The occurrence of obesity prevalence in children, in the U S, can be associated with the removal of physical education courses in public school curriculum. These courses were serving a lot in reducing the numbers of children suffering from obesity and obesity related illnesses.
This was so because the students were passed through a curriculum that worked out their mental and body strength. They were able to burn the extra calories that would have other wise accumulated in the body causing obesity. Currently the students are not involved in any physical course. As a result, there is a high rate of obesity prevalence in children, in America. It is estimated that of all children under the age of 12 in America 30% are obese. This is an alarming signal to the authority concerned (Axelrod, Cooper & Warriner, 2008).
Association between a growing obesity problem, and the exclusion of physical education in unrestricted schools
There is a correlation between growing obesity problem and the elimination of physical education in schools. In that the moment physical education courses were eliminated in public schools curriculum, cases of obesity started being identified just a year later. This was because this curriculum was helping students to deal with obesity related-illnesses.
Despite the fact, that the student’s diet was a healthy one, the exercises during physical education courses prevented them from developing obesity. Elimination of the physical education courses resulted in the fanning of obesity prevalence, which led to, more problems and difficult situations (Axelrod, Cooper & Warriner, 2008).
It is thus necessary for public schools to restore physical education courses in the curriculum. Exercises play a vital role in ensuring the condition of obesity and obesity related-illnesses are taken care of. The condition of obesity comes with a lot of complications in life. The obese individuals do have a lot of hard time to adapt to their surrounding. It has been evident that such individuals do have low-self esteem.
To eliminate this problem, physical education courses should be restored back in the curriculum. Thus in my research I have looked in to the reasons that make obesity growing a problem among children and teenagers in America. I have also researched on how this problem affects the medical profession. I have as well researched on the impact the high cost of insurance has on the obese people (Ling, 2005).
Obesity is a “growing” predicament among children and teenagers in America
Obesity is a medical condition that bears the characteristics of the body storing a lot of fats (Lee, 2007). This condition is familiar with children and youths in America. Some people would want to be happy bearing this condition, arguing that it makes them similar to other people.
Despite this, they should be aware that obesity leads to serious health problems such as diabetes, arthritis and cardiac complications. The number of obese youth has doubled since 1982, and this has grown to be a subject of distress to the administration, family members and the community at large.
When considering the subject of body metabolism, it has been evident scientifically that the difference in genes controlling appetite and the genes concerned with body metabolism leads to obesity. Individuals with this condition tend to consume more calories than their body needs. So the extra calories get converted to fats which lead to an individual getting obsessed. This mainly is not an individual making as the body has metabolic complications.
However, it is one’s duty to make sure they control their eating habits. On the other perspective, some argue that this is a weakness on the side of medical personnel. In that when children are born, the necessary tests should be conducted to determine the gene behavior of the child. This is done from the time the child is born to through out its early growth and development. This will enable the child to be trained on eating habits to avoid the occurrence of obesity.
Investigation has shown that obesity is mainly caused by poor dieting habits by most individuals. Most teenagers tend to consume food that propels the occurrence of obesity in the body. It has also been evident that most parents feed their children on ‘lame’ diet. With this, it means the children are fed on food that encourages the occurrence of obesity. The problem of obesity should not only be referred on food as the main cause.
It is noteworthy that failure or inadequate exercising is a main contributor to the problem of obese in children and youth, in America. In other context, this is viewed differently in that some argue that what the parents feed their children on depends mainly on the income of that family. If a family gets low income, it will consume the foods that it can afford. Thus, the government should employ measures to help such poor families with the dietary issues so as to curb this problem.
It is also noteworthy that the human factor fanning the increase in obesity incidences among the youth and children is the ignorance possessed by the parents of these children and youth. This comes about in that the youth lack enthusiasm on how to address their dietary concerns through proper feeding and exercising.
The parent’s ignorance also flows down to the children as the children are fed on food that culminates in obesity. There are people who contradict this view maintaining that it is not the parent to blame as the parents might be reporting to work on a daily basis. Thus, the people assigned to take care of these children during the day are to blame for not feeding them with healthy foods. These include the day cares and nannies. The nutritionally unbalanced foods include snacks and fast foods.
Inadequate subjects on nutrition in the American education system are a contributor to obesity occurrence. The American education system does not covered health lessons to the lower educational level. Health is well taken care of from college level of education.
By this time, the student will have already developed obesity so the knowledge at that time will not be of importance to personal health. Many academic analysts do differ with this view. They argue that it is not the education sector that should bear this blame. They acknowledge that the students at a lower level of education are not ready to be taught complex dietary syllabus. They affirm that the responsibilities lie with the parents and guardians (Deutsch, 2000).
The demands on the therapeutic profession
The high rate of obesity has a set of new demand on the medical profession. This means that the medical profession has under gone a series of changes so as to accommodate the high number of obese cases reporting at the hospital. Nurses are the most affected medical practitioners as a result of high cases of obese cases in hospitals.
This has resulted to the modification of the nursing services in most hospitals. Most hospitals are equipped with facilities that can handle patient weighing less than 350 pounds. Most obese patients weigh more than 350 pounds which exceeds the limit. The hospitals have to invest in new facilities that suit the obese patients. These might include larger blood pressure measuring arm cuffs and wider examination tables.
The techniques of medication are also altered in that simple procedures that usually take few minutes on normal patients, take longer on obese patients. Such a procedure can include measuring the patient’s heart rate. This requires for patience by the medical practitioners.
The weight measuring scales normally go up to 350 pounds, for obese patients they will require bariatric scale so as to get the accurate reading. People with obese have mobility problems thus, when admitted in hospital they result in additional care like, turning them after sometime, taking them to washrooms, and sometimes bathing them. This additional care does give the medical practitioners a hard to accomplish.
Obese people also do have a lot of complications. For example obese people do have skin folds a factor that adds more care when treating them. Incase of a wound under a skin fold, it takes long than usual to heal as they are susceptible to bacterial infection.
They lack essential nutrients and minerals in their bodies, thus incase of admission to a health facility they take longer than usual to recover. It is evident that the other patients might end up not using those facilities. Although it is not a point of alarm, it is evident that this can be avoided by reducing incidences of obese.
There are other individuals who view the above factors contrary to this perspective. They do not consider this as demands to the medical practitioners. They view it as normal medical practice, as the obese are patients like any other. They should not be discriminated that they are bringing additional work in medical facilities. The medical practitioners should thus perform their normal duties without complains.
They argue that the obese need care as normal patients and not as “obese patients”. The obese patients ought not to be treated as an added trouble to the therapeutic profession. This is a true; however, the outstanding fact is that the cases of obese should be reduced. In this connection, I suggest that the public schools should restore physical courses back to the curriculum. This is the key solution to the reduction of the cases of obese among American children and teenagers. It might involve dietary measures, as well (Ganz, et al, 2006).
Unaffordable insurance cover
The insurance cover also does affect the obese people negatively, as the cost has risen in recent years. The obese citizens of America may find it hard to obtain a health insurance cover under normal circumstances. This is because of the possibility of pre-existing health complications (Doak, Visscher, Renders and Seidell, 2006).
The obese patients with cardiovascular diseases and those that are diabetic could end up paying from their own pockets for various medical procedures or medication. Without a complete restrategization of the health care system, millions of Americans will end up not being to treat their disorders. This could affect their health and lifestyle negatively.
The economist, however, differ saying that some insurance agencies have started regulating their rates and policies to accommodate the obese people. This they claim is evident by CIGNA health care, an associate of Georgia Inc earlier in 2005 announced medical management programmes that will enable its members to trim down and thus manage to deal with obesity related illnesses.
Although this is a way to reduce obesity related-illnesses, it does not help the already obsessed. It thus comes back to the Idea of introducing physical education courses in public school curriculum. These courses will help the students to deal with obesity related illnesses when still at a tender age (Barry, 2005).
Healthier foods to be prepared in schools
It is a fact that healthier foods do help in curbing the problem of obesity as good eating habits results in proper nutrition. Proper and balanced diet do provide the body with the required nutrients and minerals at the required amount (Lobstein, Baur and Uauy, 2004). This is the initial step that should be addressed but the main remedy is accessibility to exercises by the students.
It is indisputable that not all students will engage in exercises, upon their own initiation. A majority of students need constant supervision to perform physical exercises. The only place the get this constant supervision to perform the exercises is in school during the physical education lesson.
The class room setting does set the students mind to realize the essence of any advice being given by the teacher. It motivates them to perform as instructed by the teacher. The removal of the physical education courses from the public school curriculum was a major step in fanning the incidences of obesity among children of school going age in America (Lobstein et al., 2004).
It is a fact that although healthy foods do regulate the development of obesity in an individual, exercises are the ultimate remedy to this vice. An attempt to restore physical education courses to the curriculum will manage the rise of obesity related-illnesses. The advocation for the restoration of the physical education courses in public schools is a major step towards the realization of an obesity free society (Vaznaugh, 2010).
Conclusion
It is noteworthy that the food to be prepared for the students should be a balanced diet. This food should provide the student with the required nutrients to help deal with obesity related-illnesses. The students should also be taught good eating lifestyles. Since those with appetite gene and metabolism gene difference should protect themselves from obesity and obesity related illnesses (Lobstein, Baur and Uauy, 2004).
Although good eating habits and nutritious food consumption are of major concern, the most reliable aspect of obesity control is performing exercises. Thus, the restoration of the physical education in public school curriculum is an essential thing. The presence of these courses in the public school curriculum will help in a major way the fight against obesity and obesity related illnesses. The issue of diet can be so expensive for some families, but exercises are affordable as it only concerns the body and mind.
References
Axelrod, R. B., Cooper, C. R. & Warriner, A. M. (2008). Reading Critically, Writing Well: A Reader and Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Barry, T. (2005). Insurance companies respond to obesity cost. Atlanta. Atlanta business chronicle. Web.
Deutsch, C. (2000). Common cause: School health & school reform. Educational Leadership. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ganz, D, Chang, J, Roth, C, Guan, M, Kamberg,C, Niu, F, Reuben, D, Shekelle, P, Wenger & N, Maclean, C. (2006) Quality of osteoarthritis care for community- dwelling older adults, Arthritis Care & Research.
Doak, C. Visscher, T. Renders, C. and Seidell, J. (2006). The prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: a review of interventions and programmes. Obesity Reviews, 7: 111–136.
Lee, W. (2007). An overview of pediatric obesity. Pediatric Diabetes, 8: 76–87.
Lobstein, T., Baur, L. and Uauy, R. (2004). Obesity in children and young people: a crisis in public health. Obesity Reviews, 5: 4–85.
Ling, P. (2005). Focus on obesity research. New York: Nova Publishers.
Vaznaugh, S. (2010)‘Competitive’ Food and Beverage Policies: Are They Influencing Childhood Overweight Trends? Health Affairs: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0745.
Learning to read and compose is vital to a child’s accomplishments in school and later on, in life. One of the best predictors of if a progeny will function competently in school and proceed on to assist dynamically in our progressively literate humanity is the grade to which the progeny progresses in reading and writing. Although reading and composing adeptness extend to evolve all through the lifetime of individuals, the early childhood years-from birth through age 7 is the most significant time period for literacy development. The assertion, for the curriculum, constitutes a set of values & recommendations for educating practices and public policymaking. The prime reason for this place declaration is to supply guidance to educators of juvenile young children in schools and early childhood programs (including progeny care hubs, preschools, and family progeny care homes) assisting young children from birth through age 8. By and large, the values and practices proposed here furthermore will be of interest to any mature individuals who are in a place to leverage a juvenile child’s continuous learning and overall development. Teachers work in schools or programs regulated by administrative principles as well as access to resources. Therefore the minor addressees for this place declaration are school principals and program managers whose functions are critical in setting up a supportive environment for sound, developmentally befitting educating practices; and principle manufacturers whose conclusions work out if ample assets are accessible for high-quality early childhood education.
Brief Outline: Goals and Assessment
A large deal is distinguished about how juvenile young children discover to read and compose and how they can be assisted in the direction of literacy throughout the first 5 years of life. A large deal is known, furthermore about how to help young children once compulsory schooling starts, if in kindergarten or the prime grades. Based on a methodical reconsideration of the study, this article reflects the firm promise of two foremost expert associations to the aim of assisting young children to discover to read well sufficient by the end of second grade in order that they can read to discover in all curriculum areas.
Initially, the problem statements as stated below; summarize the current issues that are the thrust for this stance in education development; then it reviews what is acknowledged from research on young children’s literacy development. This research as well as the collective wisdom and experience of previous researchers, academicians and there, help build a statement of issues. The stance then concludes with recommendations for teaching policies and practices.
Goals
It is absolutely crucial and pressing to educate young children to read and compose competently, endowing them to accomplish today’s high measures of literacy.
Although the U.S. relishes the largest literacy rate in its annals, humanity now anticipates effectively every individual in the community to function after the smallest measures of literacy. Today the delineation of rudimentary skill in literacy calls for an equitably high benchmark of reading understanding and analysis. The major cause is that the literacy obligations of most occupations have expanded considerably and are anticipated to boost further in the future. Communications that in the past were verbal (by telephone or in-person) now demand reading and writing messages dispatched by electrical devices posted letters, Internet, or facsimile as well as publish documents.
With the expanding variety of juvenile young children in our programs and schools, educating today has become more demanding.
Experienced educators all through the U.S. report that the young children they educate today are more varied in their backgrounds, knowledge, and adeptness than were those they educated in the past. Kindergarten categories now encompass young children who have been in assembly backgrounds for 3 or 4 years as well as young children who are taking part for the first time in a coordinated early childhood program. Classes encompass both young children with recognized disabilities and young children with outstanding adeptness, young children who are currently unaligned readers and young children who are just starting to come by some rudimentary literacy information and skills. Children in the assembly may talk distinct dialects at varying grades of proficiency. Because of these one-by-one and experiential variations, it is widespread to find inside a kindergarten school room a 5-year variety in children’s literacy-related abilities and functioning (Riley, 1996). What this means is that some kindergartners may have abilities attribute of the usual 3-year-old, while other ones might be functioning at the grade of the usual 8-year-old. Diversity is to be anticipated and adopted, but it can be swamping when educators are anticipated to make consistent conclusions for all, with no account taken of the primary variety in adeptness, knowledge, concerns, and personalities of one-by-one children.
Among numerous early childhood educators, a maturation outlook of juvenile children’s development perseveres regardless of many clues to the contrary.
A readiness outlook of reading development supposes that there is an exact time in the early childhood years when the education of reading should begin. It furthermore supposes that personal and neurological maturation solely arrange the progeny to take benefit of direction in reading and writing. The readiness viewpoint suggests that until young children come to a certain phase of maturity all disclosure to reading and composing, except possibly being read tales, is a waste of time or even possibly harmful. Experiences all through the early childhood years, birth through age 8, sway the development of literacy. This knowledge certainly combines with characteristics of one-by-one young children to work out the grade of literacy abilities a progeny finally achieves. Failing to give young children literacy knowledge until they are school-age can harshly limit the reading and composing grades they finally attain.
Early recognition of the beginnings of literacy acquisition too often has produced in the use of unsuitable educating practices matched to older young children or mature individuals possibly but ineffective with young children in preschool, kindergarten, and the second or third grades.
Teaching practices affiliated with outdated outlooks of literacy advancements and discovering ideas are still common in numerous classrooms. Such practices encompass comprehensive whole-group direction and intensive drill and perform on isolated abilities for assemblies or individuals. These practices, not especially productive for primary-grade young children, are even less apt and productive with nursery and kindergarten children. Young children particularly need to be committed to the knowledge that makes learned content significant and constructs on former learning. It is crucial for all young children to have literacy knowledge in schools and early childhood programs. Such access is even more critical for young children with restricted dwelling knowledge in literacy. However, this school knowledge should educate the very broad variety of dialect and literacy information and abilities to supply the solid base on which high grades of reading and composing finally depend.
Current principles and resources are insufficient in double-checking that preschool and prime educators are trained to support the literacy advancements of all young children, especially the second graders, a task needing powerful groundwork and ongoing expert development.
Assessment
For educators of young children junior to kindergarten age in the United States, no consistent groundwork obligations or licensure measures exist. In detail, a high-school diploma is the largest grade of learning needed to be a progeny care educator in most states. Moreover, wages in progeny care and preschool programs are too reduced to appeal or keep better-trained staff. Even in the prime degrees, for which declared educators are needed, numerous states do not offer focused early childhood certification, which means numerous educators are not amply arranged to educate reading and composing to juvenile children. All educators of juvenile young children need good, foundational information in dialect acquisition, encompassing second-language discovering, the methods of reading and composing, early literacy development, and knowledge and educating practices assisting to optimal development. Resources furthermore are insufficient to double-check educators extending get access to expert learning so they can stay present in the area or can arrange to educate a distinct age range if they are reassigned.
Developing Coursework
Children make their initial critical steps in the direction of discovering to read and compose very early in life. Long before they can display reading and composing output abilities, they start to come by some rudimentary understandings of the notions about literacy and its functions. Children discover to use emblems, blending their oral dialect, images, publish, and play into a logical blended intermediate and conceiving and broadcasting meanings in many ways. From their primary knowledge and interactions with mature individuals, young children start to read phrases, processing letter-sound relatives and obtaining considerable information about the alphabetic system.
But the proficiency to read and compose does not evolve routinely, without very careful designing and instruction. Children need normal and hardworking interactions with print. Specific adeptness needed for reading and composing arrives from direct knowledge with oral and in writing language. The early years of experience which start from the first-grade levels begin to characterize the assumptions and anticipations about growing literacy and give young children the motivation to work in the direction of discovering, reading and writing as core development for their future. From this knowledge young children discover that reading and composing are precious devices that will help them do numerous things in life.
Early Development
On consideration of diversity in children’s oral & writing dialect, knowledge happens in the starting years (Cruickshank, 2006). In indwelling and progeny care positions, young children meet numerous distinct assets and kinds and qualifications of support for early reading and composing (Apple, 1990). Some young children may have got access to a variety of composing and reading components, while other ones may not; few young kids will feel their parents composing and reading often, other ones only occasionally; some young children obtain direct direction, while other ones obtain much more casual assistance.
What does it mean that no one educating procedure or approach is expected to be the most productive for all young children (Strickland, 1994). Rather, good educators convey into play a kind of educating scheme that can encompass the large diversity of young children in schools. Excellent direction builds on what young children currently understand and can do, and presents information, abilities, and dispositions for long-life learning. Children require discovering not only the mechanical abilities of reading and composing but furthermore how to use these devices to better their conceiving and reasoning (Neuman, in press).
The most significant undertaking for the construction of these understandings and abilities absolutely crucial for reading achievement seems to be reading aloud to young children (Bus, Van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Wells, 1985). High-quality publication reading happens when young children seem strongly sensed protected (Bus & Van IJzendoorn, 1995; Bus et al., 1997) and are hardworking candidates in reading (Whitehurst et al., 1994). Inquiring predictive and analytic inquiries in small-group backgrounds seem to sway children’s language and understanding of tales (Karweit & Wasik, 1996). Children may converse about the images, retell the article, talk about their very well-liked activities, and demand multiple readings. It is the converse that sounds like the storybook reading that presents it power, assisting young children to connect what is in the article and their own inhabits (Dickinson & Smith, 1994; Snow, Tabors, Nicholson, & Kurland, 1995). Snow (1991) has recounted these kinds of dialogues as “decontextualized language” in which educators may induce higher grade conceiving by going knowledge in tales from what the young children may glimpse in front of them in order to assure that what they can perceive or imagine.
A centered aim throughout this preschool time is to increase children’s exposure to and notions about publishing (Clay, 1979, 1991; Hall, 1989; Stanovich & West, 1989; Teale, 1984). Some educators use Big Books to help young children differentiate numerous publish characteristics, encompassing the detail that publishes (rather than pictures) carries the significance of the article that the cords of notes between spaces are phrases and in publish correspond to an oral type and that reading processes from left to right and peak to bottom. In the course of reading tales, educators may illustrate these characteristics by pointing to one-by-one phrases, administering children’s vigilance to where to start reading and assisting young children to identify note forms and sounds. Some investigators (Adams, 1990; Roberts, in press) have proposed that the tool to these critical notions, for example evolving phrase perception, may reside in these representations of how publishing works.
Children furthermore need more opportunities to perform what they’ve acquired about published readings with their gazes and on their own. Studies propose that the personal placement of the schoolroom can encourage time with publications (Morrow & Weinstein, 1986; Neuman & Roskos, 1997). A key locality is the schoolroom library-a assemblage of appealing tales and informational books-that presents young children with direct access to books. Regular checkouts to the school and public library and library business card registration double-check that children’s collections stay constantly revised and may help young children evolve the custom of reading as long-life learning. In a relaxed library setting children, habitually, will pretend to read, utilizing visual cues to recall the phrases of their very well-liked stories. Although investigations have shown that these imaginative measurements are just that (Ehri & Sweet, 1991), such visual measurements may illustrate considerable information about the international characteristics of reading and its purposes.
Storybooks are one of the sources of exposing young children to written language. Children discover much about reading from the marks, indications, and other types of publications they glimpse around (McGee, Lomax, & Head, 1988; Neuman & Roskos, 1993). Highly evident published marks on things, indications, and bulletin planks in school rooms illustrate the functional values of various writings. In an environment where publications are expansive, young children incorporate literacy into their impressive plays (Morrow, 1990; Neuman & Roskos, 1997; Vukelich, 1994), utilizing these connected devices to enhance the drama and realism of the imaginative situation. This knowledge alone acquired through playful means, may not prepare most young kids to become good readers. Rather, they discover young children to a kind of published knowledge and the methods of reading for genuine purposes.
For young children whose prime dialect is other than English, investigations have shown that a powerful cornerstone in a first dialect encourages school accomplishment in a second dialect (Cummins, 1979). In this esteem, oral and in writing dialect knowledge should be considered as an additive method, double-checking that young children are adept to sustain their dwelling dialect while furthermore discovering to talk and read English (Wong Fillmore, 1991). Including non-English components and sources to the span likely can help to prop up to children’s first dialect while young children come by oral skill in English.
A basic insight evolved in children’s young years through direction is the alphabetic standard, the comprehending that there is a methodical connection between notes and noise (Adams, 1990). The study of Gibson and Levin (1975), shows that the forms of notes are wise by, differentiating one feature from another by its kind of spatial features. Teachers usually engage young children in matching note forms, assisting them to differentiate a number of notes visually. Alphabet publications and letter mystifications, in which young children can glimpse and contrast notes, maybe a key to effective and very easy learning.
Children come by employed information of the alphabetic scheme not only via reading but more via writing. A classic study by Read (1971) discovered that even without prescribed spelling direction, preschoolers use their exact information of phonological relatives to magic charm words. Devised spelling (or phonic spelling) mentions beginners’ use of the emblems they aid with the noise they discover in the phrases they desire to write. For demonstration, a progeny may primarily compose b or bk for the phrase bike, to be pursued by more conventionalized types subsequently.
Classrooms that supply young children with normal possibilities to articulate themselves theoretically, without feeling too guarded for correct spelling and correct handwriting, furthermore help young children realize that composing has a genuine reason (Dyson, 1988; Graves, 1983; Sulzby, 1985). Teachers can coordinate positions that both illustrate the composing method and get young children dynamically engaged in it. Some educators assist as scribes and help young children compose down their concepts, holding in the brain the check between young children moving it themselves and inquiring for help. In the starting, these goods expected focus images with a couple of endeavors at composing notes or words. With support, young children start to mark their images, notify tales, and try to compose tales about the images they have drawn. Such novice composing undertaking drives the significant note that composting is not just handwriting practice-children are utilizing their own phrases to create a note to share it with others.
Thus the image that appears from a study in these first years of children’s reading and composing is one that emphasizes broad exposure to publications and to evolving notions about its types and functions. Classrooms topped up with publish, dialect and literacy play, storybook reading, and composing permit young children to know-how the delight and power affiliated with reading and composing while mastering rudimentary notions about publishing that study has shown are powerful predictors of achievement.
Teaching and Assessment
Instruction takes a further settled environment as young children move into the elementary levels of schooling. It is almost certain at this stage that students that young children will obtain nothing less than some direction from commercially released products, like a basal or publications anthology series.
Although the study has apparently established that no one procedure is better for all young children (Bond & Dykstra, 1967; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998), advances that favor some kind of methodical cipher direction along with significant attached reading report children’s better advancement in reading. Instruction should aim to educate the significant letter-sound connections, which one time-wise are performed through having numerous possibilities to read. Most expected these study outcomes are an affirmative outcome of the Matthew Effect, the rich-get-richer consequences that are embedded in such instruction; that is, young children who come by alphabetic cipher abilities start to identify numerous phrases (Stanovich, 1986). As phrase acknowledgment methods become more self-acting, young children are expected to assign more vigilance to higher grade methods of comprehension. Since this reading knowledge is inclined to be paying for young children, they may read more often; therefore reading accomplishment may be a byproduct of reading pleasure.
One of the hallmarks of accomplished reading is fluent, unquestionable phrase recognition (Juel, Griffith, & Gough, 1986). Flashcards may play a role in developing reading skills, but cannot say to be beneficial in developing the actual reading skills. Comprehension is the real form of reading. Second graders need to read a broad kind of intriguing, comprehensible components, which they can read orally with about 90 to 95% correctness (Durrell & Catterson, 1980). In the starting young children are expected to read gradually and on reason as they aim at precisely what’s on the page. In detail they may appear “glued to print” (Chall, 1983), figuring out the fine points of the pattern at the phrase level. However, children’s reading signs, fluency, and understanding usually advance when they read well-renowned texts. Some administrations have discovered the performance of recurring readings in which young children reread short assortments considerably which enhances their self-assurance, fluency, and understanding in reading (Brown, 1989; Samuels, 1979).
Children use different kinds of strategies to acquire basic skills besides mounting information of letter-sound patterns to judge unfamiliar texts. Studies disclose that early readers are adept at being multinational in their use of metacognitive schemes (Brown & DeLoache, 1978; Rowe, 1994). Even in these early degrees, young children make propositions about what they are to read, self-correct, reread, and inquiry if essential, giving clues that they are adept to adapt their reading when comprehending breaks down. Teacher practices, for example, the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA), competently form these schemes by assisting young children to set reasons for reading, raising inquiries, and condense concepts through the text (Stauffer, 1970).
But young children furthermore need time for unaligned practice. These undertakings may take on many forms. Some study, for demonstration, has illustrated the mighty consequences that children’s reading to their caregivers has on encouraging self-assurance as well as reading skills (Henson, 2003).
A visit to the library and arranging unaligned reading and composing time span in literacy-rich school rooms furthermore supply young children with possibilities to choose publications of their own choosing. They may enlist in the communal undertakings of reading with their gazes, making inquiries, and composing tales (Morrow & Weinstein, 1986), all of which may major interest and admiration for reading and writing.
Supportive connections between these connection methods lead numerous educators to integrate reading and composing in schoolroom direction (Tierney & Shanahan, 1991). As juvenile authors labor to articulate themselves, they arrive at grabs with distinct writing types, syntactic patterns, and themes. They use composing for multiple purposes: to compose descriptions, registers, and tales to broadcast with others. It is significant for educators to reveal young children to a variety of text types, encompassing tales, accounts, and informational texts, and to help young children choose language and punctuate easy judgments that rendezvous the claims of assembly and purpose. Since handwriting direction assists young children broadcast competently, it should furthermore be part of the composing method (McGee & Richgels, 1996). Short courses illustrating certain note formations joined to the publication of composing supply a perfect time for instruction. Reading and composing workshops, in which educators supply small-group and one-by-one direction, may help young children to evolve the abilities they need for interacting with others.
Although children’s primary composing drafts will comprise created spellings, discovering about spelling will take on expanding significance in these years (Henderson & Beers, 1980; Richgels, 1986). Spelling direction should be a significant constituent of the reading and composing program since it exactly sways reading ability. Some educators conceive their own spelling registers, focusing on phrases with widespread patterns and high-frequency phrases, as well as some in-person significant phrases from the children’s writing. Research shows that glimpsing a phrase in publish, envisaging how it is spelled, and making replicate new phrases is a productive way of obtaining spellings (Barron, 1980). It is important to recognize, for the teachers that only, conventionalized types of grammatical and spelling correct sentences are not sufficient to develop such skills. Rather, composing has been distinguished by Eisner, (1982) as “thinking with a pencil.” It is factual that young children will need mature individual help to expert the complexities of the composting process. It needs to be taught and later discovered by the children themselves, that writing is the art of expressing oneself, which can be esteemed by others.
Throughout these critical years unquestionable evaluation of children’s information, abilities, and dispositions in reading and composing will help educators better agree on the direction with how and what young children are learning. However, early reading and composing will not easily be assessed as a set of narrowly characterized abilities on normalized tests. These assessments often are not dependable or legitimate signs of what young children can do in usual perform, neither are they perceptive to dialect variety, heritage, or the knowledge of juvenile young children (Johnston, 1997; Shepard, 1994; Shepard & Smith, 1988). Rather, a sound evaluation should be anchored in real-life composing and reading jobs and relentlessly chronicle a broad variety of children’s literacy undertakings in distinct situations. Good evaluation is absolutely crucial to help educators tailor befitting direction to juvenile young children and to understand when and how much intensive direction on any specific ability or scheme might be needed.
Towards the end of the level of learning, young children will still have much to find out about literacy. Clearly, some will be farther along the route to unaligned reading and composing than others. Yet with high-quality direction, most of the young children will be adept to decode phrases with an equitable degree of facility, use a kind of schemes to acclimatize to distinct kinds of text, and be adept to broadcast competently for multiple reasons utilizing traditionalized spelling & punctuation. Most of all they will have to arrive to glimpse themselves as adept readers and writers, having championed the convoluted set of mindset, anticipations, behaviors, and abilities associated with writing language.
Analysis of Students and Teaching Methods
It is now accepted that accomplishing high measures of literacy for every progeny in the U.S. is a distributed responsibility of schools, early childhood programs, families, and communities. But educators of juvenile young children, if engaged in preschools, progeny care programs, or elementary schools, have an exclusive censure to encourage children’s literacy development, founded on the most present expert information and research.
A reconsideration of study along with the combined wisdom and expert opinions of the professionals has directed the investigator to resolve that discovering to read and compose is a convoluted, multifaceted method that needs a broad kind of instructional advances, a deduction alike to that come to by an esteemed section of professionals for the National Academy of Sciences (Freire, 1998).
Research carries the outlook of the progeny as a hardworking constructor of his or her own discovering, while at the identical time investigations focus on the critical function of the supportive, involved, committed mature individual (e.g., educator, parent, or tutor) who presents scaffolding for the child’s development of larger ability and comprehending (Mason & Sinha, 1993; Riley, 1996). The standard of discovering is that “children are hardworking learners, drawing on direct communal and personal know-how, as well as heritage, conveyed information to assemble their own understandings of the world around them” (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997, p. 13).
It is now a widespread conviction that goals and anticipations for juvenile children’s accomplishment in reading and composing should be developmentally befitting, that is, demanding but achievable, with adequate mature individual support. A continuum of reading and composing development is usually acknowledged and helpful for educators in comprehending the goals of literacy direction and in considering children’s advancement in the direction of those goals. It is now widely acknowledged by good educationists that juvenile children do not grow along this developmental continuum in a rigid sequence, whereas, the stages may overlap at times. Rather, each progeny displays an exclusive pattern and timing in obtaining abilities and comprehending associated with reading and writing.
Given the variety inside which young children normally expert reading, even with exposure to print-rich environments and good educating, a developmentally befitting anticipation is for most young children to accomplish start accepted reading when they reach the second grade. For young children with disabilities or exceptional discovering desires, achievable but demanding goals for their one-by-one reading and composing development in an inclusive natural environment are established by educators, families, and experts employed in collaboration (Chapman, 2006).
A continuum of reading and composing development is helpful for recognizing demanding but achievable goals or benchmarks for children’s literacy discovering, recalling that one-by-one variety is to be anticipated and supported. Using a developmental continuum endows educators to consider one-by-one children’s advancement against very shrewd goals and then acclimatize direction to double-check that young children extend to progress. In the years before primary schooling starts, a vast majority of young children can be probable to be in the first stage of the continuum, Awareness and Exploration. In kindergarten, befitting anticipation is that most young children will be at stage 2, Experimental Reading and Writing. At the end of the first stage, many young children will function in the third stage, Early Reading & Writing. Befitting anticipation for the second degree is Transitional Reading and Writing (phase 4), while the aim for the third degree is Independent and Productive Reading and Writing (phase 5). Reading in its advanced forms is the objective for the fourth level and above.
Language, reading, and composing are powerfully formed by culture. When the customs of making and propagating significance are alike at family dwellings and in school, children’s transitional periods are eased. However, when the dialect and heritage of the dwelling and school are not congruent, educators and parents should work simultaneously to help young children reinforce and maintain their dwelling dialect and heritage while obtaining abilities required to take part in the distributed heritage of the school (Armstrong, 2003).
Most significantly, educators should realize how young children discover a second dialect and how this method concerns juvenile children’s literacy development. Teachers need to esteem the child’s dwelling dialect and heritage and use it as groundwork on which to construct and continue children’s dialect and literacy experiences. Such positions injure young children whose adeptness inside their own heritage context is not identified because they do not agree with the heritage anticipations of the school. Failing to identify children’s power or capabilities, educators may underrate their competence. Competence is not joined to any specific dialect, dialect, or culture. Teachers should not ever use a child’s mode of speech, or heritage as a cornerstone for making judgments about the child’s intellectual capability. Linguistically and heritage varied young children convey multiple perspectives and outstanding abilities, for example, code-switching (the proficiency to proceed back and forward between two dialects to make deeper conceptual understanding), to the jobs of discovering to talk, read, and compose a second language. These self-motivated, self-initiating, constructive conceiving methods should be commemorated and utilized as wealthy educating and discovering sources for all children.
Further Improvements in My teaching practices
In earlier years and the primary grades. Teachers should extend numerous of these identical good practices with the aim of constantly accelerating children’s discoveries and development. In supplement, every progeny deserves to be encouraged to go in a good positive direction in reading and composing that encompasses but is not restricted to:
daily knowledge of being read to and individually reading significant and engaging tales and informational texts;
a balanced instructional program that encompasses methodical cipher direction along with significant reading and composing activities;
daily possibilities and educator support to compose numerous types of texts for distinct reasons, encompassing tales, registers, notes to other ones, verses, accounts, and answers to literature;
writing knowledge that permits the flexibility to use nonconventional types of composing at the start (invented or phonic spelling) and over time move to accepted forms;
opportunities to work in a concentrated direction and collaboration with other children;
Adaptation of instructional schemes or more individualized direction if the progeny falls short to make anticipated advancement in reading or when literacy abilities progress.
Although knowledge throughout the soonest years of life can have mighty long-term penalties, human beings are amazingly resilient and unbelievably adept at discovering all through life. We should reinforce our determination to double-check that every progeny has the advantage of affirmative early childhood knowledge that supports literacy development. At the identical time, despite children’s former discovering, schools have the responsibility to teach every progeny and to not ever stop even if subsequent interventions should be more intensive and costly.
When each child does not make anticipated advancement in literacy development, sources should be accessible to supply more individualized direction, concentrated time, tutoring by taught and trained tutors, or other individualized intervention strategies. These instructional schemes are utilized to accelerate children’s discovery rather than of either degree keeping or communal advancement, neither of which has been verified productive in advancing children’s accomplishment (Shepard & Smith, 1988).
Teachers need to frequently and systematically use multiple indicators-observation of children’s oral dialect, evaluation of children’s work, and presentation at authentic reading and composing tasks-to consider and supervise children’s advancement in reading and composing development, design and acclimatize direction, and broadcast with parents (Shepard, Kagan, & Wurtz, 1998). Group-administered, multiple-choice normalized accomplishment checks in reading and composing abilities should not be utilized before third degree or preferably even before fourth grade. The junior the progeny, the tougher it is to get legitimate and dependable indicators of his or her development and discovery utilizing one-time check administrations.
Conclusion
To educate in developmentally befitting ways, educators should realize both the continuum of reading and composing development and children’s individualistic and heritage variations. Teachers should identify when variety is inside the usual array and when involvement is essential because early intervention is more productive and less exorbitant than subsequent remediation.
Learning to read and compose is one of the most significant and mighty achievements in life. Its worth is apparently glimpsed in the faces of the juvenile children-the pleased, assured grin of the adept book reader compares harshly with the furrowed brow and sullen scowl of the disappointed nonreader. As Armstrong (2003) suggests that It is the distributed responsibility of managers, families, educators and communities to ensure that all juvenile young children realize their potentials as readers & writers, and are encouraged to nourish these skills. School educators have an exceptional duty to educate every progeny and not to accuse young children, families, or each other when the task is difficult. All individuals concerned should have a sense of shared responsibility and should work simultaneously to help young children become proficient readers and writers.
References
Adams, M. (1990). Beginning to read. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Anbar, A. (1986). Reading acquisition of preschool children without systematic instruction. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1, 69-83.
Anderson, R.C. (1995). Research foundations for wide reading. Paper presented at invitational conference on the Impact of Wide Reading, Center for the Study of Reading, Urbana, IL.
Apple, M. (1990). Ideology and curriculum. New York: Routledge,
Eisner, E. (1982). Cognition and curriculum. New York: Longman. Elmore, R.F., & Fuhrman,
Armstrong, D.G. (2003). Curriculum today. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice
Barnett, W.S. (1995). Long-term effects of early childhood programs on cognitive and school outcomes. The Future of Children, 5, 25-50.
Barron, R.W. (1980). Visual and phonological strategies in reading and spelling. In U. Frith (Ed.), Cognitive processes in spelling (pp. 339-353). New York: Academic.
Berk, L. (1996). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Bissex, G. (1980). GNYS at work: A child learns to write and read. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bond, G., & Dykstra, R. (1967). The cooperative research program in first-grade reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 2, 5-142.
Bradley, L., & Bryant, P.E. (1983). Categorizing sounds and learning to read-A causal connection. Nature, 301, 419-421.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (Rev. ed.). Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Brown, A.L., & DeLoache, J.S. (1978). Skills, plans and self-regulation. In R. Siegler (Ed.), Children’s thinking: What develops? (pp. 3-36). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Education Researcher, 18(1), 32-34.
Bryne, B., & Fielding-Barnsley, R. (1995). Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children: A 2- and 3-year follow-up and a new preschool trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 488-503.
Bus, A., Belsky, J., van IJzendoorn, M.H., & Crnic, K. (1997). Attachment and book-reading patterns: A study of mothers, fathers, and their toddlers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 12, 81-98.
Chapman and Hall. Arends, R. I. (2006). Learning to teach (7th ed.). Boston, MA.: McGraw Hill.
Clarke, L. (1988). Invented versus traditional spelling in first graders’ writings: Effects on learning to spell and read. Research in the Teaching of English, 22, 281-309.
Clay, M. (1979). The early detection of reading difficulties. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M. (1991). Becoming literate. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 49, 222-251.
Cunningham, A. (1990). Explicit versus implicit instruction in phonemic awareness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 50, 429-444.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). Doing what matters most: Investing in quality teaching. New York: National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
Dickinson, D., & Smith, M. (1994). Long-term effects of preschool teachers’ book readings on low-income children’s vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 29, 104-122.
Domico, M.A. (1993). Patterns of development in narrative stories of emergent writers. In C. Kinzer & D. Leu (Eds.), Examining central issues in literacy research, theory, and practice (pp. 391-404). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
Durrell, D.D., & Catterson, J.H. (1980). Durrell analysis of reading difficulty (Rev. ed). New York: Psychological Corp.
Dyson, A.H. (1988). Appreciate the drawing and dictating of young children. Young Children 43(3), 25-32.
Ehri, L. (1994). Development of the ability to read words: Update. In R. Ruddell, M.R. Ruddell, & H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (pp. 323-358). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Ehri, L.C., & Robbins, C. (1992). Beginners need some decoding skill to read words by analogy. Reading Research Quarterly, 27, 13-26.
Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Translated by Patrick Clarke. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Gibson, E., & Levin, E. (1975). The psychology of reading. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Graves, D. (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Henson, K. (2003). Curriculum planning (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc
Hanson, R., & Farrell, D. (1995). The long-term effects on high school seniors of learning to read in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 908-933.
Cruickshank, D. R., Jenkins, D. B., Metcalf, K. (2006). The act of teaching (4th ed). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
Henderson, E.H., & Beers, J.W. (1980). Developmental and cognitive aspects of learning to spell. Newark, DE: International Reading Association,
Hall. Brophy, J. (1989). Research on teacher effects: Uses and abuses. Secondary School Journal, 89(1), 3-21.
Johnston, P. (1997). Knowing literacy: Constructive literacy assessment. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Juel, C. (1991). Beginning reading. In R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 759-788). New York: Longman.
Kagan, S.L., & Cohen, N. (1997). Not by chance: Creating an early care and education system for America’s children. New Haven, CT: Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University.
Karweit, N., & Wasik, B. (1996). The effects of story reading programs on literacy and language development of disadvantaged pre-schoolers. Journal of Education for Students Placed At-Risk, 4, 319-348.
Mason, J., & Sinha, S. (1993). Emerging literacy in the early childhood years: Applying a Vygotskian model of learning and development. In B. Spodek (Ed.), Handbook of research on the education of young children (pp. 137-150). New York: Macmillian.
Morrow, L.M., Strickland, D., & Woo, D.G. (1998). Literacy instruction in half- and whole-day kindergarten. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Morrow, L.M., & Weinstein, C. (1986). Encouraging voluntary reading: The impact of a literature program on children’s use of library centers. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 330-346.
Neuman, S.B. (in press-a). How can we enable all children to achieve? In S.B. Neuman & K. Roskos (Eds.), Children achieving: Best practices in early literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Neuman, S.B., & Roskos, K. (1997). Literacy knowledge in practice: Contexts of participation for young writers and readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 32, 10-32.
Read, C. (1971). Pre-school children’s knowledge of English phonology. Harvard Educational Review, 41, 1-34.
Richgels, D.J. (1995). Invented spelling ability and printed word learning in kindergarten. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 96-109.
Riley, J. (1996). The teaching of reading. London: Paul Chapman.
Roberts, B. (in press). “I No EverethENGe”: What skills are essential in early literacy? In S.B. Neuman & K. Roskos (Eds.), Children achieving: Best practices in early literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Rowe, D.W. (1994). Preschoolers as authors. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Samuels, S.J. (1979). The method of repeated readings. The Reading Teacher, 32, 403-408.
Shepard, L., Kagan, S.L., & Wurtz, E. (Eds.). (1998). Principles and recommendations for early childhood assessments. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel.
Shepard, L., & Smith, M.L. (1988). Escalating academic demand in kindergarten: Some nonsolutions. Elementary School Journal, 89, 135-146.
Snow, C. (1991). The theoretical basis for relationships between language and literacy in development. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 6, 5-10.
Stanovich, K.E., & West, R.F. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402-433.
Stauffer, R. (1970). The language experience approach to the teaching of reading. New York: Harper & Row.
Strickland, D. (1994). Educating African American learners at risk: Finding a better way. Language Arts, 71, 328-336.
Sulzby, E. (1985). Kindergartners as writers and readers. In M. Farr (Ed.), Advances in writing research (pp. 127-199). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Teale, W. (1984). Reading to young children: Its significance for literacy development In H. Goelman, A. Oberg, & F. Smith (Eds.), Awakening to literacy (pp. 110-121). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann..
Vukelich, C. (1994). Effects of play interventions on young children’s reading of environmental print. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 9, 153-170.
Wagner, R., & Torgesen, J. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 192-212.
Whitehurst, G., Arnold, D., Epstein, J., Angell, A., Smith, M., & Fischel, J. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology, 30, 679-689.
Wong Fillmore, L. (1991). When learning a second language means losing the first. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 6, 323-346.
Compliance to a set curriculum is an important aspect in achieving the intended academic objectives in any unit. This entails proper development of the students’ ability to apply the knowledge they acquire in their career development. It also enhances good interaction of students and their teachers, which enhances development of a suitable learning environment with active participation of both the students and the teachers.
According to Mansilla, Duraisingh and Wolfe, a rubric is an essential requirement for any curriculum because besides being an assessment tool, it provides a basis for reflection and self-evaluation to both the teachers and students (2009, p.342). This paper explains the compliance of the unit, A Race with Grace: Sports Poetry in Motion, to a set rubric.
Compliance of the unit with the rubric
The lesson author has given the teacher a number of questions necessary in enhancing the students’ understanding of the unit. For instance, the teacher should ask the students to think about what they have seen in the websites and come up with words to use for the word wall. The lesson author also provides some questions that are essential for journal writing.
These questions act as guidelines in the unit since they prompt the students to think in line with the study topic. The lesson author also aligned the lesson to the NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts for benchmarking purposes. The unit also entails a variety of instructional strategies. The teacher facilitates the most of the learning activities such as providing reference sources as well as the equipments required by the students as outlined in the ‘Resource and Preparation’ part of the lesson plan.
The teacher also encourages the students to work in groups to create an interactive environment between the students, which enhances further learning. The author also requires the teacher to work with the students to help them come up with ways of presenting their work.
The teacher has the obligation to answer the students’ questions. The lesson author has also given the teacher some guidelines of assessing the students which is a necessity in any academic curriculum.
At the beginning of every session, the lesson author requires the teacher to carry out an introductory activity. It is important for equipping the students with knowledge prior to the main lesson of the session (Goodrich, 1996, p.16). For instance, in the first session, the teacher is supposed to share website information with the students.
In the second and third session, the teacher divides the students into groups of four or three and sends them to collect pictures of bodies in motion in a variety of athletic activities. In the fourth session, the teacher is to engage the students in an activity aimed at helping them to make a good choice of words when writing poems.
As a requirement in the rubric, the unit contains more than three lesson plans with objectives, learning activities, teaching strategies as well as learning resources and products. The author has given a clear outline of the introductory activities in every session.
The learning activities in each session/lesson help in engaging students in the learning process besides helping them appreciate the unit. The activities for the first session are creation of a class word wall, writing and sharing journal prompts. The second and third sessions entail playing, taking photographs, collection of images and words, and presentation of the students’ findings in class.
However, the fourth and fifth sessions do not have the required number of learning activities. Most of the lessons lack technology based activities; actually, as photography is the sole technology based activity in the entire unit. In the learning activities, the teacher divides the students into groups hence complying with the rubric. These activities depend on the intellectual demand of the lesson/session.
The complexity of the activities increases as the unit progresses. The unit also requires the teacher to give the students assignments ranging from collection of information to the compiling of reports or even preparation of presentations. The unit employs several sources of learning materials including websites, books, magazines, newspapers and field activities as outlined by the author.
The lesson author also incorporated extension activities in the unit, which entails collection of sports poems and exploring of photographs of dancers of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, which complies with the requirements of the rubric. The author of the lesson has given a clear outline of the unit, giving proper descriptions of the activities and requirements of every session/lesson.
Conclusion
Most of the aspects of the unit comply with the rubric. These include the presence of essential study questions, a variety of instructional strategies, well-outlined assessment criteria and use of both study and introductory as well as learning activities among others.
However, there is need to increase the use of technology-based learning activities to keep the students in line with the global technological advancements. The unit also needs to outline the period between assessment tests and the least mark that the students should attain in these tests.
Reference List
Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding Rubrics. Educational Leadership, 54(4), 14-18.
Mansilla, V., Duraisingh, E., & Wolfe, C. (2009). Targeted Assessment Rubric: An Empirically Grounded Rubric for Interdisciplinary Writing. Journal of Higher Education, 80(3), 334-353.
An examination and dissection of the student’s essay on what schools should teach reveals a mix of assumptions supported by facts and generalizations that go far beyond the data. The student has effectively responded to the first question and provided a clear analysis of the most important issues in this case.
However, in the analysis of the first case, the student fails to provide statements from strong background of knowledge. The student posits that the “first issue is that there might be a misunderstanding on the parents and administrators parts about the problem being one of only cultural differences.” The use of the word “might” expresses possibility or probability and therefore fails to ascertain whether the student has clear cut knowledge on his assertions.
The second issue is not only an assumption and a generalization; it has no evidence and has not been presented as a fact. By simply noting down that “the “civilizing impulse” attitude of white settlers thinking that they were instrumental in bringing about a new world is the same impulse that justified residential schools,” the student fails to provide evidence and can be best described as a personal bias thinly disguised as a fact.
The third issue is well represented and articulated. However, the student fails to provide a strong point on how a full-time Tsimshian administrator and or teacher would resolve the conflict in the Setsco School curriculum.
The strongest part of this case is the analysis of the second question on the true nature of the problem at Setsco Lake School. The student approaches the question from an informed perspective and brings to light the specific nature and parties involved in Setco Lake School’s problems. It is within this section of the essay that the student explains how a Tsimshian teacher would balance between the demands of the current curriculum and the Caucasian population.
The third question lacks evidence and data to support major assumptions. The student notes that “the reality is that the stakeholders in North American schools don’t necessarily share the same goal of encouraging students how to grow into more autonomous…” This is an assumption that demands support from data or citation. However, the student makes some very important and noteworthy discoveries in the case study.
The exclusion of students’ opinion in what should be taught in schools indicates that the student has shown signs of having thought long and hard about the issues. The resources used to support sections of the paper are relevant, but the student should have used recent resources to demonstrate research and current status of the issues under examination.
Despite the fact that the student has managed to demonstrate a clear cut understanding of the issues within this case study, some issues are not well supported by facts and data. Assumptions and generalizations that have been made have to a large extent been supported by citations from other sources.
The student exercises caution in making most assumptions and moves away from contradictory evidence. In fact, one strong part of this essay is how the student avoids adopting contradictory undertones. The student would have done better by using data from the most recent articles to support most assumptions and generalization. However, despite these shortfalls such as suggestions for actions that are not rooted in data in the conclusion, the essay demonstrates hard thought and dissection of the case study materials.
It is imperative to have very effective programs that take care of the students with various disabilities in school. Any learning institution should adopt Disabled Student’s Program that ensures that all students get or access to equal educational opportunities. It ensures that there no are cases of discrimination in allocating educational opportunities to students (Allyn & Bacon, 2007). This enhances free and active participation of students in all facets of learning institution. The programs established should gather or serve students with disabilities of all kinds such as hear impairment, chronic illness such as AIDS, eye vision impairment, seizure disorders, head injuries, back injuries, carpel tunnel syndrome, and psychological disabilities such as bipolar disabilities, depression and other learning disabilities. It should also cover and gather for the needs of students with temporary disabilities upon their request during the time of disability (Allyn & Bacon, 2007)
Main body
It is the responsibility of the experts and other specialists who are concern with monitoring of the needs of the disable student in the institution to determine the physical, psychological weakness of a student whenever he or she request services from the DSP. These experts should ascertain any impeding educational access that the student might face. It is imperative to conduct a very comprehensive assessment and evaluation process in order to fully ascertain these students’ limitations. The evaluation process can be best done through interviewing of the individual student. It can also be done by reviewing of documentation that the student has which was provided by physicians. After the evaluation process and that it is discovered that a student have disabilities impeding educational access, the experts should establish a program of services for these disable student. Program modification has been recommended to enable the student to be equal with the rest of the students. As an incentive and a form of discount, the program should reduce the course of these very individuals. These are very vital in that they cannot cover or undertake same course load with the students who are disable (Hartman, 2008).
Auxiliary services should be provided to these classes of students. These include provision of laboratory assistants and note takers. Academic adjustments should be used to ensure that the students are not assigned duties that are beyond their abilities. Modifications in the instructional methods have been very paramount aspect in ensuring that students with disabilities cope with the learning conditions of the institution. Such modifications include brailled textbooks and class handouts. The institution should also extend examination time to enable them finish their work like other students. Oral presentation should be used mostly than an essay for the students with vision impairments (Hartman, 2008).
Conclusion
The learning institution should also ensure that students who are deaf are treated in a very special way as they face enormous impediments in academic setting. Effective communication with the deaf students should be priorities by the instructors. Sign language should be used when instructing such students. It is recommendable to have sign language interpreters in a class where they are students with hearing impairments. It is mandatory to provide advance copy to individuals who have hearing problem if the text is to be read directly. The instructor should pause whenever he or she interjecting material that is not available in the text. There should be overhead projection system and when the instructor should pause briefly when using it so that the disable student may look first at the screen and then at the interpreter to understand what is been taught (Summer, 2007)
References List
Summer, C. (2007). Student Disability Programs. Texas Tech University Press. 29-89.
Hartman, R. (2008). Disabled Students’ Program. Merrill Trade Publishers, USA. 120-167.
Allyn & Bacon, G. (2007). Contemporary Issue in Curriculum. Trade paperback Publisher, 131-167.
Behavior intervention is a very element in any curriculum. It assumes that measurable and observable characteristics are very important aspects that can be change hence making the individual to have desirable qualities. According to Allyn (2007), behaviour intervention follow set of consistent rules that aid in directing the individual to achieve desirable qualities. The rules and methods that are available can be best adopted to define, observe, and measure behaviors. The methods can also be used to design very effective behavior intervention plans. Behaviour intervention techniques can fail if they are applied inconsistently or inefficiently. It is imperative to note that all individual characteristics can be maintained, changed or shape by the consequences of the behaviour of the very individual. The right set of these behavioral consequences are very important for the child development but can be limited by other factors such as emotional influences that are related to depression (Allyn & Bacon, 2007).
Main body
Reinforcement has also been employed in shaping the behaviour of an individual. Reinforcers are consequences that strengthen certain desirable behavior elements of an individual. Punishment on the other has been used to eradicate certain undesirable behaviour elements from an individual. They are used to weaken behavior. This can be best adopted in classroom context where student’s behaviour can be managed, changed and shape by the classroom behaviour. There are steps that should be followed in behaviour intervention. The steps are:
The student or the individual undesirable qualities be defined either through count or description
Design very effective way of shaping the behavior of the individual
Identify very efficient and effective reinforcer
Consistent application of reinforcer to change the behaviour of the individual
It is important to note the fact that consequences of individual behaviour is directly related to the events that materialize behavior these consequences. Behavior intervention can be done effectively upon defining the right models to be used to shape and reshape the individual character. Preventative classroom is very important model that can be used to shape the behavior of an individual. This can be doe through effective teaching, frequent monitoring of the student, and setting up clear rules that students should follow. Moral education can also be used to modify the child behavior in a classroom (Mather, 2008). These can be done through moral discussions concerning real life issues in classroom, moral discussions of hypothetical situations; student should fully participate in school activities, the student’s discussion on important of role play. Social problems can be solved in learning institution through direct teaching of SPS skills, self instruction training and effective dialoguing. Effective communication models can also be used to clarify values of certain activities. This can be done through active listening, interpersonal skills training for students (Goldstein, 2007).
If reinforcement and punishment is used to modify certain behaviors of an individual, it is recommendable to follow set of principles. These should be used following certain behaviors and that it follows target behaviour. Reinforcement and punishment should create a meaning to the child (Mather, 2008).
Conclusion
In conclusion, both reinforcement and punishment can be equally effective in modifying individual’s behavior. Reinforcement is much more effective than punishment in modifying the behavior of children in classroom. When modifying individuals’ behavior through reinforcement, you begin with reinforcing strategies before resorting to punishment (Goldstein, 2007).
Reference List
Goldstein, S. (2007). Behavior Modification. WETA in Washington, D.C. 100-124.
Mather, N. (2008). Behavior Intervention Plan. Trade paperback Publisher, 130-179.
Allyn & Bacon, G. (2007). Contemporary Issue in Curriculum. Trade paperback Publisher, 131-167.
The article “From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in Diverse Classrooms” is written by Kathy Laboard Brown, an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and an executive director for the South Carolina Association of Teacher Educators. Throughout her life she has been exploring the subject of education contributing greatly to the development of new methods of studying; it can be stated that her interest in the topic is both personal and scholarly. The title of the article draws the reader’s attention at once and reflects the content of the work. The article comes from the journal “Education” which is a publication dealing with writings on education. The article is up-to-date and is addressing the issues which have recently become controversial.
The materials presented in the article are important for the development of the topic of learner-centered paradigm shift since they deal with it directly. The article has a clear introduction where the author states why the teacher-centered curriculum needs to be replaced by the learner-centered one. She also describes learner-centered classrooms and informs what the transition to this kind of classroom involves. “Learner-centered classrooms place students at the center of classroom organization and respect their learning needs, strategies, and styles” (Brown, 2003). The introduction is followed by the purpose of the article and several issues the author addresses.
The intended audience is general though specialists and scholars will also find the necessary information in Brown’s research. The article does not use any terms specific to this area of study. The language is precise and the organization of the article is accurate.
The article is aimed at finding out whether a paradigm shift is required when moving from the traditional teacher-centered to a new learner-centered approach. The author emphasizes that planning and learning characteristics are essential for this kind of approach; the approach itself is all about focusing on the learning characteristics of each learner separately taking into account his/her background, needs, capacities, special interests, and experiences. She examines the study of another scholar, McCombs, who has been also exploring this subject. Brown refers to this scholar throughout the article and is mostly supporting the discoveries of the scholar. She also relies on the studies of other scholars and is comparing their discussions of the concept of learner-centeredness.
The article gives an overview of a teacher-centered approach outlining its main strengths and weaknesses. “Student achievement is at the forefront of teacher-centered curriculum, but teachers are driven to meet accountability standards and often sacrifice the needs of the students to ensure exposure to the standards” (Brown, 2003). Further, the teacher-centered approach is contrasted with the learner-centered one and the latter is presented as more beneficial since it pays attention to differences between the students and their learning characteristics. The learner-centered approach allows the students to develop critical thinking rather than simply listening and absorbing information without processing it.
Brown notes that reflective inquiry contributes to a successful implementation of a learner-centered approach. This process is all about an engagement of teachers into analysis assumptions and feelings they have about their practice and then acting being guided by the results of this analysis. She emphasizes the importance of assessment which is necessary for measuring the quality of the programs which are carried out. The article concludes that the transition from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered one does require a paradigm shift and stresses the importance of reflective inquiry and assessment of program quality for the successful implementation of a learner-centered approach.
References
Brown, K.L. (2003). From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in Diverse Classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49.
It goes without saying that as soon as the curriculum has been formed, the obvious necessity of choosing the proper instructional strategies that will help implement the curriculum into practice and will ensure the sequence of delivery of the material and its comprehension by students comes to the fore. Teachers may experience greater challenges in this respect each year because of the growing number of material on the subjects, the list of instructional strategies that are enriched annually, and the methods of material delivery that become more advanced each year with the development of computer technologies. It is also necessary for every teacher to understand that there is no universal procedure for finding appropriate instructional strategies for any particular element of learning due to the fact that they cannot be labeled and a unique situation at the lesson the teacher experiences with each separate group should be taken into consideration (Curriculum: Select Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Thus, the ultimate goal of every educator in this context should be finding appropriate strategies that he or she will effectively use in classes and will this way achieve the set of goals stipulated by the curriculum. There has been much work conducted in the sphere of instructional strategies that will aid every teacher to make classes more effective, and as a result, there appeared a list of six strategies that are more or less universal, but always helpful when implemented in a lesson (Instructional Strategies, 2009). They are:
Emphasize major concepts. The main implications of this strategy are to organize the material in such a way so that the students grasped major themes within the topic and would be able to use that knowledge in cross-topical studies. This effect can be achieved through efficient generalizing and structuring work and visual representation of the material in a schematic manner, or inclusion of big ideas in the study – they will outline the most important ideas and concepts that should be the indispensable minimum for student’s comprehension (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Give a proper explanation for links and relations. This strategy is essential to ensure students understanding not only of concepts themselves but of the relationships between them and the way they are connected into the coherent scientific entity. The proper effect of this strategy’s implication may be achieved through much verbal explanation and application of schematic visuals that will help students understand the links. Teaching students to apply such techniques as mind mapping and outlining has also proven to be highly successful (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Ensure proper treatment of background knowledge. This strategy is highly important for the teacher to be able to connect the students’ prior knowledge to the new concepts that are being learned according to the particular curriculum. To ensure such effect, the teacher should ask questions to raise associations of the currently studied material with the background knowledge in students, should be able to provide transparent comparisons of learned elements and, in case students lack background knowledge relating to the topic, provide access to proper educational materials for the students (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Ensure proper support for learners. Along with the process of learning new material the teacher should optimally choose the portion of support that he or she will provide for students, gradually reducing it while students grasp the material and move toward independence in their studies (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Apply universal strategies and models. The teacher should teach students how to apply particular strategies and models for problem solution, gradually reducing prompts as soon as the independence and proficiency of students are clearly felt (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Arrange continuous revision and checks. This strategy is vital when the teacher needs to incorporate revision tasks in the overall curriculum – it involves checking knowledge of previously learned items, helping students to apply their knowledge in practice, thus ensuring that they have grasped and fixed the material in their heads (Instructional Strategies, 2009).
Proper application of these strategies will make any lesson efficient and will enhance the teaching effect in a group disregarding the curriculum chosen. These strategies are more student-oriented than curriculum-oriented, so before choosing the strategies and implementing them in a lesson or a course of studies the educator has to combine information both about the curriculum and the group in which he or she will work, moving further in the selection of instructional strategies.
References
Instructional Strategies (2009). Teaching Resources for Florida ESE. Web.
The analysis of recommendations for curriculum organization and improvement, as well as their effectiveness and role, should be based on the theoretical and practical value of developed strategies. The process of curriculum programs development presupposes the introduction of innovative and effective accommodations impacting results and education quality within the system of study.
There is a strong necessity to underline the effectiveness of teaching training courses as a part of curriculum planning improvement. According to the statistics based on education strategic organization, training courses should become the method of professionalism increase, allowing sharing qualification experience between the teaching staff absorbing new methods of educating.
The sphere of the school education system requires a separate approach to teaching and presenting educational material. There were offered the following methods: establishment of a new game plan based on a willing concept; security must be at the top of the list; classroom management development; and the increase of parental role in education. The recommendations provided are considered to be of practical value for the system of education. The involvement of students in the study process using special approaches development plays a crucial role in the improvement of the education system. (Roeser, and Downs, 2004).
The analysis of the second position of community improvement through educational approaches proved to be effective in understanding the following points: communication role should be increased; parents should actively participate in the education process; close cooperation between teachers and parents should be established. All the recommendations analyzed above appeared to be of great value to the modern education system. There is a need to make some clarifications and provide possible improvements for analyzed recommendations.
The administrations of education institutions should involve experts in the strategic development of the curricular program. The participation of parents and their close cooperation with the teaching staff should become a part of the specially developed program Parent-Teacher School Education. This method appeared to be popular in many countries through its modernized approach to ways of children’s understanding. (Orlich, Harder, and Callahan, 2009)
Considerable problems in education curricular development are associated with insufficient attention to training programs for the teaching staff. This aspect should be strongly analyzed through the development of appropriate steps:
Organization of local conferences dedicated to teaching methodologies;
Introduction of motivational methods for an increase of students’ participation in educating programs;
Stimulate share of professional experience between the educator;
Annual training programs increasing the level of professionalism among the educators.
Effectiveness of attracting qualified specialists proved to be centralized through the following stages: provide initiative packages; stimulate for being a part of a winning team; awards for student achievement as a whole, not just grade level; share pare concepts; assist with the required help; a General Briefing Sheet, which all members of the class should receive outlining the aims and suggesting for expert groups about the class formation.
References
Orlich, D., Harder, R. and Callahan, R. (2009). Teaching Strategies. 9th Edition, Cengage Learning.
Roeser, R. and Downs, M. (2004). Auditory disorders in school children: the law, identification, remediation. Thieme.
The goal of curriculum alignment is to make sure that every student can acquire necessary knowledge and skills that will help him or her in the future. Moreover, its purpose is to help learners cope with standardized tests. This paper will show how the task is addressed by educators who teach algebraic thinking at elementary level.
The purpose of this lesson was to help student understand algebraic equivalence and find the correct order of operations for solving mathematical problems. This is the main competency that learners were supposed to acquire.
The teacher, Ms. Soglin adhered to this purpose and every task that students were asked to do contributed to the eventual goal. Overall, the objectives of the lesson were clear and they manifested themselves in every activity of the class.
Furthermore, the teacher relied on the background knowledge and information from the previous lessons. According to the video, these students were used to working with pan balances in order to solve mathematical problems.
This attribute is very important because students have to see the continuity of tasks that they do and understand why these activities are necessary Thus, in terms of this criterion the lesson corresponds to the professional standards that are set for teachers.
The lesson had a clear delivery method; in particular, Ms. Soglin relied on inquiry. This method implies that a teacher should not give direct answers or instructions to the students; instead the task of a teacher is to encourage children to come up with their own answers and solutions by asking questions that are relevant to the experiences and background knowledge (Nilson, 2010, p. 175).
For example, Ms. Soglin asked students whether such a tool as pan-balance had been familiar to them. In response, they compared a pan balance to a seesaw or scales. Moreover, Ms. Soglin did not simply explain how to solve pan-balance equations, but prompted students to offer their solutions to particular problems.
Overall, she avoided giving direct answers. Moreover, the method of guided inquiry is closely related to experiment.
This is why the teacher encouraged students to work with pan-balances in order to understand how algebraic problems could be solved. This approach places more emphasis on student’s autonomy (Borich, 2011, p. 258). In this way, the teacher tried to make the activities more interesting and she achieved this goal.
The lesson was intended for students with various learning styles. For example, there were children who preferred kinesthetic learning. Such children usually prefer to carry out some physical activity in order to understand the concept of algebraic equivalence (Martin, 2011, p. 225).
This is why they worked directly with pan balances and weighed different objects to understand the concept of equivalence and solve problems. In turn, some of the students were visual learners. Their needs were also met. In particular, they could use various diagrams and drawings explaining equations. Finally, some of the children relied more on auditory learning.
This is why Ms. Soglin explained the way in which pan balance equations could be solved. Thus, this lesson was adjusted to various learning styles. The activities of the lesson were intended for students of various intelligences. For example, manipulation of balances is mostly oriented toward bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, whereas oral explanations were supposed to benefit students with linguistic intelligence.
Finally, the lesson provided for the assessment of student understanding. For example, Ms. Soglin asked children to explain how they intended to solve a math problem and use such operations as addition, subtraction, division, or multiplication. In this way, she determined whether students did understand the notion of algebraic equivalence and its implications.
Reference List
Borich, G. (2011). Effective Teaching Methods: Research-Based Practice, Seventh Edition. New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Martin, D. (2011). Elementary Science Methods: A Constructivist Approach. New York: Cengage Learning.
Nilson, L. (2010).Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. New York: John Wiley & Sons.