Supporting Early Literacy and Math Skills in our Students.
Overview
Through my formal undergrad studies as a preservice teacher, play and academics were never found in the same sentence. Nowadays, there is an abundant amount of scholarly research that states how important play is for our young children’s academic success. In this section, I will be focusing on the mathematics and literacy skills that are naturally and intentionally found within all forms of play. As stated before, play is on a continuum, where free play is at one end and learning through games is at the opposite end. For example, guided play is used in early childhood classrooms to involve our students in play scenarios that have a connection to the curriculum and thus, promote learning (Ramani & Eason, 2015). There are studies that identified how teachers who are teaching through guided play versus didactic instruction as being more effective as it encourages the students to be an active participant in their explorations (Ramani & Eason, 2015). When students are enjoying interacting with their explorations, making meaning on their own, testing out possibilities, and working through their failures and triumphs, students will have a firmer set of foundational skills that will help them be successful as their educational journey continues into primary school.

About this section
I will organize this skills section by going over the math skills being nurtured and developed through a play-based environment first, then end with the literacy skills that are also being developed.
Mathematics
In early childhood, specifically related to my kindergarten class, the most important math concepts and skills my students need to develop is the ability to obtain fluency with foundational number concepts, such as developing an understanding of 1-1 correspondence, the number word list, cardinality, and concepts such as subsidizing and relationships of more, less, and the same. When you enter an early childhood classroom, you can identify several materials likely to offer in-depth opportunities for students to develop and practice their early number concepts when they are interacting with blocks, Legos, games, and other toy collections, however, just having the materials available is not enough for the students to receive the full benefits (Wager & Parks, 2015). To mathematize students’ play, teachers must intentionally and carefully guide students’ play towards learning by attaching mathematical terminology to play, scaffold more complex play, and lead the attention of the students in the direction of potential math concepts (Wager & Parks, 2015). In a sense, teachers must be able to make in the moment decisions as they are observing students in their free play. For instance, at the science center, I had plastic insects, small weights, and a balance scale. I observed a child interacting in this center and came over to observe their experience. They were comparing the quantity of weights to the quantity of insects and making statements such as “wow there are a lot there.” Instead of asking the child ‘how many more’ insects there are, I phrased it as “how could you find out which has more.” I thus encouraged the student to think about counting rather than forcing them to do so through the use of intentional questioning (Wager & Parks, 2015).
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Additionally, in the dramatic play center where we have a bakery, I observed students ‘baking’ cookies for a tea party. I intervened and asked if I could enjoy some cookies too. They gave me a plate and I asked how many are on my plate. The number they gave me was much larger than what was on my plate, so I asked if I could just have three cookies. Eventually, they were able to subtract the correct amount leaving me with just three.
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These two examples illustrate how to enter students’ free play to support their mathematical thinking.
Another example concerning cooperative guided block play; I have challenged my students to work together to build a bridge that is tall enough to fit over a pumpkin. I've also suggested a castle needed a bridge and a moat however, I gave them no specific directions on how to complete it. While observing the students, I discovered they were communicating on the spatial relationships of the blocks, where to put them, and the meaning they are attaching to said blocks. I would intervene every now and then to scaffold their learning by asking why their bridge wasn’t sturdy, what might they need to do to keep it from falling down, and discussing height terminology, such as shorter, taller, and equals too. By incorporating opportunities for guided, cooperative block play activities, it allows our students to exercise and develop their language, math, and spatial skills (Ramani & Eason, 2015).
Literacy
A plethora of literacy skills can be explored and supported through play, specifically oral language development, as students work on their negotiation and compromising skills, their imaginations, building and referencing storylines, and through their social interactions. Overall, as our students play and communicate with each other, they are developing an innate understanding of how language works, constructing their own meaning, as well as preparing them for written language (Cavanaugh et al., 2017).
As stated with mathematics, having a literacy rich environment is not conducive to supporting our students in the development of their academic skills during free play and thus, encourage teachers to become involved in their play to ensure targeted literacy skills are being developed (Pyle et al., 2018). For instance, when creating a specific dramatic play center (a veterinary, a bakery, and a store for example) include the students in the creation of signs, labels, and materials. In the centers, make sure to provide paper, pencils, and other writing materials to encourage students to practice their writing. Develop specific forms for the students to fill out while in the center, such as an order form for the bakery or a checklist for grocery shopping. Be creative and have your students participate in the planning.
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Other ideas are having the students create their own games to practice certain skills such as alliteration, identifying initial or ending sounds, or even story sequence and comprehension. For example, students can develop their own game to practice the skill of identifying initial sounds. I had one student create a game called “My picnic basket” where they worked with a peer to identify food items or picnic items that start with a specific letter; once they identified it correctly, they would put it in their picnic basket. Whoever filled up their basket first won. Another example is creating a letter story. This can be done by having everyone add to the story by including the letter they were given or sorting objects into letter bins and then using those objects for the sentence. For instance, have two bins labeled d and b; some items would be donuts, dogs, buttons, beach, ball. Students would then have to create a sentence using their letter bins. “The dogs ate the donuts at the beach.” During these moments, students’ executive function and self-regulation skills are being supported and developed as they negotiate the games features with their peers (Cavanaugh et al., 2017).
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Overall
Scaffolding during play is vital in supporting our students’ literacy and mathematics academic development. As teachers, it is important to comment on our students’ discoveries and investigations, develop games or activities to support their interests and specific skills, as well as becoming part of their play to encourage active engagement and the “sense-making” process (Fisher et al., 2013). Vygotsky and Piaget view play as an imperative framework for these kinds of instructional interactions, due to the fact that play is both inspiring for children as well as an encouragement to explore physical objects, and thus, leads to a deeper understanding of concepts (Wager & Parks, 2015).
References
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Cavanaugh, D.M., Clemence, K.J., Teale, M.M., Rule, A.C., & Montgomery, S.E. (2017). Kindergarten scores, storytelling, executive function, and motivation improved through literacy-rich guided play. Early Childhood Educational Journal, 45, 831-843. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0832-8
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Fisher, K.R., Pasek, K.H., Newcombe, N., & Golinkoff, R.M. (2013). Taking shape: Supporting preschoolers’ acquisition of geometric knowledge through guided play. Child Development, 84(6), 1872-1878. htpps://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12091
Pyle, A., Prioletta, J., & Poliszczuk, D. (2018). The play-literacy interface in full-day kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(1), 117-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0852-z
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Ramani, G.B. & Eason, S.H. (2015). It all adds up: Learning early math through play and games. Kappan Magazine, 96(8), 27-32.
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Wager, A.A. & Park, A.N. (2015). A toolbox for supporting early number learning in play: Moving beyond “how many.” Teacher Education and Knowledge: Research Reports, 828-835.