Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY-APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION 1

Developmentally-appropriate Instruction

Stacy Spivey

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019

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Developmentally-appropriate Instruction

As educators, it is imperative that every aspect of instruction meets students’

developmental needs, helping them perform proficiently at the developmental stage they are in

while also helping them as they transition to the next stage of growth. The Encyclopedia

Britannica defines child developments as, “the growth of perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and

behavioral capabilities and functioning during childhood” (2018). Likewise, a students’ cultural

backgrounds and exposure to risk factors play pivotal roles in their development. In light of this,

teachers must ensure that they are shaping their instruction in such a way that supports and

fosters the students’ natural development using strategies and tools that coincide with their

specific needs.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact for this competency is a lesson plan with activities and strategies that

cater to a second-graders’ developmental needs. In the lesson, students continue learning how to

compare and contrast when reading a fiction or non-fiction text. When comparing and

contrasting, the students determined what information in the text was important. Two

developmentally-appropriate tools that were used to help students achieve this skill was an

anchor chart and modeling. At the beginning of the week, I created anchor chart with the

students that defined comparing and contrasting, as well as listed signal words for both. With

this, students had a visual reminder that they could reference anywhere from instruction to

independent practice throughout the week. Combined with modeling, this helped them recognize

the fundamentals of the skill, gain confidence about the material, and retain it. Likewise, the

lesson utilized a fun activity to practice comparing and contrasting called ‘Compare and Contrast

Basketball.” In this activity, each student read a sentence from a passage that had been typed on
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a slip of paper, having to determine if it was comparing or contrasting information about

butterflies and moths. After the students successfully identified which one it was, they crumpled

up the paper and tossed it into a bucket labeled ‘compare’ or ‘contrast’. Not only did this activity

allow the students to move instead of remaining stationary in their seats during the lesson, but it

also kept them engaged by resembling a game. Furthermore, students were able to work as a

group to fill out a Venn diagram during their independent practice, benefitting their social

dispositions. Throughout the lesson, I also explained how this skill is needed in order to

understand a text better. This helped students recognize the skill’s relevance and application,

motivating them to learn it.

Additionally, the lesson plan integrated cultural awareness with a read aloud of the book

Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun: A Cherokee Story by Geri Keams. Since read alouds are

engaging to students at this grade level, it was an effective tool for the anticipatory set. With this

book specifically, students learned different customs and beliefs of the Cherokee tribe by

listening to a folktale that they created about the beginning of the world. In a previous lesson, I

read aloud another Native American tale called The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie

dePaola. Using this, I prompted students to ask questions about the Native American culture and

to appreciate its traditions and beliefs. Likewise, I used the books to model how to compare and

contrast information in a fiction text, and I provided students with an opportunity to talk with a

partner about how the two tales were alike and different.

The second artifact is a week-long lesson plan for a fourth-grade science unit on weather.

While its content aligns with Virginia’s standards of learning, it presents the material in an

interactive way, encouraging them to be more independent and explorative in their learning. For

instance, the students act like meteorologists on the first day, completing a report-style
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worksheet where they record different aspects of the weather that they observe around them.

This helps them gain familiarity with the subject matter and vocabulary related to weather in a

way where they can readily recognize its real-world application. The next day, students

participate in a science circus where they complete a variety of activities and experiments about

different aspects of weather. These activities are more complicated and require students to be

able to manipulate the materials accurately and responsibly, making it appropriate for their

developmental-stage whereas it would be challenging and ineffective for a younger grade-level.

With hands-on components and opportunities to think critically about their observations and

discoveries at each station, the science circus is a successful structure that strengthens students’

understanding of the content. As the week continues, students gain further independence and

opportunities to be creative as they write about their weather-related discoveries and questions.

Finally, they conduct research on a chosen topic about weather, completing a project that they

display at a mock weather convention at the end of the week. This incorporates students’

personal interests about weather, making them even more engaged while also helping them

assume more responsibility for their learning. It also allows them to share their findings with

their peers, promoting collaboration.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Developmental awareness is crucial for all educators, specifically for the grade-level that

they are responsible for. Without an understanding of students’ mental, physical, social, and

physical abilities, it is impossible to create effective lesson plans. For example, students have

different capabilities depending on their stage of development. As they grow older, their

memories and reasoning improves, allowing them to think more critically and retain more

information. For this reason, some younger students need heavier amounts of repetition during
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instruction to develop those fundamental skills while older students do not. Similarly, the

terminology used in instruction, especially when sharing the lesson’s SOL-aligned learning

objectives, needs to be delivered in age-appropriate language that they understand so that they

can comprehend what they are supposed to be able to do. If a kindergarten student does not

understand that they are supposed to know words that rhyme or have similar sounds because of

challenging words like ‘recognize’ or ‘identify,’ then the teacher’s instruction is severely flawed.

Aside from cognitive differences that impact instruction, students’ physical capabilities

such as motor skills and dexterity influence activities that they are able to perform. Students in

third, fourth, and fifth grade are able to type and navigate on a computer more fluently and

independently than those in younger grades. Likewise, the teacher needs to account for certain

activities that involve motor skills like writing, gluing, or cutting to take longer for younger

learners than older ones. In addition to knowing their physical competencies, it is also important

to consider how activities may engage students more if they involve more physical components,

such as movement, or if they resemble a game. Primary students would most likely prefer an

activity that allowed them to dance or walk around the room while a game-like activity with

rules would appeal to intermediate learners (Bergin & Bergin, 2015, p. 486). By recognizing

students’ interests that accompany their development, it helps keep them engaged, strengthening

the efficiency of one’s instruction.

During my practicum and student teaching, I have had the opportunity to observe

students in differing grade levels and socioeconomic settings. This has allowed me to gain

insight about the similarities and differences in children’s development between each age,

including when various risk factors are present. In fifth grade, the students were capable of

reading longer pieces of text during guided reading. Also, their word study consisted of defining
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the roots and stems of words, creating a Frayer model for it, and then looking up the definitions

of words that used the word part. Instead, the second and third grade classes I have been student

teaching for have still been building their phonemic awareness, learning about how letters make

blends and digraphs by completing sorts of their words. In third grade, they were practicing how

to locate words in a dictionary, so the way the fifth-graders conducted their word study would be

ineffective for them. In the younger grades, they especially benefit from sorting the words since

they are gaining more proficiency in organizing and retaining information by doing so (Bergin &

Bergin, 2015, p. 157). One way that the second-graders and third-graders differed greatly,

though, was by how the latter participated in SOL tests. As a result, it was crucial for me to

integrate and emphasize test-taking strategies during relevant areas of instruction, especially

when using their Chromebooks. With these experiences, I have been able to recognize how

striking the differences are between grades, even between those that are only a year apart.

Some common practices that vary between grade levels but are beneficial to instruction

for all are scaffolding, discussion, and cultural awareness. With each course I took, I have

improved my ability to scaffold the material to best suit students’ academic proficiencies.

Especially during student teaching, I have realized how necessary it is to scaffold the material so

that students of any age-group can gradually build their understanding and aptitude at using

skills. By knowing the stage of the students’ cognition, I am able to utilize strategies like graphic

organizers or sorting activities that help them improve the most. I have also recognized the

important of using discussion-based strategies during instructional periods, predominately

between students. Example like having the students turn and talk during a read aloud or think,

pair, share during a math activity, “learners can co-construct understanding in their zones of

proximal development and achieve greater skill” (Bergin & Bergin, 2015, p. 129). This
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significant tool allows students of varying academic proficiencies to collaborate and help each

other reach their full potential as learners. Finally, it is critical for educators to have cultural

awareness and to engrain this skill with their students. As a teacher, being culturally aware

allows them to understand instructional needs students may have, such as avoiding using

culturally-based idioms or pausing to allow additional time to help students process and

understand the content being addressed (Borich, 2015, p. 148) Likewise, I have recognized how

impactful it is to simply show cultural awareness by including names from other cultures for the

examples I make for worksheets or activities. Not only does it show students from all

backgrounds that the instruction is designed for them, but it also creates unity in the classroom

and expands their understanding of cultures that differ from their own.
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References

Bergin, C. C., & Bergin, D. A. (2015). Child and Adolescent Behavior in Your Classroom (2nd

ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Borich, G. D. (2015). Observation Skills for Effective Teaching (7th ed.). Retrieved December 7,

2018, from

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8AFZCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&d

q=taskorientationborich&ots=BVu5761iNc&sig=x02x7fAtFAEDV025gSdmrxHFdWg#v

=onepage&q&f=false

child development (2018). Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.