Play is serious business. Whether it's reenacting a favorite book (comprehension and close reading), negotiating the rules for a game (speaking and listening), or collaborating over building blocks (college and career readiness and STEM), Kristi Mraz, Alison Porcelli, and Cheryl Tyler see every day how play helps students reach standards and goals in ways that in-their-seat instruction alone can't do. And not just during playtimes. "We believe there is play in work and work in play," they write. "It helps to have practical ways to carry that mindset into all aspects of the curriculum." In Purposeful Play, they share ways to: optimize and balance different types of play to deepen regular classroom learning teach into play to foster social-emotional skills and a growth mindset bring the impact of play into all your lessons across the day. "We believe that play is one type of environment where children can be rigorous in their learning," Kristi, Alison, and Cheryl write. So they provide a host of lessons, suggestions for classroom setups, helpful tools and charts, curriculum connections, teaching points, and teaching language to help you foster mature play that makes every moment in your classroom instructional. Play doesn't only happen when work is over. Children show us time and time again that play is the way they work. In Purposeful Play, you'll find research-driven methods for making play an engine for rigorous learning in your classroom.

If you are a family or educator with a toddler or young child then you have come to the right place. This book will teach you how to convert play and everyday routines into activities that are both fun AND beneficial for a child’s speech and language development. With little tweaks to your interactions and the everyday routines you are already engaging in, you can increase opportunities for learning and growth for your child. This best part is it’s not a lot of extra work. In the Playing With Purpose book you will learn: The basics of language development Why play is important for a child’s growth in the early years How children learn during play and familiar routines Tips for boosting speech and language skills during play Tips for boosting speech and language skills in everyday activities

Purposeful Play for Early Childhood Phonological Awareness provides 70 activities designed to help students detect and manipulate the sounds of language. Whether through singing songs, engaging in role-playing games, or tossing balls of yarn, every activity provides fun ways for children to interact with language and one another while offering explicit support for developing phonological awareness. Use fun, engaging activities, grouped according to phonological skills, that build sequentially and reinforce previously learned skills while introducing new skills. Address how to isolate sounds in words so young children can hear and recognize individual words, syllables, initial sounds, rhymes, and phonemes. Pronunciation guides give explicit instruction so that all sounds are correctly articulated.

Help children participate in purposeful play to promote the development of a number of important skills.

This book examines the development of play skills and schemas to support children with learning differences and physical disabilities in learning to play. It highlights the need for appropriate playground equipment in all school settings that educate children with physical disabilities and sensory needs to ensure equal opportunities for outdoor play. Several play approaches for meeting sensory needs are discussed including Lego therapy, Art therapy, Sand play and Soft play. Digital play for students with physical disabilities is an important chapter in the book. Role play and the ways in which virtual reality and psychodrama support anxieties that some students have is another important chapter. There is also a chapter devoted to parents on how they can support their child at home and how the school can support them. At the end of the book there is a plethora of resources that readers can copy or adapt to suit their setting. The book provides support for those managing outdoor play for these children at peak times of the day. It shows how play-based learning can work in a classroom setting; the importance of sensory profiles and sensory play; and how play therapy can aid neuroplasticity.

Play is an essential part of learning and development for children and is an increasingly important aspect of creative approaches to teaching and learning in primary education. This book demonstrates the value of play in all its different forms as a highly effective medium for teaching and learning across the curriculum. The authors explore how play can be used to increase engagement, motivation and fun in learning situations, examining the theoretical principles of play for learning, types of play for older children, planned and facilitating play-based learning, using thematic approaches when working with individuals, groups and whole classes, in addition to covering important teaching issues such as assessment, inclusion and transition out of primary education. This is recommended reading for students on primary initial teacher education courses including undergraduate (BEd, BA with QTS), postgraduate (PGCE, SCITT), and employment-based routes into teaching, and also for practicing teachers wishing to enhance their own teaching. Mary Briggs is Mathematics and Education tutor at the University of Warwick. Alice Hansen is an educational consultant who works within a number of educational settings and national bodies developing continuing professional development for teachers.

Inquiry based play; Centers for reading; writing; mathematics and science