Outcome 1.1

Week 11 Portfolio Post

• Outcome 1.1 Clearly describes how the concepts are connected to & supported by social relationships & contexts

An experience: describe something you saw or were a part of & what you learnt as a result

 

 

These observations are from a professional experience in a childcare centre where I have evaluated the social environment of the outdoor area to determine the literacy and numeracy learning processes that are occurring...

 I was able to observe three different types of play and learning in the outdoor environment, imaginative, social and developmental. The layout of the outdoor play area is attractive to children as there are lots of different coloured object and shapes. These include brightly coloured play equipment with tunnels and a slippery dip, an undercover veranda with many different toys to use, including dress ups for imaginative play and a sandpit with many different buckets and spades to choose from.

One example of literacy and mathematical learning I observed while sitting outside involved the children running around the outside area pretending to be crocodiles and clapping their hands together in front of them like a crocodile mouth. The other children would run away from the crocodiles and hide around the play equipment, under it and in the tunnels and behind the shade cloth of the veranda. The majority of the children seemed to like this game best, laughing and screaming in delight as they took on the role of the person being chased by the crocodile. The literacy and numeracy learning areas from this observation include:

Literacy:

- showing/reading emotion and expression
- imitation of symbols/words – being a ‘crocodile’
- social roles (group/individual)
- communicating – finding out information/body language
- understanding gestures – symbolic play
- negotiating socially acceptable behaviours in play

Numeracy:
- spatial awareness – navigating the outdoor space
- size of play equipment
- group dynamics – ‘crocodiles’ and ‘people’ and how many of each
- shape of the space/colour of the play equipment


One of the most appealing things outdoors is the sand pit. I have noticed that many of the children like going around the playground and just feeling different textures with their hands. They pick up handfuls of sand and let it drain through their fingers watching it fall intently. They also pick up little bits of sand and rub it between their fingers to feel the grains. The children also love it when buckets of water are brought out for them to use in the sand pit as they seem to particularly enjoy the feel of the wet sand, likening it to ‘mud’ and making mud pies. This kind of play would relate to sensory development such as touch. They also love using different objects in the sand pit such as buckets and sand castle models and filling them up to see how much sand will fit in them and what shape it will create when the sand is tipped out.

Literacy/Numeracy Learning Outcomes:

Literacy...
- textures, describing and feeling different properties of objects (bucket, water, sand)
- cause and effect – sand + water
- utilising prior knowledge – making comparisons between the sand and ‘mud’
- symbols – understanding that sand could represent mud
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination

Numeracy...
- changes of objects (change of the sand) – awareness of change
- awareness of shapes (building sand castles with sand castle models)
- awareness of depth/capacity of the bucket – filling it with water and sand
- number concepts – how many buckets of water/how many sand castles

From these examples I have now learnt that the social and environmental aspects of learning are important for understanding as social relationships provide scaffolding, joint construction of meaning and allow the child to test and represent their understandings in concrete ways. Environmental aspects are important as the environment (natural and constructed) provides many underlying elements that promote spontaneous learning, for example larger spaces, many colours and shapes and different textures (sand, water, play equipment (metal)).

 

 

Outcome 1.3

(Specifies the teaching approaches you’ll use & the learning environs you’ll create to support the social dimensions of early literacy/numeracy)

Week 6

A resource: select& present a resource you have found or developed, providing justification for its use when working on literacy or numeracy with very young children

I began my learning this week by viewing a professional learning video from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited website:

http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations/ViewIOP/IOP00210/index.html

The video was called ‘Thinking Mathematically’, which focused on using inquiry based learning with concrete experiences through the strategy of storytelling (AITSL, 2013). This video was in the context of junior primary; however it reinforced the ideas from my reading blog this week about learning through creativity, using stories and the art of storytelling through different mediums as a basis for learning in the form of both literacy and numeracy. I also felt the techniques that were presented could be adapted to a preschool setting, for example using inquiry learning through play and extending the children’s interests and knowledge through strategic questioning, modelling thought processes while reading stories and scaffolding learning with real life experiences (Wang et al, 2009). Storytelling is therefore a good teaching strategy as it emphasises the social function of learning, taking place in a group environment but can also be utilised from an individual point of view. From viewing this video I learnt how stories can be used to teach multiple concepts at the same time. Following this I found a resource that could be used in a preschool setting on an interactive TV or whiteboard which I think promotes both literacy and numeracy learning. The resource is from the ‘ABC Splash’ Website and is an interactive story, featuring multicultural perspectives (ABC, 2013). The link for this resource is:

http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/31932/just-like-me-rose-dawit-and-zeina?source=early-primary-English

Children are able to build personality profiles for each of the characters by selecting activities each character likes to do best, consequently helping children to begin to relate their identities to those of others, while much of the learning present involves literacy, numeracy could be integrated by the teacher using strategic questions, for example “how many activities do we need to choose? Let’s count them...” However, as this game is interactive where each child can have a go using it on the interactive whiteboard, the numeracy involved also relates to using hand eye coordination, spatial awareness, sequencing, organising, problem-solving as well fine motor skills and cognitive planning  that are associated with literacy. While the age level recommended for this activity is year 2, I think this resource could be used in a preschool setting well as all the text and instructions presented are read aloud and it would not be an activity that was child led, instead more teacher directed for the purposes of a group time.

 

References

 

Just like me: Rose, Dawit and Zeina. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) web site:http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/31932/just-like-me-rose-dawit-and-zeina?source=early-primary-english

Thinking Mathematically. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited web site:
http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations/ViewIOP/IOP00210/index.html

Wang, F. Kinzie, M.B., McGuire, P. & Pan, E. (2009) Applying Technology to Inquiry-Based Learning in Early Childhood Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 381-389.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 6 Reading Blog

What?

The two readings I selected for this week were ‘Telling stories in the 21^st Century’ by Neville Dwyer (2008) and ‘Mathematics Save the Day’ by Julie Clark (2007). I selected these readings as following the tutorial last week and my reading blogs on the integrated nature of literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood and how these skills correspond with play and the learning that occurs through everyday situations. Consequently this learning directed my thinking to the use of strategies to best incorporate imaginative and creative thought within literacy and numeracy learning. The question I particularly wanted to look further into was, how can the use of storytelling aid the development of literacy and numeracy within preschool contexts?

So what?

The first article, ‘Telling stories in the 21^st century’ by Dwyer (2008) focused on the implications of technology usage and how it can effect young children’s learning by engaging children in becoming the creator of their own narratives, based on everyday situations, helping them to develop critical thought processes by developing deeper interests in the world around them. Dwyer (2008) also evaluated the notion of children feeling in control of their literacy learning, with recording stories and narratives via technology enabling young children to become actively involved in the learning process through the use of digital media, for example using photography and drama to depict and relate to stories and ideas from their own environments.

The second article ‘Mathematics Save the Day’ by Clark (2007) described how stories can be used to enhance interest and engagement within the learning associated with numeracy. Children learn best through doing, existing in their interpersonal worlds, therefore using stories to teach numeracy concepts aids development as it allows children to view ideas represented in exciting, visual ways and relate them back to their everyday experience (Clark, 2007). The use of storytelling to teach numeric concepts is also socially inclusive as stories allow for a range of diverse learning needs by integrating everyday life with imagination (Clark, 2007).

Now what?

It is important for early childhood educators to implement a range of teaching strategies to enable young children to use the multiple thought processes associated with being literate and numerate and in a range of contexts. By utilising a mix of everyday, directed, imaginative and play based experiences educators can ensure that young children are able to explore literacy and numeracy in a range of contexts and begin to connect their learning back to experience and self-satisfaction within their explorations.

References

Clark, J. (2007). Mathematics Saves the Day. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 12(2), 21-24. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from A+ Education Plus Text Informit

Dwyer, N. (2008). Telling Stories in the 21^st Century. Every Child, 14(2), 32-33. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from A+ Education Plus Text Informit

 

 

 

Week 5 Reading Blog

What?

The readings I selected for week 5 were, ‘Being numerate’ by Jenni Connor (2011) and ‘The socio-cultural context of literacy learning’ by Caroline Barratt-Pugh (2000). I chose these two articles in particular as I was interested in finding out how integrated literacy and numeracy skills are as tools for everyday, contextualized situations. These articles were interesting to read and helpful to be able to apply and reflect on the ways in which literacy and numeracy skills are taught and explore the practical implications of the way in which we view these concepts and how that affects the way we design learning activities.

So what?

Both the articles had similar main arguments, that is the interconnectedness of literacy and numeracy to everyday situations and in particular learning the skills associated with being numerate and literate involves simply, ‘doing’.

 The article by Connor (2011) explored the way in which we use numeracy to guide our behaviour and make sense of our world, how activities that children are exposed to on a regular basis are the foundation of numeracy learning, in doing so this article also questioned the way early educators perceive the meaning of numeracy and what it means to be numerate. Here Connor (2011) examines how we see such activities as ‘play’ involve many skills that are involved with numeracy, for example developing awareness of space and how to make sense of our physical environments, using cognitive processes that aid critical thinking  and consequently being able to process and talk about what we are doing or seeing.

Similarly in Barratt-Pugh’s (2000) article looked at the practical implications of the way we teach literacy and how literacy is context dependent and should be integrated with social and cultural understandings and philosophies. Therefore by simply interacting and existing within a variety of cultural and social contexts children are beginning to build their literacy through communicating, scaffolding diverse situations to create more meaning (Barratt-Pugh, 2000).

Now What?

The way we think of literacy and numeracy is vitally important for successful teaching of these skills. It is interesting to consider the effects of how our perceptions of the meanings of the words ‘literacy’ and ‘numeracy’ can change the way we structure activities to gain the most beneficial learning of these skills. During early childhood, by simply using everyday materials, situations and experiences we can enhance the way in which children develop their ability to be literate and numerate in a range of diverse situations.

References

 Barratt-Pugh, C. (2000). The socio-cultural context of literacy learning. In C. Barratt-Pugh & M. Rohl (Eds.), Literacy learning in the early years (pp. 1-27). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin

Connor, J. (2011). Being numerate. The Early Years Learning Framework Professional Learning Program No. 22, Canberra: Early Childhood Australia & Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)