Anti-bias Curriculum together with developmental assessments, is the best way to help children further development. Teachers provide activities and experiences that speak to their individual culture and that of the community in which they live.
Lesson Plan
Developmental Level: Preschool
Topic: Being Bilingual
Duration: Ongoing throughout the year
Goals/Objectives:
Learn some basic words in English and Spanish. Students will learn one word a day that is in the story to practice using at school.
Example:
Day 1: Hola=Hello
Day 2: Adios=Good bye
Day3: Leche=Milk
Day4: Huevos=Eggs
Day 5: Maestra=Teacher
To asses if children are understanding these words ask them questions, like during meal time ask “Please pass the leche.” and see if they give you the item you asked for.
Standards Covered:
The Desired Results Developmental Profile www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Measure
18-Memory and Knowledge: Child stores, retrieves, and uses information about
familiar and unfamiliar events, past experiences, people and things.
Measure
26-Classification: Child shows increasing ability to compare, match, and sort
objects into groups according to some attributes.
Measure
29-Interest in Literacy: Child shows interests in books, songs, rhymes, stories,
writing, and other literacy activities.
Materials:
Book
“Say Hola to Spanish” by Susan Middleton Elya, index card (lined or unlined),
magazines, loop and spring back scissors, glue sticks, and
markers.
Introduction:
Discuss
with children what it means to be bilingual. Ask them questions like, “Have you
ever heard anyone speaking a different language?” or “Do you know any words in
Spanish?” Ask children these questions during times where they have time to
think about it in a relaxed environment; a perfect time would be during meal
time where children are sitting and having a casual conversation is easier.
Plan for instruction/Procedure:
After reading the story “Say Hola to Spanish” during circle time and having an open dialogue about what it means to be bilingual explain to the class what they are going to be doing at table activity time. Each child will get one index card and a magazine, they will be asked to find and cut out a picture or multiple pictures of the correlating word. Then have them trace or copy the word in English and Spanish on the bottom of the card. At the end of the week each child will have a small collection of picture cards to take home. Also at the end of the week you can have each child share their cards with their peers and they can look at the similarities and differences. Each child will also share their cards with a teacher who will assess how well a child remembers the words and can
describe what they mean.
Checking for Understanding/Assessment:
For guided practice, teachers can place items on a table and ask them to point to each item. You can also ask them “wh” questions to see if they understand the meaning behind the word. “Would you drink Huevos?”
As for independent practice you can use observations and make anecdotal notes to check for usage during independent/free time play. For instance you can have some of these items in the playhouse kitchen which allows children to use it in their imaginary play, building knowledge through real life peer interactions.
Adapting to Diversity:
This can be used to teach DLL children words in English as well. The directions to the activity can be shown to children who do not understand by them watching another child do it first, but otherwise it is the same.
Cultural Misunderstandings, Misconceptions or Bias
Some families might not understand why their child is learning how to speak a language other than English. By sending home a letter to parents explaining the importance of being accepting of all the family cultures in the program. You can put in a statement about how the program does not tolerate discrimination or prejudice “against a person based on the group, class, or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit.” (Curenton, Iruka, 2013, Ch.2.3)
Home-School Partnership:
Sending home this letter in the family’s home language will show parents that you value communicating with them and also that you are there to support everyone, not just the English speaking families.
Personal Reflection:
I thought about the children in my current program to develop this lesson. We have both English and Spanish speaking children whose parents are taking DLL classes right next door to the preschool. This year a new teacher was hired who is bilingual and I really feel a better, stronger connection to those DLL families than I have in the past. In order to communicate effectively I felt it was important for all staff to begin to learn words and phrases in Spanish so that we can better communicate with all children and be able to greet families in a friendly way. It’s amazing how quick young children acquire language and they will begin to use it when communicating with their peers, especially during
play. This lesson takes this idea about acquiring a new language and making it more concrete by engaging children in fine motor skills and literacy.
Lesson Plan
Developmental Level: Preschool
Topic: “Where I Live” Book
Duration: 1Week
Goals/Objectives:
Children will be able to discuss characteristics about where they live and who they live with, with teachers and peers. They will be able to find the similarities and the differences between themselves and their classmates.
Standards Covered:
The Desired Results Developmental Profile www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Measure
1-Indentity of Self: Child shows increasing awareness of own characteristics,
preferences, and experiences as separate from those of others.
Measure
8-Awareness of diversity in self and others: Child acknowledges and responds to
similarities and differences between self and others and learns to appreciate
the value of each person in a community.
Materials:
Different
colored paper to make the book, chubby and traditional crayons, colored pencils
with or without finger grips, markers, loop & spring back scissors,
rulers
Introduction:
Begin the week by asking children about where they sleep. Do they have their own or do they share with a sibling? What items do they have in their rooms? Then expand on this concept and include their homes. Do they live in an apartment, a house, or a mobile home? To extend this even further, talk about the street they live on. (If a child doesn’t know what street they live on you can find this information in their file.) What street do they live on? What town or city do they live in? This will allow children to use prior knowledge about what they know about their family dynamics and their homes.
Plan for instruction/Procedure:
Read “Me on the Map” by Joan Sweeny at circle time. After reading the story during circle time describe the table activity. One teacher will work with each child one-on-one on writing down the specifics of their room, home, street, etc. on the dedicated page of the book. You can write down the words to create a narrative and the children can draw what they describe or they can bring in photographs, if they aren’t able to draw it, to compile a book.
Checking for Understanding/Assessment:
To check for understanding you can have the children read their books to each other. Since young children can’t read yet, they can describe or point to pictures on the pages. You can ask children to find a friend that shares a similarity, like shares a room with a sibling or their grandparents live with them. Observe children when interacting with their peers. You can also have children buddy up and share their friend’s book. That way they can learn about a friend and tell the rest of the class about them. Make anecdotal notes of the conversations taking place and then use those observations to rate each child as exploring, developing, building, or integrating.
Adapting to Diversity:
If a child is a DLL then the teacher should write their words in their first
language as well as English so it can be read at school and at home. This lesson plan allows for flexibility because there isn’t a specific answer. Each child will have their own personal book, filled with drawings or photos that are personal to them.
Cultural Misunderstandings, Misconceptions or Bias
Some children may not live with their parents, live with multiple family members, or may not live in a home but a shelter. It is important to keep biases and previous presumptions about what the typical American home is so that you can understand and accept different cultures and what they may find “normal.” This type of thinking should be scaffolded by all staff of the program. Children watch very closely our interactions, the words we use, and the body language we have to build their own point of view of the world so it is important that we convey acceptance of all cultures.
Home-School Partnership:
I would recommend that parents talk to their children about where they grew up when they were a child. Families should describe to their children what it looked like, who lived there, was it different or the same than what their child is growing up with. This allows families to build strong relationships with each other through language and memory sharing.
Personal Reflection:
Some things that I considered when developing this lesson plan was that all children have something in common, they all live in a home. The specifics of each child’s home are different but children can share these differences and similarities with each other and use it to build knowledge of their peer’s diverse cultures. By expressing these ideas and placing them in a book you are allowing children to share their own personal culture visually with others.
Resources:
www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Curenton, S.M., & Iruka, I.U. (2013). Cultural competence in early childhood education. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Developmental Level: Preschool
Topic: Being Bilingual
Duration: Ongoing throughout the year
Goals/Objectives:
Learn some basic words in English and Spanish. Students will learn one word a day that is in the story to practice using at school.
Example:
Day 1: Hola=Hello
Day 2: Adios=Good bye
Day3: Leche=Milk
Day4: Huevos=Eggs
Day 5: Maestra=Teacher
To asses if children are understanding these words ask them questions, like during meal time ask “Please pass the leche.” and see if they give you the item you asked for.
Standards Covered:
The Desired Results Developmental Profile www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Measure
18-Memory and Knowledge: Child stores, retrieves, and uses information about
familiar and unfamiliar events, past experiences, people and things.
Measure
26-Classification: Child shows increasing ability to compare, match, and sort
objects into groups according to some attributes.
Measure
29-Interest in Literacy: Child shows interests in books, songs, rhymes, stories,
writing, and other literacy activities.
Materials:
Book
“Say Hola to Spanish” by Susan Middleton Elya, index card (lined or unlined),
magazines, loop and spring back scissors, glue sticks, and
markers.
Introduction:
Discuss
with children what it means to be bilingual. Ask them questions like, “Have you
ever heard anyone speaking a different language?” or “Do you know any words in
Spanish?” Ask children these questions during times where they have time to
think about it in a relaxed environment; a perfect time would be during meal
time where children are sitting and having a casual conversation is easier.
Plan for instruction/Procedure:
After reading the story “Say Hola to Spanish” during circle time and having an open dialogue about what it means to be bilingual explain to the class what they are going to be doing at table activity time. Each child will get one index card and a magazine, they will be asked to find and cut out a picture or multiple pictures of the correlating word. Then have them trace or copy the word in English and Spanish on the bottom of the card. At the end of the week each child will have a small collection of picture cards to take home. Also at the end of the week you can have each child share their cards with their peers and they can look at the similarities and differences. Each child will also share their cards with a teacher who will assess how well a child remembers the words and can
describe what they mean.
Checking for Understanding/Assessment:
For guided practice, teachers can place items on a table and ask them to point to each item. You can also ask them “wh” questions to see if they understand the meaning behind the word. “Would you drink Huevos?”
As for independent practice you can use observations and make anecdotal notes to check for usage during independent/free time play. For instance you can have some of these items in the playhouse kitchen which allows children to use it in their imaginary play, building knowledge through real life peer interactions.
Adapting to Diversity:
This can be used to teach DLL children words in English as well. The directions to the activity can be shown to children who do not understand by them watching another child do it first, but otherwise it is the same.
Cultural Misunderstandings, Misconceptions or Bias
Some families might not understand why their child is learning how to speak a language other than English. By sending home a letter to parents explaining the importance of being accepting of all the family cultures in the program. You can put in a statement about how the program does not tolerate discrimination or prejudice “against a person based on the group, class, or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit.” (Curenton, Iruka, 2013, Ch.2.3)
Home-School Partnership:
Sending home this letter in the family’s home language will show parents that you value communicating with them and also that you are there to support everyone, not just the English speaking families.
Personal Reflection:
I thought about the children in my current program to develop this lesson. We have both English and Spanish speaking children whose parents are taking DLL classes right next door to the preschool. This year a new teacher was hired who is bilingual and I really feel a better, stronger connection to those DLL families than I have in the past. In order to communicate effectively I felt it was important for all staff to begin to learn words and phrases in Spanish so that we can better communicate with all children and be able to greet families in a friendly way. It’s amazing how quick young children acquire language and they will begin to use it when communicating with their peers, especially during
play. This lesson takes this idea about acquiring a new language and making it more concrete by engaging children in fine motor skills and literacy.
Lesson Plan
Developmental Level: Preschool
Topic: “Where I Live” Book
Duration: 1Week
Goals/Objectives:
Children will be able to discuss characteristics about where they live and who they live with, with teachers and peers. They will be able to find the similarities and the differences between themselves and their classmates.
Standards Covered:
The Desired Results Developmental Profile www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Measure
1-Indentity of Self: Child shows increasing awareness of own characteristics,
preferences, and experiences as separate from those of others.
Measure
8-Awareness of diversity in self and others: Child acknowledges and responds to
similarities and differences between self and others and learns to appreciate
the value of each person in a community.
Materials:
Different
colored paper to make the book, chubby and traditional crayons, colored pencils
with or without finger grips, markers, loop & spring back scissors,
rulers
Introduction:
Begin the week by asking children about where they sleep. Do they have their own or do they share with a sibling? What items do they have in their rooms? Then expand on this concept and include their homes. Do they live in an apartment, a house, or a mobile home? To extend this even further, talk about the street they live on. (If a child doesn’t know what street they live on you can find this information in their file.) What street do they live on? What town or city do they live in? This will allow children to use prior knowledge about what they know about their family dynamics and their homes.
Plan for instruction/Procedure:
Read “Me on the Map” by Joan Sweeny at circle time. After reading the story during circle time describe the table activity. One teacher will work with each child one-on-one on writing down the specifics of their room, home, street, etc. on the dedicated page of the book. You can write down the words to create a narrative and the children can draw what they describe or they can bring in photographs, if they aren’t able to draw it, to compile a book.
Checking for Understanding/Assessment:
To check for understanding you can have the children read their books to each other. Since young children can’t read yet, they can describe or point to pictures on the pages. You can ask children to find a friend that shares a similarity, like shares a room with a sibling or their grandparents live with them. Observe children when interacting with their peers. You can also have children buddy up and share their friend’s book. That way they can learn about a friend and tell the rest of the class about them. Make anecdotal notes of the conversations taking place and then use those observations to rate each child as exploring, developing, building, or integrating.
Adapting to Diversity:
If a child is a DLL then the teacher should write their words in their first
language as well as English so it can be read at school and at home. This lesson plan allows for flexibility because there isn’t a specific answer. Each child will have their own personal book, filled with drawings or photos that are personal to them.
Cultural Misunderstandings, Misconceptions or Bias
Some children may not live with their parents, live with multiple family members, or may not live in a home but a shelter. It is important to keep biases and previous presumptions about what the typical American home is so that you can understand and accept different cultures and what they may find “normal.” This type of thinking should be scaffolded by all staff of the program. Children watch very closely our interactions, the words we use, and the body language we have to build their own point of view of the world so it is important that we convey acceptance of all cultures.
Home-School Partnership:
I would recommend that parents talk to their children about where they grew up when they were a child. Families should describe to their children what it looked like, who lived there, was it different or the same than what their child is growing up with. This allows families to build strong relationships with each other through language and memory sharing.
Personal Reflection:
Some things that I considered when developing this lesson plan was that all children have something in common, they all live in a home. The specifics of each child’s home are different but children can share these differences and similarities with each other and use it to build knowledge of their peer’s diverse cultures. By expressing these ideas and placing them in a book you are allowing children to share their own personal culture visually with others.
Resources:
www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/documents/drdp2010preschooleng.pdf
Curenton, S.M., & Iruka, I.U. (2013). Cultural competence in early childhood education. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.