Early Childhood Planning Cycle Assessment Sample Example

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Documentation of Planning Cycles ECE 6012 & ECE 6013

Documentation of planning CYCLE ECE 6012 & ECE 6013

Name of Experience: Bowling Circle Game – Introductions

Number of Children: 8

Children’s Ages: 2.5 – 3 years

Date of Implementation:

PART 1

Collect information – Observation

What do you observe or notice? Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary moments by making learning visible.

During group time, I could note a heterogeneous dynamic of the children. The children in the group were all very enthusiastic and willing to participate socially when called upon to join circle games (Carneiro et al., 2024). They were not afraid of introducing themselves, laughing and easily socializing with the peers when asked. But I observed one child in particular, who showed the tendency to be shy at all times. This child did not maintain eye contact, remained silent in the group and did not participate in verbal contributions when group members were supposed to introduce themselves. Rather, the child was a good observer who appeared interested in the behaviour of peers by watching them carefully, but withdrew when they approached her.

Irrespective of this reluctance, the child was open to participation, showing some non-verbal interest, e.g. smiling slightly when other peers sang and leaning slightly forward when the ball was handed over. The special instance here was the observation of the child by watching, not talking. The child was not talking, but their body language showed that the child was listening carefully and processing the activity (Bloom et al., 2020). I also found that the collective group loved music and games that were movement-based. They cheered in time, waited till the ball was passed, and were eager to know who would be the one to have the pleasure of being selected when the music on the train stopped. These observations demonstrated both the social and communicative possibilities of such group activities and also the needs of children who might need more scaffolding in order to feel confident when participating in a group.

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Question and analyse - Observation

What do you understand about what you observed? What did you find interesting or extraordinary? What learning is being demonstrated? How can theory help to explain why this is important? What are the interests and strengths of child/ren observed? Link the information to EYLF/VEYLDF learning outcomes. What can you extend on? Suggest few experiences.

Based on these observations, a number of insights were realised. To begin with, the timid child had shown emerging social consciousness through following others and being interested in their behaviour, but was not as sure about speaking up. This is in accordance with early childhood developmental trends, where, in some cases, children express themselves more easily with observation before participation.

Of particular interest was the position that the child took as an uninvolved learner. They were not disengaged, but perhaps establishing their own preparation to engage (Cremin et al., 2024). Here the significance of non-verbal learning and the importance of observation as a type of participation are noted.

The learning that was evidenced in the group consisted of:

Turn-taking and listening.
Development of communication as the children practised greeting someone by name.
Awareness of rhythm and music through timely clapping and singing.
Social-emotional learning by gaining trust in expressing self-confidence in a supportive group.

Children participated through the use of music as a scaffold, which reduced the pressure to speak since the introductions were incorporated in a fun song. To the timid child, this situation was a non-threatening way to watch and possibly practice reactions within.

Theoretical Link:
According to the Social Constructivist Theory, Vygotsky stressed that learning is a social process achieved by means of social interaction, scaffolding, and common cultural instruments like language and song (Yusof, 2021). The group setting and the song in this case acted as the cultural instruments that facilitated the learning of children. Another similarity between Vygotsky and Piaget is the idea of co-construction of learning; the more assertive peers and the shy child were the models of their own actions, with the former giving the latter to follow and repeat on the next opportunity (Vasileva & Balyasnikova, 2019). This observation shows that peer learning and guided participation are important.

Strengths and Interests:

There was a collective power within the group that was in the enjoyment of music and games of movement.
The strength of the shy child was that he/she was a keen observer and ear, which could be used in active participation, provided the child is properly supported.

EYLF/VEYLDF Links:

Outcome 1: Children are well adjusted with whom they identify with - The experience helped children to express themselves and to develop self-confidence, especially when they introduce themselves to others (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022).
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators - Children practised verbal communication by introducing, listening, as well as using song as a form of communication.

Extensions Suggested:

Present games in which children can tell more about themselves (e.g., favourite colours, animals).
Use props such as puppets to make the shy children introduce the puppet first before they introduce themselves.
Add repetitive turn-taking in music games with groups to develop familiarity and comfort (Department of Education and Training, 2018).

PART 2

Plan

Briefly describe what your planned experience will be:
A circle activity making use of bowling (passing) and a well-known song, in which children must present themselves whenever holding the ball.

Learning Intention/s to achieve by the end of experience (one or two):

To teach children the self-introduction practice in a positive group setting.
To gain confidence in social participation and verbal communication amongst the children.
To learn how to be a good listener and have a turn taking.

What resources will you need:

A single soft ball (safe to play indoors).
Open floor space for a circle.
Liked song (Row, Row, Row Your Boat modified lyrics).

How/where will you setup/introduce the experience? How will you introduce key concepts to children?
The children will be asked to sit in a circle with one child in the centre. I will bring in the ball and say that we will just pass it around the circle as we sing. In reaction to the cessation of music, the child holding the ball will utter his/her name. I will role-play this first to show what is expected and to reassure the group.

Strategies: What strategies you might use to promote children’s interest, play and learning? This might include interactions, resources, intentional teaching. You might include some examples of modelling, scaffolding or open-ended questions. How will you encourage children to learn from each other? How will the environment support play and learning?

Modelling: I will go first with introducing myself with the help of the song, demonstrating to the children what to do.
Scaffolding: In the case of the timid child, I will sit close and prompt or offer to say their name with the children in case the children need to know (Cordier et al., 2021).
Motivation: Congratulate children on their involvement, which includes both non-verbal and verbal.
Peer learning: Have the confident children model introductions, using support to the shy child.
Environment: The circle format guarantees participation and equal involvement, whereas music sets a low-stress playful setting.

Act and Do (Implementation)

Implement your experience and then write about what happened.
The children sat with excitement in the circle throughout the experience. I described the game and practised by passing the ball as I was singing. I also presented myself by mentioning my name, [educator name] when the music was over. The children cheered and applauded, and wanted to turn their turn.

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This saw the majority of children confidently introducing themselves as the ball was passed around, with a few even singing their names (Chatzipanteli & Adamakis, 2022). They showed their happiness through clapping, smiling and motivating others. As the ball came to the timid child, they hesitated. I timidly put in by asking, Would you have me help? The child muttered their name, which I echoed to the group and said that they were doing a good job. This was met with applause by his peers, and this strengthened the child to be involved.

Review and Reflect (Evaluation)

Review: With the learning aims and the EYLF/VEYLDF learning outcomes in mind, evaluate the learning and the planning from this experience. What worked well? What can you improve? Did children meet the learning goals that you set? Do you need to repeat, refine or extend the plan? How will you follow up/extend on this next time?

Problem solving - determining the way to state their introduction.
Questioning and exploring questioning and practising - working with their names, saying their names in different ways (e.g., louder, softer, singing).
Hypothesising - making guesses as to who the ball would fall on.
Exploring the societal norms - when to talk and when to listen.

The timid child was also more active during the second round and claimed his or her name without the need to be repeated by me. This new development demonstrated the merit of repetition and peer modelling.

Read and Reconsider (Assessment)
Review: The goals of learning were achieved successfully. Throughout the session, children were able to practice introductions, learn to listen and take turns and gain confidence. Though rather shy, the child became involved in meaningful interaction with the help and then made the steps of more independent interaction. This indicates the significance of practice on the re-occurrence in safe, enabling environments.

What worked well:

The playing of music reduced anxiety and provided a playful atmosphere.
Shy children were encouraged to feel at ease by peer support.
The use of clear modelling taught children expectations (Aussie Childcare Network, 2023).

What could be improved:

Introductions could be made less frightening with the help of props such as puppets used in the game.
This pace could be changed based on the need to make each child feel comfortable to respond without being in a hurry.

Future steps/Extensions:

Repetition of the game should be repeated to practice self-introduction.
Expand by requesting the children to tell about individual interests as well as their name.
Apply variation, e.g. children singing names of each other to develop group cohesion.

Reflect: What did you learn about yourself and your practice as a teacher. How has this experience helped you to better understand children’s learning? Any changes to your practice going forward as a result?

This is what I learnt in the process of appreciating and recognising various types of participation. I also came to know that observation is a legit and useful approach that can be used by children, particularly shy ones, to participate in group learning. I also realised my role in scaffolding confidence to give some soft hints and demonstrations so that the child could make steps to active engagement.

The activity contributed to enhancing my experience of music and play as opportunities that could reduce anxiety and provide inclusive communication opportunities (Witte et al., 2020). In the future, I will make more use of music-based games to help both verbal and non-verbal communicators. I will also be thinking about ways to make experiences more accommodating to individual needs so that no child will feel unsafe and less valued in groups.

Mentor signature: Date:

Documentation of planning CYCLE ECE 6012 & ECE 6013

Name of Experience:

Number of Children:

Children’s Ages:

Date of Implementation:

PART 1

Collect information – Observation

What do you observe or notice? Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary moments by making learning visible.

In the outdoor play, I saw the children playing spontaneously with small balls and baskets. Some children had been playing together, passing balls to each other in a basket, and other children counting aloud, as balls were added. The children were also interested in the physical play and this was seen when they moved vigorously, laughing and cheering one another on.

The interesting thing was that there were children who counted to 10 with confidence, and those who were unable to count beyond 3 or 4. Some children also tried counting totals, saying things such as I got more, you have less. This manifested new mathematical language and ideas.

The team was not only interested in the physical part of the game of tossing balls, but also in counting (Liu et al., 2025). The children also repeated their numbers aloud, and they were often repeating what other children were trying to do. The cooperative aspect was emphatic and children were encouraging and helping peers by reminding them of the next number or applauding when they counted correctly.

The exceptional in this ordinary activity was the mixture of physical play and pre-school numeracy (Latino & Tafuri, 2023). This made the children count since it was associated with a fun hands-on activity. This emphasised the natural learning conditions in play-based settings.

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Question and analyse - Observation

Based on these observations, I realized that children were exhibiting social and cognitive learning. At the social level, they helped one another by motivating and giving shifts. Mentally, they were being trained in number sequences, one-to-one correspondence and early comparative skills.

The method in which peer scaffolding was done naturally was of great interest to me. Other children would supply numbers that another child forgot. This is in line with the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development whereby Vygotsky believes that children learn at their best when surrounded with more intelligent peers.

Numeracy: Counting, one to one correspondence, comparing.
Development of language: The use of such words as more and less.
Turn taking and cooperation: Waiting to get their turn and motivate others to throw.
Problem-solving: Changing their throws to place balls in the basket.

Theoretical Link:

Piaget Cognitive Development Theory: They are in preoperational stage at the age and practical knowledge in real objects enhances the knowledge about abstract ideas such as numbers. The ball game enabled children to physically connect the things with the number words (McLeod, 2024).
Social constructivism of Vygotsky: The learning was supported by peer interaction and scaffolding. More confident counters assisted the less confident ones, building the collective knowledge construction.

Strengths and Interests:

Active and physical games.
Interest in counting and associated with play.
High-level encouragement - demonstrating social connectedness among peers.

EYLF/VEYLDF Links:

Outcome 4: Confident and involved children - Children were able to develop numeracy by exploring and solving problems.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators - Children used language to explain the numbers, compare the results and motivate peers (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022).

Extensions Suggested:

Use written numerals in addition to counting.
Simple addition/subtraction without balls: Adding and removing balls.
Visual recognition can be carried out using number mats.
Promote mathematical discussions (What comes after 4? Who has more?).

PART 2

Plan

Briefly describe what your planned experience will be:
A planned ball tossing and counting game, in which children would take turns throwing balls into baskets, and counting out loud after each throw.

Learning Intention/s to achieve by the end of experience (one or two):

To have children develop one-to-one correspondence relationships between each ball and a number.
To make children strong in verbal counting up to 10.
To investigate more/less and early addition.

What resources will you need:

Small soft balls.
Two baskets.
Playing field in an open space.
Visual reinforcement number cards.

How/where will you setup/introduce the experience? How will you introduce key concepts to children?
The baskets were put at a small distance of the children. I gave instructions about the game: children were going to alternate throwing balls in the basket. Their turn would end with counting aloud the number of balls they had scored. I did it using two balls and counted, one, two.

Modelling: I was able to count using number words clearly, slow and distinctly.
Scaffolding: I also gave hints to the children who were indecisive (e.g., "What follows three?").
Open ended queries: Asked, "What do we have to do with an addition of one more ball?" or "Who has the most balls in the basket?"
Peer learning: Children were asked to count jointly to help those who were not so certain.
Environment support: The outdoor area allotted free movement and excitement, thus keeping the children entertained.

Act and Do (Implementation)

Implement your experience and then write about what happened.
The children were very keen to take their turn when they all lined up during the experience (Twiner et al., 2022). The first child threw three balls into the basket in a row and was proud of it and counted, One, two, three. The crowd applauded and a few echoed the figures.

The second child dropped one ball when it was his/her turn, however, put it into the basket and counted. They toppled after four and one of them provided forthwith, Five! The number was copied with assurance and this was a reflection of scaffolding.

The shynest child was not willing to count, however, with a combination of peer pressure and my kind prompting (Let’s count together: one) the child managed at least to count two balls. The applause of their peers was visible to give them confidence (Kilgour et al., 2023).

During four rounds, children gained more confidence in throwing as well as verbalising numbers. Some started to foretell and say, "This time I am going to get four!" Others compared the results, and they said, You got more than me.

New learning also took place. Two children started to sort the number cards next to the baskets to correlate the number of balls inside. This indicated a primitive connection between quantities and representations (symbols).

Some of the learning processes that were observed were:

Problem-solving: Correction of throwing styles in order to achieve accuracy.
Inquiry: Asking what will happen in case I get more or in case I miss.
Experimenting: Testing on alternate distances or methods of throwing.
Hypothesising: What they would score in terms of balls.
Investigating: Representing numbers with number cards.

Review and Reflect (Evaluation)

There was an achievement of the learning objectives. Children worked on counting and a one-to-one correspondence, verbal number sequence, and started to work on the concepts of comparison. The second thing they also portrayed was confidence in assisting one another in learning.

What worked well:

Exercise ensured interest and inspiration.
Number knowledge was strengthened by peer scaffolding.
Verbal prompts and repetition were used to help hesitant counters.

What could be improved:

Use written numerals at an earlier stage in the game to enhance recognition of symbols.
Give varied challenges (e.g., more throwing distance to the advanced learners).
Give children the opportunity to write down results in the form of tally marks or pictures.

Future steps/Extensions:

Generalize to simple addition by asking, "Suppose you have 3 balls and add 2 others to them, what will you have?"
Include subtraction, e.g., So many would be left, taking one out.
Combine with songs of numbers (e.g., "Five Little Ducks") to solidify learning in song.
Vary props, such as beanbags or hoops, to make it new and difficult.

This experience helped affirm my idea of the importance of physical play as an aid to cognitive learning. I also got to know that the number of children who are more motivated to count is those which are related to action and competition. I also realised how the flawless support of peers is essential in building numeracy skills; children tended to learn best with the corrections or support of each other. Being an educator, I realized that it is necessary to distinguish learning. Some children needed mild encouragement, and children that were prepared to tackle more complicated mathematical problems. I will also create activities in future that have various points of entry to accommodate different abilities.

I also thought about the importance of rejoicing over small accomplishments (Theodotou, 2024). The willingness to make a second attempt was clearly seen in hesitant children who scored at least a couple of numbers correctly, which was then recognized by me and others, and consequently, them. This experience demonstrated the need to incorporate purposeful teaching in play. I would be able to incorporate numeracy into a game that the children already loved, which is the reason I would not interfere with the playing process. In the future, I will include additional concrete numeracy experience that will relate to the natural interests of children in movements, competition and teamwork.

Mentor signature: Date:

References

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