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Bridging

Assessment for Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms, PreK-3

By: Jie-Qi Chen, Gillian Dowley McNamee

Foreword by Samuel J. Meisels

Use familiar classroom activities as an assessment tool!

This resource blends curriculum planning, implementation, and assessment into one seamless process, providing a practical, performance-based approach to early childhood assessment. The authors present 15 activities across five curricular areas—language arts and literacy, visual arts, mathematics, science, and performing arts—with guidelines for "bridging" observations of children to classroom teaching practices. The book offers ways to:

Identify children's current learning and development status
Determine which children are ready to learn in upcoming weeks and months
Make informed instructional adaptations to meet developmental needs
Train preservice and inservice teachers using a built-in facilitator's guide

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-3
ISBN: 9781412950107
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2007
Page Count: 352
Publication date: August 14, 2007

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Description

"Blends holistic authentic assessment with purposeful, specific assessment experiences that are also child and classroom friendly."
—Vicki Hawley, Early Literacy Training Project Coordinator
Center for Early Education and Development
University of Minnesota

"Explains the research base, the reason for the assessment process, and current trends in assessment practices for early childhood education, and offers easy-to-use assessment tools that address the whole child."
—L. Kathryn Sharp, Early Childhood Instructor
University of Memphis

Use familiar classroom activities as an assessment tool!

Effective teaching requires skill in implementing challenging and inviting curricular activities. It also involves evaluating children's learning in order to extend their development through the school year. Being able to implement and evaluate at the same time is a tall order but is at the heart of good teaching. Written for PreK–3 educators, Bridging blends curriculum planning, implementation, and assessment into one seamless process, providing a practical, performance-based approach to early childhood assessment.

Encouraging teachers to assess both what (content) and how (process) children learn, the authors have developed 15 activities across five curricular areas—language arts and literacy, visual arts, mathematics, science, and performing arts—with guidelines for implementing, interpreting, and "bridging" observations of children to classroom teaching practices. The book provides ways to:

Identify children's current status in content area learning and development
Determine which children are ready to learn in upcoming weeks and months
Make informed instructional adaptations to meet developmental needs, and more!

With a built-in facilitator guide for designing and leading preservice and inservice professional development, this resource offers an instructional framework for everyone committed to aligning sound early childhood curriculum with national learning standards.

Key features

Highly practical and original material based on solid research
Step-by-step instructions for implementing and interpreting finely-tuned assessment activities
Clear guidance for adapting instruction once assessment findings have been determined
Authors are recognized experts in ECE – great for building reputation of the list

Author(s)

Jie-Qi Chen

Jie-Qi Chen, Ph.D., holds the Barbara T. Bowman Professorship in Early Education at Erikson Institute. Beginning as a teacher in various classroom settings, from toddlers to middle school, she has devoted three decades to teacher professional development. Dr. Chen founded the Early Math Collaborative at Erikson, a groundbreaking initiative that revitalized early mathematics education and empowered teachers to emphasize foundational math concepts. Her career spans expertise in early math education, classroom assessment, the educational impact of multiple intelligence theory, and teacher development. With 17 authored and edited books, translated into multiple languages, her contributions are widely recognized. Dr. Chen's previous roles include Fulbright Senior Specialist in Education, consultant to the United Nations Children's Fund, and membership in boards such as Scholastic Education's Early Childhood Advisory Board and the National Association for the Education of Young Children's Governing Board. Currently, she serves as a director at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Gillian Dowley McNamee

Gillian Dowley McNamee, Ph.D, is professor emeritus of child development and early childhood teacher education at Erikson Institute, Chicago, IL. She has worked with early childhood teacher candidates during their preparation for public school teaching as well as long term with teachers working with children growing up in challenging social and economic situations. Gillian has carried out professional development initiatives with teachers across the United States, Europe, Taiwan, several regions of China, Turkey, and Kyrgyzstan. She speaks nationally and internationally on how teachers can listen to young children in order to become the teacher young children need to secure their future. Dr. McNamee’s expertise is in language and literacy development, and in the work of Russian psychologist, L. Vygotsky as applied to early childhood settings. She has worked extensively with the story telling and story acting activities developed by Vivian Paley. She has been a Spencer Fellow with the National Academy of Education, and recipient of one of the first Sunny Days Award from Children’s Television Workshop/Sesame Street Parents for her work developing an innovative early childhood teacher preparation program.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Foreword by Samuel J. Meisels

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Section I. A Guide for Teachers

1. Introduction to the Process of Bridging

Assessment and Teaching

Bridging in Classrooms

Overview of Bridging

Distinctive Features of Bridging

Bridiging for Preservice and Inservice Teachers

Overview of the Bridging Handbook

2. Assessing the Content of Children's Learning

Diversity and Individual Differences

Diverse Curricular Areas

Promoting Underlying Concept Development

Key Concepts and Skills

Performance Rubrics

Learning Profiles

Actual and Potential Development

3. Assessing the Process of Children's Learning

Approaches to Learning

Defining Approaches to Learning

Rubrics to Measure Working Approaches

Sources of Variability in Working Approaches

Working Approaches in the Bridging Process

4. Activity as the Unit of Analysis in Bridging Assessment

Unit of Analysis in Child Assessment

Activity as the Unit of Analysis in Bridging Assessment

Conceptual Framework of Bridging

Bridging Activities as Basic Activities

Bridging Activities and Play

5. Task Parameters in Bridging Assessment

Task Parameters in Bridging Assessment

Task Goals

Key Concepts and Skills

Materials

Social Arrangements

Structure of Tasks

Summary

6. Teacher Roles in Bridging Assessment

Overview of Teacher Roles

Decision Maker

Participant

Observer

Interpreter

Translator

Integrating Roles and Teacher Development

Bridges to Effective Teaching

Section II. Implementation of Assessment Activities

7. Implementing Bridging

Implementing Bridging in the Classroom Context

Becoming Familiar With Activity Protocols

Planning the Assessment

Conducting Bridging Activities

Interpreting the Assessment Results

Linking Assessment to Teaching

Activities: Language Arts and Literacy

What We Know

What Bridging Provides

Why These Three Activities

Standards and Language Arts and Literacy Bridging Activities

Reading a Book-Child's Choice and Teacher's Choice

Dictating a Story

Acting Out a Story

Activities: Visual Arts

What We Know

What Bridging Provides

Why These Three Activities

Standards and Visual Arts Bridging Activities

Experimenting With Crayon Techniques

Drawing a Self-Portrait

Making Pattern Block Pictures

Activities: Mathematics

What We Know

What Bridging Provides

Why These Three Activities

Standards and Mathematics Bridging Activities

Creating Pattern Block Pinwheels

Solving Pattern Block Puzzles

Exploring Number Concepts (Counting, Subtracting, Estimating, and "Fair Share"-Simple Division)

Activities: Sciences

What We Know

What Bridging Provides

Why These Three Activities

Standards and Science Bridging Activities

Exploring Shadows and Light

Assembling a Nature Display

Building a Model Car

Activities: Performing Arts

What We Know

What Bridging Provides

Why These Three Activities

Standards and Performing Arts Bridging Activities

Moving to Music

Playing an Instrument

Singing a Song

References and Recommended Readings

Facilitator's Guide to Bridging and Teacher Development

Inservice Professional Development

Professional Studies for Preservice Teacher Candidates

Building a Community of Learners

Index

Reviews

"Blends holistic authentic assessment with purposeful, specific assessment experiences that are also child- and classroom-friendly."

Vicki Hawley, Minnesota Early Literacy Training Coordinator
University of Minnesota Center for Early Education and Development

"Unique in that it offers a way for teachers to examine both the content and the process of young children's learning. It also offers a more comprehensive assessment of the whole child by looking at multiple areas of skills and development."

Lisa A. McCabe, Cooperative Extension Associate
Cornell Early Childhood Program, Cornell University

"A unique and valuable offering to teachers interested in being lifelong learners. Places emphasis not only on assessment of content areas, but even more on the learning/teaching process and how to smoothly link the assessments to planning and implementing curriculum."

Katherine Taddie Kelly, Literacy Coach and Reading Interventionist
Fort Worth Independent School District, TX

"Not only explains the reason for the assessment process, the research base, and current trends in assessment practices for early childhood, but also offers easy-to-use assessment tools that address the whole child."

Kathryn Sharp, Instructor
University of Memphis

"Fifteen activities across five curricular areas provide guidelines for 'bridging' observations of children to classroom teaching practices, helping teachers assess development, effective learning techniques, and helping them to predict future learning techniques and trends."

California Bookwatch, August 2007

Other Titles in: Student Assessment | Formative Assessment | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

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