The Importance Of Play And Storytelling When Teaching Elementary Students

The creative curriculum classroom is a community. In the creative curriculum classroom, instruction is based on observing and developing what the children say and do. Based on Vygotsky's term zone of proximal development (ZPD), creative curriculum teachers provide learning experiences that are challenging enough to move children to a higher level of learning, not so challenging as to frustrate them. Creative curriculum teachers facilitate growth and development of all children in the class and create a classroom environment in which their own effectiveness can be affirmed.(Colker)

The philosophy of the primary school where I work is that every child's unique needs and abilities should and must be honored. Children's different learning needs and styles are incorporated into the curriculum. On an informal level, teachers are encouraged to make use of lesson plans that utilize different types of media and methods of evaluation. Lesson plans often make use of visual and kinesthetic aspects of the learning experience as well as more traditional methods that emphasize mathematical, spatial, and verbal intelligences.

This week I learned about differe\irente instruction. I also learn how to implement a lesson plan to meet the needs for each students in the classroom. Each child learning style is different one child might understand the problem one way and then another child might solve the problem a whole different way. I learned about exceptional children and how they need intensive learning and individualize learning. That why it is important to observe and know each individual child so you can support them to the bset of their ability. My host teacher used different strategies to help the students understand the problem. When I did my lesson plan if was a challenge and time consumer.I likle how the lesson plan met the needs of the children. The teacher put the students in different groups so they acn help each other learn. Sometimes children learn best and better from other children.My host teachger explain to me that

 zone of proximal development. To reach the target that child need lots of help and not steps which are to big as this could knock there confidence. Another stage Vygotsky has is ‘the importance of play’ he believed that play provides essential skills to improve their social, personal, and professional activates. This means that children can play and do things beyond what they can do in real life- such as play mums and dads, pretend to drive a car. Though play they talk to each other and pretend they are in a different world with only their friends. Play is another way they can reach the zone of proximal development. Reconstruction is another stage which means child experience the same situation again and again as they grow up. Each time they have this experience they can deal with it at a higher level. This means

During the Spring Semester of my sophomore year at The College of New Jersey, I was placed at Maurice Hawk Elementary School in West Windsor Plains Burrow for my practicum experience. My practicum partner, Gwen, and I were placed in Mrs. Jones’ 3rd grade classroom. This portfolio is an accumulation of different lessons and activities we observed and participated in, both in Mrs. Jones’ classroom as well as in other classes held at Maurice Hawk. The portfolio is just a snapshot of all we did and learned, but it serves as a reminder of various learning theories and application of teaching practices in a real classroom.

How can care be provided for young children while fostering their growth and development? The answer can be found in curriculum. The curriculum that is implemented and the way the curriculum is executed affects the quality of care for those infants and toddlers. There are multiple types of curriculum, and it depends on what type of environment and learning the caregiver is wanting to provide. A curriculum that has been proven to be effective for infants and toddlers, is play based curriculum. Play based curriculum is recommend for young children to help them learn and develop through play. Curriculum based on play supports learning and development with the use of engaging activities.

There is a part in the handbook, learning and teaching play. Play involves the holistic child, from the physical, psychological, intellectual, social, and emotional. Either by working independently or group work. Play is now a big part of the curriculum as doesn’t just help with the teaching side, but it also gives the children a way to relax and be themselves, and to express their feelings or what is going on in their life through play. (http://ccea.org.uk accessed on 29th November 2016)

In order to support a play based approach to learning it is important to understand that supporting and leading are two different roles that practitioners can take when it comes to children’s play. When we control or take over a child’s play, they are violating the basic principles of play being self-chosen and self-directed by the child. When children lose the freedom to explore openly, the experience loses its meaning. Instead we can support children’s play by being involved and engaged in their play, but not taking over, allowing them to build up themselves, engage in learning and exploration can provide opportunities to help them expand their experiences. By being involved, children learn that adults are invested in them and respect their play decisions.

Since I was unable to help the children with their understanding of the new concept, I spent extra time going over it with them again. The students began to connect previous knowledge to the new concept using descriptive words, sensory words and emotions. As they worked in groups, they were able to think up different points of view for different characters. They played with creativity while giving human characteristic to objects. Students showed a good understanding of the material. One group in my first class gave me a great idea. As they stood up to share the point of view of a specific object, they did not tell us what object they had until the end of their writing. This made the class guess what the object was. I noticed all the students attention became more focused on what they were saying as their brains were churning. Since this was such a fun experience, I decided to continue it with my next couple classes. I was pleased with the outcome of the second lesson and how much the class not only learned from this lesson, but also how much fun they had doing

Children learn best through play. Educational play is the best way to teach young children. Children learn best when they have access to learning opportunities that match their preferred learning development. Young children are active learners; their brain develops faster than any other point in their lives. I trust every child is a special person who needs a protected, mindful, and strengthening air in which to create and grow deep down, rationally, physical, and social.

I am the proud mom of four AMAZING kids, a wife to my supportive and hard-working husband, and a dedicated educator with 19 years of creative, effective, and engaging teaching experiences. I LOVE teaching…from the moment you step into my warm, welcoming, themed classroom, to interacting and guiding every student toward personal success, to sharing in their triumphs and challenges, to fostering the “real-world” connections, and most importantly…fostering a love of learning! I work endless hours planning, researching, preparing, and implementing in order to be creative, effective, engaging, and fun for every student. I pride myself on being able to connect and build strong relationships with all of my students each year. I believe in the importance of knowing each student’s learning style, and truly understanding their personal strengths and weaknesses, as like every adult, each child is unique and learns differently and at their own pace! Further, I believe that ALL kids can LEARN! I teach each of my students the importance of taking ownership, involving

Through this past semester, we have heavily discussed the important aspects of a functioning classroom, from different theorists to helpful teaching techniques. We’ve debated what it means to be a great teacher. There are quite a few flaws in our education system today, but I believe most of the theories we discussed could be accorporated much more in the classroom. John Dewey, Friedrich Froebel, Maria Montessori, and Lev Vygotsky all understood the way children think and the importance of imaginative play. They also understood that children need to be active in nature. Also, we have discussed different forms of learning, such as project based learning, and outdoor classrooms. In my opinion, the education system should have minor changes that benefit the students more.

Throughout my academic career, I have always been confined to a classroom for each of my classes, whether they consisted of physics, European history, or Spanish. To me, some courses are suited for a classroom, while others seem to desperately warrant a more extensive learning opportunity in order to fully appreciate the material. In particular, I believe that art history would be improved immensely by experiencing and learning first-hand the nuances of the connection between pieces of art and their cultural significance.

The article that I chose was titled “More Play Please the Perspective of Kindergarten Teachers on Play in the Classroom” by Meghan Lynch. I chose this research paper because I wanted to gain some perspective into the classrooms of teachers today and how play is being implemented. In the first two lines of the paper Lynch states “the research increasingly shows that play expedites a variety of social, cognitive, motor, and linguistic improvements, and that social play allows children to become more creative and more adept at explaining meaning verbally, more successful at manipulating different symbol systems, and more confident when experimenting with new activities.” She goes on to say that in school settings, teachers gently guide play,

According to the book ece101, Philosophy of education is a set of believes about how children's develop and learn and what and how should be thought.” play is the number one learning for children's during a usual preschool day play makes a big role for children's learning where children's are self-structured. The environment for children is commonly known in early childhood education as a play to learn. Learning settings must be reinforced persistently play which includes a block of various shapes and sizes and material and Dramatic play of different cultural clothing and variety of items sensory table, art different paint. Also, puzzles and music and movement etc… High-quality early childhood programs impart children to think imaginatively