Post and update to your research study and also answer the following questions:
What does playful learning look and feel like in your classroom?
To produce the conditions for playful learning, what is one thing that you tried (and tried again)? How did it go? What did you learn?
November
Thoughts on Play
Playful learning takes on many forms in my classroom. It is a dynamic mix of exploration, hands on activites and creativtiy. Children eagerly collaborate in small groups, partnerships and work independently in both an academic and play setting. The atmosphere feels joyful and energetic and at the heart of every activity there is curiosity, discovery and laughter.
Playful learning can be challenging at times and often asks children to use materials in ways that they have not tried before. Often a playful learning activity starts with a question, "Can you use these materials to show ___________________?" "What do you think will happen if ___________________?" "How could we use these materials to practice_____________?" Sometimes, playful learning starts with an idea that sparks curiosity and engagement. These ideas can come from a child's question or even an interesting object. Once the idea takes root, it grows through exploration, discussion and hands on play.
At this stage in our Heggerty practices, the children are heavily focusing on beginning and ending sounds in CVC words, rhyming and blending word parts. Since Heggerty is oral and auditory, most of our hands on activities are as well. One fun piece embeded in the first 6 weeks of Heggerty in finishing the sentences the teacher begins; Ex. Dogs can _______. My friends are ___________. We like to ____________. The children find great joy in completing these sentences with a funny ending. They are excited to participate in this open ended part.
Play in Phonics
Recently, the children went on a sound scavenger hunt in the classroom. They searched for obejcts that started or ended with a specific sound. This was quite a challenge since the kids had to name the object, say it slowly and listen carefully, but it nicely reflected our Heggerty practices. Also, one alternative to segmenting words was having the kids segment CVC words and jump for each sound and then blend them together as they land. Ex. /c/ /a/ /t/ - a jump for each sound, and then, "CAT!" as they land after the blend. The addition of the kinesthetic piece was playful and appropriate and the kids love any chance to move their bodies! We also recently played syllable hopscotch with colored circles on the floor inside the classroom. The kids jump the number of syllables in a word - cat = 1 jump to a colored circle. pencil = 2 jumps, etc. The kids loved this!
Each of these activities went really well and in conjunction with the weekly oral and auditory practices in the Heggerty curriculum, they are helping to build a solid phonemic foundation. We are seeing change over time in both their reading and writing and the kids are having fun!