Toddlers Observation

Within each toddler classroom, the toddlers are brought down to the ballet room to participate in "FitKids". This is a time for the toddlers to release energy and move their bodies through various activities that are directed by coach Amy. For example, rolling balls, pretending to be animals, and obstacle courses.
While observing a 20 month old girl, it was evident that she was able to move her body to the music that was playing with the activity that focused on being different animals. For example, she flapped her arms up and down to symbolize that she was a bird. She began to "fly" faster when the music became faster as well. One strength that was evident was her involvement within the group with other children. While she was hopping like
a frog, she went over to another girl and held her hands and started jumping. At this age according to" Omnibus Guidelines", three year olds should be able to use their bodies to express stories and feelings they are having. Since the girl I observed is only 20 months old, this shows that she has strengths in areas such as "flying", crawling, and using arm movements. She also succeeded at pretending to be at least 3 animals while listening to the music that goes with each animal such as a bird, alligator, and frog.
When it comes to her needs, she was unable to be moving for more than a minute at a time which shows that she might be tired or uninterested in the activity.
While the music would play, coach Amy would tell them what to do and then demonstrate what they were expected to do. Since the toddler would watch how to do the actions, she was able to use creative movement to pretend with the activity. A need that was more evident was the fact the she would do an action approximately twice and then would watch the teacher and the rest of the toddlers for the remainder of that animal's music. In order for toddlers to show creative movement, they need to be involved and participate in the activity and asked to join back in. Since there are many toddlers in the ballet studio, it is sometimes difficult for all toddlers to be given feedback about their movement and actions. It was also evident that more time needed to be given in order for all the toddlers to participate instead of being
rushed.
When it comes to group music time, at the end of each group time, the toddlers are able to decide which song they want to sing to say goodbye. During this work sampling, I observed the toddler clapping to the "goodbye" song and try to sing some of the song. This shows that she is able to clap to the song but unable to sing it as well as the other toddlers can.

Tiffani Wilson
Work sampling action plan While observing this 20 month old toddler, it was evident that she has been introduced to music and moving her body to pretend to be different animals.
Due to the toddlers having "fitkids" almost everyday, they are exposed to many various activities that promote movement and dance. In order to help facilitate development within the arts, there are recommendations that need to be given and carried out to help this particular toddlers development in the arts. Within each of these recommendations are an objective that corresponds with the recommendation.
The first recommendation for this toddler is to plan enough time for her to participate in the activity. Due to her wanting to take her time and wanting feedback from the teachers, it is recommended that they is enough time for each child to participate on their own in the manner that they wish. The objective that corresponds with this recommendation is that the toddler will use the extra time given in order to move their bodies by running and moving their arms around the room to the music. While referring back to the Omnibus Guidelines text, it is important for young children to have time to express their feelings if they are unable to express them verbally. I have implicated this into my objective by allowing time for toddlers to move their bodies to music to express themselves through creative
movement.
The second recommendation for this toddler is to have a teacher in the back of the room in order to help her become involved in the activity. Due to her need of wanting feedback from teachers, having a teacher in the back to give specific feedback is a great way to help the toddlers to become involved in the activity. By being given specific feedback about their movement, the toddler will be able to understand the expectations of the activity and use the feedback to promote self-confidence within her movement. An objective that corresponds with this recommendation is, the toddler will be given feedback from a teacher about her movement in order to promote self-confidence and independent creative movement.
The third recommendation for this toddler is to incorporate the "goodbye" song into other areas within the daily routine in order for her to learn the song and be able to start learning the words. Due to the toddler not being able to sing along with the song, incorporating the song throughout the day will help with participation in group music time. According to the Omnibus Guidelines, "Participation includes remembering the words to an often repeated song" (Dichtelmiller & Jablon, 2001, pg. 156). This will help increase language development and her participation in group time due to being exposed to language. This is done through repetition of language throughout the daily routine. An objective that corresponds with this recommendation is that the toddler will be introduced to the group time song "goodbye" at least twice throughout the day in order to help promote participation in group time music.