Structural Elements Textual Features Text Grammatical features
Structural Elements Textual Features Text Grammatical features
Observation and analysis
Childs/Childrens Name/s: PRINCE WILLIAM
Date: April 27, 2011 Time: 8:00am Context Introduces the immediate context for the observation. Include participants, time, place and preceding actions.
Do not add extra details here.
From this monthroom doesnt answer the time relevant to this task, so delete this sentence.
Who- green
Where is William in this scene? Make it clear.
What are they doing? orange What is the context? (Who is present, what are they doing, what happened prior to this etc.)
The children in the Koala room (2-4) were in the outdoor play area and it was almost the time for morning tea. From this month onwards, William has been shifted to this room for him to adapt to this room. William was hungry and was asking for biscuit. However the carer assured him that soon morning tea would be served and that his favourite toast with honey was on the menu. Nine children were playing in the sandpit, four were colouring with crayons and six others were playing on the balancing bar. The rest had not yet come. There were three carers present supervising their play.
Use to be verbs and locate person in place and time
Use simple past tense to answer what happened after the description- eg William asked for a biscuit.
Observation What did the child do recount the actions you observed without any interpretation. What did the child/children do? (write a detailed observation, or include photograph or sample of learning with details of what happened, how the child created the sample etc)
Use everyday language. You dont need the theory of early childhood in this section.
Actions include Williams speech.
The purple words show interpretation of the actions and belong in the next section. As soon as the children were sent to play, William chose his red coloured bike. He gripped the handle with his right hand and swung his left leg over it. He was a little quiet today, as he was hungry. William was following Harl around the outdoor play area. While playing, William had to be changed and when the carer brought him back, Zac had taken over his bike and William went running to the bike. Mine he said and tried to get a hold on to it. Then the carer explained to him that we all play together William and we take turns to ride. Now it is Zacs turn and you can have it again after him. William understood and waited patiently for his turn. Soon, Zac left the bike and William ran towards it again, holding it with his right hand and climbed over. Again, he was seen following Harl. He could manage steering the bike through all twists and turns that Harl was steering. As Harl went inside, William said, Harl, come now.
Use action verbs and simple past ten, e.g. chose
Change went running to ran
Linking words of time: while, then, soon, again connect the actions.
Use double quotes for direct speech.
To change your interpretation to an observation change he could manage to he steered the bike through all the twists and turns.
The photo supports the text.
Analysis What is happening is now an analysis not a recount of actions (as it was above). What learning/ development/dispositions/relationships did you observe? What is happening in this observation? Link to the Learning Outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework/theory/literature.
This section introduces theoretical concepts.
The connection to the literature is clear with actions being described with technical terms.
Connects observations to literature
Connects to Early years learning outcomes. Though William initiated the play, eventually this was also imitative play where he was imitating Harls movements with the bike. His learning was through practice of his skills and largely, by observing Harl steer the bike and imitating his actions (Frost et al., 2008).
Williams gross motor skills are getting well developed as he could quite very easily ride the bike pushing his feet to the ground to move forward and controlled it well by steering the bike in the direction that he wanted (Berk, 2003)#. He could follow Harl, who is a 4 year old in steering the bike. Again, right handedness is noticed in William as he caught the bike handle with his right hand, both the times that he got on to the bike (Berk, 2003)##. Fine motor skills were seen through his grasp on the handle though he needs more practice to get a firm grip (Berk, 2003).
According to Piagets theory, William is in the preoperational period of cognitive development. Egocentrism is evident where William is not able to understand the bike is to be shared, it was just for him according to his thinking (Piaget, 1951). He understood this when the carer explained in a warm and sensitive tone (Bredekamp, 1987).
He is adding words to his vocabulary rapidly as theorised by Berk (2003). The author states that language spurts in children is observed towards the end of the two year period. He was seen enjoying his communication with Harl, which was combination of words and gestures i.e. verbal and non-verbal. This links to Outcome 5: children are effective communicators of the Early Years Learning Framework.
Use words which show connection to question. Eg, learning, development
In text reference uses APA.
Purple words show the language of childhood theory.
# Berk is used correctly for gross motor skills.
## the connection between Berk and Williams right handedness needs to be made clear.
According to/this links to introduces the literature
Photo illustrates the text.
Plan What can I do to extend the childs /childrens learning or development and/or to promote positive dispositions and/or build positive relationships and promote interactions? This section is short and requires you to show what you could do as an early childhood professional.
Add one or two more ideas, e.g. about language and about sharing. From the observation, it was clear that William has started enjoying peer play. He was learning by observing and imitating Harl (Frost et al., 2008). He could manage all the difficult turns by steering the bike well in spite of the age difference between him and Harl. This links to Outcome 4 of the Early Years Learning Framework (2009, p.36) which says that children develop an ability to mirror, repeat and practice the actions of others, either immediately or later. The minute he thought Harl was leaving, he wanted Harl to come back and join him in the play. I have observed a strong need in William for peer company and playing together. Therefore, all forms of peer play needs to be encouraged. This needs to be encouraged through effective peer play activities like co-construction, dramatic play incorporating Williams interests. (Beecher & Arthur, 2001).
The underlined section does not answer the question. It belongs above.
In this section what can I do
suggests a possibility rather than what you are actually going to do so you need to answer with the same type of verbs eg I can/ I would/ I might
You can include yourself here.
I can encourage peer play
