SAMPLE Learning Experience Plan

with Questions & Examples to Support Your Thinking

Your Name Age Group Date

Tyrah Blue Preschool 1/18/20

Title of Activity
I am intention in this activity is to get the children thinking, understanding and then engaged in the
concept of the post office and getting them to be able to write/draw, etc something for someone else
and then ‘address’ it on the envelope and put in their mailboxes.

Standard: New Hampshire Early Learning Standards OR Creative Curriculum Objectives for
Development & Learning (These are written verbatim from the NHELS or CC.)

Domain: Language Development and Emergent Literacy

Strand: Emergent Writing
Construct: Print and alphabet awareness + Interest in and emergent writing
Indicator of Progress: Print and alphabet awareness: Begin to recognize their own name and notice
words that start with the same letter as their own name. Emergent writing Begin to differentiate
between drawing and writing, and their scribbles may look more like writing.

Intended Purpose (the objective of the activity)

Children will verb noun (construct or materials) by verb...

Preschool: Children will develop and work on their print and alphabet awareness and emergent writing by in the
first way by working on their drawing and scribbles and writing, during the picture or letter writing and the filling
out of the envelope to put in the mailbox.
You can think: children will do what or develop what concept/materials by engaging in what
way?

You are infusing the activity and the standard/indicator or progress listed above. In a sentence or two
say what you expect children are going to do and what you expect them to develop or experience. This
is your intended purpose, it is ok if children provide you with other ideas and actually do other things;
the point is that you are intentionally planning for their experience.

Background Research
Content- (research the content of activity- what do you need to know to be able to answer
children’s questions?)
I need to be able to tell the children about the science of the magnet and the background
The content of the LEP has to do with things such as the medium and its properties (e.g., oobleck has
properties of a liquid and a solid), skill (e.g., paint mixing, using watercolors), topic (e.g., scientific inquiry
like the melting of snow), or domain to which your activity investigates or relates.

Do the research you need to do in order to be prepared to answer children’s questions or to be able to
share information with children about that content and include that information here. You can cut and
paste bullet points of information or photos here (e.g., image that shows labeled parts of a truck or apple; a
list of primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors.) Note: if you can’t think of content to research or
include, the activity might not be appropriate for an LEP.

Children’s Inquiry
 Why is this activity appropriate and relevant to this group of children, now? What questions does
this activity allow children to explore?

This activity is relevant and appropriate to this group of children now, because as I look around the
classroom watching the children engage in their activities and listening to them talk, I notice their
interest in drawing and writing things and giving them to their friends. I see a huge interest in friend
giving, or even bringing home to so and so, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring the post office
idea into play. This will help them build and work on the writing skills but also incorporate the things
they are enjoying and working on, developmentally as well.

Then from the CHILD’S PERSPECTIVE think about what questions this activity allows children to
engage with or explore.

What goes on the outside of the envelope?

What’s the stamp for?
Why do we have to address the envelope?
What is the mailbox for?
Why do we have to put the mail in the mailbox?
Who’s name goes on the envelope?

Provocation / Changes to the Environment

How will you engage children in this activity? How will you activate their prior knowledge? This
is a big picture/general sense of what you will be doing.

To engage children in this activity I will start by getting them thinking at circle time. I will tell them
that I noticed that many have been interested in coloring pictures and drawing things, writing letters
and then wanting to give them to their friends or family. I will introduce the post office station for the
children, inviting them to make something for someone else and put it in an envelope, address the
envelop and put it in their new mailbox for a friend to pick up (or even a family member at that).

What will you say or do (questions, dialogue) during the experience? This is more specific; details
of what you will say and do.

What will you say in circle (preschool) or to children (infants/toddlers) to pique their interest? Write
out specific dialogue/questions/narration here.

I will say the following:

: Does anyone know what we have been working on a lot in the classroom?
*wait time (give students a chance to think and respond).
:Does anyone know what a post office is?
: I have noticed that many of you are interested in drawing and writing things for your friends in the
classroom and your family outside the classroom, so I thought it would be a cool idea for you guys to
be able to do that and have a post office where you can mail whatever you made to them!
*let the student comment and ponder
:What types of things do you mail out at a post office?
*wait time (give students a chance to think and respond).
:Even without the post office does anyone else know where you can get your mail?
 *wait time (give students a chance to think and respond).
:It is very important to put the name on the envelope who you want to mail it to and your own because
there millions of other envelopes getting mailed out in the post office, and it can easily get lost.
:THE MAIL BOX AT YOUR HOUSE (show mailbox)
;The only time I use the post office is when I am mailing things out to my mom back home 3 hours
away. When she sends me stuff to school I get it at my mailbox that is at my house!
:I have a mailbox, and I noticed that Stacey and Jackie and heather have teacher mailboxes and your
parents have parent boxes over by the cubbies so I thought it would be a cool idea to give you guys
your own little post office with your own mailboxes that you can mail things out to your family and
friends!
*say other things according to the children.
Closure/transitions/clean up?
Closure and transitions

To close the immediate experience I will end it by telling the children that whenever the make
something for a friend in the classroom or a family member or friend at home then they will have their
blue preschool post office to go to and put in their mailbox. I will remind them how important it is to
put their name and/or the friend or family members name on the envelope so it doesn’t get lost in the
post office but invite them to constantly use their mailboxes throughout the day.
Since I want to keep the post office option open the only cleanup part will be the color station where
they make whatever they are choosing to put in the envelope!

Who is responsible for clean up?

Since I want to keep the post office option open during the rest of the day and inviting days, the only
cleanup part will be the color station where they make whatever they are choosing to put in the
envelope and I will be responsible for that part.

Positive Guidance and Individualization

Managing the Flow of Activity & Safety Considerations

To manage the flow of the activity I and the teacher will choose the first few (4) people to go over to
the coloring table and draw/write what they want in their envelope. To limit children too much
time at the station I will try and limit 2-3 envelopes for that time sitting before I invite the next
group or friend to come over. If the table and interest becomes overwhelmed then I will tell the
children to make a different choice and maybe think about what they want to mail and who
they want to mail it to so that they will be ready when they come over, that way I am not totally
disregarding their excitement for the activity. I may need a list to keep track of who wants to
come over next so I am not skipping anyone but it is all dependent on the numbers.

Proactive Strategies

I don’t think I will have to use too many proactive strategies with this activity as they are fairly familiar
with the activity and it has been something they have been working with! I will have to tell them that it
is not a race on who can fill the most envelope and that we have to be very thoughtful about our mail
because we don’t want it to be ripped or crumpled when someone opens it!
I am not going to limit them to what they want to put in the envelope, whether it be they want to draw,
write, scribble, etc. The development will come and some are more developed than others!
Reactive Strategies
 The reactive strategies that I can think of is that if they are just racing to see how many envelopes they
can fill, they will have to make a new choice because mailing isn’t a race!!

Supporting Each Child- Adaptations and Individualization

AD: I will invite the fact of just scribbling around and not really push the letters idea yet because I
know he/she isn’t developmentally their yet.
BR: Really invite her to work on writing her full name on the envelope or the full name of a friend!
Whether she is using her name tag or having me write it down first, I find that will be interesting to
watch develop.
JO + LP: I will have he/she just try and work on their findings of some of the letters in their name as
they are able to do that and see if they can work on writing them to their full extent and encourage that
but also be about them having an imagination of what they are writing.

Materials and Quantity (List what you need, how much, & location in classroom)

Write a bulleted list of any and all supplies, materials, and the quantity needed (by teacher and
children, if different), including, but not limited to:

 Post office station

 Envelopes
 Markers
 Stamps
 Mailbox cubbies
 Tape

Spiraling: Intentionally Revisiting and Extending the Learning

Spiraling
I will help the children make connections really whenever the child is deciding to work with any type
of drawing, writing, etc., to keep in mind of the post office and use it when they want to! Or when they
notice their parents picking up things from their parent mailbox to connect to the fact that they have
their own!

Additional activities

To facilitate the curriculum I would want to push is to maybe have them actually get to mailing things
out to their families. I think it would be really special for them to send something they made to their
house or post office and anticipate it coming! This we could facilitate when they became comfortable
with spelling and writing and even with our help to fill out the envelope! I think this would be cool to
see happen from the older ones as they are already recognizing letters and can spell a handful of
words, especially if it is in front of them.

Concept Map
Using a simple concept map, draw out how your LEP idea connects to other
ideas/concepts/skills/topics that children are currently engaging with. Include your LEP idea, the
spiraling idea, and additional opportunities and broad domains on the concept map.
 (This can be drawn by hand, it doesn’t need to be typed and can be attached using an additional sheet
of paper.)

References

New Hampshire Early Learning Standards. (2016).

LEP 2 Reflection
 Describe the experience you intended and then compare it to what actually happened.
What surprised you?
 The experience I intended was to have the children re-touch upon their mailbox
interests by learning about the post office and what you do their regarding mailing
things out and picking things up.

 What other domains, constructs, and strands did you discover this connects to?
 When looking at some of the other domains and how they may relate to the initial
activities domain I found that social and emotional development could connect. Most
of the time when the children were working on their letters and deciding who they
wanted to give them too, they were developing their social and emotional skills. They
had inner reasons as to why they wanted to give the letter to whom they were giving it
to, even if it wasn’t expressed. However, they were making those relationships and
social skills with their peers, social identity, and even making relationships with less
familiar adult, as some of the letters they wanted to give to adults weren’t just for their
parents.
 What did you learn about the children as learners? Describe 2 experiences of children
who participated in the activity.
 One thing I learned about one of the children that came to the activity was that they were a
very in depth, neat, accurate, precise, purposeful worker when it came to the activity.
First, while watching her just draw the picture she wanted to put in the letter I observed
her precisely pick out every color she used and think about ever detail she put into the
picture. When she would get to the envelope part of the activity she would fold up the letter
she drew perfectly and put it in the envelope and pick up a stamp and put it in the exact
spot I had showed the class during circle time the first day. When it was time for her to put
her name and/or the names of who the letter was going to I could see her thinking in her
head for a wuick couple seconds and then quickly putting marker to paper putting her own
name in one section and then two other names who the one letter was for in its own
section, so you could tell the difference, as she also wrote “to” and “from”. Another child
that I observed at my activity, I was able to learn that the child was able to take in
instruction, but if it was something he may have not wanted to do, then he wasn’t going to
 do so! Not in a bad way, but what seemed to be an adventurous, “ lets see what I can do
differently” approach to learning, in this particular activity. After I had given the
directions of the acitivity and stated that there shoud be one stamp on the front of the
envelope, the child drew his picture, shoved it in the envelope, and then immediately
grabbed a handful of stamps and started throwing them on the back of his envelope. I had
at first wondering if he was using the stamps to close his envelope or if he wanted a
reaction, or if he really thought the back of the envelope was the front and just wanted to
use as many stamps as possible. Reminding him again that just one stamp was to be used
on an envelope and it was typically for the front, the child started on his second letter.
Drawing his second picture and putting it in the envelope, this time he only grabbed one
stamp this time, but put it on the back again, not to close the envelope but just randomly on
the back. This quickly made me wonder and realize that it was likely that the child did not
know the front of the envelope from the back and needed more help and guidance with
being able to tell. To them when the open the envelope to put the letter in, it can be seen as
the front, so for him just more visual direction would help him learn immensely in my
opinion.

 What did you learn about yourself as a facilitator of learning?

 What I learned about myself why facilitating my activity I learned that I tend try and
aim for the goal in certain situations rather than letting them range off and do their own
thing in discovery. In this activity in particular, the objective of the activity was yes to
let them put what ever they wanted in their letter but then it was the developmental
activity part to have them go over to the ‘post office’ and put their letter in an envelope,
put a stamp on the envelope and then put their name on the envelope or who the letter
is to and then put it in the designated mailbox to ‘send off or have the friend pick up.
After the first few minutes of doing it the way explained, a lot of the children were into
the letter (coloring) part, how many envelopes they could fill up and how many stamps
they could fit on one envelope. A lot of the children didn’t even want to use the
mailbox but wanted to put into their cubby or backpack. I found myself trying to
almost force the saying onto them of “wait, put the letter in the envelope, now go put a
stamp on it, and then put your name or friends name on the card and put it in their
mailbox”. I kept asking my self how many times should I be saying it and how much
should I let them discover and do their own thing. I found I was questioning myself a
lot.

 How did the adaptation/individualization strategies work? Describe 1 experience of how it

worked (or didn’t). What might work even better to support individual learning needs?
 After using the individual strategies, when looking back to one of the strategies I used
for one of the children, I realized it was not as challenging and developing as I though
it would be. I thought to have the child in particular write their full name on the
envelope before she ‘mailed’ it out. Thinking that this would be tricky, the child wrote
her first and last name with just the thought of her brain. She didn’t need her name
card at all, didn’t need any teacher assistance, or help from a friend. It was very
interesting and surprising to see as I thought it would be a challenge some of the other
children in the classroom were just working on the scribbles and using it as
 imagination to read their name. What might work even better to support her learning
would be to maybe ask her to see if she is able to recognize her house address and if
she is capable of writing that on the envelope. This may have interested the child even
more also in the sense of the activity as she would be getting more technical and ‘real’
with putting the address down.

 How did your positive guidance strategies work (proactive and reactive)? What did you
notice about the language you used?
 My positive guidance strategies that I used during my activity I would have to say did
and didn’t work. For the proactive strategy with telling the children in the beginning of
the activity that the goal of the activity wasn’t to see who could fil the most envelopes.
Going off of the reactive strategy and how it closely related I didn’t have to tell anyone
that they needed to make a new choice because they were strictly worried about filling
the most envelopes. When I first told the children that it wasn’t about how many
envelopes they could make, it was a slower process. However, quickly I noticed that
one of the children’s main goal was to see how many pieces of mail they could get
from their friends. Because this was one of my main goals in making mail for friends in
the room I really couldn’t stop this motive from happening. It allowed children to want
to make mail for their friends, and if a child got a piece of mail, they were more apt to
make something for another friend in the classroom. Later in the week as the activity
was left open I noticed that the children were forgetting my message and scribbling
down on the ‘letter’ they were putting in the envelope just so they could give their
friend a ton of mail. At this point they had gotten the learning experience and I wanted
to them to be able to explore without listening to me be a broken record !

 Reflect on the assessment (photo documentation and checklist). How did it go? What
would you do differently next time?
 The assessment for this LEP I found was a little bit more of all over the place than the
photo documentation and checklist. Being there to try and assess the children but also
facilitate and manage the activity was very tricky. I tried to do that for the first few
minutes in the morning for a couple minutes but the record was no where near
accurate because I was missing half of the things the child was doing. Since we knew it
would be tricky we planned to video tape the activity so that after I could then do my
running record on my two children. However, as the cooperating teacher suggested I
introduce my activity in the beginning of the school day as children walked by and
wondered instead of at circle time and have specific groups go over, the recording was
not done then and there. Many of the children were interested in the activity first thing
in the morning and almost all ended up venturing their way over during morning
choice before circle time had even begun. This made it tricky when it was after circle
time and it was time for them to go to that activity since they had already done it. A
coupe came over and still no video out! I had reminded the CT and she had apologized
that she had forgotten but got it set it up within the next few minutes. Only getting a
full running record on one child, I found that it is crucial to have everything set up
before hand so that way the main assessment isn’t getting forgotten about!
 How did these assessment strategies work for helping you gain an understanding of
children’s learning? What did you learn from these assessment strategies about children
and learning?
 This strategy helped with gaining an understanding of children’s learning because I was
able to sit and catch everything the child was doing, after the fact. The running record
allowed me to jot down every piece that the child was doing. This made it possible for me
to see exactly what the child was doing within the activity, what they were doing that was
in my plans and what they may have been doing outside my plans. This gave me the insight
of, even though the child may be doing something outside the my specific plan, or may be
focusing on a part of the activity that wasn’t the main goal, it can still show where they are
at in the developmental stage of the standard and give other ideas to revisit within the
topic and branch off from.

 How did your “intentional revisiting” of this experience go? What did you do or say and
how did children respond?
 The second day of the activity was a “zigger zagger day” so there was no revisiting
back to the experience, the children were quickly briefed over to the situation by the
teacher when she offered it as a choice time to the children. The only thing I briefly
revisited was the fact that the children were going to the blue preschool post office and
that, that was there they sending out and picked up mail. I made sure to explain to the
children that the writing table set up in the classroom was their pretend home and that
that was where all the writing, drawing, and coloring happened and that they had to
walk to the post office to pick up an envelope, and a stamp and then could mail it out.
The first day I noticed some of the children trying to do it all at the post office station
and children started to feel crowded, so going back and giving the children an
accurate reason that would help keep it less crowded, in my opinion really helped and
made a difference.

 What would you do differently if you could have a “do-over”?

 Thinking of what I would do differently I would probably say to be a little more
organized and have more of an idea/plan of the mail giving. For example, if they upset
a friend they could write them a letter and put it in their mailbox, or if a friend did a
nice thing for another friend than they could write them a thank you letter and such
things like that. I think having them openly write a letter was a good idea to introduce
and have no actual limits, but to have more structure and reasoning’s behind the letters,
typically like there is out in the real world, I think it would make a good spin on the
activity. I also think going back to relating to other domains this would expand and
develop the social and emotional development of having the children able to write their
friends ‘letters’ for things that may go on in the classroom, having them working on
recognition of others feelings, emotional expression, and some emotional regulation
through the letters they write, but also just the reason behind why they are writing the
letters.