What I have done today

Hey Suzanne!
Well I have started building our course! I have it opened, a brief announcement, instructor information, course description and assignments and grading. I am putting them here for you to look at as well. We can change anything at any time! I will do a bit every day and hopefully have this going well by next week! So here's what I have added:

Opening announcement:
Hello and welcome to Fostering Creativity in Young Children! You are lucky to have two instructors for this course - Suzanne Purcell and myself, Lynn Silvestro. We are currently developing the course and new materials will be added over the next few weeks so check back periodically to see what we have in store for the upcoming fall semester! I think you will enjoy this class because we will be creating fun activities, looking at some awesome websites and collaborating on a variety of young children's growth and development activities!

If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact either or both of us! E-see you in class!
Lynn and Suzanne

Course description:
EDU-1250 Fostering Creative Learning for Children

Course Description

Students will explore creativity in children’s lives and learning environments. Emphasis will be on the exploration and integration of creative process in the learning situation. This course introduces students to the concepts of creativity, materials selection, setting up and modification of classrooms. Various approaches to teaching children will be discussed as they pertain to children’s age, development, and the arts, especially in a school setting.

Course Objectives
Successful students will be able to:
1. Define creativity and its role in the learning process of children.
2. Describe the developmental stages of early childhood and explain how creative activities will vary according to the child’s needs.
3. Explain the role of creative expression in children’s lives especially in formal instruction.
4. Explore the variety of approaches to developing creativity in children.
5. Explain why the process of creating is more important than the product on the play and work of children.
6. Discuss the role that various arts, such as music, visual arts and drama have in children’s learning.
7. Demonstrate how an aspect of creative expression enhances children’s learning.

Required Reading

Mayesky, Mary. 2009. Creative Activities for Young Children, 9th edition. New York: Delmar/Cengage Learning ISBN 1428321802

Methods
Weekly reading assignments from the textbooks and outside reading assignments; Weekly questions to be answered on the Discussion Board (DB), which are reflective of your reading; responses to posts on the Discussion Board.

Course Structure:
For the purpose of this course, our week begins on Tuesday, when the Discussion Board for the week opens. Your post in which you respond to the question(s) is due by midnight on Friday. Your responses to your peers’ posts are due by midnight on Sunday. If you meet these deadlines, you may continue discussion throughout Monday and earn credit for them.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

The format for this class will be as follows:
Important: It is your responsibility to read every post in every Discussion Board.
You will begin each week’s lesson by reading the assigned pages in the textbook, as well as any additional assigned readings. Part of the grading process depends on how you synthesize the readings into your discussion board posts. After reading the assignments, you will compose an essay in response to the Discussion Board Instructions. There will be a separate Discussion Board set up for each week and you will submit all posts to that board. From the menu at the left, click on “Discussion Board.” Scroll to the DB for the current week. Open the DB by clicking on the underlined title. Click “Add a Thread,” and compose your answer in the dialog box. Initial weekly posts should be at least 300 words in length and will be labeled “Chapter __.” Responses to fellow students will be labeled “Response to (student’s name.). Note: All Discussion Board posts and replies must be proofread and spell checked prior to submission.

The Discussion Board will open on Tuesday, and your initial responses to the discussion question will be due by midnight on Friday. Responses to your peers’ posts will be due by midnight on Sunday. Responses to assigned readings must be submitted by Friday at midnight in order to receive credit for the posting. It is your responsibility to read everyone’s posts. This is a critical element of online learning and will require careful time scheduling.

The second part of the week’s assignment will be to respond to other students’ posts. These must be posted by midnight on Sunday. Again, it is your responsibility to read these posts as well. Of course it is fine for you to use the syllabus to see what the next week’s assignment will be, but please do not submit posts in advance of the opening date for each week’s discussion board. The discussion board is your virtual classroom, and it doesn’t make sense for you to speak to an empty room. It is also important to remember that there may be changes to the syllabus, or additional outside reading or research that should be reflected in your weekly posts.

I hope these general guidelines are helpful to you. Let us know if you need clarification on anything throughout the semester.


Assignments:

The following is a list of assignments – see the syllabus for due dates. Further instructions can be found in documents under “full assignments.”

• Creative Activity Lesson Plan
• Creative project
• Literature review and annotated bibliography
• Playful teachers
• Response to reviews
• Setting up an interest area
• Small group tasks
• Website review

Assignments and Grading:
Grading

Discussion Board CLASS TIMES Tuesday 6 pm to the following Monday 6 pm

Participation in the discussion forum will account for 30 percent of your grade. Zero to three points can be earned for each of the 14 class discussions. Three points represents excellent work in response to the questions and participation. Two points will be earned for a good to very good participation. One point for a response to only a single element of the discussion's assigned activities. No points will be recorded for a missed discussion. Assignments in missed discussion can not be 'made up' in the following week's discussion.

Attendance/Discussion Forum
Specific material will be presented for you to respond to. Also each week literature and web site reviews will be submitted for discussion. Other activities such as small group activities and a creative lesson plan will also be submitted to the forum for discussion. 3 points (14 x 3 = 42)

Creative Activity Lesson Plan
You will create a lesson plan for a creative activity. You can refer to pages 30-33 in your text entitled “Activities for Children,” for examples. 10 points

Creative Project
This will be an individual creative project. This will be a unique project for you. You will choose an interest area and develop a small unit on the theme/interest area you choose. It must contain a minimum of three lesson plans complete with objectives, methods, materials, standards addressed, (Vermont Early Learning Standards or the Vermont Framework of Standards, VELS), annotated bibliography of sources with book cover graphic, desired outcomes and assessment process. You will submit an outline of your project to the discussion board so that as a class we can provide feedback through discussion. The final project will be due in the digital drop box no later than 6 pm, on Monday of week 13. 20 points


Literature Review
Each of you will find a book for children. You will write a brief summary and reaction and then create one activity to go along with the piece of literature. These are not required to be full lesson plans. Examples of a literature review will be provided. These will be submitted into a specific forum in the discussion board for a class discussion. 5 points

Website Review
Each of you will sign up for a chapter in the textbook. You will select one of the websites listed at the end of the chapter or under helpful Websites (for the appropriate chapter). You will then complete a website evaluation on your selected website. Like the literature review, these will be submitted into a specific forum in the discussion board for class discussion. 5 points

Response to Reviews
Throughout the semester you will be required to respond to Website Reviews and Literature Reviews. You will respond in the discussion forum. The class will discuss the activity you developed and your reviews to provide feedback.

Small Group Tasks
Think of these as tasks you would do in small groups if our class met on ground. For most of the tasks you will discuss problems/ideas in small groups (online, not necessarily at the same time) and then one person will submit the project for the entire group. 6 points (6 x 3 = 18)

Small Group Task Assessment

Each student will assess their own teammates using the criteria I have provided

I just copied and pasted our instructor information into the course. I will do more tomorrow! Take care!
Lynn