Excerpt from Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice: An Introduction for Teachers of Kindergartners
Kindergarten teachers are responsible for actively supporting children鈥檚 development and learning. There is no magic formula for doing this. Successful teachers use their knowledge and judgment to make decisions about the materials, interactions, and learning experiences likely to be most effective for the group and each individual child.
Below are descriptions of a few teaching strategies that are key to the effective teacher鈥檚 repertoire. Certainly others exist, and there are many variations. Moreover, strategies often are used in combination; in a single supportive interaction, for example, a teacher might both acknowledge a child鈥檚 actions and give her a cue or challenge (鈥淢arlena, I noticed that you split a set of five cubes into a set of three and a set of two. Is there a different way to split the cubes? How many ways can you find?鈥�).
Ask questions:听Move beyond recall questions (鈥淲hat color is this?鈥�) and ask well-designed and timely questions that encourage the children to explain their thinking, express ideas and actions verbally, describe ideas and strategies in detail, justify decisions made, draw connections, and push them to think in new ways (e.g., 鈥淪ome of you were shaking your head. Do you have a different idea?鈥�; 鈥淲hat do you think would happen if you tried it again? Do you think you鈥檇 see the same thing? Why? Why not?鈥�).
Link the new to the familiar:听Help students relate new concepts and information to what they already know and are interested in to help them remember and use what they learn (e.g., 鈥淗as something like this ever happened to you before? What happened?鈥� [Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011, 133]; 鈥淭hat鈥檚 like the book we read earlier this week. They both have the same ending鈥�).
Listen attentively:听Pay close attention to find meaning in what a child says, or doesn鈥檛 say, with words and body language. This tells the child that she is cared for, interesting, and considered important. It also allows for genuine opportunities to deeply understand children鈥檚 thinking, understanding, and possible misconceptions (e.g., kneeling down to be at the child鈥檚 level, the teacher says, 鈥淢aria, I see that you have finished painting. Tell me about your work鈥�; 鈥淵our face tells me that you are frustrated. How can I help?鈥�) (see Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011).
Offer choices:听Strategically offer choices to children in order for them to practice decision making and become more involved in their learning鈥攖hus exerting more effort in their work鈥攚hile boosting social and cognitive abilities. Choices also enable students to feel empowered, become more independent, and gain ownership over their work (Gronlund 2010) (e.g., 鈥淭here are three activities to complete today. Think about which one you plan to do first. What will be your second choice? What will be your third choice?鈥�; 鈥淒ecide if you would like to work with a partner or if you would like to work by yourself today鈥�).
Support reflection:听Provide opportunities for children to reflect on their actions and their thoughts and integrate new information into what is already known. When children engage in reflective thought, they consider new information and develop understanding and reasoned thinking (e.g., 鈥淭hink about why you think this is true鈥�; 鈥淚 wonder why . . . 鈥�; 鈥淲hat do you think will happen when you pour that into this container? Why do you think so?鈥�) (Zambo & Zambo 2008).
Use rich vocabulary:听Introduce complex and different words to children to expand their vocabularies, a link to school success (Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011) (e.g., 鈥淵ou鈥檙e curious about that word, aren鈥檛 you? I鈥檒l read that part again. Do you have any guesses about what it means?鈥� (116); 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 an interesting word, too. Shall we add that word to our chart?鈥�).
Create or add challenge:听Generate a problem or add difficulty to a task or step so that it is a bit beyond what children have already mastered (e.g., once a child counts up to five items accurately, begin engaging him in counting sets of six to eight). Or reduce the challenge to meet children where they are (e.g., if a child is unable to count a set of five items accurately, give him a smaller amount, such as three).
Encourage:听Offer comments or nonverbal actions that promote the child鈥檚 persistence and effort (e.g., 鈥淭hat wasn鈥檛 easy, but you kept trying different strategies. You really persevered鈥�), rather than giving the child non-specific evaluative praise (鈥淕ood job, Ben鈥�).
Foster dialogue and communication:听Extend children鈥檚 language awareness, understanding, and thinking by engaging them in conversations (see Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011). Also, provide opportunities for students to interact with one another and exchange ideas, predictions, and outcomes while applying knowledge and skills as ideas are explored and problems are solved (e.g., 鈥淭ell me more about that鈥�; 鈥淲ith your partner, investigate the different seeds. Tell each other what you see鈥�; 鈥淢aria and Jose are thinking that the plant will grow if we do what Jacob and Shakila suggested. What do the rest of you think? Do you think Jacob and Shakila鈥檚 idea will work, or do you have a different idea?鈥�).
From听Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice: An Introduction for Teachers of Kindergartners,听by E.C. Phillips & A. Scrinzi. Copyright 漏 2013 by the 51吃瓜网.
