Assessment and Theoretical Perspectives

Your Unit 9 Assignment has two parts. In Part I, you will be watching videos of children participating in reading activities, and you will document and assess the behavior you witness. You will use this information in Part II of the Assignment, in which you will write a paper and use theoretical perspectives to explain the language development you witnessed. The template provided has been set up in the correct format to complete both parts of this Assignment.

Part I: Observation and Documentation

Watch the three videos provided and document your observations using the assessment forms provided in the template.

Video 1: Story Time:

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/125611667X/index.html

Complete a Checklist on your observation of the reading behaviors one of the more vocal children in the group. The video length is 1:21.

Video 2: Sam Reading Books:

http://www2.cde.state.co.us/media/resultsmatter/RMSeries/SamReadingBooks_SA.asp 

Complete an Anecdotal Record on the vocabulary level of Sam. After clicking this link, scroll until you get to Sam Reading Books.

Video 3: Shared Reading:

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/125611667X/index.html

Complete Story Book Language Observation of one of the children in the video.

The documentation you create will be submitted as appendices to Part II of this Assignment.

Part II: Paper

Once you have completed your observations and assessment documentation, write a 1- to 2-page paper explaining the typical language development you observed and outlining the theoretical perspectives observed in the students in the videos. You will also provide a summary of the assessments you used during your observation.

Suggested format of your paper:

1. An introduction to the role that assessments have in language development and a summary of the points you will make in your paper.
2. One paragraph on the purpose of a checklist including the advantages and disadvantages of this assessment.
3. One paragraph on the purpose of an anecdotal record including the advantages and disadvantages of this assessment.
4. One paragraph on the purpose of a storybook based language assessment and the advantages and disadvantages of this assessment.
5. A discussion of where you observed application of theory and Developmentally Appropriate practices ( DAP ) in at least one of the videos. The discussion should identify at least two strategies that the teacher used that are developmentally appropriate. At least one theoretical perspectives (i.e., Nativist theory, cognitive developmental theory, behaviorist theory, or interactionist theory) describing how humans acquire language should be identified and an application to the classroom setting should be discussed
6. A conclusion and short summary of your documentation and analysis experience. You should also reflect upon how this experience will prepare you for your career goals as an early childhood professional.

Be sure to use specific information from your readings in your paper, and be sure to use APA formatting. Information regarding APA formatting can be found in the Writing Center and should be reviewed thoroughly. APA formatting dictates how your paper should appear on each page. Refer to the APA Quick Reference under Course Home for examples of how to cite sources.

You should follow these formatting guidelines for your paper: