The Importance of Play in the Classroom

By Rita Mercado, First Grade Teacher, Serendipity School

I have taught first grade for the last 12 years, and it seems like every year I get questions about what we do during our “Choice Time.” The number one thing that my students learn how to do during playtime or choice time is learn how to problem solve.

My student’s favorite choice is the blocks. Here you see some children building with blocks, but what else are they doing. They are learning about spatial reasoning, using geometry, comparing heights and inclines, among many other things. Not only are children learning how to share and work together during playtime, but they are becoming the engineers of the future. I often overhear my students discussing how they can change the angle of their ramp to make the cars go faster or how to make their tower taller by building a more stable base. They also like to “shop” around the room to find things to add to their structures. “Let’s use this toilet paper roll to add a tunnel for the cars to drive through!” or “Let’s use the counting bears to have customers at our hotel.” The play is collaborative, creative, and inventive.

I encourage everyone to find what’s right for his or her class and allow time for students to explore. Do all of my students choose blocks? No, but they do all chose something to investigate, discover or create. Mini whiteboards to record math problems, scarp paper bins to create masterpieces, note paper to write messages, and math manipulatives to find new purposes for are all things that we already have on hand in class that my students gravitate to on different days. There is no limit to what they can come up to do during our “Choice Time” and my best answer to what they are doing during this time is learning.

Comments

Science fairs: Nurturing the 21st century thinker

3D Tessellation model A bespectacled 6th grader enthusiastically explains ‘efficiency of 3D space tessellations’ with myriad equations and handmade tessellation patterns to address the needs of the packaging, storing, shipping and construction industry. Another middle school student, was inspired by his little brother’s telescope and built a simple vacuum chamber using a PVC pipe with a microphone and a speaker on both ends to find out how sound travels on Mars! This 8th grader from Granada Islamic School used an oscilloscope his mother found at an auction to measure the sounds. “I poke around and find junk to build my projects. It’s fun.” Science projects today have become fun for many students as they use more hands on activities to experiment and understand concepts. These two middle school students were among 996 participants at the recent Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship , where RAFT was one of the special judges. Moenes Iskarous, President, S...

Plastic to art that’s fantastic!

With Valentine’s Day round the corner, one of RAFT ’s upcoming weekend workshops – ‘Shrink Art Fun’ shows you how to recycle plastic into awesome shrink art! This year learn how to make some meaningful gifts using donated plastic material, available at RAFT in the form of trays and take-out containers, thus preventing them from ending up in a landfill. Shrink plastics encourage creativity, and can be used to supplement a variety of classroom activities. Students can create models, manipulatives, and displays. They can make maps, pins, book report characters, and even cards! But there is also a science behind this hands on art form! Says Instructor Georgina Patterson, who has been in the education field for 40 years, “The science behind the shrinkage process is a chemistry lesson in itself, and the excitement young children get when they watch the plastic change size in the oven is worth the effort!” The base material consists of thin, flexible polystyrene plast...

Turn Daylight Savings Time into a Teachable Moment

Don’t lose sleep over this, but Daylight Savings Time (DST) is here! On March 11th it's time to set your clocks forward and say goodbye to one hour of sleep! There’s no time to waste! Make this year’s Daylight Savings Time an engaging and meaningful experience for you and your students. RAFT has plenty of ideas to help you and your students get ready for DST: “ Time for Shadows ” shows you how to quickly assemble an equatorial sundial that you can quickly adjust for daylight savings time! Learn about sun positions and shadows with drinking straws, a protractor, a compass, and a CD! Use a view binder cover, a watch, a paperclip, straws, the compass, and other easily accessible resources to create a “ View Binder Sundial ” similar to the one our forefathers used to tell time before clocks were invented! Create a sand timer (based on the concept of an hourglass), and learn how to measure time with “Sand Timer Primer.” Why do we have Daylight Savings Time?...

RAFT Hands-On Education

Search This Blog