Synopses & Reviews
[This] book does not leave us awestruck by the brilliance of a single teacher. It draws us in.
- Eleanor Duckworth
If you're a preschool or primary teacher looking for compelling curriculum, your search has ended. According to Ben Mardell, the best ideas can be found with your students, and enthusiasm is the key ingredient. Mardell's new book describes some of the projects he created by tapping into children's interestsand the results are both instructive and galvanizing.
This entertaining and informative guide provides both the big picture about work in early childhood classroomsthe theory of teaching young childrenand the details of developing and implementing preschool curriculum. Each chapter describes a specific curriculum unit on topics ranging from squirrels to storytelling, astronomy to South Africa, and basketball to the Beatles. Each unit is followed by field-tested suggestions for exploring the topic, including art projects, movement activities, songs, group time activities, dramatic play props, stories, and field trips. There are also lists of resources at the end of each chapter to help you implement the curriculum.
Embedded within each chapter are guiding principles for curriculum development and implementation. Included are thoughts on using stories to bring topics to life, tapping children's fantasy and play to further inquiry, understanding students and guiding their activities, teaching skills as a natural part of study, building a community of learners, and much more.
Review
[This] book does not leave us awestruck by the brilliance of a single teacher. It draws us in.Eleanor Duckworth
Synopsis
This entertaining and informative guide provides both the big picture about work in early childhood classroomsthe theory of teaching young childrenand the details of developing and implementing preschool curriculum.
Synopsis
[This] book does not leave us awestruck by the brilliance of a single teacher. It draws us in. - Eleanor DuckworthIf you're a preschool or primary teacher looking for compelling curriculum, your search has ended. According to Ben Mardell, the best ideas can be found with your students, and enthusiasm is the key ingredient. Mardell's new book describes some of the projects he created by tapping into children's interestsand the results are both instructive and galvanizing.This entertaining and informative guide provides both the big picture about work in early childhood classroomsthe theory of teaching young childrenand the details of developing and implementing preschool curriculum. Each chapter describes a specific curriculum unit on topics ranging from squirrels to storytelling, astronomy to South Africa, and basketball to the Beatles. Each unit is followed by field-tested suggestions for exploring the topic, including art projects, movement activities, songs, group time activities, dramatic play props, stories, and field trips. There are also lists of resources at the end of each chapter to help you implement the curriculum.Embedded within each chapter are guiding principles for curriculum development and implementation. Included are thoughts on using stories to bring topics to life, tapping children's fantasy and play to further inquiry, understanding students and guiding their activities, teaching skills as a natural part of study, building a community of learners, and much more.
About the Author
Ben Mardell has taught in early childhood classrooms for more than 15 years. Ben was the afternoon preschool teacher at Oxford Street Day Care Cooperative in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Currently, he works at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on the Making Learning Visible Project, a collaboration with the Municipal Infant-toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The author of From Basketball to the Beatles: In Search of Compelling Early Childhood Curriculum (Heinemann, 1999), Ben is also a speaker in Heinemann's Professional Development programs. Presentations by Ben Mardell emphasize the nuts and bolts of planning and implementing early childcare curriculum, as well as larger themes about early childhood curriculum-goals, moral education, and behavioral issues. Mardell's work at Harvard has also taught him about the vital area of documentation as well as some of the practical considerations involved I putting together useful documentation of children's learning.
Table of Contents
"ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE": AN INTRODUCTION
Begin by Studying What's Around: Squirrels
Reaching for the Stars: Astronomy
Hoop Dreams: Basketball
The Case of Miss D.: Emotions
In Search of Fairness: South Africa
And We Told Wonderful Stories Also: Storytelling
Sgt. Pepper and Beyond: The Beatles, the Talking Heads, and the Preschool Band
THINKING BIG: SOME FINAL THOUGHTS