My intention is to create experiences for literacy and language specifically experiences that build on language development and text recognition through music and flash cards. Furthermore, my experiences are all repetitive and are extensions and modifications from the previous experience in order allow children to create their own meaning making and build on prior knowledge. 

 

Flash card sing along is an activity that allows children to get up and dance and sing along to popular nursery rhymes, the only thing is the flash card will have pictures of  the next line and I will pause the music and show the picture and the children will have to yell out the next line

 

The only materials required is printable pictures that I will be printing out and speakers 

 

This is a creative way to get the children involved in songs and music. Rather than singing songs or playing music at them, you incorporate the children into the music. It also allows children to be more motivated if they see their peer’s activity participating 

This activity links with Albert bandura social learning theory, this theory suggests that people can learn by observing the behaviours of others and the outcome of those behaviours. The children will start by watch me and another educator demonstrate this activity and then we should see a couple of students trying to do the activity with us as well, eventually through repetition and observation the other children will also do this activity. Some of the children may just watch for a while but that is completely okay as Bandura also states that people can learn through observation alone. .  (Churchill, 2018, teaching making a difference p.g 90)

 Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)
Outcome 4: Children are Confident and Involved Learners
Children experience the benefits and pleasures of shared learning exploration.
Outcome 5: Children are Effective Communicators
Children listen and respond to sounds and patterns in speech, stories and rhymes in context.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This activity is a modification for activity one it is also a little more challenging than activity one. This activity requires multiple print out pictures that will be cut into big flash cards, the. Nursery rhyme will play and I will pause it, for example Old McDonald Had a farm, The animals will be displayed on the  floor and the children will sit in a circle around them, as I continuously play and pause the school, the children will grab the animal and play it at the start and so on and so forth until we create a chain. Once the chain is completed, I will repeat the nursery rhyme without pausing and the children will just sing along whilst looking at the chain for visuals. 

 

 

The activity is designed for children to make meaning of text but also increase their language development through signing and identification. I also wanted to incorporate some form of repetition in my activities so that the children can better absorb the activity and build on their prior knowledge. 

 

According to Vygotsky states that repetition does not mean going in circles, it means passing through the same point at each new revolution while advancing to a higher level. (Vygotsky 1994b, pg 56) 

 

 

Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators, specifically children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts. By pairing the flashcards with the music the children are memories the images of the songs and creating a better understanding of them. Children can learn a what a farm is if you show them a picture of a farm and tell them ‘This is a farm’ but children can have a better understanding of the same farm if you link it with something that they are familiar with, that can also create their own meanings instead of us creating a meaning for them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This activity again is a modification from the last two activities. This activity was inspired by the book hands on activities for children with autism and sensory disorders by garland terrisa, this book has amazing ideas for children with special needs but it is also amazing for any child, this activity is also inclusive which is why I was inclined to use it. 

 

Instructions: 

 

Identifying voice memos is designed to be performed for over several sessions, ideally daily for a week and then a couple days a week for a term, or more if desired. 

 

1.     Record certain sounds such as animal sounds, someone chewing gum, a car driving and have pictures that relate specifically to that sound.

2.     Give the children their own set of pictures, lay them out for them and have them sit on the floor in a circle 

3.     The pictures should have material that related to the picture, for example pig noise, picture of a pig with some smooth leather. 

4.     Play the sound and ask them to choose and hold up the card relating to that sound, the sounds can be repeated if the children ask you. 

 

Why?

 

This activity is a perfect extension for the previous activities. This activity is also great for children that have diagnosed or undiagnosed special needs as it has a sensory element as well as being quieter than the previous activities

 

Theory 

 

This activity links to piagets stages of development where the preoperational stage age between 2-7. The preoperational stage defines behaviours and thinking between this age group includes the use of gestures, signs, sounds and words to represent and convey meaning. By including flash cards into nursery rhymes I’m essentially using gesture and signs with music to convey meaning.  (Churchill, 2018, teaching making a difference p.g 88)

 

 

 

Links to EYLF

 

Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners; Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating. Because this activity caters to even the children with special needs it allows children to be confident in their learning, it also promotes problem solving as the children are listening to certain sounds and trying to figure out what text relates to that sound, which also links to investigation and hypothessing. 

 

This activity also allows children to transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners 

 

 

 

This activity I saw on Pinterest and I thought it was the perfect extension to the rest of my activities. The nursery rhyme playing will also be old McDonald had a farm, the children will be given a puppet of a certain animal and when their animal comes up they have to sing their part and also make their sound. 

 

The reason why I thought this activity was really good is because this now allows me to access the children’s language separately instead of in a group setting and understand their Zone of proximal development. I can clearly hear if language is being developed and if the previous experiences are being applied, it also allows the children to have a personal connection with the animals as well as playing with the puppets even after the activity is finished.  

 

1.    Because this activity is the last activity it is aimed towards the end of the year, It is designed to draw from all that they have learned this year and have a full understand of how text and music can create meaning making. relates to Bruner’s spiral curriculum theory (1960) in which even very complex topics can be taught to young children if structured and presented in the right way. The spiral curriculum is based on three key ideas. Students revisit the same topic multiple times throughout their school career. This reinforces the learning each time they return to the subject.

2.    The complexity of the topic increases each time a student revisits it. This allows progression through the subject matter as the child’s cognitive ability develops with age.

3.    When a student returns to a topic, new ideas are linked with ones they have previously learned. The student’s familiarity with the keywords and ideas enables them to grasp the more difficult elements of the topic in a stronger way.

 

 

Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners, Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, 38 inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating

 

Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, 40 technologies and natural and processed materials

 

Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators 41 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes 43 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts 

 

Churchill, R., Ferguson, P., Godinho, S., Johnson, N.F., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Mackay, J., McGill, M., Moss, J., Nagel, M. and Nicholson, P., 2012. Teaching: Making a difference. John Wiley and Sons.

https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/results?vid=2&sid=3d61725a-2ac5-4cb4-8503-9930e4c44d59%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bquery=activities+for+children&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImY2xpMD1GVDEmY2x2MD1ZJnR5cGU9MCZzZWFyY2hNb2RlPUFuZCZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl

Garland, T. (2016). Hands-On Activities for Children with Autism and Sensory Disorders. Eau Claire, WI: PESI. Retrieved from Alexander Street database. 

https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that these learning activities is a fun and engaging way for children to improve on their language and literacy skills. The use of repetition, social learning, music and flash cards allow the children to create their own meaning thus creating an all-round positive learning experience. This also overall links to the  cognitive domain of blooms taxonomy. This theory focuses on the idea that are related to cognitive can be divided into subdivisions and ranked in order of cognitive difficulty. These factors are listed as 

 

1.     Remember: Recall facts and basic concepts 

2.     Understand: Explain ideas or concepts 

3.     Apply: Use information into new situations 

4.     Analyse: Make connections between ideas 

5.     Evaluate: Justify a stand or viewpoint