Activity-Based Curriculum - A Planning Approach 4
Dr. Susan H. Turben, Ph.D.
John Carroll University
An Example of Child-Centered Activity Planning for Integrated Language and Literacy Learning
Let’s Explore…
- Generate a list of potential themes and/or topics you think appropriate for use with children in the following age ranges 18-24 months, 30 months through age 3, 4- and 5-year-olds. Select your top two ideas for each age range and tell why you think they are especially relevant.
- Using the way to organize time suggested in this chapter, develop a half-day plan around a topic of your choice. List the children’s literature you would include and briefly describe the key activities you would use. Indicate the skills specific to language and literacy you would observe and develop.
- Discuss the process of planning for integrated language and literacy learning with one or two veterans early childhood teachers. Solicit from them what they see as strengths.
Resources
Literature to browse & read…
- Seeds and More Seeds (Millicent Seisam)
- Frog & Toad Together (Arnold Lobel)
- The Apricot ABC (mishka Miles)
- A Crack in the Pavement (Ruth Howell)
- The Popcorn Book (Tomie de Paola)
- The Carrot Seed (Ruth Kraus)
- The Little Red Hen (Paul Galdone)
- Growing Vegetable Soup (L. Enlert)
- The Tiny Seed (Eric Cane)
- The Amazing Seed (Ross E. Hutchins)
- Seeds and WEEDS (JOAN WESTLEY)
Poems to say…
- “The Little Plant” (Kate Brown)
- “The Seed” (Aeleen Fisher)
- “Seeds (Waiter de la Mare) in Poems to Grow on, compiled by Jean McKee Thompson)
Films & Videos to watch…
- Growing, Growing (Churchill Films, 1987)
- Plants Are Different & Alike (Coronet/MTI Film & Video, 1990)
Songs to sing…
- The Garden Song (Ario Guthrie)
- Edelweiss
- Cats & Beans & Barley Grow
- The Paw, Paw Patch
Fingerplays to do…
The Apple Tree
My Garden
