ECE Unit 1: Social Studies, Art & Music

Course Competency 1: Incorporate Social Studies, Art, Music, & Movement (SSAMM) into daily routines

Learning Objectives:

• Incorporate SSAMM opportunities into transitions
• Incorporate SSAMM opportunities into routines
• Incorporate SSAMM opportunities into daily schedule
• Incorporate SSAMM opportunities into verbal and nonverbal interactions

Course Competency 2: Examine the critical role of play-based learning as it relates to SSAMM

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how hands-on, creative activities promote child development
• Describe the teacher/care giver's role in facilitation of SSAMM play
• Identify how SSAMM play opportunities foster development/learning in all domains across WI Model Early Learning Standards continuum
• Identify how observational skills support assessment of and curriculum planning for SSAMM
• Describe how children play across all age groups during SSAMM activities

Course Competency 3: Establish a developmentally appropriate environment for SSAMM

Learning Objectives:

• Explain how the environment supports children's physical development
• Explain how the environment supports children's social/emotional development
• Explain how the environment supports children's language development
• Explain how the environment supports approaches to learning
• Explain how the environment supports children's cognitive development

Course Competency 4: Create Social Studies learning experience plans that promote child development and learning

Learning Objectives:

• Plan relates to the National Council for the Social Studies framework
• Plan is relevant, meaningful, and appropriately challenging
• Plan is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the age group
• Plan includes effective transitions
• Plan incorporates the WMELS Framework
• Plan reflects the Teaching Cycle

Course Competency 5: Create Art learning experience plans that promote child development and learning

Learning Objectives:

• Plan is relevant, meaningful, and appropriately challenging
• Plan is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the age group
• Plan includes effective transitions
• Plan incorporates the WMELS Framework
• Plan reflects the Teaching Cycle

Course Competency 6: Create Music and Movement learning experience plans that promote child development and learning

Learning Objectives:

• Plan is relevant, meaningful, and appropriately challenging
• Plan is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the age group
• Plan includes effective transitions
• Plan incorporates the WMELS Framework
• Plan reflects the Teaching Cycle

Course Competency 7: Integrate SSAMM learning experiences into an interdisciplinary unit

Learning Objectives:

• Plan includes multiple sequential learning experiences
• Plan addresses all developmental domains
• Plan includes experiences from the following areas: social studies, art, movement, and music
• Plan meets all requirements for learning

ECE Unit 2: Early Language & Literacy

Course Competency 1: Explain the concepts of early literacy developmental theory and practices for children

Learning Objectives:

• Summarize position statements from professional organizations related to early literacy and dual language learning (NAEYC: Learning to Read and Write - Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation - Screening and Assessment for Young English Learners and the Developmentally Appropriate Practice position statement (4 position statements).
• Summarize standards related to language development and early literacy (WMELS, Common Core English Language Arts, WiDA Early Language Development standards)
• Summarize key concepts of developmentally appropriate practice and developmental theory to your curriculum

Course Competency 2: Identify the role and progression of literacy skills in children

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the components and progression of phonological (broad skill including identifying and manipulating units of oral language) and phonemic (individual sounds) awareness, alphabet knowledge, the sequence of writing development and concepts about print
• Describe strategies to utilize a variety of approaches to help young children develop phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge and concepts about print, developmental writing skills and fine motor development
• Identify the progression of the development in emergent literacy skills

Course Competency 3: Integrate culturally responsive strategies to promote language and early literacy skills for all children

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the principles and benefits of interactive reading with children at different developmental stages
• Explore the progression of shared and dialogic reading strategies as children develop from infants though age 8 and with individual, small and large groups of children
• Apply strategies embedded in the dialogic approach to reading while reading to children out loud including a ‘cover walk’ or similar introduction, questions to engage children in the book, and reading with fluency and expression
• Apply the components of the shared or dialogic reading strategy

Course Competency 4: Integrate culturally responsive strategies to promote language and early literacy skills for all children

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize differences in language and literacy acquisition across different ethnic, socioeconomic and family cultures
• Identify the progression of oral language development (including listening, understanding, speaking and communication skills, phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics)
• Examine language and literacy development practices that develop awareness, understanding, respect and a valuing of differences in our society (oral storytelling traditions, vocabulary building)
• Outline strategies to support dual language learners
• Describe methods to include families in their child's language and literacy development

Course Competency 5: Assess the components of a literacy rich environment

Learning Objectives:

• Identify resources to enhance language and literacy learning
• Evaluate the quality of early childhood environments with the lens of language and literacy learning
• Create a quality improvement action plan to enhance the literacy environment
• Create materials to support emergent readers and writers (i.e., finger plays, puppets, flannel boards)

Course Competency 6: Explain the interrelationship of language and literacy development

Learning Objectives:

• Summarize how strong literacy skill is directly connected to a solid foundation of language and vocabulary
• Describe the relationship between hands-on play experiences and language development
• Differentiate among emergent literacy, emergent reading, and emergent writing skills

Course Competency 7: Create language and literacy learning experience plans that promote child development and learning

Learning Objectives:

• Plan incorporate relevant developmental domains (physical, cognitive, language, social/emotional)
• Plan is relevant, meaningful, and appropriately challenging
• Plan is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the age group
• Plan includes effective transitions
• Plan incorporates the WMELS Framework
• Plan reflects the Teaching Cycle

Course Competency 8: Investigate language and literacy resources for the field of early childhood education

Learning Objectives:

• Investigate what specific resources are being used in your community to support language and literacy learning (learning standards, curriculum, web resources)
• Investigate the specific strategies being used in your community to support dual language learners and family engagement
• Investigate what specific assessment tools are being used in your community to support language and literacy learning

ECE Unit 3: STEM

Course Competency 1: Explain the basic concepts of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)

Learning Objectives:

• Reflect on the guiding principles of STEM
• Demonstrate a variety of questioning methods
• Write content and pedagogy to support high quality STEM experiences

Course Competency 2: Incorporate STEM into daily routines

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss strategies for transitions
• Identify routines that can be used for STEM opportunities in the classroom
• Prepare a daily schedule that reflects STEM opportunities in the classroom
• Choose STEM supported interactions that are verbal and nonverbal

Course Competency 3: Establish a developmentally appropriate environment for STEM

Learning Objectives:

• Plan STEM activities that support the developmental domains (physical, cognitive, language, and social/emotional development)
• Reflect on individual differences of children while planning learning activities
• Determine what STEM activities are developmentally appropriate

Course Competency 4: Examine strategies that teach early science skills

Learning Objectives:

• Identify observation skills used to gather information
• Identify tools to gather information and compare observed objects
• Incorporate the scientific method into learning experiences
• Form explanations based on trial and error, observations, and explorations
• Develop methods to teach environmental science
• Examine the Next Generation Science Standards

Course Competency 5: Examine strategies that teach early math skills

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the continuum of number and counting development
• Identify concepts of number operations
• Describe shapes and spatial relationships
• Use attributes and objects for comparison and patterning
• Identify concepts of measuring and estimating
• Identify methods of collecting, describing, and recording information
• Examine the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards

Course Competency 6: Examine strategies that teach technology skills

Learning Objectives:

• Define technology in ECE
• Incorporate using tools
• Identify beginning coding skills including patterns and sequencing
• Incorporate Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills including Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Incorporate Makerspace (making and tinkering) including loose parts
• Incorporate woodworking

Course Competency 7: Examine strategies that teach engineering skills

Learning Objectives:

• Define engineering in ECE
• Identify an engineering design process of ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve
• Identify the stages of block play
• Identify relationship of block play to geometry

Course Competency 8: Develop STEM learning experience plans that promote child development and learning

Learning Objectives:

• Plan incorporate relevant developmental domains (physical, cognitive, language, social/emotional)
• Plan is relevant, meaningful, and appropriately challenging
• Plan is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the age group
• Plan includes effective transitions
• Plan incorporates the WMELS Framework
• Plan reflects the Teaching Cycle

Course Competency 9: Integrate STEM learning experiences into an interdisciplinary unit

Learning Objectives:

• Create a learning experience with multiple experiences connected by a topic/theme
• Implement all developmental domains in the sequential learning experiences connected by a topic/theme
• Explore the content areas of science, technology, engineering, and math in an interdisciplinary learning experience
• Select developmentally appropriate learning experience tasks

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