Student-Initiated Play and Literacy Development

Play for young children is not recreation activity,... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity.... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language

time. Problem-solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of-ideas time, when

the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in

response to the stimuli he has met.

--James L. Hymes, Jr., child development specialist, author

Oral Language

• Oral Language is a crucial part of literacy development

• Research shows that vocabulary and oral language skills are a bigger predictor of later success in reading and writing than phonics and alphabet knowledge

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf

Think of oral language as the base of literacy. Reading and writing

cannot exist without it.

Oral Language

Reading Writing

• Research shows that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic play have greater language skills than non-players, better social skills, more empathy, more imagination and more of the subtle capacity to know what others mean.

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf

Making lists of things to bring, Passports and tickets at the Airport

Dramatic Play

A seat for the KING

A Place for Every Zoo Animal

At the Restaurant…

… we take orders… make menus

… write receipts

Doing some serious work!

Some “poison scientists” have just discovered the recipe for poison. They carefully read the recipe and

label the bottles of poison.

Questions?