Learning Objectives Participants will discuss ways to integrate themes throughout their classroom. Participants will come up with their own ideas to increase the power of their instruction Participants will create lesson plans that integrate their weekly themes and come up with ideas to plan an environment that will benefit the children that they teach Introduce myself and have all participants tell a little about themselves - 10 minutes

What does it mean to integrate themes? Participants will come up with a definition for integration. Why is it important to integrate themes in an early childhood setting. integration in·te·gra·tion (ĭn'tĭ-grā'shən) n. The state of combination or the process of combining into completeness and harmony. There are so many things for children to learn that it is best to incorporate concepts such as language and mathematics into everyday Increase learning in all areas

When integrating themes, remember: Cover all areas of learning and do not undermine others Will the integration improve learning for the children What do children already know; what is their background knowledge Consider ways to integrate by using various strategies: whole group, small group, individual, or center time

Areas of the Classroom Get into small groups and list the various areas in your preschool classroom. Groups will discuss their answers. Things to think about: What areas did you forget? Do you plan for activities in each area? Check your own biases: for instance, do you not allow children to play in the water table because you don’t like the mess, etc.?

Review the Creative Curriculum handout Through using Creative Curriculum, we want the children in our care to: Develop positive social skills Develop thinking skills and become investigative Be confident Want to learn and love to learn

How can we increase the power of our instruction: Integrating language, literacy and mathematics into the various areas of the classroom. One way to do this is to combine two or more areas of learning. For instance, use a story to teach about math concepts; extend the plot by adding math material to various areas of the classroom. Incorporate writing into math activities. For example, the teacher could chart the results of the findings that children make in a measurement activity

Deciding on preschool learning context Handout – Features of three different preschool learning contexts from Increasing the Power of Instruction by Judith Schickedanz. Teachers should incorporate whole group, small group and center time throughout their day Review handout to decide what activities should be in each context. Use this handout as a guide to plan lessons.

Instruction When planning activities, instruction should be interesting, meaningful and engaging Find out what the children are interested in and plan accordingly If children are not interested in what you are teaching, then they will not learn

Activity – Lesson Planning Activity Participants will work in groups of 3 to 4 and create meaningful lesson plans for a weekly theme in February or March. Please see monthly theme sheet to choose a theme. Handout – extended lesson plans Please use the learning standards to guide your lessons Reminder – incorporate the theme into all areas of the classroom.

Review of lessons Groups will share their ideas with the class Feedback and questions

Using Stories to Integrate Learning Read Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni How can we use this book to increase instruction? Discuss well-intentioned but ineffective way to use the book How can we use the story not only to teach math concepts, but also increase literacy and language Stories can be predictable – they have characters, plot, setting and a problem that characters are trying to solve Cognitive skills are needed to understand what a character is doing; children rely on their prior knowledge

Teacher’s Role Help students draw on their background knowledge by asking questions Support them as they try to figure out what is happening in the story by asking open-ended questions Extend their thinking by saying, “So you think the little bird was trying to figure out how to get away from the big bird.” Teachers can think and wonder out loud when they are reading to children, model comprehension strategies that good readers use

Good Readers Do a picture walk before you begin the story Ask the children to predict what is happening in the pictures When you read, ask the children to continue to predict Think aloud as you read Model to the children that good readers reread if they do not understand something. Vocabulary words – when you come upon words, make sure the children understand the words – this extends their vocabulary and language skills

Math Vocabulary: Handout – discuss the importance of helping children understand math vocabulary words. Learning math words will help children to learn math and also extend their understanding of stories and vocabulary

Reading Inch by Inch Introduce story – get the children interested Provide a basic overview of the plot Talk about the pictures in the book Discuss the story at the end and extend the children’s thoughts Read the book a second time; ask the children what they remember about the story and go from there Pose questions to encourage higher level thinking skills Read the story a third time Extend the story with activities

Group Time/Circle Time Teacher-guided instruction that introduce children to a topic. Morning meetings – sing songs, share poems, listen to predictable storybooks, play games that incorporate math, language and literacy. Having two distinct group times (20 minutes each) instead of one long one (45 minutes) is more appropriate.

Activity – Circle Time Participants will work in small groups to discuss what they do during circle time. How do they incorporate the themes into their group time? What challenges do they encounter? Each group will come up with a circle time activity to share with the whole group Idea: handout – word clues games

Small Group Activities Teacher chooses and plans activities for children to participate in Good opportunity for teacher to observe children and write observations on children Small group activities can occur during center time, when teachers take a small group of children to an area and work on a specific activity. For instance, it may be a math activity – example, if children are learning about shapes/geometry; the teacher can create a shape game that children play together.

Center Time Children should have opportunities to choose what center they would like to go to Learning opportunities arise as children play and work hands-on with learning materials Teachers should be facilitating center time; responding and supporting choices that children make If children play with material in unanticipated ways, teachers should support children’s exploration and ideas When teachers engage in thoughtful conversations during this time, learning occurs

Teachers Should move around the classroom and interact and support children One teacher can serve as a floater and go to various centers, extending children’s play Another teacher may be set up in one area that needs more support, while also overseeing other centers Centers should be introduced during whole group time so that children have an understanding of what to do at each center

Control Board/Activity Board Activity boards can be created to help children choose their center The activity board can portray a picture and words of the center, and then there could be four name holders where children can place their names if they choose to go there Materials needed: velcro; name tags; digital camera to take pictures of each center.

Benefits to using Activity Boards Supports integration of math, language and literacy Children are reading the print and signs Children are problem-solving to see how many more children can go to a center, etc. How many pockets, how many nametags Children have conversations regarding how many children can be at a center; or if they want to play with a friend, they may try to find a center that would accommodate both of them – social concern

Activity – Think of Spontaneous Play that occurs during center time Participants will be in groups of 3 to 4 and discuss situations that arise during center time where math, literacy and language is integrated in the various centers. Example – children in the dramatic play area having a birthday party for a doll.

Questions and Comments Discussion to include any questions or comments regarding integrating preschool themes. Resources: Increasing the Power of Instruction, by Judith A. Schickedanz