Cognitive Development, Math, and Science Fact Sheet & Literacy Backpack

DISCUSSION 1

Cognitive Development, Math, and Science Fact SheetThere are several early childhood curriculum activities that support the development of cognitive processes, science knowledge, and math knowledge. In Chapter 10 of your text, Jaruszewicz (2013) offers an explanation of these areas of development and ideas for educators and families to support these areas. For this discussion, you will create a Fact Sheet. First, review the required readings for this week and the Week Five Instructor Guidance page. Second, consider the following scenario as a frame of reference for this discussion: As a student in the Early Childhood Education program, you have been asked to help a colleague that has not received their textbook yet. You decide that the best way to assist your peer, and to help you study for the course, is to create a Fact Sheet. Initial Post: Use Microsoft Word or another tool of your choice to create the Fact Sheet. Your fact sheet must cover only one of the following areas from the Jaruszewicz (2013) textbook as your focus:

• Cognitive Development (sections 10.1, 10.2)
• Math (section 10.3, 10.4)
• Science (section 10.5).

Include the main points from the section you are focusing on and additional ideas for how you can use the information in an educational setting teaching young children. At a minimum, the Fact Sheet must include the following components:

• A summary of the section including the main ideas from your chosen area of focus (i.e., Cognitive Development, Math, or Science)
• Three ways to promote development in an educational setting for young children. Support this section with your text and an additional scholarly resource. 
• Two suggestions for family involvement
• Two websites that support development.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISCUSSION 2

Literacy BackpackPromoting language and literacy experiences in early childhood education can profoundly impact children positively for the national core standards in language arts (Jaruszewicz, 2013). In particular, research confirms positive correlations between high quality early literacy experiences and later success in school (Barnett & Lamy, 2006). Part of this is creating engaging literacy experiences that create enthusiasm and emerging positive literacy dispositions. One way to engage children in meaningful experiences is to create language and literacy activities that are engaging, interactive, and fun. The concept of a thematic literacy bag, sometimes called a story sack, or backpack, has been used within the classroom as well as an at home activity to support positive literacy experiences. These thematic bags include several language and literacy activities that support children’s learning. To prepare for this discussion, review the Explanation of Story Sacks, Buddy Bags, and Literacy Bags on Pinterest resources for this week as well as the Instructor Guidance for Week Five.Initial Post: Create a plan for a literacy backpack that can be used within the classroom or at home. Your post must include a visual of what your bag might look like. You can use whichever graphics program you choose to create the visual (e.g., the drawing tools in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint). Be sure to attach your visual to your initial post. Additionally, an explanation for the following contents of your literacy backpack must be included in the message of your initial post:

• Theme of your bag and introduction to the bag (e.g., Back to School, Seasons of the Year, Animals, Apples, Feelings and Emotions).
• Developmental level/age that you would use the activities with.
• Three developmentally appropriate literature selections that could be read to the child, including the title and author.
• Three open-ended questions that the child could discuss after reading the stories.
• Three activities which reflect reading/writing for the developmental level.
• Three language activities that could be done with the child.
• Three manipulatives or additional items that could be added to the bag, with a rationale of why they are important. For example, you may wish to include a puzzle or a stuffed animal that is related to the theme.