Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 5. USING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD MEANINGFUL CURRICULUM
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs use their knowledge of academic disciplines to design,
implement, and evaluate experiences that promote positive development and learning for each and every young child.
Candidates understand the importance of developmental domains and academic (or content) disciplines in early
childhood curriculum. They know the essential concepts, inquiry tools, and structure of content areas, including
academic subjects, and can identify resources to deepen their understanding. Candidates use their own knowledge and
other resources to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful, challenging curriculum that promotes comprehensive
developmental and learning outcomes for every young child. (NAEYC, 2010)

Brief Description of Evidence:
During the spring semester of 2013 during my ECED 235-Preschool Practicum course, I created developmentally
appropriate activities and lesson plans within my practicum classroom during my field experience. I took what I knew
based upon assessments of my case-study child and implemented age and skill appropriate activities and lesson plans in
order to help her progress in areas in which she was struggling throughout the semester. The first lesson plan
implemented Math, Science, and Social Studies. By incorporating memory, social skills, interaction, and fun, I was able to
test multiple skill aspects of a small group of children. The second lesson plan incorporated Science, Art, and Literacy.
While the small group created unique x-rays, they also wrote the word x-ray and learned about bones and their
structures. Through this project I was able to grasp a better understanding of age appropriate learning and implement
lesson planning according to the individuals needs all the while combining curriculum.
Analysis of What I Learned:
Piaget believed learning came in stages. I can concur with his ideas because I believe with specific ages come
different levels of learning. Every age requires unique approaches to learning new material to guide them to the next
stage of learning. Through this project I now know how to promote positive development and learning through
developmentally appropriate lesson planning. Because of these lessons and activities, I have gained a better
understanding of professional planning and curriculum implementation.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:
From these artifacts I have gained the knowledge of academic disciplines by incorporating multiple subjects
including Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, and even Literacy. I was able to take these subjects along with the weekly
theme and design, implement, and evaluate my experiences as well as those of my students and mentor. By creating
and implementing my lessons and activities, I was able to positively promote learning and development for all my
students. Within my lesson planning and activities, I was able to understand developmental domains of each individual
student. I took what I knew of my students and developed such activities and lessons according to their developmental
abilities. During each lesson, I made sure to implement inquiry tools for the children to openly ask questions on what
something meant or how to go about creating their x-ray or spell a particular word. This project has broadened my
ability to discover resources to deepen my understanding and incorporate my knowledge into lesson planning. From this
project I have learned to challenge the child and their skills in order to promote developmental and learning outcomes
for every young child.