Physical Development and Health Lesson Addressing Benchmark 19.B.ECb

Introduction

The children noticed the trees on the playground blowing wildly in the wind during a spring thunderstorm. Many children stood by the window and talked about how the tree branches moved in different directions. The teachers decided to plan a “tree dancing” activity during music and movement time build on the children’s observations of the trees.

Ms. Jones and her teaching assistant (TA), Ms. Hernández, are responsible for developing learning activities that meet the needs of diverse learners and address the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards (IELDS). Ms. Jones knows most children in her class will meet the standards and benchmarks. However, she will have to make adaptations for those children who need more individualized instruction.

Ms. Jones is the state-licensed head teacher in a monolingual classroom of 15 children with diverse ages (3–5 years old) and learning needs. There are 10 typically developing children with age-appropriate skills and behaviors in the class. These children act as peer models for the remaining children in the class.

Three children, Raúl, Luis, and Esther, are dual language learners whose home language is Spanish. They started school with little understanding of English. Ms. Jones’ TA, Ms. Hernández, is bilingual and uses both Spanish and English in the classroom. Two children, Joey and Hailey, have special needs requiring an individual education program (IEP). Joey has significant speech delays and is learning to use an adaptive and augmentative communication (AAC) device. Hailey has cerebral palsy (CP) resulting in significant motor delays, especially on the left side of her body. She uses a walker and wheelchair for mobility. On occasion, some children exhibit challenging behavior during small group lessons. Ms. Jones would like to implement strategies to address challenging behavior in the classroom.

Ms. Jones’ district uses a state-approved developmentally appropriate curriculum. Ms. Jones and Ms. Hernández perform universal screenings three times per school year (fall, winter, spring) for preschool children.

This lesson addresses a primary benchmark. A secondary benchmark is included to offer ideas for addressing an additional benchmark within one lesson. Teachers are encouraged to be creative in thinking of ways to address multiple benchmarks within one lesson.

Materials

• Recording of instrumental music with variations in tempo (speed) and dynamics (volume)
• Lightweight scarves for the children to hold while dancing

Ms. Jones observes the dancing and takes notes for the children’s portfolios. She writes down descriptions of how the children move and whether the children are attempting to create movements that match the various living things that are suggested (e.g. trees are rooted and standing in one place while their arms move, snakes slither on the ground). She also makes general notes about the children’s engagement in the dance activities. Ms. Jones also uses a digital camera to take photos and/or videos to use in portfolio documentation.

Outdoors, the children continue to talk about the movement activity. The children note that the wind is moving through the branches. Ms. Hernández encourages the children to match the tree branch movements with their arms. She also encourages them to observe other living things such as grass being blown in the wind and a butterfly flying through the playground as inspiration for future dance activities.

This lesson was written in the context of Ms. Jones’s and Ms. Hernández’s classroom. We now offer some general suggestions of adaptations you can use in your classroom.