Curriculum Alignment Self-Report

Curriculum Alignment Self Report

Publisher Learning Without Tears Curriculum Title Get Set for School Complete PreK Program Copyright date 2021 Grade level Preschool (ages 3–5) Contact Person Lori Wilson Address 806 W. Diamond Ave suite 230, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 Phone Number 301-841-9428 Email Lori.wilson@lwtears.com

Thank you for your interest in providing licensed early learning and development programs a quality infant, toddler, and preschool curriculum. Please answer the questions below, then complete the chart describing how the curriculum aligns with NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development (NC FELDS). Also, describe how it aligns with the criteria for review. Include the title of the curriculum book and page number for reviewers to be able to validate your responses.

Describe how your curriculum articulates a theoretical and/or research-base for the approach and clearly demonstrate how the curriculum utilizes the theory and/or research as a basis for making decisions about experiences provided for children. The curriculum may also have empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of the curriculum collected with sound research methodology.

Include title of curriculum document and page numbers in your response: The Get Set for School® Complete Pre-K Program, designed for children ages 3–5 years old, is supported by child-development research, theory, and practice from esteemed institutions and child development experts, including: the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), and the National Research Council (NRC). Volume 1: Introduction to the Curriculum includes a clear description of how the curriculum is supported by current, academic research and studies relevant to early childhood development with cited research and a corresponding bibliography (pp. 137–146). Teacher- support materials and daily lessons provide research-based guidance for instruction that enriches educator understanding of early childhood development and the validity of the recommended approach. Specific research embedded in the curriculum and support materials is outlined in Get Set for Readiness, Language, and Math: A Pre-K Roadmap for School Success. The efficacy of the Get Set for School® Complete Pre-K Program is demonstrated in A Proven Success in Preparing Pre-K Children for Kindergarten, a study that followed students from six Pre-K classrooms in four schools with an experimental group of 36 children of different nationalities, native languages, and spoken languages who were taught using the Get Set for School® curriculum.

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Describe and provide evidence of how your curriculum (Include title of curriculum document and page numbers in your response):

• Presents concepts that are relevant to children's everyday experiences. Response: In Volume 1: Introduction to the Curriculum, the scope and sequence of the Get Set for School curriculum provides an overview of the daily lessons with materials being used to teach the lesson in a developmentally appropriate progression (pp. 112–135). Throughout each day, critical thinking skills, such as reasoning, problem-solving, and experimenting are developed through a variety of real-world scenarios for whole groups, small groups, or individuals. Volume 2: Multisensory Lessons and Hands-On Learning creates learning opportunities through lessons and activities based on realworld needs and challenges and children’s everyday experiences. Each unit is focused on a theme directly related to students’ lives: Get Set for School, My Body, Community & Play, Earth, Machines, and Animals. Within each theme, the daily lessons are crosscurricular and integrated in an authentic way. Weekly lesson plans provide teachers with guidance on how to plan and prepare for the lesson and the materials needed for every lesson while considering the developmental readiness and prior learning of their students. Embedded within each lesson are questions and activities that engage students in discovery, experimentation, and hands-on learning. For instance, in Unit 4 (Earth), children learn about the concepts sink and float. First, they discuss how animals float on water, starting with ducks, and then they experiment with a variety of objects, making and testing predictions about whether they will sink of float (p. 241). • Supports children making choices and exploration. Response: Get Set for School addresses physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills, which are crucial for school readiness and will meet children where they are. Get Set for School uses play-based, interactive, and multisensory lessons to teach developmentally appropriate skills throughout the curriculum. Teachers are supported with clear materials such as music, texts, and hands-on manipulatives throughout the curriculum to facilitate instruction and enhance social-emotional development. Get Set for School lessons in Volume 2 provide opportunities for both teacher-led and student-led activities so that students have the opportunity to observe, collaborate, and work independently on an activity. Teacher-led activities and/or centers require instructors to be present. Child-led activities and/or centers are truly free-play centers or discovery play. They are designed for children to explore and interact with their peers as they discover and learn new concepts through exploration and play. The activities can be in a center, at a table, or on the carpet or another designated section of the classroom (Vol. 1, p. 41; examples: Vol. 1, pp. 70, 73, 89).

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The Get Set for School Introduction to the Curriculum teacher’s guide provides specific guidance for teaching multisensory activities both child-led and teacher-led activities. (Vol. 1, pp. 40–90).

Hands-on materials and developmentally appropriate tools embedded within the Get Set for School Pre-K Curriculum in both English and Spanish include: • Sound Around Box™ • Line It Up story, letter, and picture cards • A-B-C Touch & Flip® Cards • 1-2-3 Touch & Flip® Cards • Mat Man® Book Set • Roll–A–Dough Letters® • Stamp and See Screen® • Magnetic Lowercase & Blackboard Set • Wood Pieces for Capital Letters • Blue Mat to use with Wood Pieces • Laminated Capital Letter Cards • 4 Squares More Squares® • Tag Bags® • Mix & Make Shapes® • Word Time™ Word Cards • Squawker the Parrot Puppet Teaching Assistant • Magic C Bunny puppet • Student Activity Books: My First School Book, My First Lowercase Book, I Know My Numbers Booklets, and My Book • Includes adaptations for children with disabilities.

Response:

As of May 2021, the PreKITT and the Get Set for School Student Learning Apps include the following accessibility features to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): • Closed captions • Ability to zoom screen and text (independent of regular browser zoom) • Image and screen tagging to support screen readers

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• Support use of keyboard along with mouse • Appropriate color contrast for those with limited eyesight • Ability to play, pause, control sound volume • Ability to skip activities that a specific impairment may make impossible to complete • Includes family engagement strategies, such as promoting collaborations with families to plan individual learning experiences for

children.

Response:

The Get Set for School Complete Pre-K Program encourages family involvement to continue learning activities at home. At times, lessons will ask families to lend items from home to personalize activities and to facilitate the connection between home and school for children to celebrate diversity, multiple cultures, and traditions. We encourage daily and weekly communication between school and home. Teachers have resources for including families through parent letters, home link activities to review learning from the classroom, letter formation charts, and materials designed for individual lessons. The two hands-on materials, My Book and I Know

My Numbers are designed to be initiated in school and be completed at home. In addition, there are online resources that parents or guardians can access and use at home with their children. (Individual student manipulative kits are available to send home with students or to use in the classroom and meet CDC Guidelines.) • Supports the development of children from diverse backgrounds, including dual language learners (See p. 151 of NC Foundations

for Early Learning and Development).

Response:

The structure of the Get Set for School program and materials equip teachers to provide scaffolds for English language learners (ELLs) through multiple classroom strategies. We provide explicit, systematic support for vocabulary with Oral Language lessons and strong support and focus on all the foundational literacy skills within the Language & Literacy lessons. During lessons and read-alouds, we ensure that children have ample opportunities to talk with both adults and peers and provide ongoing feedback and encouragement.

Children are exposed to rich language daily through all the content area lessons.

All Language & Literacy, Readiness & Writing and Numbers & Math lessons are organized with the themes of the curriculum. Lessons begin with words and actions that are introduced and then move on to more unfamiliar words and actions. The model used involves a predictable sequence of activities. Children’s responses are guided by the questions presented to them and allow children opportunities to use their language to dive deeper into the meaning of the words. With time, teacher support, a structured classroom environment, and materials will cue them as to what they are to do.

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Our classroom setup and classroom management tips give ELLs consistent structure in an environment that promotes positive social interactions. The use of program manipulatives in Lessons, Centers, and Circle Time are provided for each type of instructional activity that will take place. This support helps ELLs learn which activities take place in various parts of the classroom, during designated times of the day, and with specific materials. The Get Set for School curriculum kit is available with Dual Language components. The full Spanish version offers a comprehensive literacy program, just as the English version does, with accommodations for linguistics (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with various levels of language proficiency for ELLs who speak Spanish and other languages at home. The Get Set for School curriculum kit includes: 36 texts in the GSS Read Aloud Library that cover various genres and subject areas with bilingual and authentic Spanish texts, parent resources, teacher tools, resources, apps, assessments, and Mat Man Books—all offered in Spanish. The Get Set for School Read-Aloud Library (Volume 1) is available in English or Spanish, and both sets include some bilingual texts. Spanish language read-alouds offer trans-adaptation through language-rich books, helping students build knowledge in their home language. All teacher tools, including resources for parents, are available in both English and Spanish; parents are encouraged to share materials from home when appropriate (See PreKITT: Change language to Spanish at the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar then go to any tool, resource, or app (e.g., Recurso: Tipo de Recurso: A Click Away: Carta de bienvenida al prekínder, Día de los patrones, etc). There are also additional materials to support ongoing language and literacy development in Vol. 1, Language & Literacy Multisensory Activities, pp. 44–53 and Schoolto-Home Connections, pp. 94–95.

Describe your curriculum's ongoing/formative assessment process for observing and documenting information related to individual children's level of development, current skills, and interests, and using that information to develop plans (experiences for children).

Include title of curriculum document and page numbers in your response: Get Set for School Pre-K program provides formative assessments and suggestions for teachers to reteach and reinforce concepts and skills throughout the curriculum. Benchmark Assessments for evaluating students periodically, weekly Observation Checklists, and the Check for Understanding section within each lesson (at point of use) all prompt teachers to evaluate students’ skills. Teachers can choose to revisit skills using teacher-led and student-led activities with manipulatives for targeted reinforcement in Language & Literacy, Readiness & Writing, and Numbers & Math. Benchmark Assessments are tools to be used at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to provide a snapshot of a student’s behaviors, skills, and strategies at a single point in time. Language & Literacy Benchmark Assessments evaluate: letter recognition of capital and lowercase letters, words, and word parts, and children’s ability to rhyme and to describe and compare nursery rhymes. Check Readiness Benchmark Assessments evaluate naming pictures, colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. Within the Check Readiness

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assessment, children trace shapes, draw a person, and write their name. Numbers & Math Benchmark Assessments evaluate naming shapes and numbers; rote counting, object counting, and comparing; and understanding of positions, ordinal numbers, size, AB patterns, and measuring. Classroom Observation Checklists are tools to be used on a weekly basis to monitor how a student is progressing toward achievement of specific skills. Using these checklists to conduct informal assessments provides the data to continually revise and redirect teaching to match the instructional needs of students. Observations of children can occur as they do any task during the school day. Get Set for School includes observational checklists in the following areas: Language & Literacy, Check Readiness, and Numbers & Math. Teachers can use data from the Classroom Observation Checklists to differentiate instruction and to monitor student progress between the Benchmark Assessments. Teachers can also use the data from observation checklists to identify targeted instruction to provide during morning work, centers, etc. For example, teachers might provide additional activities from the Multisensory Activities & Centers in Volume 1 or add to and extend the lessons using the Support/ELL and Enrichment activities listed below each daily lesson. Teachers can keep a copy of all Classroom Observation Checklists and specific information about a child in portfolios in addition to work samples, observations, and assessments when meeting with parents or guardians. Check for Understanding is included within each learning area at point-of-use (daily with each lesson) so that teachers can gauge student understanding of the learning goals and objectives as they teach. Teachers can use Check for Understanding cues throughout the day to help quickly evaluate what students understand and did not understand so teachers can immediately modify instruction and re-teach content.

Get Set for School assessment results assist teachers in knowing what their students’ present level of performance is to guide instruction and to address Pre-K skills, including the areas of alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and number sense and operations. Teachers can access the Assessments, Checklists, and administration directions via the Assessment tab in the Pre-K Interactive Teaching Tool. Does this curriculum provide implementation training for teachers (not a required criterion) Yes No If so, describe: Response: Implementation training is available in-person or virtually. Our coordinators can help facilitate the appropriate schedule based on needs and budget. At Learning Without Tears, we believe that all students can learn when provided personalized instruction and strategies designed to meet their unique and diverse learning needs/abilities and when they are supported by targeted assessment. Similarly, with our professional development, we address the skills educators need to be successful in their classroom, or distant learning instruction, through personalized and peer learning that meets the diverse learning styles and needs of all adult learners. Learning Without Tears’ professional development programs are designed to encourage attendee participation.

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Learning occurs through hands-on experiences, reflection, note-taking, collaboration, and brainstorming in individual and peer group activities. Our trainings encourage active participation and willingness to share and ask questions to deepen participants’ understanding of the content. The content is practical and applicable to classroom instruction with research supports when needed. Attendees are encouraged to facilitate learning activities with peers to practice and expand their own learning. Learning Without Tears requires all trainers to use our curriculum with children of varying ages and abilities each day. Our trainers are not training theorists. They have years of practical experience implementing our curriculum in numerous learning environments. To become a certified trainer, they go through a minimum six-month certification process that includes annual review and recertification based on their continual use of our curriculum with children and their ability to facilitate impactful adult-learning training workshops. Learning Without Tears’ curriculum is driven by child development research, and the research used to develop the curriculum is shared throughout the training. During the training, as child development research and theory are shared, educators will learn what activities and lessons build specific skills in a child-friendly, developmentally appropriate way. In addition, trainers facilitate which learning sequence to use in their daily instruction to maximize the learning time and build important foundational skills. Our training is offered onsite and/or virtually throughout the academic school year. For the remainder of 2021, all professional development will be offered both virtually and in-person. And to promote educator learning and curriculum implementation support throughout the school year, the Professional Development Hub provides customizable training with microlearning videos, access to live and on-demand webinars, classroom videos, and optional coaching sessions with our curriculum support specialists. Our professional development builds effective teachers and prepares them to deliver joyful, child-friendly learning experiences that encourage student participation and achievement. We also focus on methods to identify and strategies that support English Language Learners and how to challenge students that are ready to learn more. Included in our fee-based professional development is a one-year subscription to the Professional Development Hub. Our Professional Development Hub supports adult learners by offering 24/7, on-demand, and customizable training opportunities suited to their needs. This is a 24/7 learning hub for educators who are using the Learning Without Tears programs with students. It provides yearlong, anytime-of-the-day access to get implementation answers, how-to videos on using the curriculum with students, and more. Our numerous training offerings, combined with our Professional Development Hub, provide orientation and follow-up training, along with other learning opportunities.

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