Week 11 readings

Literacy: 

Gerde, H.K., Bingham, G.E. & Wasik, B.A. 2012, "Writing in Early Childhood Classrooms: Guidance for Best Practices", Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 351-359.

Numeracy:
Zeuenbergen, R., Dole, S. & Wright, R. 2004, Early number in "Teaching mathematics in primary schools", Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, pp. 121-148

Why?
Still in line with the technician theme, I wanted to explore some of the skills that are essential to be developed in the early childhood years for children's future learning in the later years. The literacy reading addresses the importance of writing as a key skill for early literacy while the numeracy reading addresses some of the skills that are brought to school from kindergarten that help a child in developing his number sense.

Summary
The literacy reading by Gerde, Bingham and Wasik (2012), explained the importance of writing in the early years classroom and how it is a key skill that will affect a child's later learning. Gerde, Bingham & Wasik (2012, p. 351) indicate that recent research has shown that writing is barely included in many early childhood programs, and teachers fail to scaffold writing opportunities for children in early childhood programs. It is important to note that writing did not only refer to handwriting and penmanship but it was the process of communicating and expressing ideas through print. Hence, this may involve merely strokes on a piece of paper, or incompletely formed alphabets. Gerde, Bingham & Wasik (2012, p. 352) include research quotes that indicate that emergent writing in kindergarten is highly related to later literacy skills such as spelling, decoding, reading, word recognition and phonological awareness. Gerde, Bingham & Wasik (2012, p. 352) then include the phases children go through when learning to write:

1. Using small marks that do not resemble letters, or drawing pictures to communicate a message.
2. Continuous scribbles with consistent shape
3. Letter formation
4. Invented spelling (Children arrange letters in a word according to what they think it should sound like)
5. Writing accurately

Gerde, Bingham & Wasik (2012, p. 535) found that the main problem in early childhood programs was that teachers failed to incorporate writing into all other activities; only isolating writing to a writing corner. Here, they include 12 strategies to effectively and meaningfully implement writing in early childhood classrooms.

"1. Build writing into your daily schedule
2. Accept all forms of writing
3. Explicitly model writing
4. Scaffold children’s writing
5. Encourage children to read what they write
6. Encourage invented spelling
7. Make writing opportunities meaningful
8. Have writing materials in all centers
9. Display theme-related words in the writing center
10. Engage in group writing experiences
11. Make writing a way to connect with families
12. Use technology to support writing" 

 (Gerde, Bingham & Wasik (2012, pp. 353 - 357)

The numeracy reading by Zeuenbergen, Dole & Wright (2004) have a more school-based approach but also highlight some of the key numeracy skills that contribute to a child's development of 'number sense'. Number sense is referred to as 'understanding the meaning of numbers, knowing the relationships between numbers and the size of numbers and knowing the effects of operating on numbers' (McIntosh et al 1992 cited in Zeuenbergen, Dole & Wright 2004, p. 122). The main section in this chapter that is highly related to the early childhood setting is the section on 'Pre-Number'. This section highlights some of the numeracy skills young children have such as classification, patterning, group recognition, counting and one-to-one correspondence (Zeuenbergen, Dole & Wright 2004, pp. 122 - 127). They then further explain how these few skills act as the foundation to further mathematics learning. For example, the ability to detect patterns, helps children to detect the patterns later on in problem-solving activities. Zeuenbergen, Dole & Wright (2004) also emphasise on the need to provide opportunities that involve practicing this numeracy skills. For example, encourage children to count how many cups are needed for the entire classroom or presenting other daily routines that involve counting. It was also stated in the reading about the importance of introducing other cue words when referring to specific operations. For example, use 'take away' instead of subtract or 'join' instead of addition. This strategy is to encourage children not to simply look for specific labels when faced with problem-solving activities.

Implications
Both of these readings indicated the many foundation skills that appear to be the early childhood educator's responsibility to introduce to children. I feel that from this reading, I have understood the importance of providing sufficient learning opportunities and acknowledging children's efforts in engaging with literacy and numeracy learning. While we should freely allow children to participate in the activities that interest them, it is equally important for educators to lay a good foundation for other skills to develop.

Portfolio #6

2.2 Recognises subtle differences & levels in literacy & numerical learning & development according to age, ability, culture & social circumstances

Based on the many readings I have taken over this semester, as well as the discussions during our tutorials, it has donned on me that the socio-cultural aspect of development plays a key role in a child's learning. I have been privileged enough to have access to all the different age group rooms at my placement (A child care centre) which has allowed me to observe different learning styles of different children. I decided to go into placement and observe three culturally different childrenand test out my ability to observe the differences in their literacy and numerical learning.

Culturally different children
I observed three five-year-olds with three different cultural backgrounds.

Chloe*: An Australian-borned girl with an Asian background

Zara*: An Australian-borned girl from an Australian family

Mandeep*: An Indian-borned boy from an Indian family, who had recently moved to Australia

We were all at the drawing table when these observations were taken. I had given the children a photo of a rainbow that was taken at placement the day before, and suggested we all draw our own rainbow. Both Chloe and Zara had no problem drawing out the rainbow and included their own elements in their drawings such as a house, their families and a pet dog. Mandeep on the other hand had some trouble understanding English and decided to draw a building. I then asked Chloe and Zara if they could both count the number of colours in a rainbow and this conversation took place:

Chloe: My rainbow has 11 colours

Zara: My rainbow has 100 colours!

Me: Well, if we look in the photo, let's count how many colours there really are. *counts with the children to seven* So how many colours do rainbows have?

Chloe and Zara: SEVEN!

Me: And what if there were two rainbows ?

Chloe: *counts with her fingers* Um.. 14?

Me: Very good! Is 14 the right answer Zara?

Zara: I only have 10 fingers.

Chloe: My mummy taught me how to count more than 10 with my fingers!

I was honestly a bit startled at this because I wasn't sure where this conversation was going. Zara had also commented on Chloe's drawing as she felt that Chloe's family's hair needed to be black instead of red. I took the opportunity to explain how different people had different features but we are all still a part of the same community and should love each other anyway. Either way we further went on to discuss about the other drawing elements and we pasted both drawings on the wall. I tried to talk to Mandeep about his drawing but found there was still a communication barrier. I then proceeded to label different colours with him and he would repeat the words with me. For example, I would show him a green colour pencil and say 'Green.', and he would repeat after me. 

As you can see from my observations, I think that culture and social backgrounds definitely plays a key role in the learning abilities of children. This may be highly stereotypical but Chloe may have come from a traditional Asian family that places a high importance in numerical skills, but she is also at an advantage from Mandeep as she was born in Australia and is able to communicate in English. Mandeep may also have sharp numerical skills but may only be able to convey them in Hindi. Zara has a keen eye for colour and I believe she expresses herself very well through colour. She is observant and recognised that Chloe's hair was black, and hence assumed that Chloe's family's hair must have been black as well. Perhaps this was due to her own family background that may have been fully brunette.

While this whole observation may have indicated the differences due to culture and social background, I believe that the result may have been influenced by age. Chloe is about ready to join the December school term whereas Zara only goes to school next year. This may have influenced the difference in Chloe and Zara's counting abilities.

Overall, I think this observation has taught me so much about the importance of really planning individual lessons instead of assuming that all children are on the same level. 

*Names have been changed in respect to the children's privacy

Week 10 readings

Numeracy:

Clements, D.H. & Sarama, J. 2005, "MATH PLAY: How young children approach math", Scholastic Early Childhood Today, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 50-57.

Literacy:

Hall, N. 1998, "Young Children as Storytellers", in R. Campbell (Eds.), Facilitating preschool literacy, Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association, pp. 84 - 99.

Why?

Exploring on the theme of the 'Technician' this week, I wanted to know more about how children act out these 'technician' abilities through literacy and numeracy. Both readings I chose were mostly child-centred and explained what the children could do, instead of only focusing on what the teacher could do.

Summary

The numeracy reading by Clements and Sarama (2005) discuss on the concept of 'mathematisation' and how play promotes the foundation for early mathematical skills. 

Mathematisation refers to how everyday experiences play the role of forming the foundation for a child's development in mathematics (Clements & Sarama 2005, p.52). Clements and Sarama (2005, pp.51-52) look at different mathematical concepts that emerge during free play such as:

- Classification

- Comparison of magnitude (size)

- Enumerating (the ability of recognising numbers, counting and using the appropriate number words)

- Construction and understanding parts and whole

- The discovery of patterns and shapes, as well as rhythm

- Exploring spatial awareness and relations 

- Measurements

The reading also provides a useful table on the skills and different types of play that emerge at different ages. For example, Clements and Sarama (2005, p. 53) state that a child at 15 months begins to engage with symbolic and pretend play such as drama and dress ups, and children from ages 2 - 3 years begin to engage in parallel play where the children become more aware of playing alongside each other instead of individually. Clements and Samara (2005, pp. 54 - 56) then illustrate how resources such as water and sand play, dough, computers and drama can be used in the classroom to promote mathematics. The section that interested me the most was the section on 'Mathematical Play' which is not to be confused with mathematics concepts that emerge from play, but actual intentional learning of mathematics through play. This section included an example of how children discussed the set up for tables and how many cups were needed for a table of ten if they each needed a cup for milk and a cup for juice (Clements & Samara 2005, pp. 56 - 57). This intentionally taught children about addition OR even multiplication. The article was concluded with Clement & Samara (2005, p. 57) emphasising that it is always the teacher's responsibility to build on observations in play to further develop a child's mathematic skills.

The literacy reading by Hall (1998, pp. 84 - 99) writes about we should allow children to be storytellers and how this creates a space for children to express themselves and provide room for literacy development. Hall begins his article by explaining how one of our biggest flaws is shutting children down when they want to speak or tell a story, perhaps because as adults, we may be annoyed or are pre-occupied. He then explains that young children's storytelling is far richer than what we, adults perceive. Children's storytelling actually hold different narrative perspectives, varying linguistic competence, and creativity and imagination. Some of the techniques that can be used to encourage children to be story tellers are listed by Hall (1998, pp. 87 - 90) are allowing children to self-record stories on a tape recorder or having an adult record those stories, and later writing them down to be compiled in a classroom storybook. Hall (1998, pp. 90 - 95 then proceeds to include three examples of children who engaged in storytelling and how the stories told were literacy rich, if only they were taken notice of. Hall includes a section (1998, pp.95 - 98) on sociodramatic play and how it is important to allow children to construct their own stories and dramas instead of forcing a specific script or story on children.

Implications

From both the readings above, it really hit me on the importance of allowing children to direct their own learning. Often times, as a pre-service teacher, I feel it is my responsibility to push lessons on children and push specific learning outcomes on children, but this takes away children's rights to their own learning. From both the readings, I have learnt that sometimes the best way to teach is just to allow children to do as they wish and construct their own learning. The best we can do as teachers is to introduce elements that will build on what children have constructed themselves or let children make the rules. An interesting quote I found in Hall's (1998, p. 86) is 'Many research studies reveal that in more formal storytelling sessions... adult rules dominate and what should be a vehicle for allowing children's voices to be heard actually acts as a mechanism for teaching children the rules of engagement in classroom behaviour' (Cazden 1988 cited in Hall 1998, p. 86). This really made me think about the times I've told children during group time that we can save their stories for another day because one specific child has talked too much or we have run out of time. This honestly made me feel like the worst teacher alive, and I now am going to make it an effort to allow children to tell their stories and direct their own learning as much as possible. 

Portfolio #5 (Resource)

1.2 Explains how young children’s literacy & numeracy learning can be socially conveyed through their behaviour, feelings or approach

Most, if not all the readings that I have done so far state the importance of forming activities that are built on the children's prior knowledge as well as their interests. Hence, I have started to pay further attention to the toddler I'm working with, (let's name him Josh), and the activities he constantly shows interest in or how he reacts to certain activities. The warm days lately mean that we get to go outside a fair bit and the first thing Jo always reaches for is the watering can which we place on an accessible table. He runs to the tap and usually fills the can up until it is way too heavy for him to lift and spills approximately three quarters of the water while he is walking to the plants we have. Josh gets really excited and happy when he sees the soil getting flooded with the water and usually walks away with a really pleased expression on his face when he is commended on his 'gardening' skills.

I decided to look up some activities as to further build on Josh's interest in using the watering can. I then came across this website with heaps of toddler activities and I especially liked this activity that involves using a watering can:

http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2012/06/watering-alphabet-garden.html

So this activity is a simple activity that involves using chalk to draw/write lines of alphabets on the floor and having the child 'water' the correct alphabets that you call out.

I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea as it would really help with Josh's alphabetic awareness/alphabetic recognition, plus it involved him using his favourite 'toy', the watering can! As mentioned in the website, it also said that this activity can help children to actually hold the watering can properly and manage the flow of water better. I thought this would be useful for Josh since he usually spills most of his water while walking around. I find that this activity can also be used with numbers, or drawings of fruit, shapes, and so many more!

The best part really is that this activity is something that Josh is positively inclined to. Josh doesn't exactly enjoy 'sit down' lessons and tends to walk away even when we sit down in a group to sing our ABC's. Josh can also learn spatial awareness where to walk when he wants to 'water' a specific alphabet. Josh also learns the ration the amount of water for each alphabet and learns if he needs 'more' or 'less' water to wash out an alphabet.

Ultimately, it really has been such a joy to see that Josh actually responds to this activity very well and learns from it. You know you must have done a tiny bit of something right when the child has learned something new and has actually enjoyed it and insists on doing it again. 

Week 9 Readings

Readings:
Numeracy:

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) & National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) 2010, Position Statement: Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings, accessed 14 October 2013 from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/psmath.pdf 

Literacy:

Christ, T. & Wang, C 2010, Bridging the Vocabulary Gap: What the research tells us about vocabulary instruction in early childhood in Young Children, pp. 84 - 91.

Why:
I found myself at the stage where I needed to start lesson planning for placement and realised that I was underprepared to implement lessons that were literacy and numeracy specific. I found both these articles very useful as they both included effective and research-proven teaching strategies that could be easily implemented in the classroom.

Summary:
The numeracy reading by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) & National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) discusses strategies that need to be taken by both educators (within the classroom) as well as institutions, program developers and policy makers (beyond the classroom) in ensuring a high quality mathematical teaching curriculum and environment in the early childhood setting (It is important to note that this article was based in America where a set curriculum is used even in the early childhood setting) (NCTM & NAEYC 2010, pp. 3 - 13). Below is a list of the main strategies stated in the article.

Strategies for Educators

Strategies for Institutions, Policy makers and Program Developers

1.  Enhance children’s natural interest in mathematics and their disposition to use it to make sense of their physical and social worlds 2. Build on children’s experience and knowledge, including their family, linguistic, cultural, and community backgrounds; their individual approaches to learning; and their informal- knowledge 3. Base mathematics curriculum and teaching practices on knowledge of young children’s cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social- emotional development 4. Use curriculum and teaching practices that strengthen children’s problem-solving and reasoning processes as well as representing, communicating, and connecting mathematical ideas 5. Ensure that the curriculum is coherent and compatible with known relationships and sequences of important mathematical ideas 6. Provide for children’s deep and sustained interaction with key mathematical ideas 7. Integrate mathematics with other activities and other activities with mathematics 8. Provide ample time, materials, and teacher support for children to engage in play, a context in which they explore and manipulate mathematical ideas with keen interest 9. Actively introduce mathematical concepts, methods, and language through a range of appropriate experiences and teaching strategies 10. Support children’s learning by thoughtfully and continually assessing all children’s mathematical knowledge, skills, and strategies.

1. Create more effective early childhood teacher preparation and continuing professional development 2. Use collaborative processes to develop well aligned systems of appropriate high-quality standards, curriculum, and assessment 3. Design institutional structures and policies that support teachers’ ongoing learning, team- work, and planning 4. Provide resources necessary to overcome the barriers to young children’s mathematical proficiency at the classroom, community, institutional, and system-wide levels.

Adapted from 'Position Statement: Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings' (NAEYC & NCTM 2010, p. 3) via http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/psmath.pdf 

Most of the strategies for educators involve building on the child's interest and prior knowledge to make mathematical concepts meaningful and for the child to be able to connect new knowledge with prior knowledge. It was also noted that it was important to understand the child's background before planning the best methods to convey new mathematical knowledge. During the lesson, the article stresses the need for mathematics to be taught across the curriculum and not just in mathematics class alone. Mathematical vocabulary can be built in any subject at all. In terms of strategies beyond the classroom, both inservice teachers and preservice teachers need to be equipped and prepared to have well knowledge of the mathematical concept as well as the best ways to implement them in classrooms. NAEYC & NCTM (2010, p. 10) note that mathematics in classrooms can only be successful if the teacher is equally positive about mathematics personally. Policy makers also need to invest in professional development of educators as well as resources and public awareness education on the important of numeracy in the early childhood setting.

The literacy reading by Christ & Wang (2010) discuss the vocabulary development in children and the importance of having effective teaching methods to constantly expand a child's vocabulary. The article begins by explaining how children develop their vocabularies. It is stated that children learn new words by being exposed to new words and through two processes, mainly 'fast mapping' and 'word consciousness' (Christ & Wang 2010, pp. 85-86). Fast mapping basically refers to the construction of a word meaning through association with prior knowledge, whereas word consciousness refers to the child's awareness of a word and his curiosity in knowing about the word (Christ & Wang 2010, p.85). The article then proceeded to include four vocabulary-teaching strategies that are:

1. Provide purposeful exposure to new words

This referred to intentionally setting an environment that is rich of new words so that children are constantly exposed to it and are able to pick up new words. This could be done through reading out stories, using appropriate terminologies and language in instructions and by use of technology and multimedia (Christ & Wang 2010, pp. 87 - 88)

2. Intentionally teach word meanings

Christ & Wang (2010, p. 88) suggest direct teaching of definitions through three methods: Asking questions, explaining definitions and extending instructions. Ask questions that encourage children to detect clues from their prior knowledge to make sense of new words. Extended instructions may refer to asking more questions about a specific word or helping the children understand the word by giving more examples of how those words fit into their surrounding worlds.

3. Teach word-learning strategies

Christ & Wang (2010, pp. 88 - 89) encourages teaching the children to use their fast-mapping skills by thinking aloud. The teacher could guide the child into associating words by pointing out clues and connecting words with different ideas.

4. Offer opportunities to use newly learned words

This refers to providing a classroom environment that has sufficient opportunities and activities that revolve around vocabulary sharpening such as categorising or word-based games.

Implications:
Both of the readings provided many teaching strategies that can be effective for teaching numeracy and literacy in the early childhood setting. I think that when lesson planning, I must be able to understand the children more and really observe and look for opportunities to build lessons surrounding that prior knowledge. I also understand that it is important to not only directly instruct the child but instead prompt the child to make connections, be it through verbal guidance or the way the classroom environment is set up. As early childhood children are at the age where they literally absorb knowledge like a sponge, it is important that we strive to constantly pose new challenges and new knowledge and new concepts to the child each day so that they can learn more and absorb more. After this reading, I headed over to placement with the intention of introducing blocks and shapes to the nursery room I'm at. I got some blocks and shape boxes and put them in front of the babies. Every time the baby touched a specific shape, I would directly tell them what shape it was. I also repeated myself a fair bit (which must have annoyed the poor child), but soon after, I realised that the older babies who were about to transition over to the toddler room begin to imitate what I was saying. They would touch a block and say 'square' or say 'triangle' every time they fit the triangle into the right shaped hole. It's amazing how quickly children learn, really. 

Portfolio #4 (Experience)

4.3 Shows recognition of your own potential prejudices & projections, noting ways you hope to overcome them 

Today while shopping for groceries at Central Market, a five year old boy (or so he says), whom I presume was the stall owner’s son sat on the stall bench top as I was looking at some strawberries. A relatively interesting conversation took place between me and the boy after.

Boy: Those strawberries are really yummy. I like them very much.

Me: Oh, really! They seem pretty big, hey?

Boy: Yes, they are a lot bigger than normal strawberries.

Me: Are they sweet?

Boy: Of course! And because they’re bigger, I think they must be a lot sweeter.

Me: Ah that sounds about right. Can you pick two plummets for me, please?

Boy: Sure. That’s 4 dollars!

Me: Excellent counting!

Boy: That was easy. Just give me 5 dollars and I can give you a dollar change.

Me: I only have 10 dollars. Is that okay with you?

Boy: *thinks for a moment* Sure, that’s 6 dollars change… right?

Me: Exactly. You really are good at math!

I was honestly very impressed with the young boy’s counting skills and even his ability to market and promote the items at such a young age. Especially after taking part in this topic, I got pretty excited that I was able to detect the literacy and numeracy skills he showed in connecting the ideas of the bigger strawberries to be even sweeter. His numeracy skills were also clearly demonstrated as he understood the size of strawberries and how he could compare the size of strawberries according to what seems like ‘normal sized’ strawberries. His counting skills were no doubt an excellent indicator of his numeracy skills.  His understanding towards the amount of change that should be given also demonstrated his understanding in how different mathematical equations can result to the same answer.

However, I initially found myself doubting his age because of his excellent numeracy and literacy skills. I assumed he was older and suddenly realised this might be my own way of prejudicing the potential children have with literacy and numeracy skills. It’s also made me think about how the more we expose children to literacy and numeracy, the better they are at it. Clearly this young boy must be good at math and words because he is constantly exposed to it when helping at his parents’ stall. It really is quite funny to me how I have never quite realised how much numeracy and literacy are practiced in our daily routines. Before this topic, I would have honestly just shrugged this experience off as something that occurs just as a routine, but this topic has really taught me to identify numeracy and literacy skills, and use our daily routines as the foundation to building up literacy and numeracy skills in children. I can’t wait to see what further this topic is about to do to my mind!