2a. Location of examples of teacher-directed and child-initiated activities including opportunities for children to choose interest areas and activities
ACCESS classrooms observe children to determine their interests. The results of these observations inform both how the environment is staged and what experiences, both teacher and child directed, are planned and facilitated.
Please note that one component of ACCESS is called “In-betweens” linked here. While teaching teams identify and reflect on children’s interest on an ongoing basis.
Please note that one component of ACCESS is called “In-betweens” linked here. While teaching teams identify and reflect on children’s interest on an ongoing basis.
One example of following children’s interests through both child directed and teacher directed experiences is the exploration of ice in a toddler room linked here. In this example, the children became interested in icicles that were hanging from the roof outside their classroom. The experience started with a teacher directed experience that included new vocabulary and an opportunity for children to ask and answer questions. Children were able to explore ice and icicles through play as they made choices about the experiences that they wanted to engage in.
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2b. Location of examples of interactive and hands-on activities with opportunities for skills practice without the use of worksheets.
ACCESS relies on interactive and hands-on activities that incorporate skills practice without worksheets. For several examples see the Activities section on the Free Resources Page on the ACCESS Curriculum Website linked here. Many of the activities shown here include the introduction of new vocabulary, opportunities to predict and record findings. Science journals are often used and stories are written using their explorations.
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2c. Location of examples of activities arranged in a logical sequence of increasing complexity over time.
ACCESS incorporates cooking experiences that use a recipe and logical sequence of the steps to follow. The recipe provides a purpose for print and uses a combination of pictures and words so that children comprehend the recipe based on their level of emergent literacy. For an example of a cooking experience go to the ACCESS Curriculum Website at this link.
Another example of activities arranged in a logical sequence is the preschool sign-in process. When children enter the room, they sign-in. They start with scribbling their name. When the child is ready they move to tracing their name, then learning the first letter of their name, and progress until they can write their first and last name with capital and lower case letters on the line provided. Teachers photograph the child’s progress bimonthly.
Another example of activities arranged in a logical sequence is the preschool sign-in process. When children enter the room, they sign-in. They start with scribbling their name. When the child is ready they move to tracing their name, then learning the first letter of their name, and progress until they can write their first and last name with capital and lower case letters on the line provided. Teachers photograph the child’s progress bimonthly.
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Because it would identify the child by name we could not include an example of the final level which included the first and last name with a capital first letter and lowercase to complete the name.
2d. Location of examples of activities provided to support children's learning at various developmental stages.
ACCESS is used at the Bombeck Center where multiage preschool classrooms have been established. Differentiating across various development stages is the norm. To see how a teacher differentiates a ramp activity with a new 3 year old child and several older children watch the video The ACCESS Racecar Experiment linked here.
As shown in 2c, the classroom sign-in process demonstrates how children's learning is supported across a variety of developmental levels. When children enter the room, they sign-in. They start with scribbling their name. When the child is ready they move to tracing their name, then learning the first letter of their name, and progress until they can write their first and last name with capital and lower case letters on the line provided. Teachers photograph the child’s progress bimonthly.
As shown in 2c, the classroom sign-in process demonstrates how children's learning is supported across a variety of developmental levels. When children enter the room, they sign-in. They start with scribbling their name. When the child is ready they move to tracing their name, then learning the first letter of their name, and progress until they can write their first and last name with capital and lower case letters on the line provided. Teachers photograph the child’s progress bimonthly.