most directive (Bredekamp & Rosegrant 1992, see chart). Less directive strategies include include acknowledging, modeling, and facilitating. More directive strategies include scaffolding and instructing. Research demonstrates that many different teaching strategies are effective. Based on extensive review of existing research, the Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy concludes:
Good teachers acknowledge and encourage children's efforts, model and demonstrate, create challenges and support children in extending their capabilities, and provide specific directions or instruction. All of these teaching strategies can be used in the context of play and structured activities. Effective teachers also organize the classroom environment and plan ways to pursue educational goals for each child as opportunities arise in child-initiated activities and in activities planned and initiated by the teacher (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns 2001, 10-11). While much remains unchanged in Head Start, there also are exciting visions of what Head Start can become. Research over the last two decades offers insight about the skills and knowledge children need for future success. As a result, much more is known about how to ensure that all children in Head Start get the right foundation to succeed in school and life.
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42. Nondirective Teaching Behaviors
CONTINUUM OF TEACHING BEHAVIORS (Based on Bredekamp and Rosegrant, 1992)
Nondirective
Ackno wledge
Give attention and positive encouragement to keep a child engaged in an activity.
Model
Display for children a skill or desirable way of behaving in the classroom, through actions only or with cues, prompts, or other forms of coaching.
From the ECLKC on Seeing the Big Picture in Head Start
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43. Mediating Teacher Behaviors
Facilitate
Offer short-term assistance to help a child practice in developing a skill (as an adult does in holding the back of a bicycle while a child pedals).
Support
Provide a fixed form of assistance, such as displaying the alphabet near a writing center for children to refer to.
Scaffold
Support children to work "on the edge" of their current competence; set up challenges or assist

44. Directive Teaching Behaviors
Co-construct
learn or work collaboratively with children on a problem or task, such as building a model or block structure.
Demonstrate
Actively display a behavior or engage in an activity while children observe the outcome.
Direct
Provide specific directions or instructions for children's behavior within narrowly defined dimensions of error.

45. Guidelines for Teaching Teams
Use the child outcomes framework and a well-designed curriculum to plan and individualize in all domains.
Be planful and intentional in interacting with children and creating learning experiences to achieve desired child outcomes
Pay attention to what children need to know and be able to do to succeed in school
Regularly engage children in focused, small-group experiences to promote thinking processes and concept learning
Reflect on the teacher's role
Slide #45 Guidelines for Teaching Teams
Based on such knowledge, here are five guidelines for teaching teams in Head Start programs. Although none of these guidelines is entirely new, each receives greater attention as Head Start moves into this new era of accountability.
1. Use the Child Outcomes Framework and a Well-Designed Curriculum to Plan and Individualize in all Domains. What should children leaving Head Start know and be able to do? The Child Outcomes Framework answers that question in terms of the big ideas, the important achievements in each area of school readiness. All early childhood programs should have goals that guide curriculum planning, teaching, and assessment of children's learning. The Child Outcomes Framework in Head Start provides a comprehensive set of research-based learning and development goals. The Child Outcomes Framework provides structure for aligning curriculum, assessment, and teaching. Too often in the early childhood setting, learning experiences are not planned within a comprehensive curriculum. Without curriculum-based planning, even interesting and appropriate experiences are unlikely to add up to a meaningful whole. More than they have in the past, Head Start education managers must convey to teachers the importance of content and sequence in the education program. Teaching staff also need curriculum resources and training on how to use them to the best advantage.
2. Be Planful and Intentional in Interacting with Children and Creating Learning Experiences to Achieve desired Child Outcomes. In everything teachers plan and do in the Head Start education program, they need to be highly intentional. That is, they need to work with the outcomes for children in mind and consciously seek out every opportunity to help children achieve these outcomes through the learning experiences they plan, the ways they interact with children, and the ways they create and regularly modify the environment.
Group time, active involvement in learning centers and play, meals and snacks, outdoor play, and story reading are still important. But now, even more than in the past, teachers need to plan carefully for learning opportunities in all of these times and places, using the child outcomes to guide their planning and teaching across the curriculum. For example, early childhood educators have always known the value of reading and singing with children and the benefits of dramatic play. Now more is known about specific strategies to make these experiences even richer and more productive for achieving particular goals for children.
3. Pay Attention to What Children need to know and be able to do to Succeed in School. Recognizing that early experiences shape children's prospects in school and beyond has always been fundamental to Head Start. Now the growing research base spells out more fully the kinds of experiences needed to achieve these important outcomes. As vital as ever are children's health, social competence, and sense of their capacity to learn and achieve. Among the areas to receive greater emphasis are vocabulary and language proficiency, literacy knowledge and skills, and key mathematics and science concepts.
4. Regularly Engage Children in Focused, Small-Group Experiences To Promote Thinking Processes and Concept Learning. Day by day and week by week, teaching teams should be thinking about the key ideas to introduce and explore with children. Because small groups are such an appropriate way to focus children's attention on a particular idea, they should be used more often in Head Start classrooms. The logistics can seem daunting with only two adults in the classroom, but there are a variety of strategies to make small-group work practical.
Working with children in small groups expands the teaching team's opportunities to observe and involve each child actively. With a small group, a teacher is better able to provide support and challenges tailored to the children's individual levels. She can give clues, ask follow-up questions, and notice what every child is able to do and where each has difficulty. Small groups make it possible for each child to participate often, thus eliminating long waits for a turn. An added plus of small groups is the high amount of verbal exchange, so critical for children in Head Start.
5. Reflect on the Teacher's Role. In order to help children achieve positive outcomes and get ready for school, the Head Start teaching team needs to think about what they do well and what they can do even better. The following tables highlight what needs to be emphasized as teachers A) create the environment, B) use routines, C) plan focused activities, D) support and extend play, and E) integrate all Domains throughout the curriculum. By re-examining aspects of their teaching practices, the teaching team will be promoting their own professional growth as well as the development and learning of the Head Start children.
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46. In summary… Ask yourself these reflective questions…
How often are my interactions with children over the day intentional?
How do I demonstrate, through my informal experiences and settings, that I am intentional in my teaching and in the children’s learning?
What does intentional teaching look like in a home-based setting or center-based setting?
Would parents be able to notice that I am intentional in my work with their children?
Slide #46 In summary…
Ask yourself these reflective questions…
How often are my interactions with children over the day intentional?
How do I demonstrate, through my informal experiences and settings, that I am intentional in my teaching and in the children’s learning?
What does intentional teaching look like in a home-based setting or center-based setting?
Would parents be able to notice that I am intentional in my work with their children?
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47. Questions
Slide #47 Questions
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48. The Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office and STG International thank you for joining our webinar today!
Please continue to join the 2010 Summer Webinar Series occurring every Tuesday and Thursday during the months of June and July at 3:00 Pacific Daylight Time.
Please contact Mary Kramer Reinwasser at for more information.
The Arizona Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Office and STG International thank you for joining our webinar today. Please contact me, Mary Kramer Reinwasser, at for more information about our 2010 Summer Webinar Series occurring every Tuesday and Thursday during the months of June and July at 3:00 Pacific Daylight Time. Enjoy the rest of your day!
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