Below are practical ways you can start implementing the SEEDS Framework at the beginning of the school year:
1. Intentionally Practice Using the SEEDS Qualities
- Sensitivity: Be aware of children's thoughts, feelings, and abilities by actively watching, waiting, and listening to understand their needs.
- Encouragement: Provide specific affirmations and positive nonverbal communication to build a supportive relationship and inspire confidence.
- Education: Focus explicitly on building early literacy and social skills and embedding the Big 5 Early Literacy Predictors into daily routines.
- Development Through Doing: Offer play-based, hands-on exploration and learning opportunities that engage children’s senses.
- Self-Image Support: By consistently applying the other four Qualities, help children develop a strong sense of self-worth and capability.
2. Establish a Literacy-Rich Schedule and Environment
- Display and Review the Schedule: Post the daily schedule at children’s eye level, incorporating visual aids to make activities identifiable, and refer to it frequently throughout the day.
- Create a Print-Rich Environment: Surround children with print by labeling classroom areas and materials (e.g., “Cubby Area,” “Book Nook”). Include children’s home languages and photos to honor diverse cultural, social, and linguistic identities. Children's names should be posted in multiple accessible places.
3. Implement Foundational Routines and Strategies
- SEEDS Transition Songs: Introduce the six SEEDS transition songs to make daily transitions (like cleaning up, putting on coats, or moving between activities) smoother and more predictable. These songs are engaging ways to teach early literacy skills such as new vocabulary, letter identification, and rhyming.
- Sign-In Routine (Level 1): Begin with Sign-In, Level 1 for emergent writers. This daily, one-on-one routine helps children develop fine motor coordination, letter formation, and an understanding of basic concepts about print, such as left-to-right orientation. For this level, children use a large, upright surface (like a whiteboard) and thicker writing utensils, and name cards may include a picture of the child.
- Foster Strive for 5 Conversations: Engage children in purposeful, strategic, back-and-forth conversations to develop oral language and vocabulary. A “strive for 5” conversation aims for at least five exchanges between an adult and child and can occur at any time (one-on-one, small group, or large group).
- Use Open-Ended Questions: Start conversations with questions that encourage children to respond with more than one word, promoting deeper thinking and vocabulary development.
- Practice Watch, Wait, and Listen: Allow children ample time to process questions and formulate their responses, which supports their ability to think, pull their thoughts together, and use new vocabulary.
4. Teach Social and Self-Regulation Skills
- Acknowledge and Teach About Feelings: Help children understand their own thoughts and emotions.
- Establish Clear Rules and Expectations: Implement consistent rules and expectations to guide socially acceptable behavior.
- Support De-Stress Strategies: Introduce coping mechanisms like using calming areas, deep breathing exercises, or talking to an adult, making them a regular part of the classroom routine to help children develop emotional control.
- Explicitly Teach New Routines: For new routines, such as Think, Pair, Share (which is used in repeated read-aloud lessons on Days 2 and 3), it’s crucial to explicitly teach children how to participate before integrating it into a lesson. A new routine typically needs to be practiced 20–30 times before it flows smoothly, with initial discomfort subsiding after 6–8 trials.
5. Utilize Planning and Reflection Tools
- Planning Tools: Use these tools to observe children’s behaviors, determine their current learning stage (emergent, developing, or fluent), and plan differentiated instruction and scaffolding tailored to individual or small-group needs.
- Reflection Tools: These tools help you review the key components of a strategy, identify strengths, and plan for improvements after a lesson.
- Family Partnerships: Share the Families Make a Difference! resources with families to provide guidance and tips that align with classroom practices, fostering strong, reciprocal partnerships that are invaluable to children’s success.