The children were located in their classroom at approximately 11:05 a.m. on Thursday, November 3, 2016. The children had just got back from lunch and were busy getting back to their routines. The children’s ages ranges from five to six years old. The teacher, Ms. Otts, had arranged tables of 3 children per table. Each table was using play doh as their material. The teacher gives each student one container of play doh and instructs the students to see how many circles they can make out of each container. I observed three students, whose names were Haigen, Emma, and Cohen. The teacher goes over to their table and sits down beside them. Haigen says, “Ms. Otts, I am going to have a lot more than Emma.” Emma replied, “No way, Haigen.” Cohen seemed to be in his own little world. He took his time and made sure his balls were all the same sizes.
…show more content…
Ms. Otts gives each student a graphic organizer that has a picture of a bear with many different sizes of circles on them. Ms. Otts gives them instruction to place each ball in a circle. Emma says, “Haigen, can I have one of yours because I made mine too big.” Haigen replies, “Sure, here you go.” Ms. Otts realizes that Cohen has gotten off task. She has Cohen count each number of balls out to her. Haigen pipes in, “Ms. Otts, this is the funnest day ever.” After lining up all their balls on the graphic organizer, each student counts how many they have. Emma said, “I have 6.” Haigen replies, “Look, Ms. Otts, I have the 6 on the bear plus one more.” Cohen says, “I have 6, too.” Ms. Otts praises the students for working so hard and doing such a good job. She allows the students to make different shapes with the play doh, while she goes to a different table. After a few minutes, Haigen shows the shape of a triangle. “Look, Emma, I made a triangle.” Emma replies, “I made a heart, but it’s following apart.” “Cohen, what are you making?” Cohen replies, “I was making a rectangle, but it was too hard.” Haigen and Emma both stop what they are doing and help Cohen. They successfully help him make a rectangle. I think the children I observed were engaging in Directed play because they were playing with the play doh that was provided by Ms. Otts. They were instructed to use the play doh in a certain way by making small circles that represented numbers. During the first bit of the activity, Haigen and Emma was participating in associative play because Haigen helped Emma by giving her one his circles, while Cohen was participating in solitary play. Cohen was seen playing alone and did not interact with the other two students in his group. Both of these examples are identified as stages of social play. Towards the end, Cohen had opened up by communicating more with the group. All three were engaging in cooperative play because they were all actively playing together with an activity that the teacher had instructed them to do. While making the small circles, children are benefiting cognitively/ academically. Children are developing their small motor skills and are becoming comfortable with numbers by counting each small circle they have made. The children are
Ms. Otts gives each student a graphic organizer that has a picture of a bear with many different sizes of circles on them. Ms. Otts gives them instruction to place each ball in a circle. Emma says, “Haigen, can I have one of yours because I made mine too big.” Haigen replies, “Sure, here you go.” Ms. Otts realizes that Cohen has gotten off task. She has Cohen count each number of balls out to her. Haigen pipes in, “Ms. Otts, this is the funnest day ever.” After lining up all their balls on the graphic organizer, each student counts how many they have. Emma said, “I have 6.” Haigen replies, “Look, Ms. Otts, I have the 6 on the bear plus one more.” Cohen says, “I have 6, too.” Ms. Otts praises the students for working so hard and doing such a good job. She allows the students to make different shapes with the play doh, while she goes to a different table. After a few minutes, Haigen shows the shape of a triangle. “Look, Emma, I made a triangle.” Emma replies, “I made a heart, but it’s following apart.” “Cohen, what are you making?” Cohen replies, “I was making a rectangle, but it was too hard.” Haigen and Emma both stop what they are doing and help Cohen. They successfully help him make a rectangle. I think the children I observed were engaging in Directed play because they were playing with the play doh that was provided by Ms. Otts. They were instructed to use the play doh in a certain way by making small circles that represented numbers. During the first bit of the activity, Haigen and Emma was participating in associative play because Haigen helped Emma by giving her one his circles, while Cohen was participating in solitary play. Cohen was seen playing alone and did not interact with the other two students in his group. Both of these examples are identified as stages of social play. Towards the end, Cohen had opened up by communicating more with the group. All three were engaging in cooperative play because they were all actively playing together with an activity that the teacher had instructed them to do. While making the small circles, children are benefiting cognitively/ academically. Children are developing their small motor skills and are becoming comfortable with numbers by counting each small circle they have made. The children are