The MidTerm Project will be the creation of a Children BOOK of at least 10 pages. It should tell a story (fiction or nonfiction) and be both engaging to the student as a listener and exciting through its visual presentation. Creativity is a vital part of this assignment It should be 12 X 17 or smaller but can be bound in various ways. The book should support a particular skill or outcome and reflect incorporation of some of the various concepts and skills addressed during this course. The book should be purposeful as well as entertaining.
Midterm Project
The midterm consists of two components- a book and a rationale with reflection. An additional component is a video presentation of the book that is due to HW # 12 and will be graded separately.
Component 1: Will be the creation of a Children’s Book of at least 10 pages. It should tell a story and be both engaging to the student as a listener and exciting as a visual presentation. Creativity is a vital part of this assignment. The book should support a particular skill or learning outcome (Outcomes: 1-5, 9, 11-13)
Grading: This item will be graded holistically based on:
Ability to focus on a skill, topic or competency relevant to the Early Childhood curriculum and/or the preschool NGLS
Use of vocabulary, language and/or concepts that extend student knowledge
Visual appeal (eye to buy appeal) & Creativity
Demonstration of embedded course knowledge in the final product (book)
Presentation of book on video that will be graded separately (HW # 12)
Component 2: Children Book (Big Book is allowed for the presentation of the book in HW # 12) Rationale (min 3 pages double spaced Times New Roman)
Based on the course readings discuss:
The age and group this book was intended for and why
The elements that went into creating this book based on what you now know about early literacy (i.e. repetition, multiple perspectives etc.).
What was your focus (i.e., skill, topic or competency relevant to the Early Childhood curriculum and/or the preschool NGLS)
What standard your book meets and why
Why you choose the vocabulary, language and/or concepts that extend student knowledge
How would you use this book in your classroom
Support your discussion with research (3 references should be used at minimum).
Be sure to use APA formatting in your paper.
This paper/a commentary must include the following sections:
Title page.
Rationale.
The book itself (for the purpose of the paper, you can include the book in an MS word format on a regular letter-size format or use google slides if it is more convenient)
Conclusion – Based on this analysis and comments, you should make suggestions for the improvement of the project and recommendations for future classroom practices
There are three (3) minimum references requirements for the paper.
Appendices (if applicable) – Any additional materials, etc.
Successful teachers do the following:
develop and apply knowledge of varied learner needs
consider research and theory about how learners with varied needs are best supported to learn
develop learner knowledge and skills using individual education plan goals, common core and other learning standards, and ongoing assessment to select instructional objectives
provide individualized instruction and instructional and performance adaptations and accommodations that further learning
attend to generalization and maintenance of newly learned knowledge and skills
reflect on and analyze evidence of the effects of instruction and other supports on individual learning, and use this information to inform future selection of instructional content and methods of instruction
support student efforts of self-assessment and independent learning
Mechanics
The Children’s Book – Part 2 must be type-written and double-spaced, with the commentary of at least 3 pages total not including the title page and the reference page. American Psychological Association (APA) format must be followed for references and citations. At least three references are required. Please refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (latest edition) printed by the APA. You can also refer to the APA Sheets in this Course Information section.
Remember that there is a minimum three (3) references requirement for the paper. These references (books, articles, etc.) should be published within the last five years. For grading the research paper, please refer to the rubrics.
Your references in the paper should match the references on the Reference Page. If you have a source on the reference page that is not in the paper, this is an error.
Please make sure that you follow the current version of the APA format. Your final paper should be double-spaced, printed in 12 font, using Times New Roman. Please do not leave an extra space between paragraphs.
Your Reference page is the last page. Put the word References on top and in the middle of the page. Do not underline or boldface it. It should also be double-spaced.
Do not enumerate your sources; rather arrange them in an alphabetical order. The first line is a regular line at the margin, the second and the rest are indented – a hanging indent. The next source, the same pattern.
The title of the book is italicized, not underlined.
The title of the journal is italicized, not underlined.
Everything (the paper and the reference page) is double-spaced.
When working on your paper, please pay attention to the structure of your paper and to the use of the APA style, especially when you work with references. It is very important to follow this requirement in order to get the highest grade. Please, see a Sample Reference Page and APA Sheets in the Course Information folder.
While working on your final paper, please refer to Rubrics for project in the syllabus.
Below please find some additional explanation to what your reflection should be about. Please note, that you can include much more information into your final paper than it is indicated in this explanation.
Technical Requirements for the paper:
Papers must be typed on one side of standard-sized 8 x11 paper.
Title pages must include these elements: college; course title; section and instructor
Assignment title; author and date due
The typeface (font) should be a standard 12 Times New Roman .
Double-spaced with 1 inch margins on all sides.
All pages are to be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.
Keep a copy of your paper.
Plagiarism and/or cheating will result in immediate failure of this course.
