Guidelines: Short-Term Curriculum Planning
CURRICULUM PLANNING
TEMPLATES
EXAMPLES
Long-term Planning
Siolta’s standards and the Aistear National Curriculum Framework guides our practice, through positive consultation with parents, family and the community, we aim to promote each child’s sense of identity and well-being. Through our knowledge and understanding of how children learn and develop, we facilitate each child to share and communicate their ideas, whilst they explore and problem-solve through meaningful play experiences.
Using the 4 themes of Aistear we encourage each child to be confident and competent learners:
- Exploring & Thinking: Supporting children to make sense of things, places and the people in their world.
- Communication: Supporting children to share their experiences, thoughts, ideas and feelings with others.
- Well-being. Supporting children to be confident, happy and healthy individuals
- Identity and Belonging: Supporting children to develop a positive sense of identity where each child feels valued and respected as part of a family and community.
Medium-term Planning
Age Group:
General Developmental Goals:
Festivals/ Celebrations:
Interest – based Projects:
Aistear is reflected in our weekly curriculum planning
Daily Curriculum Plan
Time / Activities / Dev. Benefits / Links with AistearShort-term Activity Planning
Monday ../../14 / Tuesday ../../14 / Wednesday ../../14 / Thursday../../14 / Friday ../../14Schema/Interest observed
Bugs & Insects / Schema/Interest observed
Bugs & Insects / Schema/Interest observed
Bugs & Insects / Seasonal Celebration
Getting ready for Easter / Seasonal Celebration
Easter Egg Hunt
Aistear Links:
C, A 4, LG, 1 & 3 / Aistear Links / Aistear Links: / Aistear Links: / Aistear Links:
Activity
Bugs & Insects: Looking at bugs and insects outside with the magnifying glass. / Activity
Bugs & Insects: Outdoor and arts & crafts activity; building houses for the bugs & insects. / Activity
Bugs & Insects: Finding out about the living habits of the spider, centipede & worm. Using videos, books, internet etc. / Activity
Getting ready for Easter Egg Hunt – preparing clues, map making, cutting out egg shapes etc… / Activity
Extension Ideas:
Going outdoors and building house/huts for the bugs & insects using junk & natural material. / Extension Ideas
Research project:
Finding out more about the s the spider, centipede & worm. / Extension Ideas;
Group Learning Story;
Putting together our learning story about bugs & insects – what we have learned? / Extension Ideas
Include an obstacle type course / Extension Ideas
Week No: Age group:
Weekly Project and Activity Plan (Short-term Planning)
What will we do this week?
Remember to include: Songs, Music, Movement, Constructive Play, Arts & Crafts, Pretend Play, Sensory Play, Physical Activity & Cooking
Wk 1: .09./.09./14…. / Activity / Learning Goals / Link with Aistear / Resources needed / What could we do next?Monday
Activity/Project Idea:
All About Me / Looking in the mirror and talking about what we see. Drawing a self portrait / Self awareness, language, understanding differences and similarities in people. / Theme: Identity & Belonging.
Aim:
Learning Goal: / Mirror, A picture of themselves: using sensory materials, wool, crayons, pasta etc. / Favourite Things
What I like?
What I don’t like?
Tuesday
Activity/Project Idea:
All About Me / My favourite things to do and eat. What I don’t like… Cut out pictures from a magazine; Make a collage or Scrap Book.
Wednesday
Activty/Project Idea:
All About Me
Thursday
Activity/Project Idea:
All About Me
Friday
Activity/Project Idea:
All About Me
Weekly Project and Activity Plan (Short-term Planning)
What will we do this week?
Remember to include: Songs, Music, Movement, Constructive Play, Arts & Crafts, Pretend Play, Sensory Play, Physical Activity & Cooking
Wk 1: ../../…. / Activity / Learning Goals / Link with Aistear / Resources needed / What could we do next?Monday
Activity/Project Idea: / . / Theme: Aim:
Learning Goal:
Tuesday
Activity/Project Idea:
Wednesday
Activty/Project Idea:
Thursday
Activity/Project Idea:
Friday
Activity/Project Idea:
Short-term Activity Planning
Monday ../../.. / Tuesday ../../.. / Wednesday ../../.. / Thursday ../../.. / Friday ../../..Interestbased/dev.goals/ seasonal celebration. / Interestbased/dev.goals/ seasonal celebration. / Interestbased/dev.goals/ seasonal celebration. / Interestbased/dev.goals/ seasonal celebration. / Interestbased/dev.goals/ seasonal celebration.
Aistear Links: / Aistear Links / Aistear Links: / Aistear Links: / Aistear Links:
Activity / Activity / Activity / Activity / Activity
Extension Ideas: / Extension Ideas / Extension Ideas; / Extension Ideas / Extension Ideas
Week No: Age group:
Documenting and Displaying the Learning Process
Notes to remember: Take photographs of the activity. Observe and take brief notes detailing the children’s interest and conversations.
An example of how you could display the children’s work and learning
Learning Record
Child’s Name:______Date of observation: …../..…/..…
Signed:______Date: ______.
The Role of the Adult
- Listening, observing
- Open-ended questions (“I wonder…What happens…..let the child have ownership over their ideas)
- Descriptive language: extends their understanding, learning and language skills, inflection in voice - interested (Assimilation & Accommodation).
- Encouragement & support
- Enthusiasm (tone of voice)
- Could you add something to extend the learning – suggest? – “I wonder”…
- Remember some of the scaffolding stages (they will help – for example: simplify the task, reduce frustration (perhaps model a solution- demonstration – ask for help from the child) marking critical features.
- Reflecting/Mirroring what the child is doing: make it meaningful (similar to parallel play.
“Encourage possibility thinking”