Psychology 273 Fall 2009
Assignment #2
Physical and Motor Development Assignment
Due: Wednesday 10/5.
Background: The Tacoma School District has decided that recess is less important than academic class time to the development of young children. In response to this, the parents association is asking you (as a developmental psychologist) to teach a class for soon-to-be teachers and administrators. The topic of your class is the importance of recess on the physical, sensory, perceptual, and motor development of children. What five specific topics would you want to discuss with them? In other words, what do you think are the five most important areas that teachers and administrators should know about? Why do you feel that way? After your lecture over those five things, you then need to give at least 10 suggestions for teaching these various skills to children. What are your 10 suggestions?
What to do:
1. Create a short 1-2 page double-spaced essay that includes your five topic areas (one to two paragraphs each), explains each of these five areas, and describes why you think they are as important (or more) during recess time as academics, utilizing information from your textbook (ch. 4 & 5) and lectures. Keep in mind the 5 topic areas should be related to physical, sensory, perceptual, or motor development. Be sure to spell and grammar check your essay. Please number each of the 5. For example,
1. Gross motor development is the …… It is important in the developing this during recess time because…
2. intermodal perception is….
2. Create a list of the 10 suggestions for activities during recess that will enhance various skills related to physical, sensory, perceptual, and motor development. In addition, include a 1 sentence rationale for how that particular suggestion is relevant to which particular topic. Type up your list, spell check it, and grammar check it as well. For example,
1. Soccer. This activity facilitates a number of areas ranging from gross motor development (they are frequently refining their ability to move their bodies through space) to visual acuity (through frequent contact with the soccer ball children try to be more and more precise in how they kick it and this requires visual acuity).
2. Hopscotch. This activity…