Horton describes connect type activities as helping students close the gap between learning and the rest of their lives.  Additionally, he also encourages learners to incorporate what they are learning with what they know.  

There are six types of connect activities:

• ·         Ponder activities
• ·         Questioning activities
• ·         Stories by learners
• ·         Job aids
• ·         Research activities
• ·         Original Work (Horton, 2012, p. 164).

The connect-type activity selected for this assignment was based on a needs assessment of a kindergarten class of twenty students.  The needs assessment was performed to determine what these kindergarten students already knew about stranger danger.  During an open discussion within the classroom it was determined that most students had some knowledge of stranger danger and  personal safety. 

• What do you know? 

Most of my students understand the concept of not talking to strangers.

• What do you want to know? 

We want to impress upon them the concept of stranger danger and personal safety.

• What are you trying to measure, determine, or define? 

We want to determine the extent of the children’s comprehension of the dangers presented by interacting with strangers no matter how nice they may seem.

• How will you collect and record information. 

After listening to a story about stranger danger we will allow students to act out how they would respond to being approached by a stranger, especially one with an attractive story such as puppies or candy.

• How will you report the information you collect? 

We will observe the children acting out a response to different stranger situations we will ask questions and allow the children to ask questions as well. We will document our observations in individual journals for each child that will be shared with their parents.

• Are all interested groups included in planning and conducting the needs assessment? 

The planning will be done by the teacher and shared with the students’ parents.

 

We will begin by reading “Once Upon a Dragon: Stranger Safety for Kids (and Dragons), by Jean E Pendziwol and illustrated by Martine Gourbault.  In this story a little girl and her dragon enter a fairy tale world filled with well-known bad guys from stories that children are already familiar with such as the wolf from Red Riding Hood or the wicked queen from Snow White and so on. Additionally this book has rhyming text which makes reading the book easier and more engaging.

 Following this we will then act out skits about how to behave when approached by strangers in different situations and finally we will allow the children to ask any questions that may be on their mind. We will reinforce the experience by completing coloring sheets about stranger danger

References:

Horton, W. (2012). E-Learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.

Penziwol, J.  (2006) Once Upon a Dragon: Stranger Safety for Kids (and Dragons)