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The kindergarten classroom is a platform for young and early learners between the age groups of 4-5 to grow and and develop not only academically, but socially, emotionally, physically and aesthetically so they get an overall development of their personality. Most of their development and learning is "play-based" at this age.

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"Play" is the cornerstone of a young child's development. Brain research tells us that children who are brought up in a play-based environment have greater social skills, are more creative, display less anger, are more imaginative and able to handle issues in a more appropriate manner.

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Play centres are the most crucial areas of learning. It is very important that the learning centres created by the teacher for play-way learning must be planned well to stimulate their ideas and further enhance them to think creatively. Children at the kindergarten level, have so many ideas that they are waiting to burst out with. Our responsibility as teachers is to help them unlock these feelings and ideas.

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The Language Centre helps students identify letters with the sounds. I was supplying in a Kindergarten class last week and the students were learning the letter D for the week. I observed that the DECE and the teacher had created a Dinosaur Park for the students to learn about Dinosaurs. They had a huge poster on which a Dinosaur Park was drawn. The teacher had the students gather around the Centre and was asking students what they know about dinosaurs.

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Inquiry Based Questions were asked to the students such as:

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Inquiry Based Questions were asked to the students such as:

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1. Where do you think the dinosaurs lived?

2. What did they eat?

3. What do you know about their habitats?

4. Why do we not see dinosaurs around now?

5. How big do you think the dinosaurs were?

The students came up with varied responses and it was amazing to see how much they knew especially  from the picture books and movies that they watched and read earlier. Some of them loved to talk, say funny things and made everyone laugh.

This activity enabled them to communicate with one another while observing the Dinosaur Park. I could see some of them watching intently which also includes Exploration Play for them.

The centre also had dinosaur toys which they could play with. Students had to take turns to play with the dinosaurs and I could see that they were problem-solving when they had to share the toys. They were using language when they had to communicate with each other and share their knowledge about dinosaurs.

The activity in the afternoon at the Language Centre had students make their own dinosaurs out of coloured paper so they could explore their creativity. Students took turns to come to the centre, look at the park and go back to their seats.

The letter "D" was displayed on Google Slides. Students used their imagination and previous knowledge to make words with the letter D. For example, they came up with words like doll, doctor, dentist, dinosaur, door and doughnut.

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Differentiated Instruction during the Dinosaur Park Activity

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Differentiated Instruction during the Dinosaur Park Activity

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Students were asked to pick pictures displayed on the Smart Board and the teacher copy-pasted them next to the D-word that the students came up with. For example, a picture of a doll was pasted next to the word doll. For students who are better visual learners, this is an apt form of learning. Besides, problem-solving, they were also innovating what they learned by increasing their personal English lexicon.

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Resources needed to make their own paper dinosaur:

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Resources needed to make their own paper dinosaur:

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Glue

Black Crayon

Marker

Paper cutout of letter D

4 paper cutouts of dinosaur legs

5 paper cutouts of dinosaur spikes

1 paper cutout of dinosaur tail

1 paper cutout of dinosaur mouth

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The students watched while the teacher explained how they were supposed to glue the parts of the dinosaur together. A sample of the finished dinosaur was displayed on the board for those students who needed to see an exemplar to successfully finish the task.

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Differentiated Instruction during the Make your own Dinosaur Activity

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Differentiated Instruction during the Make your own Dinosaur Activity

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Once they were instructed on the activity, the DECE and myself went around to help those students who were struggling to figure out how to glue the parts correctly.

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Inquiry Based Questions were asked to the students such as:

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Inquiry Based Questions were asked to the students such as:

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1. Where do you think the spikes should go?

2. Do you think the legs should be glued here?

The students were Problem-Solving and Creating a new dinosaur.  They were also demonstrating Literacy behaviours as they were using language to express what they knew and communicate to one another.

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Assessment during the Make your own dinosaur activity:

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Assessment during the Make your own dinosaur activity:

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- Observations were made regarding student knowledge of dinosaurs. For example, one of the students knew a lot of dinosaur facts and kept raising his hand to share while other students were quieter, but clearly listening to their classmate and learning from him.
- Cross-curricular learning was taking place in the classroom where language and science were integrated in play-based learning.

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Resources needed for the Make your own Dinosaur Activity

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Resources needed for the Make your own Dinosaur Activity

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4. Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours

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4. Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours

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Note: Observed in the same kindergarten classroom in which I supplied last week.

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1. Pictures of insects would be shown to the students such as caterpillars, butterflies, bees etc.

2. I would read the storybook "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

3. Ask them questions about the story.

4. Students would come up with varied responses.

5. Create a centre with pictures of "Life Cycle of the Butterfly."

6. Have the students use their knowledge and creativity to Sequence the various stages of the Life Cycle of the Butterfly.

7. Have students look at the handout carefully.

8. Ask questions to help students answer and come up on their own the order of sequence as to how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

9. Cut the pictures in the right order, glue and paste them on to a new sheet of blank paper.

10. Colour the pictures.

11. Display their work on the "Language Wall" in the classroom/

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The book - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Handout with assorted pictures of the various stages of the butterfly

Scissors

Glue

Colour Pencils

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The students will be problem solving, demonstrating literacy behaviour, and belonging and contributing their ideas, sharing materials and expressing their ideas as to how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. The teacher will use "prompts" to help the students come up with their answers. thus enhancing their creativity and learning. Cross-curricular learning is also taking place as students learn to sequence (language) and also learn about the life cycle of a butterfly (science).

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Differentiated Instruction during the Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activity

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Differentiated Instruction during the Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activity

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Once students are given the activity, the teacher will circulate in order to ensure they are doing it correctly and assist with cutting and gluing for any students still developing their fine motor skills. For those students who need extra help, an exemplar of the completed activity will be posted on the board after a few minutes to help them out.

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Assessment during the Life Cycle of the Butterfly Activity:

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Assessment during the Life Cycle of the Butterfly Activity:

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- Observations will be made regarding student knowledge of butterfly life cycle. Leading questions will be asked and notes will be made on which students demonstrate more extensive knowledge.
- Observations will be made regarding which students need assistance with gluing and cutting in regards to their fine motor skills.
- Observations will be made regarding student abilities on sequencing.

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Patterning Activity with Coloured Bottle Caps. 

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Patterning Activity with Coloured Bottle Caps. 

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The Math Centre helps students use their minds to problem solve and innovate their knowledge and enhance their level of thinking.

The class I was supplying in was learning about Patterning.

Resources needed for Patterning activity with colored caps:

Video on Patterning

Coloured bottle caps

Rectangle strips of paper

Glue

The DECE had an activity where she had different coloured bottle caps given to the students to create a pattern. I was amazed to see how students sat at the Centre and placed the different coloured bottle caps making a pattern. For example, Red, Red, Yellow / Red, Red, Yellow. They created a pattern using the coloured bottle caps on a strip of paper. One of the students was so innovative that she created a flower out of the bottle caps, making a pattern with different colours. It shows how creative and innovative young children could be.

They used language to express how they made the pattern. The teacher asked questions while the students were creating their patterns. Once she was convinced that they understood the activity, it enabled her to introduce them to a more complex pattern.

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Differentiated Instruction during the Bottle Caps Patterning Activity

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Differentiated Instruction during the Bottle Caps Patterning Activity

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For visual learners, pictures of patterns with the bottle caps would be put on display and the students would be encouraged to come up with their patterns. For kinesthetic learners, the teacher could have students move around in patterned movement holding the bottle caps, such as Ayesha - Green, Ben - Yellow, Hazel - Green, Adam - Yellow, so that they understand the concept of patterning through movement.

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Coloured Bottle Caps used for Patterning

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Coloured Bottle Caps used for Patterning

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As it is the Fall season, Outdoor Play can be incorporated into an activity in the classroom.

Inquiry Based Questions can be asked to the students, such as:

Why do the leaves fall at this time?

What is this season called?

What are the different colours of the fall season?

A Centre with the fall leaves displayed on a table can be created in the classroom. Outdoor learning is also important as it encourages the child to observe, explore and appreciate their natural environment.

By creating a Nature Corner in the classroom and bringing the "outdoors" inside, it allows the child to continue to explore their thinking and imagination.

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Assessment during the Bottle Caps Patterning Activity:

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Assessment during the Bottle Caps Patterning Activity:

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Observations would be made regarding complexity of the patterns created by the students. For those students still struggling with the concept, the teacher will continue to hold patterning activities in class in various ways to reinforce the concept.

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Resources needed for Patterning activity with confetti:

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Resources needed for Patterning activity with confetti:

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Big confetti (available at Dollarama).

Rectangle strips of paper

Glue

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1. The students could be asked to create a pattern using the coloured confetti leaves.

2. Students learn about their environment, the different seasons and also demonstrate mathematical and literacy behavior when they express and learn to pattern.

3. Once students have understood the concept of patterning, the teacher could introduce them to create their very own patterns.

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Differentiated Instruction during the Confetti Patterning Activity:

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Differentiated Instruction during the Confetti Patterning Activity:

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To help different kinds of learners, I would put models of the activity on the board as a display, for students to get an idea of the activity they are assigned to.

The teacher could also circulate and assess students who are slow learners by explaining the activity to them on a one-on-one basis.

Students feel secure and will also encourage initiative and learning.

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Confetti Leaves used in Patterning Activity

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Confetti Leaves used in Patterning Activity

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I would read the book "Ten Apples Up on Top" by Dr. Seuss and ignite students curiosity by asking questions.

Inquiry based questions can be asked to the students, such as:

What do you see in the pictures?

How many apples do you see on this page?

What do you think is happening in this story?

Have them do an activity related to the story where they use Bingo Dampers to put the required number of apples on top of each animal, according to the number indicated below.

During this activity, the child learns to identify the animals and recognize the numbers by putting the correct quantity of Bingo Dampers.

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Assessment during the Confetti patterning activity

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Assessment during the Confetti patterning activity

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Teacher will observe and assess the students of how "much" they have learned and how "best" they have learned from this activity.

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Differentiated instruction during the Learning to Count Numbers activity:

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Differentiated instruction during the Learning to Count Numbers activity:

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During the activity, some of the students were not able to relate the numbers to the number of stamps they had to make. I had to work one on one with a few students to have them come at that realization. There was confusion observed with patterning and counting skills. Students at this age are still struggling with number recognition because they do not really understand the concept. What  would help in the future for this activity is showing them flashcards with the numbers and the correct number of bingo dampers underneath for visual learners. Asking students to hold the correct number of fingers up when saying a number is also helpful for kinesthetic learners. This would all help reinforce the relationship between the number and the quantity it represents for students.

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Resources needed for learning to count numbers activity: 

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Resources needed for learning to count numbers activity: 

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Book - Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.

Handouts with pictures of animals at the bottom and a number below the animal.

Bingo Dampers.

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1. Play lies at the core of innovation and creativity. It provides opportunities for learning in a context in which children are at their most receptive. Play and academic work are not distinct categories for young children, and learning and doing are also inextricably linked for them. (Ontario Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program, 2010)

2. In play, children represent and transform the world around them, providing other children and adults with a window into their thoughts and perceptions, and often helping adults to see the world in new ways. (BC Early Learning Framework, 2008)

3. Play expands intelligence, stimulates the imagination, encourages creative problem solving, and helps develop confidence, self-esteem, and a positive attitude toward learning. (Dr. Fraser Mustard)