Remember – Each day is divided into Routine Elements – the experiences of simply moving through the day with the children; Curricular Elements – those experiences planned by teachers to develop  specific Strength Expectations; and an element I call SARA which means opportunities for Selection, Action, Reflection, and Application. The final Element is SARA.

OK, I Admit, I Stole Part of This – I adapted this element based on the High Scope Curriculum’s “Plan, Do, and Review”, developed by David Weikart at the University of Michigan. I love High Scope, but feel strongly that planning, doing, and reviewing is not quite enough to make a child’s learning both as complete and as measurable as it needs to be. I think there is a step following the review stage and that is the application of the learning to repeated or new or personally original use. To me (and to Lev Vygotsky) the addition of Application makes the learning REAL and makes it easier to assess.

SARA is the process of allowing children, by using their strengths of Body, Mind, and Spirit, to make decisions about where and how they will work; to act, using the Learning Methods of Movement, Sensory Exploration, Manipulation of Materials, Construction, Role Play, and Expression (and assuring them enough time, materials and equipment to do so); to reflect on the work after it is completed to encourage the development of memory, organization of thought, and reinforcement of the learning; and then to apply, or find ways to put their learning to use.

In the simplest of terms SARA means: 

• Selection         CHOOSE IT                                                
• Action              DO IT                                                                                     
• Reflection       TALK, DRAW, READ, WRITE, SING, and DANCE ABOUT IT       
• Application    USE IT AGAIN and USE IT NEW

Offering opportunities for SARA helps teachers organize the day, assures that the environment is child-centered, and makes assessment of child progress and need more efficient.  If a child can complete each step in the process, teachers have proof of his having acquired a skill or comprehended a concept without the use of a formal testing situation being created.

Assuring SARA means assuring optimal learning rather than mere memorization. If a child is free to make choices about his learning, take an active role in his learning, reflect on his learning through the many means of expression available (what Loris Malaguzzi called “the 100 languages of children), and then apply those learned skills and knowledge to new use, optimal learning has occurred.

Next Blog: Selection and Action