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It is incredible that play can say so much about a child's development.

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It is incredible that play can say so much about a child's development.

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Both Thomas and Celeste were engaging in play. They were playing parallel, utilising some shared items with little interaction.
Thomas appeared to observe and mimic Celeste's pretend sequences early in the play, however removed himself to solitary building and construction. Thomas's verbal communication was limited, responding to teacher questions with short verbal and/or non-verbal responses. Celeste, although difficult to fully hear was narrating her play as it developed, allowing the teacher to actively join in and extend her ideas.
Celeste demonstrated a number of imaginative play skills including scripts and character play with horses, playing mums/dads, stealing/saving baby. Celeste and her male peer demonstrated object substitution, using blocks to build fences and walls within their script.

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Both students were building play scripts with the horses. Thomas moved onto a different play script when using the digger after observing another student playing with the diggers. Celeste showed object subsitution with the stones as 'the horses babies' and used a bit of role play when voicing the horse during figurine play. She later showed some frustration when another student took the stones she was using without asking, asking them to stop before she sought out some more from a container. All students could have been working on a goal about a process of how things work or how living and non living things interact.

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This is definitely an area for improvement. This course has given me lots of insight into assessing play-based learning. I love the possibility of assessing multiple curriculum areas in one play centre. A challenge I face is that if I haven't planned my play centres with a specific purpose or learning goal in mind, then I don't know what I am assessing, and can become overwhelmed by it.

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Both Thomas and Celeste were demonstrating their play skills, however it was evident that they are both at differing levels. Thomas was attempting to imitate his peers in play and used observation to help him understand the game and the rules. Celeste took a leading role and was able to engage with her peers during play. Celeste was demonstrating some higher order thinking and you could hear some narrative happening. Thomas will respond well and improve his play skills with positive role models and more exposure to his peers.

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It was quite interesting to watch the different levels of play and how some issues of sharing were quickly resolved. I have spent some time in playroom therapy so I understand assessing through play a bit already. What I think I would struggle with is navigating this for over 20 students at a time.

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Learning experiences is something we have used during class time. Roll playing, sorting, exploring and investigating.

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The two children were exhibiting quite different forms of play. While both had parallel play to a degree. Celeste was far more outgoing in seeking play engagement and hands on with different. She had a lot of solitary play. Whereas, Thomas was observing and learning from watching. He was copying and amending his movements and actions from watching.
Observation of object substitution was evident with Celeste and Thomas, Yet Celeste had a more verbal component to the play.
There were many of the different imaginary and dramatics play skills present in this clip.

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I usually assess student learning through play by observing and taking anecdotal notes. I think I could expand upon this by making checklists (I have drafted one for my Bush School program, focusing solely on Speaking and Listening at the moment, as there are so many possible areas that could be assessed) and by keeping an Inquiry Diary like the teachers at Wales St describe. I have used learning goals with specific outcomes, such as agreeing with a diverse group of friends on what to play and playing with unfamiliar people, and we have reflected on this with the class, which generated some good discussions of strategies. 

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I usually assess student learning through play by observing and taking anecdotal notes. I think I could expand upon this by making checklists (I have drafted one for my Bush School program, focusing solely on Speaking and Listening at the moment, as there are so many possible areas that could be assessed) and by keeping an Inquiry Diary like the teachers at Wales St describe. I have used learning goals with specific outcomes, such as agreeing with a diverse group of friends on what to play and playing with unfamiliar people, and we have reflected on this with the class, which generated some good discussions of strategies. 

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I have used play shops/cafes in my class. The children absolutely love them (including any 5/6 children who come to visit!). The children started using counters and pieces of paper for money. This enabled them to write prices and write numbers on the "notes", which is good practice in number formation. It also prompted a discussion about the dollar sign and where it goes. There were so many other areas to assess here, like quantities for recipes, numbers of items bought, change, etc. 

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I have used play shops/cafes in my class. The children absolutely love them (including any 5/6 children who come to visit!). The children started using counters and pieces of paper for money. This enabled them to write prices and write numbers on the "notes", which is good practice in number formation. It also prompted a discussion about the dollar sign and where it goes. There were so many other areas to assess here, like quantities for recipes, numbers of items bought, change, etc. 

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Celeste and Thomas were at quite different levels of play. Celeste was using higher-order thinking and roleplay skills, assigning characters, assigning meaning to objects and expressing opinions and wants in her conversation. Thomas was more observing and imitating play skills. Another example of peer teaching and learning and how children can learn from each other in play. Thomas might need more support from the teacher to initiate play and to imagine objects as other objects.  

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Celeste and Thomas were at quite different levels of play. Celeste was using higher-order thinking and roleplay skills, assigning characters, assigning meaning to objects and expressing opinions and wants in her conversation. Thomas was more observing and imitating play skills. Another example of peer teaching and learning and how children can learn from each other in play. Thomas might need more support from the teacher to initiate play and to imagine objects as other objects.  

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I work in special education. Maths/numeracy is not a favorite subject but when we use their favorite characters/toys etc. e.g. dragons or trains we can tailor their work sheets to include these characters and the students remain engaged in their learning and complete their work

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I work in special education. Maths/numeracy is not a favorite subject but when we use their favorite characters/toys etc. e.g. dragons or trains we can tailor their work sheets to include these characters and the students remain engaged in their learning and complete their work

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Play creates a rich authentic learning environment, teachers need to be observant, responsive and have a strong understanding of curriculum to be able to assess where a students is at and what is their next step to be able to provide appropriate scaffolding for learning.

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High levels of involvement of students give many opportunities to engage with assessment through playing alongside, prompting and questioning and observing what happens. Students learn from each other during these play experiences.

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I work in the special school environment and managing behaviours while the play is occurring is my major challenge.

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The main challenge I would find assessing play, is managing the whole class and behaviour while the play is occurring. This would take a lot of practice to have the whole class either engaged in learning and having a small group only in a 'play' setting. Or being able to manage the whole grade engaged in play. In reality, things don't always go as you plan. 

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The main challenge I would find assessing play, is managing the whole class and behaviour while the play is occurring. This would take a lot of practice to have the whole class either engaged in learning and having a small group only in a 'play' setting. Or being able to manage the whole grade engaged in play. In reality, things don't always go as you plan. 

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I can now see that I already use a lot of questioning in maths while the students are engaged in play. I can see the benefit of structuring this further and including more play during maths. At my school we incorporate many games in maths, and we try to have at least one game/time for play in each session.

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Really interesting to see the two children play so differently. I think the journal is a fantastic idea. I mostly do relief teaching, but look forward to one day practicing all of these assessment ideas.

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Really interesting to see the two children play so differently. I think the journal is a fantastic idea. I mostly do relief teaching, but look forward to one day practicing all of these assessment ideas.

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Anectdotal notes are used in our school during our Investigations time, along with photos which are great to display and share with parents. Children are engaged in self reflection and questioning at the end of the session. I would love to have a teacher checklist of questions handy when doing observations as well as recording of childrens responses.

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Anectdotal notes are used in our school during our Investigations time, along with photos which are great to display and share with parents. Children are engaged in self reflection and questioning at the end of the session. I would love to have a teacher checklist of questions handy when doing observations as well as recording of childrens responses.

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I love to ask children to set a learning goal during play based/inquiry learning, whether it be individual or group based. This is a useful base for assessment. As a Foundation teacher I often find that children are highly motivated, confident and determined in choosing and articulating their goal. The most rewarding part of this process, I believe is not necessarily the end result but the journey! The richness of conversation at the end of the process can be such a joy when it includes the identification of problems encountered, strategies tried, evaluations, teamwork etc. So much learning evident in this process. I like to take photos as we go to create a journal or put on Seesaw and often include these activities in writing processes.

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I love to ask children to set a learning goal during play based/inquiry learning, whether it be individual or group based. This is a useful base for assessment. As a Foundation teacher I often find that children are highly motivated, confident and determined in choosing and articulating their goal. The most rewarding part of this process, I believe is not necessarily the end result but the journey! The richness of conversation at the end of the process can be such a joy when it includes the identification of problems encountered, strategies tried, evaluations, teamwork etc. So much learning evident in this process. I like to take photos as we go to create a journal or put on Seesaw and often include these activities in writing processes.

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Thomas spends time observing other children building on his own, although appears distracted and not terribly engaged on several occasions. It was evident that he benefited from some teacher modelling and interaction in play activity. Celeste, on the other hand is actively involved in the activity demonstrating imagination and creativity. She appears highly confident and focused on her own devised play script, moving around collecting other resources and conversing with the teacher. She engages with another child when they took one of her toys and moves to take it back, simple problem solving! 

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Thomas spends time observing other children building on his own, although appears distracted and not terribly engaged on several occasions. It was evident that he benefited from some teacher modelling and interaction in play activity. Celeste, on the other hand is actively involved in the activity demonstrating imagination and creativity. She appears highly confident and focused on her own devised play script, moving around collecting other resources and conversing with the teacher. She engages with another child when they took one of her toys and moves to take it back, simple problem solving! 

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Thomas is learning through watching others play. Thomas enjoys the building and creating using blocks without verbalising what he is doing. Celeste is developing a narrative , setting the scene, working through and solving a problem. Celeste is able to work alongside others well. 

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Thomas is learning through watching others play. Thomas enjoys the building and creating using blocks without verbalising what he is doing. Celeste is developing a narrative , setting the scene, working through and solving a problem. Celeste is able to work alongside others well. 

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Thomas looks as though he is using object substitution well. He is learning through watching Celeste and following many of her movements in her own made up play script. He enjoys individual building and knows where to go to collect more objects without conflict between his peers. Celeste looks like she has a bubbly character and uses object substitution and her own play script. She interacts with her peers and didn't mind telling everyone her baby was taken. The teacher gave positive reinforcement that she had gathered other toys to substitute for the toys taken by the other student.   I would love to encourage them(with an example) in the next session to talk to at least one other friend's character to find out their name and what they would like to build today and see if this leads to interaction between characters.   

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Thomas looks as though he is using object substitution well. He is learning through watching Celeste and following many of her movements in her own made up play script. He enjoys individual building and knows where to go to collect more objects without conflict between his peers. Celeste looks like she has a bubbly character and uses object substitution and her own play script. She interacts with her peers and didn't mind telling everyone her baby was taken. The teacher gave positive reinforcement that she had gathered other toys to substitute for the toys taken by the other student.   I would love to encourage them(with an example) in the next session to talk to at least one other friend's character to find out their name and what they would like to build today and see if this leads to interaction between characters.   

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It was great to view the 2 students. It does clearly the differing needs in the classroom in the ways these 2 students interact. Thomas is very much imitating others and it would be great to see the growth he has throughout the year. Celeste is creating her own script and is self driven in her play.

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The two children play quite differently. I notice Thomas plays quite independently of other students - alongside, with object substitution. Celeste is very interactive, using role play and figurine play, with some evidence of the other forms of play as well. As Thomas grows it would be interesting to see his development grow to include role play and narrative.

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The two children play quite differently. I notice Thomas plays quite independently of other students - alongside, with object substitution. Celeste is very interactive, using role play and figurine play, with some evidence of the other forms of play as well. As Thomas grows it would be interesting to see his development grow to include role play and narrative.

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I think it would be beneficial to have a list of open ended/thought provoking questions to ask to assess understanding of Math topics

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I love idea of setting up a play journal to record their goals, observations and progress. I like the idea of having the curriculum links in the journal and ticking off the ones they address through different activities. I love that play can teach numeracy, literacy and personal and social capabilities in one session.

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I have a list of students and require students to come to me for 5 minutes to complete a task - whether that be playing BINGO based on letter recognition or making me a pattern using beads. I write notes based on what they can do and what needs to be worked on.
I now realise how important focusing on students communication is and what questions they are asking and what they are answering.
I find it difficult to create diversity in tasks and getting students excited about playing with explicit mathematics tasks and literacy tasks. I find most students go to building blocks, puzzles and the home corner, rather than a letter recognition or shape attribute blocks tasks. How can I get students excited about going to mathematics tasks and literacy tasks?

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As PBL is new to me this year, I have found assessing the most challenging as I believed that I had to pull students away from what they were 'playing' with to 'play' with a numeracy activity. I didn't make the connection that building blocks could not only be a great focus for identifying colour, or number of blocks but also the communication as to how they made their creation.

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as a newbie this is my greatest area to work through. i have began to take observations and also to ask the  children after  a session what did they like playing with, what were they doing in the session, what else would they like to have in our sessions. as i only have 10 and they all are very familiar with each other and interact a lot in and and out of school the social aspects seem fine but taking notes without interrupting their play or creating diversion is challenging.
a question i have
is do you comment on these sessions in formal reports to parents??

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I agree that Celeste was playing on a higher more imaginative/creative level than Thomas who was more parallel playing mimicking what Celeste was doing. Celeste had assigned a role to her horse and a story about what he wanted to do while Thomas was very much still working with objects and using them in a simple manner with no role/story assigned,

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I really like the idea of using a play based journal to set goals which can be sourced from the curriculum. I agree it is a great way to embed personal, social and emotional capabilities into students consciousness. Translation of these concepts from classroom to all settings is the ultimate sign of success.

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Celeste was creating a play script, she showed sequence of play in the motions she had the horse doing. She substituted blocks for fencing and blue fabric for a drinking spot for the horse. She had figurine play happening with the horse and it's baby and she problem solved to continue her script when the other boy took her baby horse.

Thomas on the otherhand seemed to be mirroring what Celeste was doing. He didn't seem to have as much knowledge of horses as Celeste did even when the other boy added cylindrical blocks into his paddock which I thought he could use as steeples for the horse to jump over but it seemed he didn't have this background knowledge. Thomas seemed to quickly tire of the horse moving on to building with blocks and using the blocks as a garage and then a road for the tractor. Object substitution and sequence of play. I didn't hear any dialogue from Thomas until the teacher came over and interacted with him.

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In my experience, when observing imaginary and dramatic play skills - children's language informs me about how they reflect on their own thinking. for example "if i was a wolf i would change my voice to be super growly rough". What I struggle to do is find time in the classroom to provide opportunities for things like playscripts to develop. Any suggestions to support this better would be appreciated.