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ACTIVITY No 1
"CINNAMON, THE FIREMAN"

Summary of the activity: In the first part the educator motivates the children regarding the subject, and he raises questions so that the children discuss the matter, later he will tell a story, after that they will analyze the content, and finally they will draw some pictures.

Objectives:
• To make the children know the value of being independent.
• To begin to form notions on what is an independent behavior.

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Narration
• Practical Actions

Material Resources: Pictures of the hero of the story, plastic education materials: temperas, brushes, color pencils, sheets of paper, fine cardboard, etc.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator, in a quiet corner of the classroom or outside, gathers the group of children and he asks questions to them on the subject of independence:
Do you know what it is to be independent?
What is independence?
Is it good to be independent?
What happens when one does not know how to do things by oneself?
In which classroom activities do you think there is independence?
Can you give me examples of independent behaviours?

Based on their answers, the educator points out what can be an independent behavior and that it has many facets, because it is not only to do what one wants, but also what one is able to do, to know how to do it, to find the ways to do it without much help, etc.

After reaching some initial conclusions he starts telling a story related to the subject.

2nd Part
The educator presents the subject indicating how independence can be very helpful when children can act by themselves, for this he will tell them the story called "Cinnamon, the fireman".

"Cinnamon, the fireman"

Cinnamon was a small brown cocker spaniel dog with big ears that almost reached the ground. One day he was sleeping placidly over the turf of his masters’ garden, when he awoke surprised, because his graceful snout noticed that something was burning.

Sniff, Sniff, Sniff- he smelled in all directions, knowing that his owners were at work and the children at school. "This smoke is not a bonfire - he said. And he followed where his smell took him behind the house, and he saw that black smoke was coming out of the back window of the kitchen.

Cinnamon was very scared. - What can I do? he asked. "I must call the firemen for help, but whenl they arrive here the house could burn down."

Then he remembered that the kitchen door had a small sliding door through which he entered the house when they called him, so, without thinking much about it, he entered the kitchen that was full of smoke.

"What do I do now? And without thinking much either, he began to turn open with his mouth all the taps of water that began to overflow by the ground. Immediately after that he left running towards the Fire Brigade.

"What happened, Cinnamon? The amiable fireman asked him. Cinnamon barked and barked until the fireman realized that the dog wanted to say something to him. Cinnamon started to run and the firemen got on their fire truck and they followed him. Great was their surprise when they arrive at the house and saw the smoke that was coming out of the kitchen which had already covered the entire house.

"Do not worry" said the firemen as they heard the barks of Cinnamon, leave it to us and we will extinguish the fire. They immediately unrolled the hose, and they connected it to a hydrant in the street.

The water extinguished all the flames. The house was soaked but was totally saved from the fire, which had been extinguished.

The fireman said: "Really if it had not been for Cinnamon that had opened all the taps and ran to warn us, the house would have been burned down completely. What an intelligent and independent dog! For that reason we are going to give him a prize."

Since then the firemen named Cinnamon the mascot of the Fire Brigade. And he is the only dog that when there is a fire alarm goes on the fire truck to help to extinguish it.

3rd Part
After listening to the story, the educator holds an assembly to analyze the content, using questions that stimulate the subject, such as:
Why was the house saved from the fire?
What would have happened if Cinnamon did not warn the firemen?
How could Cinnamon warn the firemen?
What would have happened if Cinnamon had not been an independent dog?
Why did the fireman say that Cinnamon was intelligent and independent?
Is it good to be independent?

From the discussion the children will extract conclusions in which the educator must emphasize that independence is a quality that allows us to make important decisions, that can even save us in a difficult situation, to solve a problem that comes up, and that all children must try to be independent.

4th Part
It will consist of an art activity where the children will draw scenes of the story portraying the independent attitude of Cinnamon opening the taps, running to warn the firemen, etc.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They understood in an elementary way that the behavior of the dog is an expression of independence.
They understood in a simple way the importance of being independent.
They made positive manifestations about the behavior of the dog.
They expressed desires of being like Cinnamon.
They gave examples of independent behaviors in the daily life.

ACTIVITY No 2
"THE DISOBEDIENT CHICK"

Summary of the activity: This is a directed narration to point out the dangers of badly understood independence. In the first part the educator raises the subject asking questions, later he tells a story, and finally they discuss the consequences of badly understood independence.

Objectives:
• To teach the children the negative aspect of badly understood independence.
• To give the children elements for a comparative judgment of independence.

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Narration
• Questions and answers

Material Resources: Text of the story, and pictures with scenes of the content.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator raises the subject to provoke a discussion among the children and to make them see both aspects of independence:
"We have already seen what the independent behavior of Cinnamon solved. Now we are going to consider the following thing:
Is independence always good?
To what extent should one be independent?
Should the children be independent all the time?
Do you think that independence can sometimes lead to problems?

After the initial discussion we start to tell the story.

2nd Part
Narration of the story "The disobedient chick"

There was once a hen that had three chicks: one white, one yellow and another black. If she found a worm or a seed she called her chicks telling them "Cluck, Cluck, Cluck".

"Pirp, pirp, pirp" answered the chicks and ran to her side. Then the mother gave a piece to each one and she told them "Always remain close to your mummy". Soon she laid down and the chicks ran to have a nap under her great wings.

But the black chick was always bored with the every day nap, and one day he stuck his head out and looked outside.

What a beautiful day! he thought. I want to go out to take a walk, but I cannot because my mother does not want me to go out alone. But anyway, I am already big and I can walk alone, without having to depend always on her.

And here I am, leaving slowly, slowly so that my mother does not hear me. In this way he moved away from her.

I am a little scared, he thought, but...I am already big and independent. Besides, my mother is not going to find out anything.

And like this he walked and walked, when suddenly he heard a heavy voice that asked him:

"Where are you going tasteful chick?"

The chick was petrified with fright: It was the wolf! And he started to run like a maniac, and he ran and ran, and the wolf was behind him, until when on a turn on the way there was mother Hen, daddy Rooster, and all the birds of the corral.

The wolf when he saw so much force deployed, as he was a coward, thought that it was better to go away and to wait for another opportunity to catch the independent chick. And he disappeared in two seconds.

The black chick swore over and over to its mother that he was never going away without her permission.

And so the other day, when they woke up the hen said:

Are my three chicks here?

Yes, mother, and the white chick left.

Yes mother, and the yellow chick left.

But the black chick only removed his little wing by a flank from his mummy; he could not speak because of the fright that still lasted in him.

3rd Part
The educator holds an assembly to analyze the story, in which he should have the children reach their own conclusions, such as:
That independence is good to a certain extent.
That we must obey the advice that our elders give us.
That independence must go united with obedience.
That the children have to be independent little by little.
That to be independent it is necessary to know and to understand, so that it does not happen to them what happened to the black chick.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children understood in an elementary way that independence has two different faces.
They understood in a simple way that they cannot be totally independent.
They understood that to be independent it is necessary to know and to understand.
They expressed desires of being independent but with obedience.
They indicated behaviours of a positive independent behavior in daily life.

ACTIVITY No 3
"I KNOW WHAT TO DO"

Summary of the activity: The activity consists of a card game to reinforce in the children the accomplishment of independent behaviors. In the first stage the educator explains the conditions and the rules of the game, in the second the children play the game, and in the third one they analyze and assess what they did.

Objectives: To reinforce in the children the knowledge of independent behaviors.

Procedures:
• Game
• Conversation

Material Resources: Card games with scenes of actions known by the children.

Development of the activity:
The educator presents a big deck of cards that has been elaborated previously and that reflects scenes of the children’s daily life, such as:
A child cleaning his teeth.
Getting dressed in the house.
Eating in the early childhood center.
Having a shower.
Using a construction game.
Watering the garden plants in the center.
Seeding a little plant.
Cleaning the toys in the classroom.

And so on, with as many cards as he wants, the more the better. These cards will be put face down one next to the other on a low table. The educator can form teams for the game according to the size of his group of children. Later he will explain the rules of the game.

1. Each child will come to the table and will select a card. When seeing the action he will explain to the others how one does what is shown in the cards, for example:

"Here I am cleaning my teeth. I have to put toothpaste on the brush and then to brush from top to bottom and from the bottom to top, I rinse myself with clean water, I wash the toothbrush and I put it away in its place".

After the explanation the rest of the children will assess if he has guessed it right or not. A point will be given to each child who guesses it right, and none to that who makes mistakes or cannot explain how it is done.

2. The team that accumulates more points will be the winner.

3. After the winners are declared and are stimulated for their success, the educator will make a small group discussion to reinforce the importance of independence, and that children must learn to do things by themselves to be more autonomous and independent.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children knew how to play the game without difficulties.
Most of the children were able to say the steps of each process portrayed in the cards well.
There is a correspondence between what they think they know and what they really know as far as the processes in the cards.
They expressed willingness to do the things as they appear in the cards.

ACTIVITY No 4
"HOW DO I DO THINGS?"

Summary of the activity: It consists of simple activities of reciting and singing to reinforce the knowledge of the daily life actions which imply autonomy and the capacity to do things in an independent way.

Objectives: To continue reinforcing the notions of independent actions.

Procedures:
• Reciting
• Singing
• Conversation

Material Resources: Texts of poems and songs.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
It consists of the learning of poetries or songs to be used to reinforce independent behaviours. An example of text can be the following one:

"I take care of my teeth"

When I rise
I brush my teeth
I wash my face
because I am obedient
This is always done
By a very good child
To wash the teeth
It is the first thing
I also wash the teeth
When I finish eating
They are bright and shiny
As they should be.

The educator can create many more brief poems and songs for the children to learn.

2nd Part
It consists of the children reciting or singing the texts selected by the educator. The important thing of the activity is that after the performance by the children, there is a group discussion to reinforce the learning of the actions expressed in the poems and songs.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children did not have difficulties to learn the songs and poems used by the educator.
They related without difficulty the text of the poems to the actions that they imply.
They declared to know and understand how to do those actions.

ACTIVITY No 5
"I AM FREE AND INDEPENDENT"

Summary of the activity: It consists of learning and reciting texts related to the concept of independence, so that the children not only relate it to actions of daily life, but also to their behaviour and social life. In the first part the educator emphasizes the subject and the learning of texts, in the second part the children recite within a special activity created for this, and in the third they talk about the meaning of the concept of independence.

Objectives: The children learn another meaning of the notion of independence.

Procedures:
• Reciting
• Conversation
• Analysis

Material Resources: Singing texts and saying poems, pictures with images of independent actions.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator raises the question that independence is an ample concept, that it does not only mean that the children know how to do things by themselves, but it also means that there is freedom, and that countries are independent and free, indispensable conditions for peace.

Next the children learn poems that have been selected by the educator. He can create other poems to reinforce the criteria of independence and freedom.

2nd Part
The educator will create a special activity for the occasion of a celebration related to freedom and independence, so that the children recite the poems that they have learned on this subject.

3rd Part
Once the children have done the activity, the educator has to hold an assembly with the group to assess the development of the activity, and he will mention in the discussion the subject of independence and freedom, as another aspect of the notion that they have been learning in previous activities.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children understood another meaning of independence.
Most of the children were able to relate the notions of independence from its two main aspects.
There was correspondence between what they said they knew and what they really know as far as the notion of what independence is.
They expressed desires of being independent.

ACTIVITY No 6
CRITICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE BLOCK
"SLEEPING BEAUTY"

Summary of the activity: It consists of a play in which the children will do all the actions after learning the text and the tasks of the play.

Objectives:
• To verify to what extent the children are really independent.
• To reinforce through the activity the notions of independence

Procedures:
• Explanation
• Dramatization
• Conversation
• Analysis

Material Resources: The indispensable ones for the play, a stage or a selected place, the prince and the princess’ garments, park (tree, bench, etc).

Development of the activity:
1st Part
It consists of learning the play with the help of the educator, and all the actions necessary to carry it out. The educator will reinforce with the children that they have to learn all the necessary things to do the activity, but that later, in a session specially selected, there will be others who will put up all the set and will act the different roles.

The selection of the three main characters (prince, princess, and fairy) will be by group choice, the educator will try to lead them so that they are those who could represent the work better. In the same way he will help to make up the different work groups, that is to say, those who will be in charge of the stage, to place the chairs, etc.

Later we will move on to the learning of the play: "Sleeping Beauty"

2nd Part
It consists of the representation of the play by the children in a special activity, and in which the educator will let them organize all the activity, from the location of the stage to the garments and the acting. He will only intervene in case of an unsolved conflict by the children.

During the preparation he will register how each child helped out, the level of independence of each group in its task, the work relations that they establish, among other aspects, in order to diagnosis the level of independence of the entire group of children.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children were able to agree and to assume their tasks.
Most of the children were able to fulfil the tasks assigned within the assembly and organization of the dramatization.
They showed independent behaviours during the activity without frequently resorting to the educator’s support.
They solved the conflicts by themselves.
In their general behaviour they showed to be more independent than at the beginning of all the activities.