Pedagogical Documentation- ECE 1076 (Prof. Sara DiMarco) by

Slide Exploration Day (Observed by Nyah Lemieux & Manpreet Kaur)

lemieuxnyah — 2024-02-05 22:03:37 UTC

Today, the children were intrigued by the wooden slide and stairs in the classroom. They spent most of the afternoon giggling and laughing as they explored the different ways to go up and down. They first chose to walk up the stairs, before sitting and sliding down onto the cushioned mat. One of the children decided to experiment and try to walk up the slide instead of the stairs. The other children watched as their classmates steadily stepped up the slide and decided to try it out themselves. At one point, the child pictured in the blue shirt tried out a new method of going up the stairs, by going backwards on his hands and knees. He also tried to climb up the side of the slide rail and with strong gripping, managed to pull himself up to the top. When it came to sliding back down, the children would come up with new ways to get to the bottom. The favourite of them all would be sliding down on their stomachs. They even tried to send objects such as blocks down the slide to see what happens. As they each took turns going up and down the slide, their curiosity about finding new and interesting ways to use the slide kept them having fun for countless hours.

ELECT Skills

lemieuxnyah — 2024-02-05 22:04:31 UTC

The first evident skill from the ELECT document you see emerging from this play experience is Physical 5.1 gross motor skills in climbing. The children are using different pieces of the structure to climb one foot at a time up and down continuously. The next two skills observed are social skills 1.1 social interest and 1.3 parallel play. The children showed social interest when they observed one of their peers climbing up the slide and imitating those actions, as well as following each other up the stairs. They also take a part in parallel play by playing in proximity to other children on the slide set, but not exchanging any ideas verbally. One foundation observed throughout the whole play experience was engagement. Each child was active in letting their natural curiosity take part in their play in engaging and exploring different ways they can use their bodies to go up and down the slide.

Further Exploration

lemieuxnyah — 2024-02-05 22:09:52 UTC

As educators, we would further like to introduce activities that can further develop their physical and social skills. Consider activities such as:

· Obstacle courses: As educators, we will focus on making basic obstacle courses with tunnels to crawl under, low beams, so that children can learn how to balance on, and hurdles to jump over. These activities can improve coordination and motor abilities in children.

· Group activities: As educators, we will introduce cooperative and social activities to children to help them develop their parallel play into learning to communicate with other children in class and participate in teamwork.

Tools For Pedagogical Documentation

lemieuxnyah — 2024-02-05 22:14:46 UTC

The first tool we will be using to document the play experince to continue to develop the learning story is a camera. The camera will be set up to get a wide view of the play structure, so a variety of interactions can be captured and observed. The camera will also record audio, and capture words, phrases and sounds the children express throughout play, to get an idea of what the children's vocal oppionion is. This will help us gain a sense of how the children interact with new play experiences and what sparks their interests.

The next tool of documentation would be a simple pen and paper. Alongside the camera, we can also jot down quick notes we observe throughout the play, as well as rewatch the play footage from the camera and analyze the experience in greater dept and create notes on the video. We can also use prompts such as:

· Have you witnessed your children climbing the stairs and sliding?

· Have you ever tried to set up a small obstacle course at home using household Items? How do children approach it differently from the play area?

to ask the families to collaborate with them, and learn more about the children's curiousities.

Curriculum Provocation

lemieuxnyah — 2024-02-05 22:41:07 UTC

For our provocation to continue on the learning story, while relating back to the ELECT skills and how does learning happen is an obstacle course. To set up the course, it will include hoops to hop or step into, pool noodles set up to crawl under, balls they need to throw, all while running through the course to promote the use of their gross motor skills. This activity will also be completed in teams to encourage working as a team and graduating their parallel play skills to acquire social skills. This play experience will be set up outside, so it invites the children into a new learning environment while still focusing on their interests and are not constricted in space.