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Running Head: DEVELOPMENTALLY-APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION

Developmentally-Appropriate Instruction

Anna Gillette

Regent University

In Partial Fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio Spring 2018


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Introduction

When planning and delivering instruction, it is important to take into consideration

students developmental levels. This affects things like how instructions are given, how long

students are expected to focus on individual tasks, and and what kinds of tasks they engage in.

Although college age students might be able to learn quite a lot by listening to and taking notes

on a 90 minute lecture, elementary aged students need a series of shorter activities that allow

them to actively participate in learning. And while a typically developing 3rd-grade student

should be able to follow multi-step directions a kindergarten student or a student with special

needs may need directions given one at a time. Good teachers should seek to understand the

developmental levels of their students and use this understanding to better plan and deliver

instruction.

Rational

The first artifact I chose was a third grade lesson on quadrilaterals. I began the lesson by

having students sort pictures of quadrilaterals so that they would begin thinking critically about

the similarities and differences of the shapes. Then I used an anchor chart with definitions and

drawings to explain the types of quadrilaterals and encouraged students to refer to it throughout

the lesson. This enabled students to use the correct terms without expecting them to have already

memorized them. I checked the students’ understanding by having them explain to a peer, then to

me, the difference between two types of quadrilaterals. This avoided putting students on the spot

and gave everyone a chance to share their thinking.

After spending a short amount of time explaining the new concepts and then checking for

understanding, I drew the students’ attention back to the manipulatives. I prompted students to
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sort the quadrilaterals into piles and draw overlapping circles to show the relationship between

them. This allowed the students to actively deepen their understanding of the types of

quadrilaterals by creating a visual representation on their desks. I assessed the students on two

levels of understanding with a short quiz, first asking yes or no questions, then having students

explain the difference between two of the types of quadrilaterals. I closed the lesson by playing a

game which involved each student having large picture of a quadrilateral and moving between

different parts of the room. This reinforced the classifications they had just learned and gave the

students a chance to move around, something which is very important in the elementary grades.

During the lesson students spent some of their time quietly watching and listening as I

explained concepts, but spent most of it interacting with manipulatives. Spending some time

listening helped the students improve their listening skills and develop a longer attention span,

but I didn’t linger on this for long in order to give the students time to apply what they were

learning and deepen their understanding of it through hands on activities. This kept students

actively engaged in learning and strengthened their critical thinking skills.

The second artifact I chose was a kindergarten math lesson in which students practiced

solving subtraction facts using goldfish. I began with a related dance song to give the students a

chance to let out excess energy and activate their prior knowledge, preparing them for the rest of

the lesson. I used detailed modeling and gave clear expectations at the beginning of the lesson so

that the students knew exactly what I expected them to do when I gave them their materials.I

chose a worksheet that had an appropriate number of subtraction facts for the attention spans of

the young children in my class, and I gave them age appropriate manipulatives for them to work

out their problems which maintained their interests. I assessed the students formatively by
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checking their paper for mistakes and prompting them to correct errors. After the students

finished the subtraction, I had them color in the pictures on their worksheet to practice their fine

motor skills, which is an ongoing secondary objective for students of their age. Throughout the

lesson I gave appropriate rewards (verbal praise, star on paper, pennies) and consequences

(reminder, taking pennies), prompting students to follow directions and exhibit good behavior. I

also gave students who finished exceptionally early a math challenge sheet, which I created with

the understanding that there were some students whose academic abilities exceed that of their

peers and needed more difficult work to remain actively engaged and learning.

Reflection

Student teaching has taught me that student engagement and attention span must be

considered when planning and teaching a lesson. Younger students have shorter attention spans,

and so younger students learn best over the course of many shorter lessons which each involve a

number of short activities. As students get older their attention spans lengthen, enabling them to

do activities for longer periods of time. This is well suited to the more complex subjects and

skills older students are learning. Even so, students of all ages benefit from engaging in multiple

activities over the course of a lesson; it keeps things interesting and can better engage students of

many different learning styles. Engagement is essential to learning. It is important to reflect on

what engages students in the age group you are working with, whether it be treats, manipulatives,

or complex problems.

There were two classes I took at Regent University which helped me to understand how

to create developmentally appropriate instruction. The first and most obvious was Childhood and

Adolescent Growth and Development. This taught me about the typical developmental stages of
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children and some of the factors which affect them. It helped me realize that children really do

view the world differently as they grow up, and this must be taken into account when teaching

them. The second was Multicultural Education. Through this class I learned the importance of

teaching in a way that respected and responded to the culture of the students in my class. When

we think of teaching students in regards to their developmental level, it can be easy to think of

students falling along a continuum and being at a certain stage at a certain time, but it it much

more complicated than that. The culture in which a student grows up affects their development

and can change the type of instruction that is most appropriate and effective. Therefore students’

culture much also be carefully considered when designing instruction.

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