K-3 CLASS

By Amy Hoffman

I love trivia. I love learning random facts and attending trivia events, and I even developed a love of hosting a virtual trivia league last year; I’ll share more about that league later. Maybe my love of trivia is part of what made me enjoy teaching 3-year-olds. Not only did my students love to ask questions (and believe me, they REALLY loved asking), but they also loved hearing answers and finding out answers on their own.

By Kelli Harris

Cinco de Mayo is a time when Americans celebrate Mexican culture, mostly through food and drink, either at home or at their favorite local Mexican cantina.

But the real history goes something like this:

Cinco de Mayo, which translates to the 5^th of May, is always celebrated on that day and is a celebration of Mexican heritage. It commemorates the date of the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is also known as Battle of Puebla Day. Following the Mexican Civil War, an economically struggling Mexico did not have sufficient funds to make payments on Mexican debts to foreign governments. The country was then invaded by the United Kingdom, Spain, and France, who sought repayment of the outstanding debts. The United Kingdom and Spain signed treaties with Mexico and returned home. The French, however, did not withdraw. They engaged Mexican troops in a battle near the city of Puebla. The French were defeated and withdrew from the area. The victory was a large morale boost for Mexico which had fewer soldiers and military resources than France.

The U.S. celebration of the holiday began in California in 1863 as an expression of solidarity with Mexico against the French. By the 1930s, the holiday spread and was considered an opportunity to celebrate Mexican identity, promote cultural awareness, and build community.

Some fun facts about Cinco de Mayo:

• Although tacos are consumed the most on this holiday, mole poblano is the official dish of Cinco de Mayo.
• According to the California Avocado commission, around 87 million pounds of avocadoes are eaten on Cinco de Mayo in the United States.
• The holiday is celebrated in other countries besides Mexico and the United States. For example, Vancouver, Canada, hosts a “skydiving boogie” with aerial acrobatics. The Cayman Islands puts on an air guitar competition!
• To celebrate in Mexico, people dress up either as French and Mexican soldiers or in colorful outfits to participate in large parades.

Some ways you can celebrate in your classroom:

• Have children create sombreros or flower bands to wear.
• Make some Mexican food specialties for snack time in which children can help – guacamole, salsa, homemade tortilla chips, etc. This is also a great opportunity to incorporate some math skills and talk into the activity (measuring, looking at print to follow a recipe, etc.).
• Add a taco bar for lunch.
• Read a story about the Mexican flag and decorate your room in red, green, and white.
• Teach children Spanish words (encouraging children to use language and adding new vocabulary).
• Make maracas out of recycled materials and sing and dance to Mexican music.
• Help the children create a classroom pinata (starting several days before the holiday), fill with treats, and let them use a plastic bat to crack it open.

https://nationaltoday.com/cinco-de-mayo/

https://www.parents.com/fun/parties/special-occasions/fun-facts-about-cinco-de-mayo/

By Michelle Long

If I asked you how many questions you ask children on any given day, I assume your response would be that is most likely too many to count. You probably ask how they are feeling, if they are hungry, what color they are wearing, if they need to use the restroom, etc.

Erin DelRegno

A bit about the person interviewed:

Greetings and salutations! (I am a Charlotte’s Web fan!). My name is Paula Schroeder. My mother told me that my unofficial teaching career began at age 5 when I taught my 3-year-old sister how to read. I have been a PA and NJ certified educator since 1982, teaching a variety of subjects from K-8 in Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. Living abroad for 7 years, I taught both kids and adults in Mexico, Honduras, and Venezuela. After returning to the states, I continued my teaching career and am currently a certified principal and director of a 421-child preschool in Philadelphia for the last 11 years. We have risen to a STAR 4 status using ECERS, but in the last year felt challenged to switch to utilizing CLASS to measure and improve our instruction.

By Stefanie Camoni

School-age programs continue to grow due to the demand of before and after school care. How do we serve our oldest children? What do we do with them after school ends? What is our role? How do we know we are giving them what they need?

The questions posed are important ones. Thankfully, there are various program observation instruments that define what quality looks like in these settings. These three POIs are approved for use to meet Keystone Stars standards EC 3.4.5 and EC 3.4.6.  We will briefly examine some observation instruments that can be used not only during out of school time but during the summer months when school-age children attend all day.

Environment Rating Scale: School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale-Updated (SACERS-U®)

SACERS-U is an assessment tool used in classrooms where younger school-age (including kindergarten) and/or older school-age children are enrolled. In classrooms of kindergarten only enrollment the ECERS-R or ECERS-3 tool will be used. In classrooms where school-age children are enrolled with preschool children, the assessment tool will be determined by the age level that represents the majority of children in the group.*

SACERS-U focuses on the typical daily experiences of children in school-age settings. The assessment considers how teacher engagement, the spaces and equipment used by the children, accessible play materials, and children’s activities combine to enhance learning. The scale consists of 47 items that are organized into 7 subscales:

• Space and Furnishings
• Health and Safety
• Activities
• Interactions
• Program Structure
• Staff Development
• Special Needs Supplementary Items

Items include observable and/or reportable indicators that reflect consistently occurring quality practices and provisions.

The ERS assessment is primarily a 3 to 4-hour observation in the indoor and outdoor spaces used by children. The assessment may also consider other onsite and offsite space and information shared during a teacher interview.

Classroom Assessment Scoring System K-3 (CLASS K-3®)

CLASS K-3 is an assessment tool used in classrooms where younger school-age (including kindergarten) and/or older school-age children are enrolled. It focuses on interactions between teachers and children and how teacher engagement, classroom materials, and children’s activities combine to enhance learning. CLASS K-3 supports a consistent approach to measuring quality practices in school-age environments.

CLASS K-3 is comprised of domains and dimensions that reflect quality classroom interactions. Those domains include Responsive Caregiving, Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, Instructional Support, Emotional and Behavior Support, and Engaged Support for Learning. The dimensions include easily observable behavior markers that reflect consistently occurring quality practices in the classroom.

Assessments occur in four 15-20-minute observation cycles. There is no teacher interview that occurs.

School-Age Program Quality Assessment (SPQA)

The School-Age PQA can be used in center or school-based settings including full day out of school time and before and after school sites serving children in grades K-6.

The SPQA focuses on staff practices and experiences of children by using an assess-plan-improve sequence. The approach is based on interconnected domains to support children’s experiences with intentional planning in the following areas:

• Physical safety, emotional safety, and inclusive practices
• Supportive environment through welcoming, conflict resolution, active learning, encouragement, and skill-building
• Interaction through cooperative learning and leadership opportunities
• Higher order engagement through choice, planning and reflection

Assessments can range from one to three hours. An interview takes place before or after the observation.

Still not sure which program observation instrument is right for your program? Reach out to a program quality assessor or your quality coach to learn more about how you can choose the right POI for your program.

SACERS-U Environment Rating Scales Institute (ERSI)

CLASS K-3 Teachstone

Teachstone and Pennsylvania

Program Quality Assessment Professional Development Catalog

School-Age Program Quality Assessment David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

* Age ranges for SACERS-U have been aligned to Pennsylvania Department of Human Service Child Care regulations age levels.

 ^{Aimee Currier}

You very likely read books to the children in your care daily. We use books for many purposes: education, entertainment, even some physical activity at times. My Kindergartners would get so excited when the Bookmobile would come, and they would have the opportunity to have books read to them by someone who wasn’t me! They were giddy with joy over getting to choose their own books to keep in our classroom for a month. Books were a central part of everything we did in class.

Kelli Harris

As an avid gardener, I start thinking about next year’s spring planting while I’m harvesting my sweet potatoes and the last of my other fall vegetables in late October. Over the winter months, I peruse seed catalogs and develop a plan for what I want to plant the following spring. I am fortunate to have a large space to plant a variety of vegetables and flowers.

by Tracy Walter

Science is both a body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems and the process whereby that body of knowledge has been established and is continually extended, refined, and revised (Worth,2005). Because it’s important to understand that both elements (natural systems and the process) are essential it is important that we look at science in the early childhood classrooms.

By Amy Hoffman

Have you heard the news? The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team at the Pennsylvania Key has a lot to offer to programs. You may already know that we (usually) conduct external assessments to support early learning and school-age programs; this involves an assessor visiting your program and observing a wide range of practices including teacher-child interactions, classroom environments, and/or business practices. Because of COVID-19, we are offering programs support through an internal assessment process; program staff complete internal assessments of their practices, and we meet to discuss these practices and to partner with them in their continuous quality improvement journey.

Natalie Grebe

Pasta has been satisfying hungry stomachs all over the world for thousands of years. Athletes use it for carb loading. Restaurants feature it on menus. Parents use it as their go-to when they need a quick and easy meal that the whole family will enjoy. Luckily, pasta is usually a favorite of most children, and the many varieties as well as the different ways to serve it make it worth celebrating in your classroom. A few ideas to celebrate all this food has to offer: