Week 6 – Final Paper       

Final Argument Paper

Throughout this course you have acquired knowledge about best  practices in creating developmentally appropriate curriculum for early  childhood education across all developmental domains. This summative  project will synthesize your learning by modeling, in a meaningful way,  the strategies and knowledge gained throughout this course through the  creation of a thematic unit resource. “Thematic teaching supports  children in forming connections among individual bits of information.  These connections contribute to children’s concept development and are  the most important reason to use themes/projects as part of your  program” (Kostelnik, Soderman, Whiren, & Rupiper, 2015, p. 512).  Your thematic unit will consist of revisions of course material as well  as additional lessons and supports.

Final Paper Scenario:
As a supervisor, you strive  to help the teachers and staff of your school or center realize the  many benefits of thematic teaching. For this reason, you have decided to  do develop a resource for your staff to support their use of thematic  units with children. The resource you create will include a rationale,  so that your staff understands why you are using this approach to  creating a developmentally appropriate curriculum. In addition, the  resource will include sample lessons, information on how you can ensure  your unit is aligned, and how this information can be utilized to  develop curriculum.

Using Word your thematic unit resource must include the following:

• Unit Introduction: For your introduction please include the following:
  • Explain the benefits of a thematic curriculum to teachers, children, and to the program.
  • Describe the explicit connection between the principles of effective thematic teaching and developmentally appropriate practice.
  • Describe how thematic curriculum and instruction aligns with your philosophy of education.
• Lesson Plans: Use the Lesson Plan Template  to develop four lessons that are all connected to your central theme  for your unit. Each of your lessons will focus on a different  developmental domain and must be developmentally appropriate. In  addition, use the Lesson Plan Template to create each of your lessons.  The guidelines for creating your lesson plans around each domain are as  follows:
  • Self-Regulation: Develop a lesson using one of the  self-regulation objectives you created for your Week Three  Self-Regulation in Curriculum assignment; your lesson must be connected  to your unit theme to teach this objective.
  • Social/Emotional: Revise the Aesthetic and Affective  Lesson Plan you developed for your Week Four assignment. Make sure to  incorporate any feedback from your instructor in your revised lesson.  Make sure that your lesson is connected to the overall theme of your  unit.
  • Cognitive and Physical Development: Develop a complete  lesson plan using the physical activity you proposed in the  Neuroscience, Cognition, and Physical Activity: A Dynamic Trio  discussion from Week Five. Make sure that your lesson is connected to  the overall theme of your unit.
  • Language Development: Develop a literacy based lesson  plan based on one of the strategies you shared in your Balanced Literacy  Presentation assignment in Week Five. Make sure that your lesson is  connected to the overall theme of the unit.
• Unit Evaluation: Evaluate your thematic unit using the  Activity Plan Self-Check that is found on page 101 of your course text.  Discuss, using specific examples from your Activity Plan Self-Check, how  you know your unit is aligned. Refer back to the Evaluating Effective  Lessons assignment in Week Two to help you develop this section.
• Rationale and Conclusion: Summarize how a thematic  unit, such as the one you developed, coincides with Wilson’s (2014) The  Profile of a Modern Teacher image below by including the following:
  • Describe how the unit you developed was based on intentional  planning. Refer back to the Developmentally Appropriate Planning  discussion from Week Two of the course to help you develop this section.
  • Explain how you will engage families in the thematic unit you have  planned. Refer back to the Engaging Families in Curriculum discussion  from Week Three of the course to help you develop this section.

Wilson, R. (2014). The profile of a modern teacher [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.coetail.com/wayfaringpath/files/2014/10/The-Profile-of-a-Modern-Teacher1.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

The Integrating the Curriculum through Thematic Teaching Final Paper

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.