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PreK On My Way Case Study Report
RQ3. How Engaging Are the PKOMW Curriculum Materials for Children? In this section, we share the perspectives of teachers, district staff members, and center directors on how engaging the PKOMW curriculum is for children. Respondents shared what children enjoyed most about the PKOMW curriculum, with over half of the respondents ( n = 6) expressing that children enjoyed the hands-on, interactive nature of the small group activities, like the discussion activities with the picture cards and other manipulatives. For example, a PreK center director shared, “I will say that they [the kids] really enjoyed implementation of the activities and how they are able to be hands-on with them.... It’s been enjoyable to see. It has really allowed the kids to explore things they are interested in and things they didn’t even know they were interested in.”
Teachers also reported that children enjoyed the stories and were engaged in most of these stories that took place during large-group activities. For example, a PreK teacher shared that the children liked the interactive reading and would say the rhyming words out loud while she read. A PreK teacher shared that her students loved answering questions with the stories.
“So, the kids were interacting with each other, they were acting out - one was the dentist, and one was the patient - opening up and using language to talk to each other and using vocabulary , what tools am I going to use... I think they have
During the classroom observation, the observer noted how teachers used the PKOMW guiding questions during the read-alouds to encourage more active engagement by the children. For example, during a read-aloud of The Greatest Adventure by Tony Piedra, a PreK teacher prompted children, “What was the guiding question I asked you to remember while we read?” Children responded, “What did we learn about Eliot’s grandfather’s boat ? ” During the observation, the teacher also engaged children in open-ended questions (e.g., how and why questions) to help children gain a deeper understanding of the book and develop their analysis and reasoning skills. Teacher questions included: fun doing that.” – District Staff
• “Why do you think grandpa is sad?”
• “Tell me more…why…?”
• “How else can we maneuver a boat?”
• “Why couldn’t grandpa use the boat anymore?”
This type of open-ended questioning provides children with active involvement in discussion and opportunities that promote higher-order thinking skills. Concept questions (e.g., guiding questions) and open-ended questions are strategies built throughout the PKOMW program that prompt interactive read-alouds for children (Zucker, 2021).
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