CLASSROOM SITUATION OF CHILDREN AT EARLY AGE

QUESTION

Report B: If you are currently not teaching or are working in a role where you are not working closely with children, then you may need to select Report B for Item 3. In this case it is expected that you a) reflect on previous literacy practices in early years’ classrooms b) plan a literacy unit while utilising new and innovative approaches and practices. Again – remember you need to relate the topic chosen for Item 2 (literature review), to Item 3, Report B. [An example could be – for Item 2: Literature Review you may examine the role and pedagogical practices for Phonological Awareness in the early years. Then for Item 3: Report B you will demonstrate your in-depth knowledge and practical application of Phonological Awareness within a unit plan that you prepare for Report B.]

(I have chosen oral language development as my specific focus for my lit review, now there should be evidences to show that first part and second part of assignment are matching and there are activities relating to oral language development for specific year level, specific socio- economic status) ——————– student’s

Report B: Reflecting on Previous Practice in the Early Years: Planning for Literacy Utilising New and Innovative Approaches. Word limit –  2, 600 words

There are six key components for this assessment item that need to be included in the Report and these are:

• Description of the classroom situation [year level, socio-economic status of children (SES) etc.], and the literacy practices and program you are reflecting upon – this may relate to your previous teaching situation;.
• Reflection on and describing the focus of practice that will enable a new and innovative Literacy unit plan to be developed;
• Providing a rationale (i.e. reasons why you believe this focus needs to be incorporated in teachers’ planning and include in-text referencing) and how it is an innovative change for literacy learning;
• Describing how the innovation fits with current Curriculum documents for your State for literacy in the early years;
• Providing an overview of a literacy unit plan including –
  • naming the unit ;
  • setting goals;
  • defining timelines;
  • outlining a sequence for learning including how the children will work i.e. whole class, small group, pairs etc.
  • describing resources;
  • outlining how you would expect a demonstration of literacy learning at the culmination of the unit and
  • describing ways of measuring learning outcomes (including assessment instruments).
• Presenting the unit overview in a creative way e.g. incorporating use of ICT within the unit overview; including resources you plan to use etc. etc.

Students should note that strict adherence to the word limit is needed and should be 2,600 words (+ or – 10%).

Criteria for this assessment item include:

Quality and appropriateness of:

1. Components of Report B including:

• Description of the classroom situation you are reflecting upon;
• Describing the focus for an innovative literacy unit plan;
• Providing a rationale arguing why this particular focus is needed within literacy planning while utilising academic literature;
• Describing how the innovation fits with relevant Curriculum documents for your State;
• Providing an overview of the learning activities within the unit;
• Presenting the unit overview creatively ensuring resources and examples of assessment instruments are included.

2. The Standard of the Assignment presentation including

• Suitability of the quality and presentation of the assignment following the guidelines;
• Attention to APA referencing style (in-text & reference list) where applicable;
• Attention to using standard Australian English and conventions for writing;
• Adherence to the word limit.

SOLUTION

Description of the classroom situation

Children at their early age learn the rules of languages, like mother tongue over time without any formal training or coaching.  Thus one can categorize the range of credit to the genes transferred from parents. Very beautiful gift of God is an ability to speak and express feelings in words and able to convey meanings and thoughts among all.  The environment itself plays a vital role in learning of children. Usually children tend to learn language which has been spoken by majority of the population around them. Children learn by imitating their adults. Like wise, I see your feet’s. This type of language is not used by adults. (Brown, R. (1973) Timely improvement is required in learning walking, talking, eating and all but likewise correction in language at times may be unproductive. Children are not born to speak but they are eager to interact with societal people as well.  Children are magically trained to express their feelings before they start speaking. They express feelings by showing anger, cry and other gesture as well.  The point of learning language and interaction with society is for connecting with other and gaining experiences.  Therefore language can be a combine effort of genes, environment and children ability to think and act according to situation. Deciding exact timings for developing abilities for children is a difficult question to answer. (Brown, R. (1973). Generally children start saying their first words between the ages of 12 to 18 months of age. They start using complex sentences by the age of 3 to 4 years. Therefore children in kindergarten are at perfect age for learning correct fundamentals of their language and move forward in society. Socio economic status of children plays a role in learning language and other related aspects. Condition of family in terms of money is also an issue contributing towards the learning of children at the right age and right time. Kindergarten children are at the right age to learn basics of language and develop it in the right way.

 Reflection on and describing the focus

Early age children begin their life with a formal set up of school along with a wide range of language and different level of literacy skills. (Genishi, C. Haas. A (1984). It is not a mandatory condition that socioeconomic condition of children contributing towards the language development of a child. Rich in terms of language is normally linked with the socioeconomic status of a family. Children take admission with little knowledge of vocabulary in comparison to peer classmates. The innovation needs to apply in the field of oral language development because it decides the base of further improvement in near future of children. Innovation in place of verbal language is important because in a classroom talk is considered as a potential learning tool. Children in a classroom sit together and learn values from their peer groups. The literacy rate of a country depends upon the number of literate person in the country. The older plans of literacy are not focusing on oral language development but mainly focus on written language development of children. The focus has to be given on oral language more in comparison to written language. (Genishi, C. Haas. A (1984). Point of consideration is children with strong vocabulary will be able to build a better writing language as well. Written language is a way to success but it’s an incomplete process which can be accomplished by combining oral language development as well. The teachers of kindergarten are needed to be trained in such a highly professional and friendly way providing lessons targeting on improving oral language development. Teachers are first level of contact point between children and society. Children try to copy there adults and here teachers or family members are playing role in deciding right path for children and improving their oral language as well. Teachers need to use innovative technique like playing word game which will be of great help in improving oral language along with the improvement in vocabulary for society.

Providing a rationale

Although teachers are committed towards their profession of teaching and they work hard to provide best literacy based experiences but it has been seen that oral language is ignored many times. (Genishi, C. (1998). When oral language is discussed it is an integral part of children overall literacy rate. This contributes towards development like listening, speaking, reading and more overwriting as well.  The culture of family and children influences the way and the style of selection of words by child whereas school woks for polishing of appropriate and correct usage of refined words. (Genishi, C. (1998).  Children are one of the stakeholders of this plan because they are contributing a lot towards the development, when they entering in a school with diverse pool of languages and adding gems to the learning pool of children. Therefore, the problem comes with at the level of teachers because they are facing challenges in meeting in meeting needs of each individual learner and at the same time deciding most appropriate method of oral language development for children without fail. There are many conflicts in terms of language development because it has been seen that teachers are compromising on actual oral language according to the standard formats of state. (Genishi, C. (1998).

There have been different campaigns putting up pressure on teachers for emphasizing on use of standard practices of testing children and schools are accountable for the development of year wise during the courses. Likewise the motto of a school should be in aligned with the motto that no child should be left behind. (Lu, M. (2000). The problem facing by team of teachers is they try to teach curriculum according to the class standard in case of emphasizing on oral language development. Scientific tools should be used for better level of result and jingles and songs should be designed in such a way that they help in improving their language along with fun activities leading to a high level of satisfaction for all stakeholders of the society. The final development of oral language is a root cause of all other activities hence can not be ignored. Making it a compulsion to teach levels of oral language can be a solution of this problem and can be tested the levels by using tools of testing methodology. Innovative technology usage will be of help in creating an environment for children that they tend to learn things more quickly and tend to adapt things in a long lasting way. (Lu, M. (2000).

Innovative steps for developing oral language among kindergarten children

Teachers of different schools play a vital role in developing oral language of their school children. The reason is they know the importance of oral development and it is a predictor in the development of the children .one innovative steps can be   implementation of “table talk “in the classrooms of kindergarten and pre school classrooms of children. (Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002).  Once the results are positive the teachers have become more confident in using different other methodology as well. Likewise they have introduced the “Let’s Talk” approach in the classroom, helping in facilitating interaction among children while enjoying the talk with peer groups.  Different tests can be done on the children to screen the level of children in deciding with low language skills and with high language skills. If the class of children with low language can be clubbed with the children of high level of language skills, the time given for interaction is minimum 15 minutes per day. (Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002).  One more innovative step is introducing toys or boxes having dramatic play toys. The teacher needs to show them the boxes and observe the level of discussion among them after seeing the toys. This activity will stimulate the conversation among the children. The children are eager to express their thoughts rigorously, in the early ages they tend to learn major things and want to speak about all possible things they are surrounded by. This practice can also improve the vocabulary, comprehension ability, level of information, more ideas and more over different gesturing according to place. Here the role of teacher is crucial in managing these centers successfully and with full enthusiasm. Success rate of oral language development campaign is a dependent factor on teacher, parents, children and their peer groups of children. Each stakeholder needs to play duty with full heartedly then only the success rate can be achieved.  When children are in the company of their favorite people they tend to behave more openly in comparison to an awkward group of people. This is the reason in the early ages it is necessary to provide them a warm environment so that they open up in a friendly way and accept things good for them and will be able to refine out bad things and bad company as well. (Pellegrini, A. D. (2002).

Better plan and would say a perfect plan for oral language development can be only designed by team of dedicated teachers as they know their students best and can count the outcome of any change if incorporated for the betterment of the children. At every level problems can be identified and changed as per the requirement. Therefore the responsibility should be given to teachers for making it a success. (Pellegrini, A. D. (2002).

Providing an overview of a literacy unit plan-

Design of literacy plan and related things important for making it a success story has been incorporated in it. Hence improving the overall literacy rate of the country and making a better and bright future of country by incorporating plan of oral language development in daily curriculum has been explained further.

Name of the unit: “Let’s talk” has been decided the name of this oral language development learning care centre is decided on the basic principle of promoting oral language at the age group of kindergarten children of the country. The name itself indicates the purpose and motive behind selection of this name. More you talk better is your learning.

Goals for the new unit:

Defined goals are designed for achieving basic purpose of this unit. There would be basically two main goals on which this literacy unit would be working for achieving heights of success.

1. Working for the oral language development at early ages focusing on kindergarten children irrespective of their socioeconomic conditions.
2. Reaching towards the 100 % literacy rate by incorporating this plan in each and every school addressing needs of children between the ages of 3 to 6 years.

By achieving these goals the overall impact would be a positive cycle of success among children at early age it self.

Deciding specific timeline:

Timeline needs to be decided for achieving goals as soon as possible. This is for betterment of country and children as well. We need to focus on every children residing at their home or having low skill language. Socioeconomic condition can be a causing factor but this plan will cover each and every possible child from outreach as well. The project would be implemented on pilot basis and the result will be analyzed for next 2 years by the time first batch will reach to primary school and the impact can be observed by fellow classmates and teachers as well. Once the program gets expected results it can be checked with other bunch of sample areas and the result can be compared. Once the results are satisfactory the program can be implemented throughout the country and the time line would be next 5-10 years. The outcome are objective specific, every cycle would be maintained after seeing the result and improvements will be made then and there and revised plan would be implemented again.

Working of children and the routine for them

There are many contributing factors towards the success of the Let’s Talk approach which is an oral language development plan. Here children would be working together in decided pairs sitting across the tables with a little interference of teachers. The new topics would be rotated among the tables on weekly basis therefore initiating fresh conversation as per the topic and improving vocabulary as well. (Pellegrini, A. D. (2002). Teachers need to have different pictorial presentation which will help in initiating talks and try to get model which will use different set of vocabulary of children among their pairs. These practices are of great help in getting the desired result among the children. Working model would be the best thing for children learning new things and improving vocabulary after seeing the models. The opportunity for a new habit of sharing with peer groups will be provided on routine basis in the classroom it self.  The clause of extension needs to be incorporated in the course curriculum itself. (Pellegrini, A. D. (2002).  Pairs will have a competition in classes with other table pairs and the best table award will be given to the wining contestant. This kind of competition will be a source of motivation among children and they will try to copy the best table for getting next time prize.

Resources for this plan:

Mainly teachers are playing important role in the success of this program. Initially teachers will get a proper formal training explaining about this campaign. (Walter, T. (1996).  The teachers will be trained on how to promote children for oral language development? Different strategies used for promotion of children. What all games can be used for demonstration of topics? Balance between high skill language children with low skill language children in the classroom for individual development of child. Techniques of identifying low skill children and high skill children should be taught to teachers. (Walter, T. (1996). Pairing techniques with high skill and low skill children must be known by the teachers. Different working models are important and charts in the class. Artistic and colorful classrooms with nursery rhymes written on the walls should be designed in the following ways.

Describing ways of measuring learning outcomes

The efforts would we marked on different scales where children will be getting marks based on the performances and at last on monthly basis results will be reviewed. The class of children will be divided in three groups based on the oral language. The groups are high skill children, middle level skills and low language skill children. (Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002).  Based on the groups each one is combined to form a pair and will sit across one table. This cycle will be followed for 15 days and at the end of the month 0-5 scale rating would be allotted to individual based on the class performance. (Walter, T. (1996). Class test and competitions will also be conducted for measuring the performance of the children. Table wise model will be given to children and their demonstration is rated on the scale on 0-5. This will be helping in knowing the growth chart of children. Different growth chart of every table will be marked on weekly basis by the teacher.

Conclusion:

Oral language development is important for improving literacy rate of a country. Written language is given a preference over oral language. But teachers need to change their mindset and should be trained enough to improve the oral language of children since very first day of kindergarten. Once the seed is planted well fruit has to be a healthy and tasty one among the unsuccessful plantation of other seeds.

References

Brown, R. (1973). A First Language: The Early Stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.

Genishi, C. Haas. A (1984). Language Assessment in the Early Years. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Genishi, C. (1998). Young Children’s Oral Language Development. ERIC Digest. ERIC

Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Lu, M. (2000). Language development in the early years. Eric Digest #154. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED446336)

Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002). Young bilingual children and early literacy development. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 159-178). New York: The Guilford Press.

Pellegrini, A. D. (2002). Some theoretical and methodological considerations in studying literacy in social context. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 54-65). New York: The Guilford Press.

Walter, T. (1996). Amazing English. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing.

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