My daughter Holly and
I will be presenting at the NAEYC Conference today and our topic is “21st
Century Skills: It’s a Song and a
Game.” I totally endorse the 21st
Century Skills because they add balance to the cognitive focus of the CCSS.
The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills (21stcenturyskills.org)
suggests centers, field trips, providing children with choices, working in
small groups, multi-sensory learning, discovery based learning, authentic play
activities, multi-cultural education, oral language, connecting emotionally
with the child… EVERYTHING that we have traditionally done in early childhood!
Since most of you
will not be attending the Conference, over the next few days I’ll share
activities from our presentation.
How about that? And, when I
get home next week I hope to have TONS of new information for you!
Self-Direction and
Social Responsibility
Learning to monitor one’s
own behavior (executive function), delay gratification, and support the larger
group are essential personal skills and employability skills.
Classroom Jobs –
Assign classroom jobs weekly.
Title the jobs by real careers.
Supervisor – Calls the
roll.
Maintenance – Picks up the
classroom.
Police Officer – Makes
sure everyone walks slowly in the hall.
Mail Carrier – Passes out
papers.
Librarian – Cleans the
classroom library.
Gardener – Waters the
plants.
Meteorologist – Gives the
morning weather report.
Accountant – Does the
lunch count.
UPS – Takes reports to the
office.
President of the Day
– Let children take turns being the “President of the Day.” They can act like a “leader” and
perform simple routines.
Cheers and Goals –
Each month have children fold a sheet of paper in half. On the left side ask them to draw a picture
and dictate or write a sentence of something they have learned and want to
cheer about. On the right side ask
them to draw a goal that they have for the following month. Date, save, and evaluate how they are
doing.
What Is a Good
Student? Have children discuss
what it means to be a good student.
What characteristics describe a good student? Act out being responsible, respectful, polite, etc. Write behaviors children suggest on
index cards and pin one to each child.
Call them by that word throughout the day. If they are not behaving appropriately ask, “Polite, are you
actually being polite? Do I need
to take your word away?”
Organization –
Create checklists, weekly homework assignments, and visual organizational aids
to help children stay on task.
*Have a job called “five
more minutes.” Let that person
walk around holding up five fingers to warn classmates when there are five more
minutes to complete tasks.
Career Education –
Have children interview their parents about their jobs. What do they like best about their
job? How did they train for their
job? Do they need special clothing
or tools?
*Invite parents to come
talk to the class about their profession.
*Let children dress up for
the career they’d like to have when they are grown. Have them tell why they selected that career and how they
plan to accomplish their goal.
