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Thematic Unit Plan: Combined Assignment for EDEC 322 and EDSP 436
(Points awarded separately in EDEC 322 and EDSP 436: see grading rubrics for point
values for each section) (adapted from Dr. Jaye Harvey)

Name: Kalley Kirkland, Anna Jones, Megan VanGorder

This Assignment has been designed to facilitate your learning in two classes: EDEC 322
and EDSP 436. Each section below is identified as counting toward your grade in one of
these classes. Directions for completing the assignment will be given in both classes. See
the grading rubric for each class for the points awarded for the sections required in that
class. Your in-class mock learning center presentation and on-site presentation will be
scored by each instructor (see grading rubric). Each member of your group will also
complete an evaluation of the group members which will be included in your final grade.

You will complete this written Thematic Unit Plan form for submission, and you will
present several of the items in the in-class presentation and the on-site presentation.
Details are given in each item that follows, and the grading rubric. The words written
only by an item indicate that the item is not included in the presentations.

To complete this assignment you will need this Thematic Unit Plan form, a list of
Virginias Foundation Blocks for Early Learning, and the IDEC Lesson Plan Format from
EDEC 322. The lesson plan form is available on D2L in the same location you found this
unit plan form. You will download the Foundation Blocks in the 436 class.

Theme or Topic (examples: Growing things; OR Community workers, etc.) (written and
presentations)

Fairy Tales

I. Rationale (Why is the theme/topic worth studying?): EDEC 322 (hereafter (322)
(Written and in-class)
The theme of fairy tales allows for children to use their creativity and
imagination, as well as learn about various societal factors, cultural differences,
and life lessons.

1. How does this theme address childrens interests or potential interest?

The theme addresses childrens interests, or potential interests, because
there are a wide variety of fairy tales that incorporate many different storylines
and characteristics. Fairy tales also range in mood, from silly, to loving, to scary,
which may also fit a wide range of childrens interests and emotions.

2. How is this theme real and/or relevant to childrens experiences? Is it age-appropriate?

The theme is relevant to childrens experiences because most fairy tales
include real-life lessons and feelings that children may experience. It is age-
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appropriate because many children are exposed to fairy tales in their early years
and they attract a young child audience.

3. How can children explore the theme firsthand? What real objects can be manipulated?
Children can explore the theme of fairy tales first hand in many ways.
Castles can be built with blocks and other building manipulatives, costumes and
props can be made/used in dramatic play, creativity can be shown through fairy
tale-themed arts and crafts, children can explore fairy tales by creating their own,
along with many more real-life objects depending on what fairy tale is being
discussed.

4. List at least 3 available resources (people, places, objects, books, etc.) for this theme.
Websites:
Fairy tales. Teacher Planet. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/fairytales.php
Fairy Tales by Grimm: Standards-Based Lesson Ideas.
Education World. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/grimms-fairy-tales-lesson-
ideas.shtml
Books:
Blau, L. (1994). Favorite folktales and fabulous fables:
Readers theatre scripts and extended activities for the primary classroom.
Bellevue, WA: One From the Heart Educational Resources.
King, J. (1995). Thematic unit: Fairy tales. Huntington
Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials INC.
Hoffman, M. (2001). A first book of fairy tales. New York,
NY: DK Publishing, INC.
Other books such as, The Princess and the Pea, Jack and
the Beanstalk, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, The
Elves & Shoemaker, The Golden Goose, The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Other potential resources for future Fairy Tale thematic units:
Local theaters performing live fairy tales:
The Berglund Center, Roanoke VA.
Fairy tale felt boards
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (from
Radford University Teacher Resources Center)
Magnetic story illustrations
The Three Little Pigs (from the Radford
University Teacher Resources Center)

5. Can this topic be explored over an extended period (at least one week)?
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Yes, this topic can be explored over an extended period of time due to the
amount of creativity and imagination involved with the stories. There is also an
endless supply of fairy tales available for the children to explore.

6. When is a good time of the year to present this topic and why?
This topic can be presented at any time of the year because it includes
plots/settings of all seasons. However, Spring would be the best time to present
the topic because exploration of the topic would more likely be able to expand to
the outdoor setting, discuss seeds and plants, and possibly hold the interest of
children for a longer time.

7. Can you incorporate: (check all that apply)

_x_ Literacy? _x_ Math? _x_ Science?

_x_ Social studies? _x_ Fine arts? _x_ Technology?

8. List at least four activities that family members can do at home (in a format that you
could send to the family) to encourage them to participate in their childs learning for the
unit.
Send the story home with the child and ask the families to read it aloud
and discuss thoughts on the story.
Send home a coloring page about Jack and the Beanstalk and a prompt of
questions to ask the children to begin an open discussion about the story.
Send home a small bag mixture that includes different items from each
fairytale discussed in class (including beans, a crown, straw, and various pictures
of characters, etc.) and ask the parents to discuss what fairytale each item belongs
too.
Send home plain pieces of paper and a small bag of crayons and ask the
parents to ask their child to illustrate a picture of their favorite fairytale that was
discussed in class.

9. Identify (list here) how you will ensure that this topic is respectful of cultural
differences.
The fairytale stories reference differences between socioeconomic factors.
The stories are well known among many generations and cultures.
We will review each story before introducing it to the class to make sure
that it is respectful.

10. Key vocabulary: (at least 5 new words children will learn and highlight these words
in your lesson plan to demonstrate how you will introduce, teach and review these words)
Shorter/taller
Measurement
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More/less
Soil
Giant
Beanstalk
Castle
Amount
Counting
Bean

II. Major concepts to be taught and Universal Design for Learning (322 for major
concepts; 322 AND 436 for UDL) (written and in-class)

Major concept for example: 1. All living things grow/change 2. I am growing, etc.

1. The story Jack and the Beanstalk have different sizes of characters and plants.

2. Beanstalks grow beans.

3. Fairy tales have a beginning, middle, and end.

UDL: attach the UDL checklist

III. Learning Centers: 1) For each of the following learning centers, describe the theme-
related activities and materials that you might provide to support learning for this unit. 2)
You will describe the type of adaptation for the disability listed for each center to enable a
child with that type of disability to meaningfully participate in the center activities. For
example, if for the Dramatic play center you were asked to describe a curriculum
accommodation of a material for a child with visual impairment you might describe how
shelves will be labeled with raised outlines of items for easier clean up by that child. As
you plan the presentation you will do in your volunteer placement, you will identify
and create at least one adaptation or adapted material to facilitate the learning of
one or more children in your center. You will describe the adaptation for that center
in this written plan, present it at the in-class mock presentation, and use it with
children in your placement presentation. (written and in-class presentations your
own center)

(322) Dramatic Play:

For the dramatic play center during the fairy tale unit there would be a
variety of dress-up clothes (crowns, tiaras, childrens heels, wands, stick horses,
stuffed frogs, dirty peasant clothes, dresses, vests, robes, top hats, fairy wings,
etc.), large boxes to be decorated into a pumpkin-coach or castle, pig and wolf
masks, chair for a throne, cutouts or stuffed dragons, etc. depending on which
fairy tales will be covered/discussed. There can be relevant play food items placed
in the dramatic play center as well, (ex: beans for jack and the beanstalk).
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(EDSP 436: hereafter (436) Accommodation of child preference for a child with ADD:
The teacher could limit the amount of materials placed in the dramatic
play area to target the childs preferences and avoid overwhelming him or her.

(322) Blocks:
For the block center during the fairy tale unit figurines/manipulatives may
be added so children may build castles out of blocks for the characters to live,
open-ended materials (straw/hay, cotton balls, Q-tips, drinking straws, etc.) may
be added to further customize block-buildings such as castles, barns, etc., farm
animals (goats, cows, pigs) may be added so children can use blocks to build
bridges and act out Three Billy Goats Gruff.

(436) Accommodation of environmental support for a child with autism:

Providing multiple pictures of stages of the castles that could potentially
be built in the center to provide concrete and step by step examples of the castle.

(322) Table Toys/Games:

Matching games of characters from the stories where the child has 3-4
pictures and has to put them in sequential order according to the story. (Amount
of pictures depending on the developmental level.)
Build a house with popsicle sticks, straws, and lincoln logs (to represent
bricks) that they had seen in the story. There will be pictures included for the child
to reference.
Sequencing activity on the felt board with characters and pictures from the
story. Can be used for any of the fairy tales discussed in class.

(436) Accommodation of peer support for a child with motor planning problems:
Have a peer assistant work in proximity or play with the child who has
motor planning problems to assist the child when things are dropped or knocked
over.

(322) Sand and Water Table (or equivalent, could be outside):

For the sand and water table during the fairy tale unit there are different
options for different fairy tales. There are examples listed below.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff: small blocks, spray bottles
and water, toy goats, and sand to build bridges and rivers to act out and
explore the story.
The Three Little Pigs: hay, Easter grass, drinking straws,
blocks, scissors, pig and wolf toys for children to act out and explore the
story.
Cinderella: water, soap, sponges, rags, and play dishes for
the children to pretend to wash dishes.
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Jack and the Beanstalk: soil, fake or real plant stalks, seeds,
beans, cow figurine.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears: provide dirt, sticks, leaves,
three bears and a doll for the children to create a forest and reenact the
story. This can also be done outside and the children can role play as the
characters.

(436) Accommodation of invisible support for a child with developmental delay:

When rotating centers, have a student go before the student that needs
invisible support to set up the sand/water table while he or she is playing
encourage him or her to leave their creation for the next child to play with. For
example, if the child is creating a forest for Goldilock and the Three Bears the
teacher can tell them to leave their forest, so the child that needs invisible support
already has that step done for them when it is their turn.

(322) Discovery/Science/Social Studies:

The class can plant/grow their own beanstalks with lima beans in small
cups with soil to pair with Jack and the Beanstalk.
The children can also use popsicle sticks, blocks, Q tips, etc. to build a raft
and add corks to see if they can make the raft float to pair with Three Billy Goats
Gruff.
Children can estimate and measurements of different sized pumpkins and
then find the answers to pair with Cinderella.
Children can learn about (or raise their own in the classroom if possible)
tadpoles and frogs to pair with The Princess and the Frog.
Provide or build small houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks (blocks)
and allow the children to blow through straws to see which is most sturdy to pair
with The Three Little Pigs.

(436) Accommodation of material/s for a child with visual impairment:

Provide bigger items for the child to manipulate or provide a magnifying
glass. Provide a peer assistant to help the child if having difficulty stacking blocks
or finding the small items to pick up.

(322) Reading/Writing:
Providing prompts for the teacher to read to the children to encourage
them to create their own story. For example a prompt could be, If a beanstalk
grew in your backyard, what would you do? and the teacher could record what
the child says and have the child draw a picture or try to write their story
themselves.
Many and varied books about Fairy Tales for the children to explore
independently or with each other.

(436) Accommodation of simplify the activity for a child with fine motor impairment:
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Pencil grips on writing utensils to help the child grasp and write easier.
Larger or triangular markers, pencils, crayons.
Tabs or popsicle sticks taped or glued to the pages of the books to assist
the child with page turning.

(322) Art:
In the art center provide a paper that includes different shapes for the
children to cut out. Talk to the children about Cinderella's castle and provide the
book so that they can see examples. Tell the children that they can design and glue
together their own castle like Cinderellas (See attached paper).
Provide real leaves and sticks so the children could make their own
beanstalk.

(436) Accommodation of adult support for a child with gross motor impairment:
Have a teacher or a classroom aide sit next to the child, and set a variety of
each of the materials in close proximity to the child. Let the child choose what
material he/she wants to use and assist the child in reaching the materials or hand
them to him/her. Hand over hand assistance may also be used to help with arm
movements.

(322) Computer:
In the computer center the children can go on a virtual tour of a medieval
castle and explore the different rooms and events that went on at the castle during
those times.
(Activity like this is available at
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/castle/view.html)
Teachers could also create their own language arts or counting games on a
computer program and make it fairy tale themed for the children.

(436) Accommodation of material/s for a child with hearing impairment:

For a child with a hearing impairment, headphones can be provided and
the volume can be turned up. Captions may also be put on the screen if the child is
able to read.

IV. Planned Activities: Describe one theme-related activity for each of the following
routines: (322) (written and in-class your own activity)

1. Circle or Group/Gathering time (how will you introduce the theme? Will you read
an age-appropriate book? Will you show a concrete object and ask questions? Will you
sing a song that introduces your theme? Etc.)
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Fairy Tales will be introduced by reading the fairy tales to the class and
talking about what is real and imaginary. The teacher will ask things such as Can
a frog turn into a prince? or Are frogs actually real?

2. Cooking
Cook beans that were picked from the vegetable garden as a class.
Let children create their own Hansel and Gretel Find Your Way Home
Trail Mix and put it in their own separate plastic bags.
Ingredients: mini marshmallows, pretzels, peanuts (if there
are no allergies in the classroom), M&Ms, raisins, Chex Mix cereal, etc.

3. Field Trip or Classroom Visitor

Take the class to a vegetable garden and discuss beans and how tall
beanstalks actually grow.
Do a virtual field trip through a real castle online.
Take the class on a walk through a forest, or pretend their playground is a
forest and recreate one of the fairy tales (Example: act out Goldilocks and the
three bears outside in the play house.)
Have someone dress up as Cinderella or Jack and visit the classroom to
talk to the students about particular fairy tales and their moral lessons.

4. Gross Motor game (could be indoor or outdoor)

A fairy tale themed relay race can be done for a gross motor game, either
indoor or outdoor. The teacher can print out action cards that have different
characters and actions on them that the children have to do. For example, a picture
of the gingerbread man would be accompanied with run run run as fast as you
can, youre the gingerbread man!
The action card print outs can be found at:
http://www.icanteachmychild.com/an-outdoor-game-for-kids-who-love-fairy-tales

5. Music, Poems, Fingerplays: Provide words (and tune if familiar, for example sung to
the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) for at least two of the following: songs, poems
(nursery rhymes) or fingerplays (provide actions). These may be used in Circle time or a
center, etc. (words may be attached if space below not sufficient
Fairy Tale Song (to the tune of Jingle Bells):
Once upon a time,
In a land so far away,
A princess kissed a frog -
Well that just made his day!
Far across the town,
Red Riding Hood took fright -
She found a wolf in Grannys bed
When she told her goodnight!
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OH!
Fairy tales! Fairy tales!
Read them every day!
Oh what fun it is to hear
How Goldilocks got away!
Fairy tales! Fairy tales!
Full of joy and laughter!
Do you know how this one ends?
Why, its happily ever after!

All Around The Castle (to the tune of pop goes the weasel):
All around the castle, (make a circle with hands)
the knight chased the dragon. (make fingers run)
The dragon thought it was all in fun, (tap head like youre thinking)
ROAR went the dragon! (put hands in the air when roaring)
Repeat with the following verses:
The princess chased the dragon
The king chased the dragon
The prince chased the dragon
The queen chased the dragon

6. Large and Small group activities: Each student in the team will plan one large or small
group activity that can be incorporated throughout the unit of study. List the titles of the
activities here and attach the detailed activity plans using the IDEC Lesson Plan Format.
Kalley: Jack and the Beanstalk bean counting and sorting activity
Anna: Jack and the Beanstalk nonstandard measurement activity
Megan: Jack and the Beanstalk build the beanstalk and Giants castle
activity

V. Additions for 436

1. Describe what you as teacher will do: what will you do to introduce, instruct, and
summarize the content of the lesson/activity? (written and in-class)
Kalley: As a teacher I will show the students the book so that they can
begin to remember things that they heard. I will ask the students about what they
thought of the story and what they remembered about Jacks beans.
Anna: To introduce the activity I will show pictures from a different
version of Jack and the Beanstalk and talk about how the pictures look different
from the version they read the day before. To instruct the activity I will show a
picture that will be measured and have each child predict how tall the picture is.
The children will then measure the picture, and we will turn over the picture to
see if we were right. We will do this for each picture (Jack, the giant, and the
beanstalk). To summarize, I will ask the children which was the tallest and which
was the shortest picture.
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Megan: To introduce the activity I will ask the children if they remember
the story Jack and the Beanstalk. I will then ask them where Jack planted the
magic beans (if no child answers, I will prompt them by asking in the water or in
soil?). After the children answer, I will explain to them that we are going to
create our own beanstalks in soil with the Giants castle on top of it. To instruct
the lesson I will be giving the children visual demonstrations along with verbal
instructions on how to step-by-step create their own beanstalks with a castle on
top. During this time I will also ask the children questions about how the soil is at
the bottom of the plant and the clouds are up in the sky by the castle. To
summarize the lesson, I will ask the children what their favorite part of the
activity was and reiterate that we used soil at the bottom of the beanstalk because
plants grow from the ground, and that we used cotton balls as clouds by the castle
because the castle is in the sky where clouds form. I will then have each child
hand me their creation so I can write their name on it and put it in a safe place in
the classroom. Lastly, I will tell the children they can take their beanstalks/castles
home at the end of the day and to put their ready signals on (heads down and not
talking) so they may transition to their next center.

2. Describe how you as the teacher will facilitate social interaction among children:
How will you arrange the materials so that one child will ask another child for a turn, to
trade a material, to pass him or her something, ask a peer for help, etc. If this does not
occur naturally, how will you as the teacher facilitate this? (written and in-class)
Kalley: As the children are counting the beans and using the cups of glue I
will arrange a cup of each in between two kids so that two of them can share. I
will ask that the children wait until everyone is finished with each number before
we move on to the next number. I will tell them to ask for help if needed when
applying the glue.
Anna: As the children were measuring their pictures, I encouraged the
other children to either count with them as a group, or watch them as they
counted. I also asked each child to predict how tall each picture would be, and
encouraged them to ask their friend if they were stuck.
Megan: As the children are coloring their castles and adding their own
personal creations or characters to them I will encourage the students to look at
one anothers art to get new ideas and to admire other work. I will also place the
crayons in between children to encourage them to share and ask each other to pass
crayons if necessary. When I ask the children questions during the lesson and they
do not know the answer, I will encourage them to talk with one another to come
up with an answer or to ask a friend for help.

3. Explain how you will plan for children to transition from one activity to another
(Example: unit is Zoo animals, so teacher will count down for clean-up and then children
will s-s-slither like a s-s-snake or jump like a kangaroo to the next activity). Describe
here what you as the teacher will do (the group may do the same transition from each
center to the next if appropriate), and demonstrate in the in-class mock presentation
and use it in the on-site presentation. (written, in-class, on-site)
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The teacher (Mrs. Hannah Burkhart) uses a large timer that is displayed on
the smartboard for her everyday centers. To avoid confusion we decided to utilize
the time she does everyday. The timer beeps and shows a red area when there is
two minutes left to allow for clean up time. Once the timer beeps the children
finish their center and clean up and show their ready signals - which consists of
the heads down on the table to show the teacher they are finished. We decided to
use this same transition because the kids were already used to it, and it is an
effective and quiet way for the children to calmy transition between activities. It is
also helpful because the transition includes time for clean up, the children have a
warning to start getting ready to transition instead of being caught off guard and
being unprepared.

4. On the Foundation Blocks Record of Activities table provided on D2L in

Assignments folder (436 class site), describe how at least two of the listed foundation
blocks for each category (two for Literacy, two for Mathematics, two for Science, two for
History and Social Science, two for Physical and Motor development, and two for
Personal and Social development) are addressed in your Thematic Unit. These are to be
addressed in learning centers, large or small group activities, table toys and games, etc.
For example, L1 Oral expression: circle time as we greet each other by name. Fill in
and attach to this assignment. (written and in-class)
Attached below.

5. Resource Materials: List the books, websites, and other resources you used as you
developed your thematic unit in APA style, with all needed information to locate the
resource. You must use at least three resources. If you use the course text book from
either course or a reading from the course, that reference must be complete and in correct
APA style as well. (written only)
Websites:
Fairy tales. (n.d.). Teacher Planet. Retrieved from
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/fairytales.php
Fairy Tales by Grimm: Standards-Based Lesson Ideas.
Education World. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/grimms-fairy-tales-lesson-
ideas.shtml
Tammy, J. (2016). Magic Beans Counting. Sugar Spice and
Glitter. Retrieved from http://sugarspiceandglitter.com/magic-beans-
counting/
Jack and the Beanstalk. (2012). Lessons From a Teacher.
Retrieved from http://lessonsfromateacher.com/2012/08/31/jack-and-the-
beanstalk/
Pinterest. (n.d.) Measurement Jack and the Beanstalk.
Retreived from https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=nonstandard
%20measurement%20jack%20and%20the
%20beanstalk&rs=typed&0=nonstandard%20measurement%20jack
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%20and%20the%20beanstalk%7Ctyped&remove_refine=jack%20and
%20beanstalk%20measurment%7Ctyped

Books:
Blau, L. (1994). Favorite folktales and fabulous fables:
Readers theatre scripts and extended activities for the primary classroom.
Bellevue, WA: One From the Heart Educational Resources.
King, J. (1995). Thematic unit: Fairy tales. Huntington
Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials INC.
Hoffman, M. (2001). A first book of fairy tales. New York,
NY: DK Publishing, INC.

6. Teacher Made Materials: Describe the teacher-made theme-related material that you
created for your presentation: can be folder games, puppets, recipe boards, books, or
other, which you could make for the unit. These need to be creative, DAP, culturally
sensitive, and easily adapted for differing levels of ability (you will need to explain how
the material could be adapted for a child with a disability). Each team member will
create one of these to show in your Thematic Unit in-class presentation and use on-
site presentation. (written, in-class, on-site)
Anna: A booklet that included the giant, jack, and the beanstalk for the
students to record their measurement answers on along with printed out larger
pictures for children to actually measure. Another teacher made material I had
was the pictures of jack, the giant, and the beanstalk for the children to measure.
The pictures had the exact measurement written on the back for the children to
check and see if they were correct, as well as the children to use as a reference
when writing the number in their booklet. To adapt the two materials for a child
with a disability, for example, for a child with a fine motor disability the booklet
can be adapted by being made larger and having tabs on the pages to allow for
easier turning. For a child with a visual impairment for example, the pictures and
the booklet could both be made larger and have high contrasting colors to allow
for the child to see the images better.
Megan: A step-by-step picture schedule with instructions that illustrate
how the students are to build their beanstalk/castle activity in the correct order.
The picture schedule will include words along with pictures to meet the needs of
differing levels of ability. For a child with fine motor skill problems the book can
be adapted by adding magnets and using a magnetic wand page turner (or
popsicle sticks), for a child with a visual impairment the book can be made larger
with higher contrast colors.
Kalley: A sheet with numbers labeled for children to glue beans onto. A
beanstalk made out of an old paper towel roll that is green with a picture of Jack
and leaves taped into a bowl that will hold the beans for the children to take out
and count. This material can be adapted by using lower or higher numbers for
children with different levels of ability. For a child with fine motor or sensory
difficulties tweezers could be provided to pick up the beans out of the bowl.
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The Grading Rubric for the Thematic Unit is available on D2L.