CHAPTER 3
Chapter 3 True/False Questions
Circle T if the statement is true; circle F if the statement is false.
T F 1. Each activity plan should address one goal at a time.
T F 2. Sequencing objectives addresses the developmental nature of how children learn.
T F 3. Objectives and procedures should be aligned with one another.
T F 4. As teachers become more experienced, their written plans become more elaborate.
T F 5. Preschoolers are more likely to want to explore and experiment with new or unfamiliar
materials than are children in first and second grade?
T F 6. Demonstrations tend to be more adult directed than child directed.
T F 7. Guided discovery activities are highly adult directed.
T F 8. The principle of developmental direction supports the simplification and extension
portions of your activity plan.
T F 9. The principle of moving from self to other means that children learn best when what
they are studying has personal meaning for them.
T F 10. A child who hears and sees a loud motorcycle go by, then makes engine sounds while
pretending to hold the handle bars are involved in enactive representation.
Chapter 3 Multiple Choice Questions
Circle the best answer.
11. A characteristic of good activity plan objectives are that they:
a. Are fun for children to do.
b. Describe child behavior/actions.
c. Relate to the theme of the day.
d. Describe how children will participate in an activity.
12. Which of the following is an example of an appropriate activity plan objective as described
in your text?
a. The adult will select appropriate materials for the children to use.
b. Children will think about seeds and leaves.
c. The child will feel good about his or her participation in the activity.
d. The child will put the story characters in sequence on the flannel board.
13. The teacher has developed a counting activity in which children are counting shells. Which
of the following statements of content best fit this activity?
a. Shells come in many colors.
b. Shells are sometimes large and sometimes small.
c. Shells were once the home of tiny animals that live in the ocean.
d. When counting, each object is counted only once.
e. All the above
14. What is a “teachable moment”?
a. A spontaneous learning opportunity for the child.
b. A short time interval between two scheduled activities.
c. A planned activity in which the teacher highlights what the children learned that day in a
fun and meaningful way.
d. A brief teaching time when children and teachers plan what they will do next.
15. Which of the following elements should you consider FIRST when developing an activity
plan?
a. The materials available
b. The physical space in which the activity will take place
c. What theme the children are studying
d. The needs, strengths and interests of the children
16. Which of the following parts of the activity plan should reflect the concept of developmental
direction?
a. The materials
b. The content
c. The objectives
d. The procedures
e. The evaluation
17. Which of the following parts of the activity plan focuses on WHAT you plan to teach?
a. The materials
b. The content
c. The objectives
d. The procedures
e. The evaluation
18. Which of the following parts of the activity plan focuses on HOW you plan to teach?
a. The materials
b. The content
c. The objectives
d. The procedures
e. The evaluation
19. Which of the following strategies is an EXTENSION of a fine-motor plan in which children
will trace leaf shapes with markers?
a. Children cut around the leaf shapes with scissors.
b. Children name the leaves by type.
c. Children read a story about leaves.
d. Children go outside and gather leaves and other things that grow on trees.
20. Which of the following strategies is a simplification of a fine-motor plan in which children
will trace leaf shapes with markers?
a. Children use their fingertips to trace the leaves.
b. The children read a book about leaves.
c. The children use water colors to paint within the lines of leaf shapes.
d. Children go outside and gather leaves and other things that grow on trees.
21. Which of the following questions would be best for an activity evaluation?
a. “How did the activity go?”
b. “Did the children like the materials?”
c. “Which objectives did children achieve?”
d. “Where did the activity take place?”
22. Your text described the concept of developmental direction. Which of the following is an
example of concrete to abstract?
a. Arnold learns the concepts of tall and short by building towers of blocks and then applies
this knowledge to identifying tall and short objects pictured side by side in photographs.
b. Hannah practices fine motor skills by cutting out paper shapes and then recites the names
of the shapes.
c. Carl learns the meaning of a word by memorizing a song and then using the same word in
another song later.
d. Sarah sees and hears the teacher read the same story many times and then begins to pick
out certain words in the text herself.
23. Your text described the concept of developmental direction. Which of the following is an
example of whole to part?
a. Arnold learns the concepts of tall and short by building towers of blocks and then applies
this knowledge to identifying tall and short objects pictured side by side in photographs.
b. Hannah practices fine motor skills by cutting out paper shapes and then recites the names
of the shapes.
c. Carl learns the meaning of a word by memorizing a song and then using the same word in
another song later.
d. Sarah sees and hears the teacher read the same story many times and then begins to pick
out certain words in the text herself.
24. When children play games that require them to practice the concepts of inside, under, and
next to, before having to apply those concepts on paper, the teacher is demonstrating awareness
of what aspect of developmental direction?
b. Known to unknown
c. Enactive to iconic
d. Exploratory to goal directed
e. Accurate to inaccurate
25. The children are using their own version of writing to reconstruct or describe events. What is
the best description for this process?
a. Enactive representation
b. Iconic representation
c. Acquisition
d. Symbolic representation
26. Ms. Demchik filled the water table and placed a set of eight-ounce plastic bottles on a
nearby shelf. She put measuring cups and some plastic tubing in the water. As the children
arrived, she invited them to play then moved to another activity. When she came back to the
water table, she observed the children and used behavior reflections and paraphrase
reflections to acknowledge and support their involvement. What activity type does the water
table represent?
a. The water table was not a planned activity.
b. The water table was a problem-solving activity.
c. The water table was an exploratory activity.
d. The water table was a guided discovery activity.
27. Ms. Demchik filled the water table and placed a set of eight-ounce plastic bottles on a
nearby shelf. She put measuring cups and some plastic tubing in the water. As the children
arrived, she invited them to play. She observed the children’s explorations, then asked
questions such as, “Which of these containers holds the most? How do you know?” She was
prepared to accept any answer the children might give and to build on their answers with
further questions and challenges. What activity type does the water table represent?
a. The water table was not a planned activity.
b. The water table was a problem-solving activity.
c. The water table was an exploratory activity.
d. The water table was a guided discovery activity.
28. Of the following activity types, which one gives children the most control over what
happens in the activity?
a. Demonstrations
b. Guided discovery
c. Discussions
d. Direct Instruction
29. To help children differentiate (show the difference between two or more things) in Step 3 of
a direct instruction sequence, what would the teacher say?
1. Look up here.
2. Here is what you have to do first.
3. Show me something that is NOT a circle.
4. What will happen if we put 5 on this side and 5 on that side?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 1 and 3
e. 4
30. The children are playing in the pretend grocery store. After observing them for a few
moments, the teacher enters the store. She asks an open-ended question and does some
modeling to help the children focus more closely on the roles of customers and employees.
What kind of activity is this?
a. Problem solving
b. Exploration
c. Demonstration
d. Guided discovery
Chapter 3 Short Answer Questions
Give a short, concise answer to each statement.
31. Name 3 reasons why teachers plan activities in advance.
32. What part of the activity plan describes what to do if a child is having difficulty achieving the
objectives addressed by the plan?
33. When children make pictures or construct three-dimensional images of what they see and think
about, this is what kind of representation?
34. Your textbook discusses the concept of developmental direction. Complete each of the
following pairs of concepts.
Simple to ? symbolic
Known to ? accurate
Self to ? goal directed
Whole to ? other
Concrete to ? unknown
Enactive to ? part
Exploratory to ? complex
Inaccurate to ? abstract
35. What are the essential steps in a scientific problem solving activity?
Chapter 3 Essay Questions
Give complete responses to each statement.
36. According to your book, activity plans contain goals and objectives. Define each and
describe how they relate to each another.
37. All the parts of an effective activity plan are aligned with one another. Discuss what is meant
by the concept of alignment and how it relates to the plans you write.
38. Why is it important to sequence the objectives in your activity plan? What impact will this
have on your teaching and on children’s participation in the activity?
39. Explain why activities for children should be first-hand, hands on experiences.
40. Developmentally, children proceed from enactive to symbolic representation. Define the
three levels of representation identified in your book and provide an example of each. Talk
about how knowledge of these three kinds of representation will affect practices in your early
childhood classroom.
Chapter 3:
Short Answer: Give a short, concise answer to each statement.
Essay: Give complete responses to each statement.
