GROUP 2

SOC SCI 9

Thematic Planning

 Organize curriculum around a theme

- Involves integrating curriculum areas around topics or themes.
 Contributes to child’s growing awareness and understanding
- Engaging themes that relate to children’s lives also help them get excited about learning.
 Provides opportunities for child to learn by doing and have direct experiences with the world
- Seeks to put the teaching of cognitive skills in the context of real-world subject.
 Helps children understand that learning is connected to life
- Children acquire knowledge best when learning in the context of a coherent “whole” and when they can connect what
they’re learning to the real-world.

Children’s Experiences

 Reflect on and recreate experiences through:  Children develop skills through:

 Dramatic play  Sensing
 Block building  Moving
 Discussions  Thinking
 Arts  Problem Solving
 Music  Communicating
 Movement  Creating
 Measuring  Working
 Graphing and Mapping  Playing with others

Appropriate Themes

 Primary Question: Can I give children direct experience of this topic?

- This is the first question you or the teachers should ask themselves in selecting appropriate themes. The learning
environment must be highly engaging to open up their curiosity and interact to have direct experience.
 Should reflect children’s interests, abilities, and issues of concern
- Children should develop a good understanding of their place in the community and develop skills successfully across all
areas of learning in an interesting and constructive way that motivates them well.
 Should involve concepts and skills at the right level of challenge for the age group
- Provide an appropriate level of topics and reasonable expectations to suit their capabilities based on their age.
 Topic should be complex and interesting enough to be explored at some depth
- Find concepts that are fit to the classroom and respond to an engaging or complex question, problem or challenge.
 Plan to focus on topic for several weeks to several months
- Give time in planning a topic that will be attainable to children and focus not only to a specific subject but also
integrates the theme into other disciplines.

Criteria For Theme Selection

 The topic can be taught through direct experience.

- The topic can be taught through direct experience, when pupils “see it for themselves” their enjoyment and
understanding is enhanced.
 Children can explore it with their senses.
- Engage the students in themed activities or tasks.
 Concept is developmentally appropriate for young children.
- The theme must be appropriate for their level of understanding.
 Concept can be organized to move from:
 Simple to complex- it is best to begin with fundamentals and move forward to mastery of the more complex
techniques.
 Concrete to abstract- teaching concepts in a concrete manner helps the kids out tremendously because they
build up from there.
 Interesting, meaningful, and worth knowing about.
- Children’s perception of the theme should be something that is interesting and worth knowing.
 Helps children acquire understanding and appreciation of themselves, others, and the world in which they live in.
- Let the children do activities in lined with the theme that can help children learn about and appreciate differences in
their environment.
“Major Understanding” of the Theme

 The important ideas you wish children to acquire

 Brainstorm the purpose and goals
 Gather the resources and materials
 Create a mind map or curriculum web
 Ask the children:
 What do you want to know?
 What would you like to learn?

Outline of an Integrated Thematic Plan

 Theme – the topic or focus

 Children – age and characteristics
 Rationale- why?
 Goals- 3-6 broad statements of desired ends
 Attitudes
 Skills
 Abilities
 Experiences
 Major Understandings- 4-6 important ideas you want children to construct
 Resources- books, articles, etc.

Assessment

 How do you document children’s learning?

- Creating a folio for each child to record their learning journey.
 How do you know if children understand the big ideas of your unit?
- Validating what children know and can do.
 Documentation
 Observation notes
 Photography or videos
 Collection of student’s work sample
 A class book, newsletter, scrapbook
 Social event where student work is shared

GROUP 2 MEMBERS:

Dinnamae Sabellano
Mary Ann Danlag
Angela Tolentino
Chenly Fernandez