During the ILASCD PreK/K Conference, we discussed the use of open-ended questions in our early learning classrooms. Read the Open-Ended Questions: WHY post for the first part of our discussion. The first type of questioning we examined is analytical questioning- see the post on March 16th. The second type of questioning we dug into was reflective- see post on March 23rd and on the blog post from March 29th, we looked at hypothetical questioning.
The last type of questioning that we explored during the conference is that of affective questions.
Examples from a unit of study on animals in the winter…
Reminder: We want to ask students a variety of different types of questions to expand their thinking and vocabulary.
Here is a slide that shows how we can tie together the different types of questions…
During the ILASCD PreK/K Conference, we discussed the use of open-ended questions in our early learning classrooms. Read the Open-Ended Questions: WHY post for the first part of our discussion. The first type of questioning we examined is analytical questioning- see the post on March 16th. The second type of questioning we dug into was reflective- see post on March 23rd.
Reminder: We want to ask students a variety of different types of questions to expand their thinking and vocabulary.
The third type of questioning we dug into was hypothetical questioning…
Example in a unit of study based on animals in the winter…
During the ILASCD PreK/K Conference, we discussed the use of open-ended questions in our early learning classrooms. Read the Open-Ended Questions: WHY post for the first part of our discussion. The first type of questioning we examined is analytical questioning…
Based on a unit of study of animals in the winter, hibernation, and/or using a book such as Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson or Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup as a provocation, here are some sample analytical questions…
So excited to be a part of the ILASCD (Illinois Association of Supervision, Curriculum and Development) annual PreK/K Conference in March of 2023. This is an AMAZING conference!
This year, one of the topics in which I will be speaking, is that of Loose Parts.
The key points being shared include…
Using loose parts for…
Building student’s sense of identity
Promoting collaboration and communication
Encouraging children to wonder, test, and explore their ideas
Providing provocations to guide student’s wonderings
Allowing for free, creative expression
Ideas for storage, clean up, and resources will be shared as well. More posts with specifics on each way to use loose parts will be coming soon.
One of the most challenging pieces of free choice play for many teachers is how to start without complete chaos. Here are a couple of quick and easy tips for successful free choice play centers…
IT ALL STARTS WITH THE CHILDREN’S OWNERSHIP
OF THE CENTERS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT
Provide the students with ownership of the free choice play centers from the start.
While taking a tour of the building, discuss how every room has a name that allows us to know what happens in that place.
In the classroom, talk about how each center has a purpose and specific activities. Describe some of the options in each center and allow students to brainstorm ideas such as in dramatic play, the students can care for the babies, for the animals, cook dinner, write a recipe, bake cookies, etc.; in the free choice art center, they can build a sculpture, draw or sketch a picture, design a collage picture, etc. Post the ideas that are generated by the students in each center along with a visual.
Allow the students to determine a name for each center such as Construction Site or Creation Station. The students can also create tags to show where items belong for easier cleanup.
Encourage creativity in the drawing and designing of the center signs. Allow students to use found materials to be creative such as pieces of yarn, pictures or letters from magazines, buttons, pipe cleaners, etc. Also show them how they can make objects stand out from the sign with loops, arches and so on
Have the students be detectives to notice how the center looks in a cleaned-up. state- paying attention to the details. Allow students to share how we demonstrate respect for materials.
Allow the students to brainstorm expectations for center time. Generate a list of 3-5 expectations, write them on a poster along with a visual, and have all students sign the class contract for center time.
Remote learning at home with young children can be a daunting task. However, remember that the best way for children to learn is to play! Let them PLAY!! Research proves that play isessential to a young child’s development. (Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Young Children Need to Play authored by Joan Almon and Edward Miller, published by Alliance for Children)
Play based learning builds emotional resilience and strength in children as well as enhances confidence. Through free choice play, children gain empathy and impulse control. Play is essential to the children’s development to build emotional strength. Therefore, lots of child-directed play is crucial, now more than ever.
Encourage parents to allow their children to play; to not feel pressured to engage their child with worksheets or technology programs thinking that they are preparing their child for school. Lots and lots of play, not worksheets and not technology games that are simply worksheets on a screen, will provide the foundation of creativity, resilience, engagement and persistence required for later academic learning.
Below if a a free download containing slides regarding the importance of play as well as some ideas and tips on play for parents. Feel free to share one a week to encourage parents to allow their children to engage in play.
A couple of posts in April discussed the importance of dramatic play (Learning at Home: Dramatic Play and Learning at Home: More Dramatic Play Ideas) and then last week, we expanded children’s play by watching, observing, noticing and adding additional props to encourage extended play and to expand the scenario.
Today, let’s talk about vocabulary. A child’s vocabulary by the end of Kindergarten and first grade is a significant predicator of his/her reading comprehension in later years. Hemphill and Tarvin in their research share with us that vocabulary development needs to become a central focus in our early grade classrooms along with letter identification, phonics and phonemic awareness to build strong skills and knowledge for later reading comprehension (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248940899_The_Importance_of_Early_Vocabulary_for_Literacy_Achievement_in_High-Poverty_Schools)
Dramatic play is the perfect vehicle for extending a child’s play through authentic, hands-on learning- which is the type of learning that is going to stick with a child.
Play is learning- play with your child to authentically weave in the development and use of new words. While playing with your child, think about how you can pair what they are doing plus the vocabulary in which the child is already familiar with additional words. For example, if your child tells you that she is cooking chicken; you can ask, “Are you frying or baking your chicken? I love including vegetables with my chicken. Should we steam or saute them?” Or if you can playing grocery store, you can ask your child if he/she wants to be the cashier/clerk/merchant or the shopper/purchaser/customer. Use the words interchangably and encourage your child to use multiple words. If we use the words consistently, then the child will start incorporating the words into the play and conversation.
It is also important to help your child transfer the vocabulary to other settings. If they are playing auto shop and you go to an actual auto shop for repairs or an oil change, incorporate the same vocabulary used during play to help your child make connections.
Here are some ideas for vocabulary with the additional prop suggestions from last week…
Deepening Children’s Play through Props and Vocabulary
Scenario
Ideas for additional props to add to expand the play
Ideas for additional vocabulary to incorporate while engaging in the play with the child
Orthopedic Doctor
Encourage the child to take on the role of the engineer who designs the equipment for rehabilitation (crutches, walker, sling, cast) Provide the child with stuff from a recycle bin (boxes, oatmeal containers, cardboard tubes, lids) and allow him/her to design OR encourage the child to take on the role of the physical therapist or occupational therapist and add in props such as icepacks, heat pads, exercise ball, weights, step stool
Encourage the child to begin to take calls from drivers that are stranded on the road- that cannot get into the shop for repairs and add props such as a big box to make a tow truck, empty, clean gas can, play tools, appointment sheet for phone numbers, play cell phone
Repair, roadside assistance, stranded, frantic, emergency, fuel delivery, insurance, peace of mind, on call 24 hours a day, dispatch, guarantee, customer, rescue
Home Living
If the child likes to engage in a lot of pretend cooking expand the utensils available by adding chopsticks, tongs, materials for cake decorating, wok, pie pan: then observe and notice- what direction is the child taking the play, if he/she starts decorating cakes, then you can begin weaving in play about decorating for weddings or birthdays, taking orders and selling the cakes, etc. OR Remove all plastic play food and add vase gems, dice, plastic or foam alphabet letters, building blocks, wood cookies (tree branches cut into round disks) and have fun observing the child’s creativity as the items become all kinds of different food. (remember to add items that are appropriate for your child’s age and developmental level so that they do not become a choking hazard.)
In the April 1 post, we discussed all of the amazing benefits of dramatic play. Dramatic play is SO critical to young children’s growth and development that I am going to recap one of the key benefits here:
Dramatic Play
There is documented research that demonstrates the high level of cognitive, social, and emotional benefits from children’s engagement in dramatic play.
Our goal is to help our children deepen their play experiences to engage in more complex play:
Plans elaborate themes
Play more than one role in the play scenario
Uses props symbolically (a block becomes a telephone, a pool noodle becomes a fire hose, a tree branch cut into 1/2 inch rounds become pancakes or cookie)
The play scenario takes play over multiple days
Incorporates the vocabulary of the scenario and incorporates ideas from books that have been read to him/her
When your child begins a play scenario and plays it over a couple of days (cooking in the kitchen, baking, grocery store, restaurant, vet, doctor, firefighter, traveling to space, taking care of babies, auto shop, hairdresser, school), begin to deepen the experience for him/her with additional props to help him/her delve into more complex play. Provide suggestions as you become a partner in the play but do not take over- let your child guide and lead you through the scenario.
Examples:
Deepening Children’s Play by Adding Props
Journeyintoearlychildhood.com
Scenario
Ideas for additional props to add to expand the play
Orthopedic Doctor
Encourage the child to take on the role of the engineer who designs the equipment for rehabilitation (crutches, walker, sling, cast) Provide the child with stuff from a recycle bin (boxes, oatmeal containers, cardboard tubes, lids) and allow him/her to design OR encourage the child to take on the role of the physical therapist or occupational therapist and add in props such as icepacks, heat pads, exercise ball, weights, step stool
Auto Shop
Encourage the child to begin to take calls from drivers that are stranded on the road- that cannot get into the shop for repairs and add props such as a big box to make a tow truck, empty, clean gas can, play tools, appointment sheet for phone numbers, play cell phone
Home Living
If the child likes to engage in a lot of pretend cooking expand the utensils available by adding chopsticks, tongs, materials for cake decorating, wok, pie pan: then observe and notice- what direction is the child taking the play, if he/she starts decorating cakes, then you can begin weaving in play about decorating for weddings or birthdays, taking orders and selling the cakes, etc. OR Remove all plastic play food and add vase gems, dice, plastic or foam alphabet letters, building blocks, wood cookies (tree branches cut into round disks), and have fun observing the child’s creativity as the items become all kinds of different food. (remember to add items that are appropriate for your child’s age and developmental level so that they do not become a choking hazard.)
journeyintoearlychildhood.com Expanding Children’s Play with Additional Props
YES, helping your child develop his/her fine motor skills can be fun!! Avoid the temptation to succumb to the lure of brightly colored, cute picture worksheets.
Especially when it comes to fine motor development, pushing a child too early to complete paper/pencil tasks is not better. Parents can help provide a strong foundation for later writing by having lots of fine motor fun now.
Quick, easy ideas that use household items:
Cut a small hole in the lid of an empty coffee can or oatmeal container. Decorate the container to be a monster or an animal. Cut yarn or straws into small pieces and then “feed” the monster/animal. OR cut a slit in an old tennis ball, squeeze it open and “feed” it.
Using tongs, move small items such as cotton balls, tissue, pom-poms, noodles from one container to another. OR by looking at the group of items, estimate how many each bowl will have if you share them. Place one at a time in a set amount of bowls and count how many are in each bowl.
Fine Motor Fun with Toilet Paper Tubes and Straws
Build a tower with cardboard toilet paper tubes, a hole punch, and straws or pipe cleaners. Make holes in the toilet paper tube and connect them with the straw.
Fine Motor Fun with Old Tennis Racquets and String/Yarn/Ribbon
5. Weave ribbon in and out of an old bike wheel, old tennis racquet, etc.
Fine Motor Fun with Nuts and Bolts
Match nuts and bolts and screw them together.
6. Cut letters and numbers from empty food containers. Sort them in lots of different ways. (Learning at Home: Sorting Letters and Numbers Free Download at journeyintoearlychildhood.com)
To read more about why worksheets are not the best learning tool for young learners, read my blog posts:
Journey into Early Childhood 