What is the impact
of Emergent
Curriculum
on Oral Language
development
in Kindergarten and
Grade 1
Classrooms?
Lakehead Public Schools
Inquiry Team
Co-Investigators
Lorelei LaForme Teacher, Valerie Woycheshin
R.E.C.E., Maureen Cunningham Teacher, Diana
Madunic Teacher, Heather Exley Principal,
Anne Kreutz Teacher, Marla Keene Teacher.
CD Howe Public School &
Woodcrest Public School
Who We Are
Lakehead District School Board
-We have Teacher and Early Childhood Educator Teams
working together
– Schools Involved:
• CD Howe Public School, 155 students, grade JK-8
– 19 students in Senior Kindergarten, 20 students in Grade 1
• Woodcrest Public School, 489 students, grades JK-8
– 20 students in Senior Kindergarten, 20 students in Grade 1
– Our board uses assessment data including an Oral Language
Assessment tool two times a year that measures receptive
language
– We used the First Steps Oral Language Continuum,
E.L.E.C.T. Continuum of Development and Oral Language
Prompts within this inquiry project
Why it matters to us
Our focus was to explore the use of emergent
curriculum and play based learning to support oral
language development in Kindergarten and grade 1
classrooms. Emergent curriculum involves thinking
and learning together. It is a vehicle to motivate
and engage all students to further propel their
learning. We wanted to investigate how oral
language can be enhanced through a curriculum that
emerges from a child’s interest and inquiries about
their world. We wanted our students to love to
come to school and this meant having them be
engaged. We knew that we needed to bridge
the gap between kindergarten and
grade 1 programs and we had to
re-evaluate our current practices.
EMERGENT CURRICULUM
Research Tell Us…
• “Standardized curriculum can be taught in a way
that allows children to take ownership of their own
ideas and work together with the teacher, and
other children towards shared goals.” – Wien
• Throughout our inquiry we found that Emergent
Curriculum is a different way of teaching and
learning, whereby we value the child’s interests and
let them inform instruction and guide the learning.
It is not about “letting go.” It is about coconstructing the learning with students in
rich well prepared environments.
“ Oral Language occurs in all areas. Children communicate
their thoughts feelings, experiences and opinions, and learn
to understand themselves.”- Play and Exploration,
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education
Using our First Steps Oral Language Continuum and the
E.L.E.C.T. Continuum of Development we found our students
were:
-having more enriched conversations with peers
-engaged in longer interactions
-more willing to speak in front of peers
-using new words in play
-producing more self initiated writing
-working, playing and learning more collaboratively with
each other in the classroom
“Emergent
curriculum works because it is based
on the children’s own interests and is more
meaningful to them because they share control
over the content of their own learning.”- Wien
Throughout our inquiry we observed increased
excitement, motivation and confidence in our
children.
Starting our Journey…
Understanding Emergent Curriculum
• Teachers plan in
response to student’s
interest and concerns
• Curriculum expands into
genuine inquiry
• Students and teachers
together become
participatory colearners
• Multiple ways of learning
and creating
We visited a
Reggio Emilia
philosophy
childcare
centre to
help us
visualize the
possibilities…
Our next step
• Book study,
Emergent
Curriculum in the
Primary Classroom
by Carol Anne
Wien
• Team conferenced
to plan and support
each other.
Our Beginnings in Emergent Curriculum
“ Central to an effective early learning curriculum is an “emergent”
approach that builds on a child’s curiosity, intrinsic interests, and
self-discovery” – Dr. Diane Kashin RECE, ECE.C
We can make
things from
garbage then we
have less to
throw out! -Kohl
Grade 1
I wonder if…
How can we…
We could make a
school…we could make a
house. How about we
make a school on top of
the house and call it a
schoolhouse? –Aiden S.K.
Mrs. Keene we
need to make
gingerbread men
to go with our
houses. –Aiden
Grade 1
We can build
with shapes.
-Brayden S.K.
We planned in response to the
children’s interests and ideas.
We set up intentionally planned learning
environments to facilitate meaningful
learning through purposeful play.
“Planned play is the leading
source of development.” Vygotsky
I’m using a circle
and a triangle for
a dress.
“Motivation fuels learning”
Wien
Look at me and
Emmerson,we
made a mansion.
“Emergent curriculum involves
teachers and children designing
something new.” Wien
• Real experience
• Real problems
• Invitations to draw
and redraw
• Openness to many
graphic materials
I like painting!
Play is a place where
children process
their learning.
I wish we could
do this
everyday!
This is the
best day
ever!
Next we Listen, Observe
and Document
Using the observations,
we placed our focus
students on the First
Steps Oral Language
Continuum.
Using the Oral Language
Four Foci Teaching
Prompts from the Oral
Language Project, we
adjusted our
instructional language
to meet their
expressive and
receptive language
needs.
Talk is an integral part of the
inquiry process.
“It’s a puppet from a juice box.
Mrs Cunningham helped
me.”
“We need some
more, we want
to find out how
long the
hallway is and
we want to
count them.”
We discovered that…
• We listened with intention and adjusted instructional
language to meet the expressive and receptive language
needs of our students
• Our at-risk students were more engaged when given
choice and began to participate orally with more
confidence
• We could allow the students interests to shape learning
which lead to increased participation and deeper learning
• Our post OLA scores for our targeted students showed
larger incremental gains than non targeted students
• Increased participation transferred to increased
engagement in reading and writing
• We required uninterrupted meeting time with same
grade and cross grade partners in order to
share learning stories in open ways
What we will do next
• Continue teacher inquiry and professional learning of
emergent curriculum in the areas of:
– Teacher instructional language to support oral language
development
– Preparing the learning environment as the third teacher
– Resources – indoor and outdoor learning environments with real
experiences, real problems, open ended and authentic materials
– Documenting each child’s development and using this assessment
to support further learning
– Sharing our learning story with other professional learning
communities
– June 2010 –presentation to Early Learning Phase 1 school teams
– September 2010 – continue the project with breadth and depth
as it expands to involve Junior Kindergarten to Grade 2
Further Inquiry
• How can school structures support collaborative
work based on student inquiry?
• How can the examination and moderation of student
work resulting from inquiry be part of our regular
PLCs?
• How do we bring children’s true inquiry and interest
to PLCs?
• How do we document students learning with one
adult and 20 students in a regular classroom?
• How do I ensure child initiated activities through
play become the way curriculum emerges in my day?
• How can we learn more about use of
documentation? For example, using learning
stories as an assessment and evaluation of student
progress.
Resources
Carol Anne Wien Emergent Curriculum in the Primary
Classroom 2008
Carmel Crevola and Mark Vineis Let’s Talk About It! 2005
Carmel Crevola Four Teaching Foci Prompts 2009
Susan Fraser Authentic Childhood 2000
First Steps Oral Language Developmental Continuum1994
First Steps Oral Language Resource Book 1994
The Kindergarten Program Revised 2006
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education April 2008 Play and
Exploration Early Learning Program Guide
LNS Webcast Professional Learning Series, Kindergarten
Matters: Planned, Purposeful and Playful Talk
The brain lights up when
children PLAY…