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Liliana Celio
Pacific Oaks College
Instructor: Chiquita Waters
October 27, 2017
Observation #4
On October 16, 2017, I chose to observe the children in the classroom in which I work. I

chose to observe them during this specific week because l enjoy watching them explore as the

teacher introduces the theme of community people.

The day began with the children walking in to find their name tags that the teacher placed

on the tables. They then walked over to the job board to place their name cards next to a job in

which they would like to participate for the day. Eight of the children had the option of choosing

amongst jobs such as: line leader, lunch helper, door holder, name tag collector, and light helper.

As some of them completed the task, all the children had the opportunity to look over the books

that the teacher made available to them. A few of the children chose to read books based on

community jobs and vehicles by themselves, while others skimmed the books with other

children. The teacher then asked the light helper to turn off the lights so as to signal the children

to clean up and get ready for Greeting Time. During this time, the teacher gave the children a

preview of the schedule for the day.

After the children ate their lunch, they walked over to the carpet for Large Group time.

They each found a circle in which they faced forward while looking at the Smartboard as well as

the teacher. The teacher began by singing a couple of finger songs as they settled in transition to

listen to the story of the day. The teacher then read the book titled, A Good Night Walk. The

children made comments about the people working out on their yards and the appearance of the

sky. Other children commented on the mailman delivering the mail, while others noticed that the

firefighters put out the fire. One child said, hes running like my mom. Another child said, the

moon is big teacher.

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Once the teacher finished reading the story, she introduced the new toys that she placed in

the block area and outfits that she placed in the house area. She held up the toy cars while

children commented on what they thought they were. Some children said, thats a firefighter

truck! while others said, thats a police officer car. After the teacher heard the children

comment on the cars, she asked, what do you think firefighters do? She also asked, What do

police officers do? The children responded by saying, They put water on the fire so it can turn

off, while another child mentioned that police officers take the bad guys to jail. The teacher

then continued by introducing the new outfits such as mailperson, firefighter, police officer and

handyman.
After reflecting on what I observed, I enjoyed observing how the new teacher attempted

to focus on the theme of community workers throughout the curriculum. By doing so, I believe

that the students had an opportunity take in the concept in order to truly understand. I also

enjoyed watching as the teacher asked questions so that she may gage the level of the childrens

understanding. This also allowed less knowledgeable children to learn about what community

members do. According to Early Childhood Education Theorist Lev Vygotsky, this concept is

known as Zone of Proximal Development (n.d.). Vygotsky believed that by encouraging less

knowledgeable children to work with children who knew more, would essentially help less

competent children learn better. I observed this as the teacher asked questions about the toys and

the children responded. I also observed this while the children worked in the house area as they

pretended to be community service workers.

To further support the curriculum, I believe that I would carry out the lesson through

Outside Time. I think that by offering community service toys and costumes outside would help

the children continue to pretend that they were workers as they rode the tricycles. I would have

also set up pretend mail boxes for mail people and cardboard cutouts of houses for firefighters.
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By taking this route, I believe that the children would learn better by having a visual example.

While the teacher started the theme as best she could as a new teacher, providing the children

with additional opportunities to learn from the theme would encourage further learning. Either

way, the children had a good insight into the world of community service workers.

References
Theories of Early Childhood: Maria Montessori, Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky -

TouroSGOTTESMAN. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2017, from

https://sites.google.com/site/tourosgottesman/theories-of-early-childhood
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