Play, Relationships + Academics: Teaching the Ways Kindergartners Learn Best
Event
Dear Colleague,
“How do we get all these wonderful practices that you're hearing about into the length of day that we have in kindergarten?”
Nell K. Duke, Ed.D., of Stand for Children asked this amidst the rich conversation of the session, Play + Academics + Relationships: Teaching in Ways Kindergartners Learn Best, where panelists shared some of the most important research findings on teaching and learning in kindergarten. Her remarks pointed to increasing instructional density, which Duke described as thinking about “multiple areas of literacy development at once and looking for opportunities for interdisciplinary instruction where you’re developing language. And when you’re developing literacy, you’re developing science and math all within an interdisciplinary opportunity.”
Experts discussed several strategies including delivering content with practices such as playful learning and learning goals and opportunities for social interaction and independent learning. Deborah Leong, Ph.D., of Tools of the Mind discussed the importance of attention to building children’s executive function. Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, Ph.D., of Temple University and Brookings Institution raised the importance of starting “with the cultural values that are meaningful to the community that you're working at.”
Anya Hurwitz of Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) built on this idea, “When children are engaged, when they're interested, when they're curious, the learning is deep. Children are born with scientific minds. We talked about them as critical thinkers. They're natural sociologists and historians. They ask big questions, big important questions, and our job is to structure classroom and learning experiences to build on those innate assets.”
Educators shared their reactions to the conversation to this point. Cynthia Crespo with New York City Schools noted, especially this year, the importance of building a classroom community, so children feel safe and welcome. Without this work, she said, “things are not going to get done.” Crespo’s colleague, Seymonnia Cutkelvin, added the intentionality she has put on enhancing children’s social and emotional skills and building literacy skills because for many children, “they’ve just been surviving with their families for the last three years.”
For Luis Gallego, M.A.Ed., of Tools of the Mind, one of the biggest ideas in the conversation so far is the power of using play intentionally to guide children’s learning. This was the second webinar in the series Promoting Impactful Teaching and Learning in Kindergarten that the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and New America’s Early & Elementary Education Policy Program have developed to promote impactful teaching and learning in kindergarten. Join us for the remainder of this series in 2023.
Panelists
- Lisa Guernsey, Senior Fellow & Strategic Advisor, Education Policy Program, New America, ModeratorNell Duke, Ed.D., Executive Director, Center for Early Literacy Success, Stand for Children, Moderator
- Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Temple University and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Presenter
- Anya Hurwitz, Ed.D., Executive Director, Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL), Presenter
- Deborah Leong, Ph.D., Co-founder and President, Tools of the Mind, Presenter
- Cynthia Crespo, Kindergarten Special Education Teacher, New York City Schools, Commentator
- Seymonnia Cutkelvin, Kindergarten Teacher, New York City Schools, Commentator
- Luis Gallego, M.A.Ed., Partnership Development Manager, Tools of the Mind, Commentator
Access archived materials from this webinar and other CGLR webinars in the Partners collection of the CGLR Community Learning for Impact and Improvement Platform (CLIP) and view any previous GLR Learning Tuesdays recording or other materials in the GLR Learning Tuesdays Channel.
If you are not already a member of CLIP, you will need to sign up — for free — on CLIP to access these materials.
In addition, below are links to the resources and publications highlighted during this webinar.
CGLR Resources:
Practice and Implementation:
- SEAL Preschool Family Video
- SEAL Affirming Language, Culture and Identity Video
- Math Thinking in Unexpected Places
- Head Start Article Regarding Home Language Development
- Welcoming Families into the Classroom in Authentic Ways
- What is Translanguaging?
Research and Case Studies: