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Developmentally-Appropriate Instruction

Jasmine Erickson

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2018

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Introduction

There are many components to good instruction, and one important consideration is

whether or not it is developmentally appropriate for students. Having awareness of where

students are in their growth and development while formulating lesson plans will allow students

to get the most out of each lesson. It is also important to show cultural awareness and be

respectful of individual differences to ensure that all students feel accepted and acknowledged.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact is a language arts lesson plan that I created for a 5th grade class. The

focus of the lesson is on the book Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. I chose this lesson

because it aligns with state standards, it shows cultural awareness, and it encourages students to

connect prior knowledge. Also, experts state that in the intellectual development of a ten year

old (the age of most 5th graders), students “learn best when activities are active, hands-on, and

relate to personal experiences” (Glen Hills Middle School, 2007, para. 7).

Prior to this lesson, students had been working on learning about the civil rights

movement for the past month in social studies. Also, almost half of both 5th grade classes that I

taught this lesson to was composed of African American students. It seemed appropriate to read

a book about a true story of the Underground Railroad and work with students to connect their

personal experiences to the story. In the instructional input or procedure section, I focused on

making sure the students knew to look for inferences of the character’s feelings and point of

view. Then, I had students create a graphic organizer to help them really dig deeper into the

story. It was also easy to use the graphic organizer as a summative assessment to ensure that
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students were meeting the goals of the lesson. I broke this lesson into two days so that students

could have adequate time to really immerse themselves in the text.

The students absolutely loved this lesson. As it was suggested in their growth and

development stage, they really loved having such a hands-on approach to the reading. They

were highly engaged and had excellent discussions, and related the issues in the book to their

personal experiences. Some of the students even got emotional during portions of the story when

the main character, who was a slave, was mistreated. Several students also asked permission if

they could reread the book later in the day. The students got so much out of this lesson because

it catered to the intellectual development stage they were in, and also showed cultural awareness.

The second artifact I chose was an image of two of my kindergarten students working on

a matching activity in a math lesson. In this lesson, the students had to find and match cards that

had tally marks on them with cards that had the same number of dots on a ten frame. I chose this

activity because it aligns with the cognitive milestones of kindergartners that are able to:

recognize shapes, participate in short activities, and count groups of objects up to 10 (Morin,

2017, para. 6). This lesson was also easy to differentiate based on the needs of individual

learners. I matched gifted students together and gave them more cards with higher numbers on

them. For lower level students, I gave them cards with smaller values on them (based on their

current counting ability) and also gave fewer cards to match. The students of average ability

were given a mix of easy and hard cards.

This lesson allowed students to work at their cognitive levels while also challenging

students to make connections to prior knowledge. Some of the students struggled with matching

the numbers, and this easily allowed me to assess the students that still needed to work on tally
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marks or ten squares. This lesson also provided the students with the opportunity for cooperative

learning; so, if one student was slightly more advanced than another they were able to work

together to successfully complete the activity. This was also developmentally appropriate

because it turned a concept that may be a challenge for some into a game, making learning fun.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) states that

there are three main things to consider when designing developmentally appropriate instruction:

“knowing about child development and learning, knowing what is individually appropriate, [and]

knowing what is culturally important” (NAEYC, 2018, para. 2-4). It is important to understand

child development to ensure that lessons are designed to support the needs of each student group.

Cultural awareness is also a key component because appropriately designed lessons will ensure

that students feel respected and affirmed in their differences. Also, the individual learner needs

to be consdered as each class is unique and composed of students with varying abilities.

Tisha Shipley is an educator that has a background in curriculum development and writes

for the Whole Child Blog (Shipley, 2014, para. 32). She asserts that it is important to use

“developmentally appropriate pracitces (DAP) … [to] help teachers differentiate instruction,

engage students in the learning process, and increase achievement of all children” (Shipley,

2014, para. 1). When creating lessons that are geared towards individual student groups based

on their development, students are able to get the most out of their learning. Allowing lessons to

be individualized naturally makes it easier to differentiate so that no student feels left behind or

unchallenged. Also, students will be much more engaged when they are invested in what they

are learning and it is relevent to their stage in life.

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It is also important to acknowledge that kindergarteners and 5th graders are at very

different developmental stages; so, the curriculum needs to be adapted accordingly. For

example, artifact 2 shows kindergarteners engaging in an interactive experience that is on par

with their developmental stage. However, such an activity would be too simple for a 5th grader

as they can master concepts “with far less effort” (Willis, 1993, para. 18.). 5th graders need

activities and lessons, such as the one in artifact 1, that allow them an intellectual challenge.

Otherwise, students will be left wondering “what’s the point” (Willis, 1993, para. 18)?

Therefore, it is important for teachers to acknowelege the different ages and levels of

development for each classroom they instruct. A primary goal should be to differentiate lessons

to cater to individual learners, and also create lessons that show cultural awareness. When

teachers take into account the developmental needs of their students, they are able to create

engaging lessons that will allow students to get the most out of their instruction.
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References

Glen Hills Middle School. (2007, December 7). Developmental Characteristics of 5th Graders. Retrieved
from Glen Hills Middle School:
http://www.glendale.k12.wi.us/glen_hills/grade__teacher_pages/5th_grade/developmental_ch
aracteristics_of_5th_graders

Morin, A. (2017). Developmental Milestones for Typical Kindergartners. Retrieved from Understood:
https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/signs-symptoms/developmental-
milestones/developmental-milestones-for-typical-kindergarteners

NAEYC. (2018). Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Introduction. Retrieved from NAEYC:
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/dap

Shipley, T. (2014, January 22). Early Childhood Education: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate
Practices into Literacy Instruction. Retrieved from The Whole Child Blog:
http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/early-childhood-education-implementing-
developmentally-appropriate-practice

Willis, S. (1993, November). Teaching Young Children. Retrieved from ASCD:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/curriculum-update/nov1993/teaching-young-children.aspx