ECE 117 – Planning an Integrated Programme
Geena Soh Wei Leng
S 9017292 A
Asian International College
PDCE 16 P1
Ms. Adeline Yip
1st August 2018
Introduction and Rationale for using an Integrated Curriculum Approach
Montessori (1949), “If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future” (p. 4). Education in the 21st century must move along with times to keep up with the changes in a fast-paced world.
Using an integrated curriculum such as thematic approach, can aid in spicing up children’s learning experiences and spur educators to conduct lessons differently from how they were traditionally taught. Integrated curriculum teaches learners how to view a situation in a big picture instead of fragmented portions and allow for the building of interdisciplinary life skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, innovation and problem-solving skills (Drake, 2000). With the merging of all the learning areas, integrated curriculum also provides children with plenty and valuable communication opportunities with their family, teachers, peers and community (Varun, 2014).
Importance and application of Integrated curriculum and DAP
Research done by Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner (as cited in Varun,2014) believes that integrated approach is the way of teaching and learning as learning is never isolated. Every subject and every learning domains interlink or overlaps in a way or another. Just like the learning of language. To fully grasp and develop language, it requires us to interact with people and make sense out of environment around us. Hence, it is essential that educators has a set of guidelines to help ensure that each learning domain of a child does not fall under radar. Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) guidelines from National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), serves as an essential guideline when planning curriculum for young children based on 12 principles of child development. These principles require the educators to first understand their child, considering their strengths and weaknesses, and to think out of the box when planning for their lessons. It also helps reminds us that we should respect the learning pace of each child and set our expectations based on age appropriateness. Besides that, DAP also highlights crucial factors such as the spectrum of learners, cultural and family background and the community each child is in for educators to consider during their planning process (Kostelnik, Soderman & Whiren, 2010).
Concept Web
For details on the concept web, please refer to Appendix A.
Subject Web
For details on the subject web, please refer to Appendix B.
Lesson Plan
Theme: All about my Body: My Beating Heart Subject : Numeracy
Age of children: 6 Years Old (K2) Number of children: 24
Date of lesson: 1st August 2018 Time/Duration of lesson: 10am (45mins)
Prior knowledge:
• Rote counting of 1 to 100 has been taught.
• Children has been taught to locate their pulse on their wrists in Discovery of the World lesson.
Objective(s):
• To reinforce the skill of communication and working in a team.
• To reinforce the skill of observation and data handling such as collecting, recording and charting data.
Materials/Resources:
• White robes x12
• A5 recording sheet
• Pencils
• Marker
• Mahjong Papers
• Projector
• Laptop
• Youtube video : The Heart Song by The Kiboomers
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KeUR5oBDQU)
• Microphone x2
Lesson Procedure:
Tune in/Introduction (5mins)
• Children will be gathered to do a short 30 seconds visualisation, pretending that they are Junior doctors in a hospital, waiting to learn how to measure and record heart rates.
• Next, teacher explains the rules and how the recording sheet works.
• As a refresher, teacher will asked the Junior doctors on where to locate the pulse for their hearts.
Main Activity (15mins for each group) – Small group activity
• Group A will dressed in the white robes and start first while group B will observe. Teacher will announced for resting heart beats to be measure first and go through these for 4 rounds.
• Then teacher will then play a song ‘The Heart Song’ for 1 child from each team to dance along and do a series of movement action.
• Teams will proceed to record their team mates heart rate and then announce for a switch of team mate to have their heart beat recorded after the music stops. This procedure will go on for 4 rounds.
• Once everyone in Group A has their chance, Group B switches and go through the same procedure.
Closure (10 mins) – Large group activity
• Children will be gathered in front of the whiteboard for tabulating of collected data on mah-jong paper.
• Once charting is done, Children will be asked to compare and discussed on the difference in data between the resting heart beat and heart beat after work out . Teacher will direct children to observe if there are any patterns or similarities between each child.
Follow-up activity (15 minutes)
• Children are gathered in a big circle. This time, the teacher will pass the microphone down the circle for each child to share what they learned or enjoyed most about the last activity and conclude the session with “Why do you think your heart beats faster after the work out?”.
Evaluation
Children appeared to have fun and took their roles as doctors seriously. With the briefing done at the start of the session, the children seemed to have a better idea of what is expected for the activity and had a better sense of direction. The most evident of the learning outcome from this activity was that children were more aware of their body and commented how different their heart beat was before and after the dance.
However, to complete this activity under 45 minutes is a tad rush with a big group of 24 children. I was not able to focus more on data handling portion and was not able to carry out my closure. I felt that the objective to teach children to read the data off the chart needed more time exposure. To improve the lesson and to obtain optimum results, I would carry out this lesson twice and focus with one big group of 12 children at a time. As children learns well with repetition, conducting the lesson a second time with a different group would greatly reinforce the understanding of what is taught.
Knowledge on child’s development and theories
Play is a valuable key for developing self-regulation as well as for promoting language, cognition, and social competence (NAEYC, 2009 & MOE, 2013). Vygotsky (as cited in McLeod, 2014) believes that children are naturally curious and are constantly making connections with things they encounter along the way. Hence, I decided to create a make-believe scenario and role for the children to be immersed into the character with some props while conducting the group activity.
Learning through play has seen many benefits in a child’s learning journey. Vygotsky (cited in Mcleod, 2014) believes through social interactions, children not only become more socially competent, it helps to facilitate cognitive thinking too. Besides, playing together with teachers and peers gives children opportunity to model behaviours and learn from one another.
Roles of the teacher in Children’s learning.
As an educator, the utmost important role is to ensure that children are given the right environment to learn and are protected of all their rights to equal opportunities in class. Before facilitating begins, an educator should always first observe the dynamics of the students and then plan her various roles appropriately. Bruner (as cited in McLeod, 2008) believes that the level of knowledge constructed in a child is based on the extensiveness of how the information and explanation are given through hands on or exposure appropriately.
Apart from that, it is very crucial for an educator to be knowledgeable in pedagogy and theories as it reflects how well an educator understanding the development and needs of children. It will affect the way a teacher plans her lesson and does her observation of the child accurately.
Importance of Parents and Community’s involvement
To ensure a successful implementation of integrated curriculum, partnership with parents and with the community are very important. Bronfenbrenner (1979) believes that a child’s development throughout the lifespan does not develop in isolation without interacting with its environment and people around them. Having parental involvement model exemplary attitudes for the child to understand and see the positivity of schooling and education. Likewise, for community involvement, it enables children that they are interrelated and that one cannot do without the other. These will allow children to feel safe and secure about their environment, contributing to stable and progressive development.
Conclusion
Understanding that each child is unique and that they learn differently, made us realised that a ‘one size fits all’ teaching approach is no longer appropriate in our current context especially in a fast-changing world that place equal emphasis on cognitive abilities as well as interdisciplinary skills. As children learns by combining their learning experiences, it is essential for us educators to adopt an integrated approach that can help them make connections to the world and develop holistically.
(Word Count 1678)
Appendix A: Concept Web
Appendix B: Subject Web
References
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nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Drake, S.M. (2000) Integrated curriculum: overview. Retrieved from http://www.as
cd.org/publications/curriculum-handbook/425/chapters/Overview.aspx
Kostelnik, M. J., Soderman,A. K. & Whiren, A.P. (2010) Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum: Best Practices in Early Childhood Education (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Bruner. Retrieved November 28,2016, from www.simply
psychology.org/bruner.html
McLeod, S. A. (2014). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved November 28, 2016 from www.simpl
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Ministry of Education, Republic of Singapore. (2013). Nurturing Early Learners – A
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Montessori, M. (1949). The absorbent mind. Adyar – Madras – India: Theosophical Publishing House. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from https://ia801404.us.archive. org/0/items/ absorbentmind031961mbp/absorbentmind031961mbp.pdf
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Developmentally
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SDAP.pdf
Varun, A. (2014). Thematic approach for effective communication in ECCE.
International Journal of Education and Psychological Research, 3(3), 49-51.
http://ijepr.org/doc/V3_Is3_Oct14/ij10.pdf