Integrating Math and Science in Early Childhood Classrooms Through Big Ideas: A Constructivist Approach, 1st edition
Published by Pearson (January 8, 2015) © 2016
- Christine M Chaille Portland State University
- Sara McCormick Davis
eTextbook
- Anytime, anywhere learning with the Pearson+ app
- Easy-to-use search, navigation and notebook
- Simpler studying with flashcards
- Hardcover, paperback or looseleaf edition
- Affordable rental option for select titles
- Free shipping on looseleafs and traditional textbooks
- Show future teachers why it is important to think about thinking. The first part of the book looks at this new way of teaching–using the underlying framework of big ideas as a way to integrate math and science.
- Help students plan for assessment before teaching begins. Chapter 2 provides the knowledge needed in this critical area of teaching.
- Help students construct meaningful understandings of how math and science can be integrated through the big ideas that form the structure for any curriculum.
- A full chapter is devoted to each big idea–patterns, transformation, movement, balance and symmetry, and relationships. Within each chapter, two modules look in depth at different aspects of the big idea of the chapter. Use the modules as stand-alone units or models for lesson planning.
-
- Engage students in classroom experiences through real-life scenarios, illustrations, and photos.
- Scenarios provide ideas students can discuss and analyze as they plan for teaching. The real-life scenarios presented in each chapter give meaning to the big ideas.
- Illustrations help pre-service educators understand the important concepts.
- Authentic photos of children engaged in constructivist activities illustrate how learning should occur.
-
- Introduce students to the ideas that form the foundation of a well-integrated curriculum. In an engaging style, the book is laid out to support real-life planning in a classroom.
Brief Table Of Contents
Â
Chapter 1:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Constructivist Curriculum Framework for the Integration of Math and Science in Early Childhood Classrooms
Chapter 2: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Assessment
Chapter 3: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Creating an Environment for Math and Science Integration
Chapter 4: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Patterns
Chapter 5: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Transformation
Chapter 6:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Movement
Chapter 7:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Balance and Symmetry
Chapter 8:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Relationships
Chapter 9:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Developing Your Own Curriculum: Big Ideas and Planning
References
Glossary
Â
Â
Detailed Table Of Contents
Â
PART I: Introduction
Chapter 1:Â Constructivist Curriculum Framework for the Integration of Math and Science in Early Childhood Classrooms
    Children as Theory-Builders
        What Is Constructivism?
    Big Ideas as Tools for Integration
        What Is a Big Idea?
        Characteristics of Big Ideas
    Views of Teaching and Learning
        The Child at the Center
        Celebration of the Diversity of Children
        What About Content?
        Child-Centered Versus Teacher-Directed Curriculum: A False Dichotomy
    Background on the Model of Curriculum Integration Used in This Book
        Historical Context
        Models of Curriculum Integration
        The Project Approach
        Big Ideas, Projects, Concepts, Topics, and Facts: What Are the Differences?
        The Work of Reggio Emilia
    Review Questions
    Summary
    Websites
Â
Chapter 2:Â Assessment
    Why Begin with Assessment?
        Understanding Children’s Development
    Principles of Development
        Responding to Children’s Needs
        Culture and Context 24
    Principles of Assessment
        Assessment Should Be Valid
        Assessment Should Guide Teaching Decisions
        Assessment Should Be Part of a System That Is Designed to Support the Whole Child
    Vocabulary Development and Assessment
        Teacher Language
        Documentation of Children’s Learning as Assessment
        Documentation Strategies for Integrated Math and Science
        Capturing the Documentation
        More Formalized Assessment Tools
        Science and Math Journals
    Interviewing for Assessment
        Questions That Help with Assessment
        Interviewing Activities
    Standards and Assessment
        Standardized Testing
        EdTPA
    Review Questions
    Summary
    Websites
Â
Chapter 3: Creating an Environment for Math and Science Integration
    How Our Beliefs About Children, Teaching, and Learning Shape Our Environments
        Academic Environment
        Physical Environment
    Classroom Organization
        Differentiation Built into the Environment
        Animals in the Classroom
        Communicating with Families and Others Through the Environment
    Review Questions
    Summary
    Websites
Â
PART II: Integration Through Big Ideas
Chapter 4: Patterns
    Patterns
        What Is Important About Patterns? Why Do We Talk About Patterns with Young Children?
    Elements of the Big Idea of Patterns
        Repeating Patterns
        Spatial Structure Patterns
        Growing Patterns
    Subitizing
        Seriation and Sequencing
    Patterns Surround Us
        Patterns Help Us Predict
        Patterns Help Us Make Connections
        Patterns Help Us Organize Information
    Review Questions
    Summary
Â
Chapter 5: Transformation
    What Is Transformation?
        Relationship Building as a Part of Transformation
        Equivalence as Part of Transformation
    Exploration of Transformation
        Observation
        Estimation
        Experimentation
        Growth
    Review Questions
    Summary
Â
Chapter 6: Movement
    Introduction to the Big Idea of Movement
    Elements of the Big Idea of Movement
        Direction of Movement
        Representation of Movement
    Types of Movement
        Movement of the Surface
        Sources of Movement
        Mysterious Movement
        Spinning
        The Movement of Time
    Review Questions
    Summary
Â
Chapter 7: Balance and Symmetry
    Elements of the Big Idea of Balance
        Comparisons
        Patterns
        The Establishment of Equality
    Exploration of Balance
        The Study of Symmetry
        Comparisons and Tools of Measurement
        The Use of Representations
        Games That Incorporate Balance: Physical Knowledge
    Review Questions
    Summary
Â
Chapter 8: Relationships
    Introduction to the Big Idea of Relationships
    Elements of the Big Idea of Relationships
        Cause and Effect
        Part/Whole Relationships
        Classification
        Perspective-Taking and Interdependence
    Review Questions
    Summary
Â
Chapter 9: Developing Your Own Curriculum: Big Ideas and Planning
    Determining the Big Idea
        Coming up with New Big Ideas
        Re-thinking an Activity, Project, or Unit
        Starting with Children’s Interests
        Starting with an Event
        Starting with Where You Are
        Start with an Interest of Yours
        Starting with the Standards
    The Planning Process: Strategies for Thinking About Planning
    The Planning Process: What Does It Look Like?
        Planning for Integration and Inquiry
        The Project Approach
        Planning with the End in Sight
        The Five E Learning Cycle
    Using Other Areas of the Curriculum to Strengthen Math and Science
        Connecting Language Arts, Math, and Science
        Connecting Children’s Literature, Math, and Science
        Cognitively Guided Instruction
        Starting with a Standard
        Connecting the Arts, Math and Science
        Connecting Social Studies, Math and Science
    Review Questions
    Summary
    Websites
References
Glossary
Name Index
Subject Index
Christine Chaille is Professor and chair of the department of Curriculum and Instruction at Portland State University, focusing on early childhood education, where she has taught since 1991. Her doctorate is from U.C.L.A., and she also studied with Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva. She is the author of Constructivism Across the Early Childhood Curriculum: Big Ideas as Inspiration, and co-author, with Lory Britain, of The Young Child as Scientist: A Constructivist Approach to Early Childhood Science Education, has written many publications primarily on the importance of children’s play. She has also developed a child development curriculum for Hands to Hearts International that is used with caregivers in orphanages in Southern India, as well as in other countries and with other vulnerable populations. She was a panel member responsible for developing the NSTA Position statement on Early Childhood Science Education (2014). She has served as President of the Oregon Association for the education of Young Children, President of the National association of Early Childhood Teacher educators, and Chair of the early education/Child Development Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Early Childhood Teacher Educator award for 2013 from the National Association of early Childhood Teacher Education.
Sara McCormick Davis has degrees in Family Relations/Child Development and Early Childhood Education. Her doctorate is in Curriculum and Instruction from Oklahoma State University. She taught preschool through fifth grade for many years before working with teachers, both pre service and in service. As a preschool/elementary classroom teacher, one of her goals was to always have a project going in her classroom that helped children construct new ideas. Her interests and work have revolved around how teachers can integrate curriculum so that children are engaged and learning. She has published about the integration of the arts in teacher education and researched practices of classroom teachers as they work to create environments where everyone can flourish.
Need help? Get in touch