Play to Learn!: Student Selected Learning for the Future
My students need a variety of hands-on games, toys, and puzzles to explore the world around them and to engage cooperatively with their peers. The chosen items engage students in utilizing their multiple intelligences.
My kindergarten classroom serves the needs of not only my 24 morning session students, but also benefits the 24 children learning in the afternoon with my partner teacher. Our dynamic school has an enrollment of nearly 1,000 students with an exceptional staff who truly care and love our students.
Our classroom is in need of student selected interactive exploration activities.
Focused learning through play expands students' critical thinking skills, social-emotional development, and overall academic growth. Kindergarten students benefit from participating in activities that are hands-on, engaging, and pique their natural curiosity. This project will provide our students with the tools needed to meet these goals.
My Project
The rigorous standards for learning in Kindergarten have increased greatly since the inception of the Common Core State Standards. What has not changed, however, is the importance of play in learning. For the past two years, I have taught in and supported the learning for students in Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten. In this time I have had the wonderful opportunity to witness not only academic understanding but their social and emotional development as well. In preparing our children to be college and career ready, they need to be able to collaborate effectively with their peers. Some of the materials I have chosen include a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) focus including Design and Build Engineering Center, Wooden Blocks, Magna-Tiles, and Geostix. Dramatic play allows children to problem solve, engage in conversations, and explore their imaginations. The Classroom Vet Center, Pretend and Play Mailbox, and Block Play People sets provide the means to achieving these goals.
In donating to our project, you will support our students in developing lifelong skills that will contribute to their future college and career readiness.
Students who play together learn from one another. They engage in conversations that develop their speaking and listening skills and promote reasoning and the essential critical thinking necessary for collaboration. The materials on the list encompass exploration in math, science, and the five domains of language development: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Berning and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
