Running head: Inquiry-to-Curriculum Final Paper 1

Inquiry-to-Curriculum Final Paper: DONT Leave it at the Door

Chris Scales, Marisa Giglio, Erin Bucheit, Rachel Othersen, Sarah Ebright
Miami University












2

Abstract
This curriculum, Talk Time: Introducing Coping Strategies to Early Learners, addresses
stressors of early childhood students (K-3) living in poverty experience at home that affect
learning at school. To address this tension, this program, teaches students to consider and address
their own stressors and emotions through introspective and interpersonal interactions in a
controlled setting.













3

Educational Tension
The tensions our group has decided to address all center around the stressors that early
childhood students in poverty may have at home that affect learning at school. In our field
placements this semester we have all seen many examples of stressors that early childhood
students in poverty are facing. From parental drug abuse, to parents and siblings in jail, to
hunger, to bed bugs and lice, to homelessness, there are a vast amount of stressors we have seen
that students in poverty may face at home.
When students come into their classroom, they dont leave their experiences at the door.
Most of the time, this is a positive; student experiences are what allow students to become active
learners as teachers can build off of these experiences to making learning engaging and
meaningful. However, other times this can be a negative. What happens when students walk in
the door burdened by negative experiences that are going to affect their health, happiness, and
performance at school?
Too often, we have seen teachers who, not knowing what to do, just try to ignore the
negative experiences and stressors the students in their classroom may be facing. If a student
talks about an issue from their home life that is a stressor- a parent in jail, food scarcity, etc., too
often the teacher, feeling uncomfortable, and glosses over the statement and tries to redirect the
conversation back to academics.
But what if we werent afraid to talk about these issues? What if we addressed them head
on? What if we had a space purposely created solely to give students a chance to really work
through and learn to cope with their stressors, rather than ignoring them? We believe that all
students deserve such a space. We believe that it is essential to address stressors at home in order
4

to truly help students be successful in school and, even more importantly, in order for students to
truly become healthy and happy individuals.
Curriculum
Essential Questions/Concepts:
Cognitive Development (sensorimotor, language arts, art, communication)
Social/Emotional Development (cooperation, communication, interpersonal
relationships)

Standards in Practice:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events,
include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event
order, and provide a sense of closure.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.4
Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details,
speaking audibly in coherent sentences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing
or speaking.
Proposed Instructional Plan
This curriculum could be implemented with either a whole-school or whole-class
introduction to the curriculum. Students will be informed that the school exists to help them
academically, socially, and emotionally with any issues that may arise in their lives, whether
5

school related or not. They will be shown support and guidance within the TALK TIME
program to discuss anything about their personal lives with adult volunteers during the regular
school day. These meetings will occur on school grounds during regular school hours in bi-
weekly 45 minute sessions. The exact schedule is at will of the institution in which the
curriculum is occurring.
Volunteers will attend one 30 minute training session prior to the beginning of the
curriculum. They will be instructed on confidentiality, supporting conversational techniques, and
youth coping strategies to utilize on and with which to instruct the students.
The curriculum will involve personal meeting time, group meeting time, and 3 alternative
centers for activity. These centers will be artistic expression, personal writing, or interactive
physical coping technique. Prior to each meeting, the curriculum director will prepare a short
lesson lasting 5-10 minutes on a specific coping strategy to be given at the beginning of the 45
minute meeting period.
Tier 1:
Children are given weekly writing prompts that are integrated into the daily plan for
writing instruction from their general education instructor. These prompts will be associated with
non-academic personal topics that might elicit a response from the student that reveals personal
struggle or concern. Such topics can range from broad prompts like How was your weekend?
to pointed questioning like Write about the last time you were sad and why you felt that way.
The timing for these prompts are subjective and implemented by the general education
instructor. Responses will be kept in a personal TALK TIME class journal, which are not to be
shared with peers or to be taken home. Teachers should clarify this to students, and keep journals
6

in a safe classroom location to not be disturbed by students unless writing in the journals or
unless journals are being taken to Tier 2 of the curriculum.

Tier 2:
Volunteers are to come in to the school bi-weekly on a schedule that is conducive to the
institution. Volunteers should then separate into different sections of a shared space, such as
gymnasium, library, or cafeteria. Prior to beginning the program, volunteers will set up 3
alternative activity centers. The first, artistic expression, will be a small creative station where
students can represent their lives through painting, sculpture, or other representative artistic
techniques. The second, personal writing time, will be a station where students can write in their
TALK TIME journals in greater depth. The third, interactive physical coping technique, will be a
guided station where students learn physical practices to guide their emotional management,
such as yoga, meditation, or exercised breathing. At the beginning of the meeting, the program
director or an active volunteer will present a short 5-10 minute presentation on a coping strategy
that deals with a particular common struggle for students. During the meeting, students are free
to talk to a volunteer in private to address issues they are struggling with in and out of the
classroom. Volunteers are encouraged to buddy up with a particular student for repeated
interaction.

Tier 3:
Should a volunteer or general education instructor be concerned with the physical or
emotional well-being of a student, those concerns will be shared with the institutions
psychologist, as well as access to any entries in the TALK TIME journal. At this juncture, an
intervention may be planned for a specific student to determine appropriate continuing action.
7

Rationale
As we mentioned in the explanation of our tension, we have seen many examples of
students in poverty dealing with stressors at home. We feel these students would greatly benefit
from time at school learning to cope with these stressors rather than having their teachers ignore
these stressors, which is what we have seen many teachers do. There is plenty of research that
supports this idea and shows the great importance of teaching coping strategies to young
learners. The following articles are evidence-based and lend themselves to support a curriculum
that focused on fulfilling Maslows hierarchy of needs and positive coping strategies.

Coping with Poverty-Related Stress: Primary Control Coping:
According to Wadsworth, Wolff, Santiago, & Moran (2008), Coping is defined as a
conscious, voluntary process that includes attempts to manage emotions and thoughts, regulate
behavior and physical arousal, and act on the environment to decrease a source of stress.
Students living in impoverished areas are more likely to deal with negative stressors such as:
limited financial resources, limited parental support, and /or a limited food supply. Students may
also feel guilty for asking their parents for money, food, or other necessities, for a fear of
stressing-out the parents or guardian. Because of its pervasiveness and chronicity, living with
poverty is grueling and demoralizingit literally wears one down mentally and physically
(Rehkopf, 2006). For teachers to not consider the students needs, mentally and physically is
both negligent and irresponsible on the teacher. How can students effectively engage and delve
forcefully into the content, when their lower-level needs are not adequately taken care of?
According to Maslows research, there are a specific needs in a hierarchical pyramid that need to
be satisfied before moving up to the next level. Moving from the lower-level needs such as:
8

physiological and safety to the top-level needs of self-actualization, it is evident that students
need to have these needs satisfied before they can effectively learn in the classroom.
Several useful strategies for coping with poverty-related stress fall under the category of
primary control coping, including emotional expression, emotion regulation, and problem
solving, Wadsworth, Wolff, Santiago, & Moran (2008). By implementing a curriculum where
students can express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns about their home lives through
writing, journaling, art therapy, music, and/or physical activities, teachers can try to isolate these
issues and try to pinpoint what the student needs to talk about, so he/she is able to effectively
engage in the content and learn.

Adverse Life Events, Coping and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors in Urban African
American Youth:
African American youth residing in low income urban neighborhoods are
disproportionately exposed to adverse life events in multiple domains, increasing their risk for
adjustment difficulties related to this life event stress (Attar, Guerra, & Tolan, 1994). Research
has shown that the different life events that students face impact the way that they express their
emotions whether it be internal or external. The response to these events will also influence the
types of coping strategies they use, as well. Coping strategies can further be divided into
avoidance and approach coping strategies. In approach coping strategies, students actively
confront a problem, instead of distancing themselves from the problem, as in avoidance coping
strategies. In a curriculum that fosters expressing thoughts, feelings, and concern, students are
more apt to participate and engage in the classroom atmosphere because they feel safe.
According to Sanchez, Lambert, & Strickland (2012), Teaching an array of coping
strategies that they may employ in various stressful situations may be beneficial. One way to do
9

this is by enhancing male youths problem-solving skills so that they are better able to generate
alternative strategies when directly confronted with danger or hostility. Relatively recent
research with African American and Latino boys who were exposed to community violence has
shown that having multiple ways to cope with a problem, including seeking advice from others,
focusing on positive aspects of life, and modifying behavior without confronting others,
protected youth against future violent behavior (Brady, 2008). Moreover, recent research
indicates that collaborations among community partners, youth, and interventionists can yield
adaptations of empirically supported multicomponent programs that are acceptable to
participants because they are culturally and contextually appropriate (Sanchez, Lambert, &
Strickland (2012). In a curriculum where there are varying centers and stations, where students
can choose how to express themselves, specifically to problem-solve, this can indefinitely help
the students to practice and utilize effective coping strategies. By having different areas where
students can express themselves through artful representations, through creating song lyrics, to
performing yoga or meditating, students are have the freedom to articulate and communicate
through these positive outlets.

Childhood Poverty, Chronic Stress, Self-Regulation, and Coping:
According to Evans and Kim (2013), A pathway linking poverty to human development
is the tendency of lower income parents to engage in harsher and less responsive interactions
with their children (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002; Conger & Donnellan, 2007; Grant et al., 2003).
Less responsive parenting in disadvantaged families includes less attention and social support to
childrens emotional needs as well as less instrumental support, such as helping children with
school work or providing information or material assistance (e.g., less help finding part-time
work and applying to college, less available money). Students who do not have these internal or
10

external resources and supports are more likely to stay in impoverished environments. The
cyclical nature of poverty weighs heavily on the children and the caregivers.
Childhood poverty is also linked to poor coping strategies in youth. In addition, low-
income children who rely primarily on engagement coping strategies, such as problem solving or
cognitive reappraisal in response to poverty-related stress, exhibit fewer adverse psychological
symptoms (Wolff, 2010). This curriculum allows students to focus on specific problem solving
skills and also positive communication skills, in order to effectively meet students needs.
Low-income parents who talk less to their children tend to have children with poorer
language skills, which limits childrens ability to regulate their emotions because of deficits in
emotional expression and communication skills (Hoff, 2002). Not only are children from low-
income families at risk for poor coping strategies, they are also more at risk for having issues in
their academics, as well. Children who live in poverty struggle more with psychological and
physiological stressors. These children would simply benefit from having emotional support and
communication, to talk about stressors at home and at school. By intervening quickly and
appropriately, children in poverty will more likely to cope with their feelings and emotions in a
more suitable way.
Response to Intervention

Our curriculum is modeled after the RTI tiered system. We have seen great success with
this model in our field placements for academic and behavioral intervention, so we though this
model would also be successful for emotional intervention. There is much research showing the
effectiveness of this three tier model that starts with universal screening, then moves to small
group intervention, and finally to individualized intervention.

11

According to PENT (Positive Environments Network of Trainers), students are identified
through universal screening, design, implementation of the students response to evidence based
interventions. This three tiered RtI model for behavior and social/emotional support is based on
progress monitoring and how this fluid model is effective for students needs.

Concept Map

(insert picture of poster)
Assessment
When implementing the curriculum program, Talk Time, several types of assessments
will be used to make sure the teacher, school, and community is meeting the students social and
emotional health. As discussed throughout the paper, there are many different types of coping
strategies that will be addressed. In addition, there will be several types of assessments based on
the individual coping strategies. The first assessment which will be the responsibility of the
classroom teacher will be to collect the writing journals once a week. The teacher will not only
be monitoring if the students are answering questions, but will also be able to connect deeper
with the students while reading and understanding their journals. There will not be a formal
grade for this assessment; however the students are required to answer at least one out five
prompts per week to the best of their ability. Regardless of the issue(s) the students decide to
discuss, all students will be encouraged to just simply express themselves. The way the
journaling will work is that the student will choose the day in they answer the prompt. This then
leaves the student feeling empowered by when they write and what they will write about. This
assessment is a way for students to be able to feel they are heard.
12

Another type of assessment that will be used is an entrance and exit assessment. Twice a
month, volunteers will be coming into the school to talk about different types of coping strategies
our students can use when faced with challenges. Before the students go to the coping session,
they will receive a slip of paper with the statement: How I have been feeling lately? On this
paper will be questions in which there are faces representing different emotions. The students
will circle the face they feel matches their emotion to indicate how they have been feeling and
dealing with their emotions since the last session. They will fill out these entrance forms before
they go to the coping session. The students are required to attend the coping session, however are
not required to go see a counselor which will be provided after the breakout session closes. The
breakout session that will last for the last forty to forty-five minutes in which all students will go
to a shared space. Students can choose to play, do artistic expression, personal writing,
interactive physical coping technique, or go talk to a volunteer about things they may be dealing
with. After the forty five minutes is complete, and the students are back in the classroom, the
teacher will have a whole class discussion about how they felt about the coping session, and the
teacher will pass out post its for students to indicate one thing they have learned from the
session. The teacher will then collect and compare the entrance and exit assessments. Based on
this assessment the teacher will then indicate if the student needs further guidance in their social
and emotional behavior.
*Kindergarten and first grade students may draw in their journals instead of write to
accommodate age appropriateness




13

Resources

Attar, B. K., Guerra, N. G., & Tolan, P. H. (1994). Neighborhood disadvantage, stressful life
events, and adjustment in urban elementary-school children. Journal of Clinical Child
Psychology, 23 (4), 391400. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2304_5.
Cooley-Strickland, M., Sanchez, Y., & Lambert, S. Adverse Life Events, Coping and
Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors in Urban African American Youth. Journal
of Child and Family Studies, 22, 38-47.
Hoff, E., Laursen, B., & Tardif, T. (2002). Socioeconomic status and parenting. In M. H.
Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (2nd ed.,pp. 231252). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
PENT - Positive Environments, Network of Trainers (California .... (n.d.). . Retrieved May 1,
2014, from http://www.acronymfinder.com/Positive-Environments%2c-Network-of-
Trainers-(California-Department-of-Education)-(PENT).html.
Rehkopf, D.D., Haughton, L.T., Chen, J.T., Waterman, P.D., Subramanian, S.V., & Krieger,
N.(2006). Monitoring socioeconomic disparities in death: Comparing individual- level
education and area-based socioeconomic measures. American Journal of Public
Health,96. 2.135-2.138.
Wadsworth, M., Wolff, B., Santiago, C. D., & Moran, E. (2008). Adolescent coping with
poverty-related stress. The Prevention Researcher, 15, 13-16.
Wolff, B. C., Wadsworth, M. E., & Santiago, C. D. (2010). Family poverty, stress, and coping.
In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 941951). New York, NY:
Springer.