Creating Curriculum in Early Childhood Enhanced Learning through Backward Design

Creating Curriculum in Early Childhood explores the backward design model of curriculum development, equipping readers with the tools and methods they need to effectively apply backward design in the early childhood classroom.

Clear yet comprehensive chapters walk new and veteran educators through an effective method for curriculum design that promotes meeting standards through intentional teaching while engaging children in developmentally appropriate, interest-based education focused on big ideas and conceptual understanding. Featuring desired results, assessment methods, and teaching techniques specific to birth to age eight, this critical guide also includes practical tips for educators new to the method.

Designed to help students and practitioners alike, this powerful textbook combines early childhood philosophy and developmental research with highly practical descriptions, rationales, and examples for developing curricular units using backward design.

1. Setting the Stage 2. Determining Desired Results 3. Big Ideas, Enduring Understandings, and Essential Questions 4. Determining Acceptable Evidence 5. What We Know About Learning in the Early Years 6. Choosing Effective Learning Contexts 7. Facilitating Learning Through Interactions 8. Using Powerful Strategies to Facilitate Learning 9. Designing Integrated Units 10. Completing the Unit Form

Julie Bullard is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Montana, USA.