Early child | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Use the virtual world appropriately. Virtual worlds provide an important environment for children to develop their creativity and learn across all domains. Just as face-to-face environments differ according to age and developmental needs, so should virtual environments. Developmentally appropriate virtual environments provide opportunities for children to engage in experiences that would not otherwise be available to them (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009; Kuh, 2014).

Watch this video, which shows elementary-school children exploring a website with galleries of instruments created by children all over the United States. How is this teacher promoting 21st-century skills in the children as they locate materials, design, and pitch levels of instruments before they design their own? Teachers who design creative learning environments maximize student participation and engagement, support learner-centered teaching, reward imaginative ideas, and encourage children’s self-evaluation. Adapting Creative Environments for Diverse Learners All children need environments that foster a sense of curiosity, wonder, and acceptance of cultural diversity and disabilities. With some simple adaptations, it is easy to create arts-based environments that support diverse learners (Deiner, 2013; Salend, 2016; Saracho, 2012). We first suggest modifications for indoor physical environments, then suggest ways to modify center activities, and finally suggest ways to modify outdoor environments to meet the needs of diverse learners. Tips for Modifying the Indoor Physical Environment to Support Diverse Learners Use the following tips to modify the indoor physical environment to ensure greater inclusivity: · Understand the child’s exceptionality so that appropriate accommodations allow for full participation and a focus on the child’s abilities. · Provide a “buddy” who can help introduce and model classroom routines and activities. · Modify the space, furniture location, noise, and light. · Adjust centers with some simple changes in materials, equipment, and careful planning. · Use technology and interactive media to provide equitable access for all children. Adaptations for Children with Physical Disabilities · Provide large spaces in which children can easily move and work. · Maintain clear pathways in the classroom for easy movement. · Position tables so that children in wheelchairs are at the same level as their peers. Adaptations for Children with Hearing Impairments · Seat children away from noisy backgrounds, such as windows, doors, and heating or cooling systems. · Encourage children to move freely so they can hear better and see the faces of their peers. · Use carpet and corkboard walls to reduce classroom noise. Adaptations for Children with Visual Impairments · Orient children to the location of materials, centers, pathways, and exits using the child’s seat as a focal point. · Familiarize children to the school environment once they are oriented to the classroom. · Designate a peer “sight guide” for special activities, such as fire drills and assemblies. · Use lighting that does not cast shadows or a glare on schoolwork and activities. · Play tactile games with blocks, toys, and materials with a variety of textures and forms. Tips for Modifying Specific Centers for Diverse Learners Be sure that all materials, question charts, and center instructions contain both text and visual icons to illustrate concepts and problems to solve. You will also want to provide audio-recorded directions so that both readers and nonreaders know what to do. Use the tips that follow to m modify center activities for greater inclusion. Art Center · Provide textured papers for children with visual impairments. · Have books from different cultures and countries that have engaging illustrations. · Offer large paper for children with small motor challenges. · Use glue sticks instead of liquid glue. Literacy and Writing Centers · Integrate art, music, or drama as a way to respond to a book, poem, or other literacy activity. · Use pencil grips, pads of paper and large-lined paper (lines may need to be of a different color or “raised” off the paper). · Have felt-tip pens instead of pencils for children with limited motor abilities. · Provide letter magnets, stamps, and stencils to encourage exploration of letters and their placement within words. Math/Science Center · Integrate the arts through content area study. · Provide a wide range of differently sized manipulatives to accommodate students with fine motor or dexterity challenges as well as to understand basic, abstract, and symbolic concepts. · Arrange activities so other students can model or assist struggling peers in a group setting. · Include a variety of measuring instruments such as rulers, tape measures, and yardsticks. Technology Center · Incorporate websites or software that can read directions or text on the screen. · Choose software that has levels of difficulty ranging from easy to hard. · Teach children to enable the computer to read back what they have written. Most word processing products have this capability built in. Tips for Modifying the Outdoor Environment to Support Diverse Learners To meet the American with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) (1990) requirement for accessibility and to provide an inclusive environment, outdoor spaces must be accessible to all children. This includes developmentally appropriate access to materials, equipment, and natural features including gardens, sand, and water (Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2012; Rivkin & Stein, 2014; Wellhousen, 2002). Consider the following tips to modify outdoor environments for greater inclusivity: · Ensure opportunities for quality social interactions by having enough resources to promote social play skills such as balls, bean bags, and play crates for imaginative play. · Consider access (e.g., all entryways should be as level as possible) and surfaces (e.g., children with mobility challenges need a smooth, stable surface to walk on and something relatively soft to fall on). · Provide challenges with differing degrees of difficulty, such as balance beams of different lengths, simple obstacle courses, or noncompetitive games. · Visit sites such as the Discovery Garden, an inclusive outdoor space located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison or the Camden Children’s Garden to explore and discover the natural world to learn about gardening for children Adaptations for Children with Physical Challenges · Position playground equipment so that children can attain maximum range of reach, motion, muscle control, and visual contact. · Place equipment on a low table at wheelchair height that is sturdy enough to withstand leaning for a child in a wheelchair. · Define areas with visible barriers, marked pathways, and widened pathways. Take special safety precautions for children with mobility devices if they have to navigate grassy or pebble surfaces. Adaptations for Children with Visual or Hearing Impairments · Mark areas with audible and visual cues (such as wind chimes or bells) or have a playmate wear a brightly colored vest to provide visual clues. · Attach Braille labels to materials to help children with low vision. Adaptations for Children with Diverse Cognitive Needs · Keep vocabulary simple, incorporate noncompetitive games, and shorten obstacle courses. · Provide additional supervision for monitoring safety on equipment, limiting the number of materials available for choice, and communicating clear boundaries to those children who require it. · Offer games that meet children’s varying needs. Games with simple rules and simple equipment can be technology based, movement oriented, or role plays. They motivate children to practice skills and concepts and optimize cooperation. For children with an intellectual disability, play games that have simple rules and use simple equipment such as tag or simple toss and throw games. You can use yarn balls, a balloon, underinflated beach balls, and scoopers for catching made from recycled bleach bottles. An obstacle course for children with hearing impairments helps them learn prepositions such as over, under, and through. A relay race for children with visual impairments during which children walk, run, and hop with a partner develops both large motor skills and cooperation with peers. All children need to learn in a carefully designed environment. That kind of environment builds trust, supports creativity and the arts and reflects national standards. Check Your Understanding 9.5 Click here to gauge your understanding of the concepts in this section. Meeting Standards for Creative Environments Professional organizations for teachers and most states have standards for high-quality classroom environments. These standards indicate that the environment should support children’s self- expression and thinking. It should also help children feel ownership in their learning by having some input into their work and its completion, assessment, and display. Figure 9.15 provides quality indicators of classroom environments, guided by national standards. It includes examples that foster positive relationships, positive learning outcomes, a positive emotional climate, and a positive physical environment. Use Figure 9.15 to discuss other examples that contribute to these key indicators of creative environments. Figure 9.15 Indicators of Creative Environments While the following four standards come from different professional organizations, each addresses the same essential elements. Read the standards to identify the common elements among them. What else would you add from this chapter? Then, choose an age level (infants–toddlers, preschool–kindergarten, first–fourth grade) for which you will create a “state-of-the-art” environment. Now, write a scenario for one of the following that includes: · All indicators for a particular age level. · Some indicators for the same age level. · No indicators for the same age level. Compare and contrast your scenario with a peer and recommend three changes based on your conversation. Be willing to add other indicators and examples from the chapter that would provide evidence for your choices. National Standards on Classroom Environments National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standard 1: Learning and Development Teachers use their understanding of young children’s characteristics, needs, and the multiple interacting influences on development and learning to create environments that are healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging for each child. Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Initial Preparation Standard 2: Learning Environments Teachers create active learning environments that promote students’ cognitive, social, and emotional growth. The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Model Core Teaching Standards Standard 3: Learning Environments Teachers Create Active Learning Environments That Promote Collaboration, Positive Social Interactions and Self-Motivation.

Conclusion

The environment has an important role in promoting creative thought and the arts. It is generally a child-centered, active place that meets children’s needs. Creative environments should be filled with numerous materials, resources, and opportunities for children to invent, solve problems, and communicate their ideas and work with a variety of audiences. They should also be places for children to work with peers collaboratively to solve open-ended, authentic problems. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSAbout Creative Environments Can I have a creative learning environment even if I am not particularly creative? In her book Why Our Schools Need the Arts, Jessica Hoffman Davis (2008) talks about how every teacher, regardless of artistic ability, needs to teach the arts. Early childhood educators cannot be an expert in all the subjects they teach, including the arts. But every early childhood teacher can capitalize on young children’s natural creativity with a variety of artistic media and observe what children are learning. Ask yourself some of these questions: In what ways do I support children’s learning and build an arts-based environment? Do I provide opportunities for children to respond in unusual ways to projects and activities? Can I identify the most creative children in my class? An arts-based environment helps children learn how to learn. You want to feel comfortable inviting children into arts-based and to model appropriate attitudes toward the arts. By respecting children’s works of art as their way of interpreting their world, promoting children’s imagination and expression through “what if” questions and activities, and encouraging children’s imaginative ideas and self-evaluation, you can surely view yourself as a creative teacher. Is recess necessary for today’s elementary classroom? According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE, 2012), daily physical activity for children of all ages is important. Recess should be at least 20 minutes per day, which meets one-third of the recommended daily 60 minutes of regular, age-appropriate physical activity including outside play when possible. Even with the endorsements of various other national associations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the International Play Association, recess has been jeopardized as important. Recess is an essential component of the total educational experience for preschoolers, kindergartners, and school-age children. It provides them with discretionary time and opportunities to engage in physical activity that develops healthy bodies and minds (NASPE, 2012); improves children’s ability to perform academically (Pellegrini, 2005); influences children’s behavior and learning; and contributes to their social development. (Barros, Silver, & Stein, 2009). Unstructured physical play is a developmentally appropriate outlet for reducing stress in children’s lives; it improves children’s attentiveness, decreases restlessness, and improves resilience (NAECS-SDE, 2002). Unstructured recess periods with choices and free play combined with structured physical activity are the best for children. Unfortunately, recess is being cut to allow for more academic time focused on test preparation. How can I ease English language learners into my classroom routines? Only when students feel comfortable with your classroom routines will optimal second-language acquisition and academic learning occur. Using Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of human needs as a foundation, you want to ensure safety, security, and a sense of belonging. To help second-language learners feel safe and secure, you might assign a personal buddy, who speaks the child’s language and follows the predictable routines in your classroom, to each newcomer. This plan creates a sense of security for all students but is especially important for students who are new to the language and culture of the school. In fact, your predictable routines may be the first stable feature some students have experienced in a long time. To help second-language learners achieve a sense of belonging, you might seat new students in the middle or front of the room, integrating them early in cooperative groups, and help them follow predictable routines. All children need environments that foster creativity and the arts in which they can plan for their own learning, identify resources and materials, and interact with one another. Chapter Summary · Explain the theoretical and research base of creative learning environments. The works of Urie Bronfenbrenner (2004), Maria Montessori (1909, 1964), Loris Malaguzzi (1995), and Lev Vygotsky (1967, 1978), among others, provide important insights into designing creative environments that engage all children. Each theorist helps us understand the impact of the physical, social, cognitive, and digital environments that together support children’s creativity growth and arts-based learning. · Plan an indoor environment for creativity and arts-based learning, Designing the indoor environment for creativity and arts-based learning begins with knowing the children, what they need to learn, and how they best can learn. Important components of indoor environments are room arrangement, a positive management system, arts-based centers, and transitions and routines. · Create an outdoor environment that supports creativity and the arts. Outdoor environments need the same attention to equipment and materials, safety, space, supervision, and storage as indoor environments. Children need an outdoor environment that holds their interest over time and challenges their imagination. · Identify teachers’ roles in providing an inviting, creative learning environment. Teachers intentionally plan environments so that children can wonder, be curious, and make connections to possibilities in order to develop their creativity. Research shows that children’s creative and critical thinking skills develop early and provide the foundation for their later learning and development across all domains and across all content areas. · Adapt the learning environment to meet the needs of each child. With some simple adjustments to the indoor and outdoor environments, it is easy to adapt arts-based and creative environments to support the needs of diverse learners.

Chapter Quiz 9:

Click here to gauge your understanding of the concepts in this chapter. Discuss: Perspectives on Creative Environments