Play!

I loved this week's article.  I think that it is so important that we encourage play in the classroom.  As mentioned in the article, children can reinact things that they have heard in a story or seen on television.  I think that this would be a wonderful way to assess children on stories that you have read in class.  I could read a story to children or teach a lesson out of a textbook.  Instead of asking the children questions, I could assign them different areas of the book and have them get into groups and "act out" what they think is happening in this part of the text. I think that this would be a way to get them involved in the learning process. I do not want them to be bored with lessons that I am being told that I must teach.

I think that this could also be used to help other students understand what the lesson is about.  Some children have a harder time understanding what the teacher is wanting them to get from the lesson.  This would be a way that children could work together and help one another.  They would be able to help each other understand parts that are confusing.  This would also teach other groups a more "child like" way of understanding the text.  Play can be used in such an educational way in the classroom and it should not always be viewed as a negative thing!