Skip to main content.

Early Childhood and Culture

What do we need to thrive?

Instructor

Teri Lester

Teri Lester
Human Growth & Development
Washington High School

Contact: Teri.Lester@kckps.org

Students will focus on emotional and social development in infancy by investigating attachment bonding in infancy. They will explore:

  • How affection is expressed in different cultures and environments.
  • The relationship between attachment and brain development.
  • The effect of stress on development
  • The process to develop resilience.
  • School climate and its effect on students’ ability to thrive academically
  • Students will use ethnography to study the school environment and its effect on student performance.

Main Objectives

  • To use students’ observations to design a School Climate Survey for WHS students.
  • To publicize the survey, collect and analyze the data.
  • To use the data to create recommendations for ways to create a climate in which students can thrive, with the aim of improving student performance, comfort and morale.
  • The recommendations will be written using respectful, persuasive language, and will be delivered to WHS administration, teachers and students.

Unit Lesson Plan

Unit Overview


Lesson 1: “Who loves ya, Baby? Relationships build brains”

This lesson focuses on emotional and social development in infancy by investigating attachment bonding in infancy.

They will explore:

  • How affection is expressed, and attention is given in different cultures and environments.
  • The relationship between attachment and brain development.
  • The effect of stress and how to develop resilience
  • School climate and its effect on students’ ability to thrive in the school environment
  • Students will use ethnographic techniques to study the school environment and its effect on student performance, comfort and morale.
  • They will use their observations to design a School Climate Survey for WHS students.
  • They will publicize the survey, collect and analyze the data.
  • They will use the data to create recommendations for ways to create a climate in which students can thrive, with the aim of improving student performance, comfort and morale.
  • The recommendations will be written using respectful, persuasive language, and will be delivered to WHS administration, teachers and students.

Lesson 1 Resources

Materials

  1. Scratch paper or poster paper for group list (activity 6)
  2. Sets of colored pencils and/or markers
  3. Parchment paper for cards – half page for quarter-page folded card
  4. Envelopes (optional)
  5. Journal reflection system of choice (Suggest use of class blog such as edublogs.edu)

  Resources

  1. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University: In Brief: The Science of Early Childhood Development
  1. Alberta Family Wellness Initiative

Handouts

  1. Bellwork and Vocab-Who loves ya, Baby?
  2. How Parents Express Love Reading Guide
  3. How parents express love in different parts of the world
  4. Requirements and Rubric

Other Resources

  1. Children and Brain development
  2. Difference between two brains
  3. In Brief, the science of early childhood
  4. Serve and Return Poster Copy

  Download All Lesson 1 Files


Lesson 2: “This is Your Brain on Stress”

This lesson is designed to provide an overview of the brain’s response to stress, and the effect of continuous exposure to stress on the child’s brain

Students will be able to:

  1. Describe the stress response.
  2. Identify the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol.
  3. Compare effects of brief and prolonged stress on the brain

Lesson 2 Resources

Materials

  1. Paper copies if using:
  2. WS 2-01
  3. GO 2-02 (Graphic Organizer)
  4. Table 2-02 (Table format)
  5. Poster and craft materials, including yarn or string to represent brain connections.
  6. Journal Reflection format of choice

  Resources

  1. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University: In Brief: The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-on-childrens-development/

  1. Chronic Stress Can Damage Brain Structure and Connectivity: Chronic stress and high levels of cortisol create long-lasting brain changes:    

http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201402/chronic-stress-can-damage-brain-structure-and-connectivity

  1. Middle School Stress lesson plan
  2. Stress Lessons; From stressed out to Chilled out (Canada)
  3. Stress Management. The Health Teacher
  4. Stress Shrinks Brain Networks
  5. Stress Effects on your Body
  6. What is the Stress Response

Handouts

  1. Brain on Stress
  2. Brain on Stress
  3. Brain on Stress Table
  4. Team Products
  5. Reflection 2

Download All Lesson 2 Files


Lesson 3: “Brains Bounce Back- Resilience”

This lesson is designed to teach students how the brain can protect itself and counteract the effects of chronic stress in what is called “neuroplasticity”.

Students will

  1. Be able to describe the mechanism of neuroplasticity, and how it makes the development of resilience possible.
  2. Be able to describe how resilience mitigates toxic stress.
  3. Be able to predict how resilience strategies would look if tried at Washington High School.

Lesson 3 Resources

Handouts

  1. Resilience Vocabulary
  2. Coping with adversity video notes
  3. How to apply the brain science of resilience to the classroom
  4. Resilience- Fairmount article response
  5. Deconstructing the neurobiology of resilience
  6. Resilience-Requirements and rubrics

  Download All Lesson 3 Files


Lesson 4 “Environmental Factors in Stress and Resilience”

This lesson is designed to learn about the contributing or protective environmental factors’ impacting the brain due to stress and how it responds to them.

Students will be able to:

  1. Distinguish between protective and stressful factors in environment
  2. Distinguish between positive and stressful experiences
  3. Learn what are factors in our environment
  4. Learn what makes a factor protective or stressful? (The way the person perceives it)
  5. Learn if it is possible for a factor to be neutral
  6. Learn what does it take to transform a stress factor into a neutral factor, into a protective factor

 

Lesson 4 Resources

  1. How Resilience is Built: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSf7pRpOgu8
  2. Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building: http://46y5eh11fhgw3ve3ytpwxt9r-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The-Science-of-Resilience2.pdf
  3. Protective Factors and Resiliency: http://promising.futureswithoutviolence.org/what-do-kids-need/supporting-parenting/protective-factors-resiliency/

Handouts

  1. Environmental factors and stressors list
  2. Environmental factors -protective, tolerance
  3. Environmental factors GO Students
  4. Reflection
  5. HDWT Lesson outline 4

  Download All Lesson 4 Files


Lesson 5 “Ethnography-School Communities and climate observations”

This lesson will teach students how to assess their school environment, and its impact in their ability to thrive.

Students will:

  • Learn what ethnography is
  • Examine how the environment affects their ability to thrive, by studying the school environment, or "climate"
  • Observe common areas of the school and school day with all their senses.
  • Use their observations to design a survey to gather information from others.

 

Lesson 5 Resources

  1. Lesson Plan
  2. Lesson Plan
  3. Bellwork Question
  4. School Climate-Observation 1
  5. Field Notes organizer
  6. Sherlock Video Response-paper only
  7. Teacher Observation-Jottings
  8. Bellwork Question-Observation 2
  9. HDTW Lesson Outline
  10. Magnet Day Schedule draft
  11. Participant Observation resource
  12. Reflections

  Download All Lesson 5 Files


Lesson 6 “Surrounded! Dimensions of School Climate”

This lesson is designed to teach students how to create and conduct a School Climate Assessment.

Students will:

  1. Describe the major areas that comprise school climate (with the exception of the “Staff Only” dimensions) according to the National School Climate Center.
  2. Recognize the first 11 of the 13 dimensions (leaving out the “Staff Only” dimensions – they will not be presented at all).
  3. Learn why should we conduct a formal survey of students? (Our audience will respond better to facts than to emotion)

 

Lesson 6 Resources

Materials

  • Online and 15 paper copies or 1 paper copy each student
  • 15 paper copies – chart (one per team)
  • 60 paper copies, color, discussion questions

Resources

Handouts

  • HDWT Quiz
  • School Climate Dimensions Chart
  • School Climate Discussion Questions
  • School Climate Dimensions GO
  • Reflection and School Climate Outline

Download All Lesson 6 Files

 


Lesson 7” Survey Design”

This lesson will provide students with the knowledge needed to develop a survey. Using the knowledge gained, students will develop a multiple choice’s survey.

Students will

  1. Critique the physical and social environment to promote resilience
  2. Investigate the impact of not providing for the needs of children appropriately
  3. Demonstrate collaborative skills to meet the needs of people across the lifespan
  4. Apply thinking and practical problem-solving strategies to promote wellness

 

Lesson 7 Resources

Handouts

  1. WHS Climate survey analysis
  2. Copy of 7-45 team priority worksheet
  3. Multiple Choice Question Slips prioritized
  4. One set of questions slips
  5. Reflection 7
  6. School Climate Dimensions chart
  7. School Climate survey design-blank
  8. School Climate survey narrative results
  9. Team Design feedback worksheet
  10. Team envelopes with question slips
  11. Text question slips prioritized

Survey Analysis and design

  1. Communications and responsibilities
  2. Survey QR Code Sign-Sample

  Download All Lesson 7 Files

 


Lesson 8 “Take it to the top”

This lesson is design for students to be able to present their research and their proposed action plan to targeted audiences in the following formats: Letter to the Principal; poster; PowerPoint Presentation

Students will

  • Provide feedback to classmates and engage in self-assessment as a good approach to improving quality of final product

Lesson 8 Resources

Handouts

  • Final Individual Project Assessment
  • Final Team Project Assessment
  • Team Work Plan

Letter to Principal

  • HDWT Proposal to Principal Requirements
  • Letter to Principal Rubrics
  • Panorama Student Climate Survey User
  • Persuasive Letter Rubric

Poster

  • HDWT Research Poster Requirements and Rubric
  • My Pledge Project

Presentation

  • HDWT Research Presentation Requirements and Rubric

WHS Climate Survey Analysis

 

Download All Lesson 8 Files

TSCORE-LIFT KS

University of Kansas Medical Center
TSCORE-LIFT KS
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS 66160
913-588-5000