play supports literacy development in kindergarten
TRANSCRIPT
Student-Initiated Play and Literacy Development
Play for young children is not recreation activity,... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity.... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language
time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time, when
the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in
response to the stimuli he has met.
--James L. Hymes, Jr., child development specialist, author
Oral Language
• Oral Language is a crucial part of literacy development
• Research shows that vocabulary and oral language skills are a bigger predictor of later success in reading and writing than phonics and alphabet knowledge
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf
Think of oral language as the base of literacy. Reading and writing
cannot exist without it.
Oral Language
Reading Writing
• Research shows that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic play have greater language skills than non-players, better social skills, more empathy, more imagination and more of the subtle capacity to know what others mean.
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf
Making lists of things to bring, Passports and tickets at the Airport
Dramatic Play
A seat for the KING
A Place for Every Zoo Animal
At the Restaurant…
… we take orders… make menus
… write receipts
Doing some serious work!
Some “poison scientists” have just discovered the recipe for poison. They carefully read the recipe and
label the bottles of poison.
Questions?