Starting With Their Strengths:

1. Starting With Their Strengths: Using Children's Interests to Promote Concept & Skill Development : Using the Project Approach in Inclusive Classrooms Deborah C. Lickey M.Ed. and Denise J. Powers M.Ed.

2. What Today Will Hold… • Why Give the Children a Voice in Creating Projects? • Best Practices Validate the Project Approach in Early Childhood • Tiered Approach to learning: Using Universal Design • Embedding Concept and Skill Development as well as Individual Objectives • Break Out Groups- A Sample Project Allowing Opportunities to Go through the Project Approach Process

3. The Process of Becoming… • The Reggio Experience • Asking ourselves: How does that translate to working with children w/ disabilities? • Translating that Experience to Working in an Inclusive Environment in the Public School

4. We consider children’s ‘Strengths’ to be a combination of multiple factors which make each child unique : Children’s Temperaments Children’s Learning Styles Children’s Skill Sets *Children’s Unique Interests

5. Meet ’Chaytor’

6. Chaytor started with year with an assessment that indicated: Social Emotional Development delays: • Interacting with adults or peers appropriately • Showing in interest in peers • Initiating preferred activities • Following through on activities Cognitive Development delays • Carrying out simple directions • Problem solving • Using imaginary objects in play • Categorizing items • Understanding function of objects etc. etc.

7. And Multiple Communication Delays such as: • Communicate his needs to others • Establish and maintain eye contact • Answer yes/no questions • Use multiple word sentences

8. However…where he was starting… • Not making eye contact • Screaming rather than attempting to make needs or wants known • Becoming very agitated at changes in routine and transition times • Running from one area to another • Becoming somewhat aggressive with the other children • “Perseverating “with lights and ceiling fans

9. Using Observation tools as the next step of Data Collection: Areas of Interest, Levels of play, etc. Appendix D Time Sampling: Areas of Interest Observation of area played in at ____ minute intervals Centers or Areas: Date______ B= Block Area D= Dramatic Play A= Art Area P= Puzzles M= Manipulatives L= Literacy (letters, books, stories, etc.) (List area of interest and a short explanation of child’s activity)

10. After Purposeful Observation of Chaytor we came to realize: • Sensory issues were present that needed to be addressed • Chaytor needed a lot of visual support and a very specific schedule of the day • Chaytor wanted to interact with peers but did not know how • Chaytor’s screaming increased in proportion to the attention was brought to that behavior

11. So…he was provided with those supports while continuing to observe him for his interests and strengths • Visual strategies • Social supports • Sensory supports

12. And we soon found… • Chaytor was very drawn to and good at numbers • Chaytor had great rote memory skills • Chaytor wanted to interact with others but did not know how • Chaytor had a great sense of humor that was often surprising • Chaytor tended to ‘perseverate’ on ceiling fans and lights

13. Reframing the idea of perseverating on ceiling fans to: An intense interestin ceiling fans and lights

14. “Kids with autism often get fixated on one thing, and it is important to expand their fixations. If the child loves race cars, then race cars can be used as subject matter for reading and math. If the child only draws pictures of NASCAR race cars, a teacher could start expanding the fixation by having him draw an Indianapolis-type car or draw sports cars that regular people can buy at car dealerships. The next step of expansion is to draw pictures of places where race tracks are located”

15. “I was appalled to learn that some schools are very rigid about forcing a child to only study materials that are designed for his/her grade level. “- Temple Grandinhttp://www.takepart.com/article/2012/08/15/temple-grandin-reveals-advice-educating-autistic-kids Temple Grandin

16. Chaytor is provided with ‘safe’ activities that compliment his interests in light..

17. Interest in Ceiling Fans • How do we expand on Chaytor’s interest in ceiling fans? • How about bridging that interest to encourage social skills and follow through?

18. Moving from the block area to interacting with peers and a new medium...

19. Which led to work in the art area: The beginning of symbolic representation….and following two-step directions.

20. Which led to…Making a fan for the doll house The Definition of Engagement …

21. Chaytor identifies the little boy in the doll house as himself

22. Chaytor begins playing in the doll house…1st with teacher scaffolding and then with peers. And… practicing the function of objects and positional concepts , etc.

23. Which led to… • Increase in: • Initiative • Follow Through • Engagement • Interaction with peers and adults • Using language in a functional manner

24. Year Two: Symbolic Thinking

25. Chaytor begins to initiate the representation of his interests Chaytor’s new interest in ‘Na-na’s garden…naming his picture: “Elephant Ears & Caladium”

26. Pick an interest… How might this interest lead to a project?

27. What is a Child-Negotiated Project? Children communicate • An Interest • An Intent for Following that Interest Teachers:  • Gather Provocations and Embed Learning Objectives Teachers and Children Negotiate: • Which, When, Where, and How the Interests Will be Followed

28. Why give the children a voice in creating the learning process? • Emotional investment in learning • Engagement= Learning • Communicators of their Ideas • Creative Thinkers • Planners • Problem-solvers • Hooked into Attending to and Following Through with the Learning Processes

29. Highlights from:A Joint Position Statement on inclusion of the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC ) • The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include • a sense of belonging and membership, • positive social relationships and friendships, and • development and learning to reach their full potential. • The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high quality early childhood programs and services are access, participation, and supports.

30. Learning Projects: Reaching Multiple Objectives at Multiple Levels Deciding what might be a whole-class project? • Observing Play • Taking anecdotal notes on children’s conversations • Noticing the level of interest among the children as a whole

31. Systems for Supporting Project Work • Planned Observations • Providing Provocations • The Environment as the Third Teacher • Staffing • Planning for an Emerging Curriculum • Embedding Learning • Documentation as Observation-Data Collection

32. Observation Tools: • Levels of Play • Greenspan’s Levels of Social/Emotional • Multiple Intelligences • A Time Sampling of Areas of Interest • Anecdotal Records

33. Observations/Provocations Lead to Engaged Learning for All When deciding what might be a project? • Observe Play • Take anecdotal notes on children’s conversations • Notice the level of interest among the children as a whole

34. Matrix for Observations

35. Provocations & The Environment

36. Staffing Project Work

37. Tiered Learning:Engaging All Learners

39. Project Planning: Being a Reflective Teacher Weekly planning is carried out around children’s interests, skill sets, concept development & objectives

40. Think about your play idea project • How could you embed learning into that play? • How would you plan to meet the learning objectives during the play? How many developmental domains could be reached? • How would you use the staff and the environment to promote the learning? • How might learning be tiered during the play?

41. Data Collection in an Activity-Based Curriculum: • Post-it Notes • Staff Discussion • Clipboards • Checklists… More?

42. Using Portfolios A record of the process of a child's learning and development: What the child has learned and how the child has gone about learning Work Samples, anecdotal records, photographs, videos, conversations of children are just a sampling of what goes into a portfolio. Cassidy 2008-2009