Young Learners, Diverse Children : Celebrating Diversity in Early Childhood

by Virginia Gonzalez

• ISBN13: 9781412968140
• ISBN10: 1412968143
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-22
• Publisher: Corwin Pr

Summary

Written as a guide for early childhood teachers, this book provides a model for meeting the educational needs of diverse, low socioeconomic status (SES), young children in PreûK through Grade 3.This book offers a unique educational perspective that interfaces cognition, language, and culture; provides lesson plans and classroom-based alternative assessment tools that meet pedagogical and accountability purposes; and integrates standards across developmental levels and content areas. Using her experience in establishing a successful school laboratory for diverse preschoolers, the author presents real-life stories of early childhood teachers and their diverse young learners and parents as case studies and examples of best teaching practices.Young Learners, Diverse Children endorses an integrational and pluralistic approach to the linguistic and cultural adaptation of young diverse students and their families, in which they can maintain their diversity while assimilating into the American culture. This engaging, inspirational, and practical handbook helps teachers solve real-life challenges as they teach and facilitate learning for diverse young children and build partnerships with their families.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. vi
Foreword	p. viii
Preface: A Letter to the Reader	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xx
About the Author	p. xxiii
Ethnic-Educator Philosophical and Theoretical Framework	p. 1
The Ethnic-Educator Philosophy	p. 2
Examples of Principle 1	p. 7
Examples of Principle 2	p. 11
Examples of Principle 3	p. 15
Examples of Principle 4	p. 17
The Ethnic-Educator Pedagogical Model	p. 20
How Teachers' Personalities Affect Their Assessment and Instructional Decisions	p. 20
A Socioconstructivistic Pedagogical Model Supporting the Ethnic-Educator Approach	p. 24
The Four Pedagogical Principles for Learning and Academic Achievement	p. 28
Educational Applications of The Ethnic-Educator Approach	p. 37
Teaching Strategies	p. 38
Strategies Supporting the Ethnic-Educator Approach	p. 38
First Cluster of Pedagogical Strategies: Thematic Curriculums	p. 39
First Cluster of Pedagogical Strategies: Holistic Developmental Curriculums	p. 45
Second Cluster of Pedagogical Strategies: Stimulating Critical-Thinking Skills	p. 48
Second and Third Clusters of Pedagogical Strategies: A Pluralistic Pedagogy Stimulating Connections to Prior Sociocultural Knowledge and Real-Life Experiences	p. 51
Fourth Cluster of Pedagogical Strategies: An Advocacy Position for Teachers	p. 55
Suggestions for Applying the Strategies	p. 58
Linking the Teaching Strategies with Academic Content Standards	p. 60
Linking Assessment to Instruction Through Classroom-Based Observations	p. 60
Instructional Purposes of Assessment	p. 86
Integration of Teaching Principles With TESOL Academic Content Standards in the Curriculum	p. 87
Linking Assessment to Instruction Through Classroom-Based Observations	p. 92
Developmental Tasks for Linking Assessment to Instruction	p. 115
Case Study Introducing Individual Developmental Tasks	p. 116
Discussion of Paula's Overall Performance Across Developmental Tasks	p. 137
Storytelling	p. 140
Research-Based Knowledge Supporting Storytelling as an Alternative Assessment	p. 141
Storytelling as an Assessment Method of First-and Second-Language and Cognitive Development	p. 142
Developmental Stages of Narrative and Semantic Development in Children	p. 143
Socioconstructivist Perspective for Language Development	p. 145
Sociocultural Perspective for Language Development	p. 145
Application of Research-Based Knowledge to Actual Assessment Strategies	p. 147
Recommended Strategies for Clustering Coded Responses	p. 155
Four Recommended Strategies for Interpreting Evaluation Results	p. 165
Conclusions	p. 169
Alternative Reading Instruction	p. 170
Introduction	p. 170
Theoretical Framework Supporting Reading Instruction in Young, Diverse Children	p. 171
Guided-Reading Approach for Developing Reading-Comprehension Skills	p. 174
Application of the Guided-Reading Approach	p. 175
Application of the Schema Theory	p. 176
Repetition and Practice Make Perfect	p. 178
Activities for Increasing Reading Abilities	p. 181
Family Involvement for Increasing Reading Skills	p. 183
Bridging the Gap Between School and Home Cultures Through Parental Participation	p. 184
Conclusions	p. 186
Conclusions and Recommendations for Educating Diverse Young Children	p. 187
Introduction: The BPDC as a Learning Context	p. 188
Interviews With Teachers Participating in the BPDC Project	p. 192
Interviews With Diverse and Mainstream Parents Participating in the BPDC Project	p. 197
Overall Conclusions	p. 208
Appendix: Alignment of Philosophical and Pedagogical Principles and Pedagogical Strategies Endorsed by the Ethnic-Educator Approach for Young, Diverse Children	p. 211
References	p. 213
Index	p. 218
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.