How will incorporating play in the Kindergarten classroom impact literacy skills and motivation?

Seminar Title

How will incorporating play in the Kindergarten classroom impact literacy skills and motivation?

Play and Literacy

Kindergarten

Elementary

Reading

Writing

How many of us remember play kitchens, blocks, easel paints, and other toys being a part of our kindergarten classroom? The sad fact is, many of these things are vanishing from our kindergarten classrooms of today. Kindergarten has changed significantly over the past decade and has become the new first grade. With the increase of standards and the No Child Left Behind act, teachers are pressured to push “academic kindergartens” where 5-year-olds are more likely to be involved in skill and drill exercise, than to engage in play. Do you struggle with balancing time for academics and also allowing time for students to play? So did I, so I chose to research ways to incorporate literacy skills and embed them into play activities. I am excited about my research because it has allowed for more student choice of what they read and write, and has given them opportunities to retell stories through imaginative play, all while allowing them to fulfill their natural desire to play. Although my research was done in my kindergarten classroom, incorporating more student driven and playful activities could be incorporated into all primary grades. So, if you are looking for ways to bring play back into the classroom, this is the session for you!

The question guiding my research is as follows: How will incorporating play in the Kindergarten classroom impact literacy skills and motivation? A review of the literature suggested strategies in several areas of my practice that could help me bring about the changes I am seeking. As a result of my literature review, areas I targeted for change in my practice included 1) play as a form of motivation 2) reading comprehension, and 3) increase in use of early literacy skills, such as reading and writing. My classroom environment was also impacted by developing monthly dramatic play units with in a print rich center, and creating a small world retell center, that includes props to act out fairy tale stories. Assessment of these learning processes included, 1) student work samples of the lists, menus, and recipes created in the dramatic play center and 2) pre and post student story maps, assessing student’s comprehension before and after participating in the retell center. Through my research I have learned how play motivates students and the persistence students show when they are immersed in play. Research also indicates that dramatic play increases story comprehension while developing connections to books. Students in my classroom were very motivated to read in the dramatic play area, and I saw a great increase in the use of the writing in this area. Students were highly motivated to retell stories in the small world center by choosing how to arrange the setting, interact with characters, and work with classmates, all while improving their comprehension of the story. I also found that the teacher’s prompting and support at these centers, greatly improved student’s motivation and understanding of the materials. As a result of incorporating play opportunities in my classroom, I see the benefit of giving students choice over how they learn. I will continue to develop monthly dramatic play centers, as a way to give students choice of their reading and writing. In addition, I want to further expand my retell center, creating bins of each of the stories we’ve read so students may choose the stories they recreate and retell. I would like to make this center more open-ended, and encourage students to create their own stories as well.