Wishes for the World (cont.

Name: Krista Howell

Dates (Allocated Time):

March 6-24,2017

Unit Topic: Wishes for the

World (cont.)

Grade Level: PK4 (Reggio

Emilia-inspired)
 Content Standards
Content Standard(s):
Social/Emotional: forms relationships with adults, responds to
emotional cues, balances needs and rights of self and others, solves
social problems
Fine Motor: uses fingers and hands, uses writing and drawing tools
Language: comprehends language, uses expanding expressive
vocabulary, engages in conversations, uses social rules of language
Cognitive: persists, solves problems, shows curiosity and motivation,
shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking, thinks symbolically,
engages in socio-dramatic play
Literacy: identifies and names letters, uses letter-sound knowledge,
uses and appreciates books, interacts during read-alouds and book
conversations, writes name, writes to convey meaning

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 Learning Unit Overview
Learning Unit Overview: Wishes for the World, 3 weeks
March 6-10/1st week: Take already created wishes for the world
from the children and create related groups (play, environment,
friendship/love, etc) to continue to discuss how to bring their
wishes to fruition, document conversations, children sketch a
draft of their ideas.
March 13-17/2nd week: Continue conversations but also bring
them back into the classroom to share with the larger group to
develop a plan for the first stage of enacting their wishes, children
sketch or act out another draft of ideas.
March 20-24/3rd week: Gather materials for the beginning stages
of making our wishes come true and begin final draft of their
ideas and experiment to see if their plan might work.

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 Brain Target #1
Establishing the Emotional Climate for Learning

Daily routines:
Mindfulness each morning
Cozy corner with lovies in case they need
them to calm down throughout the day
Family photos displayed
Hugs in between transitions inside and
outside the room if they want
Check-in for feelings each morning on the
Emotional Continuum
Our PK4 students have already engaged in
conversations in the Atelier (art studio) about
wishes they have for the world based on
their own perception of a problem that
exists. They then designed, painted and
decorated a CD for their wish to go on and be
displayed publicly.
We also read stories where they connected
to how characters felt like a young boy who
was a refugee in the story Teacup to think
even more globally about the needs of
others.
 Brain Target #2
Creating the Physical Learning Environment

Student work related to wishes and feelings are displayed

on the gate outside the school, in the hallway and in the
classroom as documentation of previous learning
Dedicated time for students to work with the Atelierista
(art studio teacher) and in the classroom at a mini-atelier
(mini art studio) is embedded
Dedicated choice time where theyre free to engage in
Library/Story telling, Music, Science, Art, Writing, Blocks,
Dramatic Play or Math centers
Time for mindfulness, dancing to music and breaks is
incorporated daily
Fidgets, bumpy seats and preferential seating is
incorporated daily
 Brain Target #3
Designing the Learning Experience
Concept Map / Advanced Organizer and Learning Goals
Wishes for the
World

Environmental Friendship/Love/Play

Fine Motor: Draw, sculpt, build ideas related to wish and how to begin to
make it come true
Social/Emotional: Think critically about how to begin to solve the social
issue their wish relates to and work collaboratively in a group
Language/Literacy: Read stories related to wish themes and engage in
discussions with each other about how they relate and how they might
influence how they seek to accomplish their wish.
Cognitive: Critically think about how to accomplish their wishes as a group
and develop practical steps along with visual representations
Create initial step to begin making their wish come
true
 Brain Target #3 (cont.)
Introductory Big Picture Activity/Assessment of Prior
Knowledge

Introductory Big Picture

Activity/Assessment of Prior Knowledge
Share concept map with children
Review documentation from prior conversations
about their wishes and how to make them come
true (next two slides)
Share photos and discussions about their
groupings and how they will work together

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For the second year our SWS Early Childhood Team
has partnered with Harvard Project Zero and
Veronica Boix-Mansilla to research and study how
our youngest children develop global competency.
This year the idea of wishes was initiated when our
partnering school in Japan sent our students teru
teru bozu. They were made on a rainy day in Japan
and sent to us in hopes that we would have good
weather here. In response to that our students
were asked in the Atelier by Ms. McLean what
wishes they had for the world. They created
paintings on CDs so we could make those wishes
public, literally for the world to see along our fence
at SWS. There are so many inspiring individuals
who also had dreams and wishes for the world and
our students should know how interconnected
many of their own hopes, wishes and dreams are to
them. The Because of Them We Can photo series
was the perfect vehicle to connect them and make
that connection visible. Our next step is to figure
out how we can make our wishes come true.

What wishes and dreams are you

pursuing now?
 Brain Target #3 (cont.)
Introductory Big Picture Activity/Assessment of Prior
Knowledge

Self-portraits of students Publicly displayed wishes

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 Brain Target #4
Teaching for Mastery of Content, Skills, and Concepts

In order to master the content, skills and concepts necessary in this

unit children will engage in:
Fine motor: daily and weekly within the mini-atelier in the classroom
and Atelierista in the studio with a variety of materials to create and
draft their wish ideas, exploration in Writing and Mini-Atelier Center
Social/Emotional: group work discussions around their specific wish
group and work through disagreements and divergent thoughts,
exploration in Dramatic Play Center
Language/Literacy: daily read-alouds that relate to their wish group
theme and subsequent discussions about how they relate to their
ability to develop a plan to begin to make their wish come true,
exploration in Writing and Library Centers
Cognitive: daily curiosity about their wishes and problem solving to
figure out how to begin developing practical steps to help them make
their wish come true, exploration in Story Telling, Science and
Dramatic Play Centers
 Brain Target #4 (cont.)
Teaching for Mastery of Content, Skills, and Concepts

All images
from
classroom
centers or
Atelier

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 Brain Target #5
Teaching for the Extension and Application of Knowledge

Children will extend and apply their knowledge of

their particular wish theme by:
Discussing how our read-aloud stories relate to their
particular wish group and how it might help them
develop a plan to address their wish coming true
Creating multiple drafts with a multitude of materials
to explore their ideas in the Atelier and mini-atelier
Create a final draft of wish plan and experiment if it
actually begins to address their wish coming true
 Brain Target #6
Evaluating Learning

Daily anecdotal notes are taken on each child

Pedagogical documentation is created with
teacher reflection on student learning
Teaching Strategies GOLD rubrics are used for
each content area (examples below):
 Brain Target #6 (cont.)
Evaluating Learning

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 Brain Target #6 (cont.)
Evaluating Learning

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 References
Because of Them We Can LLC. (2017). Retrieved February 24, 2017, from
https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/pages/meet-us

Brain-Targeted Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2017, from

http://braintargetedteaching.org

Hardiman, M. M. (2012). The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-century

schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Mindfulness training.

Baltimore, MD: Author.

Teaching Strategies LLC. (2017). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from

https://gold.teachingstrategies.com/gold/teachers/

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