Webcasts for Educators
Student Achievement Division
Viewer’s Guide
Kindergarten Matters
Intentional
Play-Based Learning
Multi-media resource for professional learning
On this DVD you will find a Print and Video Resources folder which
contains WMV files for PowerPoint presentations, this Viewer’s Guide (PDF),
and monographs – Grand Conversations in Primary Classrooms,
Integrated Learning in the Classroom (Capacity Building Series),
Primary Assessment, and Integrated Curriculum (What Works?
Research into Practice).
To order:
Webcasts for Educators – Kindergarten Matters: Intentional
Play-Based Learning
Contact ServiceOntario
416-326-5300 or 1-800-668-9938
http://www.publications.serviceontario.ca/ecom
The webcast segments and related resources are also accessible online at
www.curriculum.org/secretariat/kindergarten
This resource may be copied for not-for-profit educational purposes.
Funded by the Student Achievement Division,
Ontario Ministry of Education.
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................... 3
From Viewing to Action .................................................................... 4
VIDEO SEGMENTS
It’s about...
Re-Thinking....................................................................................... 5
Educators re-think their teaching practices, including the concept
of play-based learning.
Documenting..................................................................................... 7
Educators use innovative strategies and tools to make learning
visible to children, their parents and their teachers.
Self-Regulating................................................................................. 8
Dr. Stuart Shanker speaks about how teachers and parents can
support the development of self-regulation in young children.
Inquiry............................................................................................ 10
Educators engage children in authentic inquiry that sparks
curiosity and motivates learning.
Thinking........................................................................................... 11
Deep thinking skills are developed through play-based learning
across the curriculum.
Concluding Thoughts: It’s About Changing........................................... 13
Resources and Related Reading........................................................ 14
Technical Instructions ..................................................................... 15
• How to Access the Print and Video Resources................................ 15
• How to Save the Video Files to Your Computer.............................. 16
• How to Insert Video Clips (WMV files) into
a PowerPoint Presentation.............................................................. 17
“
”
Play nourishes every aspect of children’s development – it forms the foundation of
intellectual, social, physical, and emotional skills necessary for success in school and
in life. Play ‘paves the way’ for learning.
Canadian Council on Learning, 2006
Introduction
Adapted from: The Full-Day Early Learning – Kindergarten Program
Ontario educators recognize that, today and in the future, children need to
develop critical literacy skills so that they can synthesize vast amounts of
information, make informed decisions, communicate effectively and thrive in an
ever-changing global community. They also recognize, based both on research
and their own professional practice, that children learn best when they are active
problem solvers who see themselves in what is taught, how it is taught and how it
applies to the world around them.
The purpose of an effective early years program is to establish a strong foundation
for learning, and to do so in a safe and caring play-based environment that
promotes the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of all children.
The goals of Ontario’s Full-Day Early Learning–Kindergarten Program (2010–11)
are as follows:
• to establish a strong foundation for the early years by providing young children
with an integrated day of learning
• to provide a play-based learning environment
• to help children make a smoother transition to Grade 1
• to improve children’s prospects for success in school and in their lives beyond
school
Educators intentionally create learning opportunities for children based on
their interests and strengths. Through inquiry, they enable them to develop
skills and understandings in the context of problem solving through play, talk and
interaction.
Young learners need to establish their own internal motivation for behaving
appropriately. They need to learn how to self-regulate. An effective early years
program helps all learners develop the knowledge, skills and perspectives they
need to become informed, productive and responsible citizens.
For additional reading and reflection…
The Full-Day Early Learning–Kindergarten Program
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten_english_june3.pdf
3
From Viewing to Action
In this resource, you will see children and educators engaged in intentional
play-based learning. Reflect on the “intentionality” behind the learning and
teaching reflected in each scenario. How did the teacher set students up for
success?
You will also hear psychologist Dr. Stuart Shanker speaking about self-regulation
and early childhood learning and teaching.
We invite you to think about what you see in each segment, engage in dialogue
with your colleagues and reflect on your own practice in light of your new
insights.
You may wish to use the following organizer to record your thoughts as you
engage with the text.
Organizer #1 — Reflecting on My Practice
What aspects of my Kindergarten program am I thinking about?
Current Program
Future Program
Repeating
These practices have
proven successful and
are supported by current
research.
Re-thinking
These practices have had
some measure of success but may need some
modifying to enhance their
effectiveness.
Removing
These practices have had
little success and are not
supported by current
research.
*NOTE: Organizer #1 is available in Word and in PDF in the Print Resources folder on the DVD.
4
VIDEO Segments
It’s About Re-Thinking
Video Segments:
• Introduction (3:48)
• Re-Thinking Play-Based Learning (4:55)
• Learning in the Context of Inquiry (3:09)
• Co-Constructing Learning (13:01)
• Authentic Problem Solving (3:28)
• Concluding Thoughts (8:42)
“
”
Effective Early Learning–Kindergarten team members are themselves reflective
learners who have a passion for the success of the learners in their care and a deep
respect for the children’s individual differences. Team members recognize that their
own learning is a continuous and reciprocal process – they learn from each other,
and from the children and their families.
The Full-Day Early Learning–Kindergarten Program, 2010–11
For children, play provides natural and authentic opportunities for learning;
while engaged in play they develop thinking and problem-solving skills, acquire
language and deepen their understanding of numeracy concepts. They also
practise social and emotional self-regulation. Play-based learning provides
opportunities for children to explore their environment, to act out roles and to
experiment with materials and ideas as they develop theories about the world.
Intentional play-based learning consists of both educator-initiated and childinitiated activities. Children are engaged in a large group, a small group or as
individuals in thinking creatively, exploring and investigating, solving problems
and sharing their learning with others. Early Learning–Kindergarten teams need
to be skilled in building upon student inquiry in order to help each student move
forward in his/her learning across activities and across the day. This engaging,
5
personalized and integrated way of teaching builds communication skills,
inquiry skills and vocabulary, so children leave Kindergarten as learners with a
sense of personal confidence and value as well as with the literacy and inquiry
skills that support their continuous learning.
In this segment, you will see and hear how educators are re-thinking the concept
of play.
• How might you make students aware of the relevance of what they are learning?
• What evidence do you see in this segment of “intentionality”? How might you
support teachers in recognizing the potential for teaching and learning revealed
by the students during their play?
For additional reading and reflection…
Let the Children Play: Nature’s Answer to Early Learning
http://www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/LessonsInLearning/Nov-08-06-Let-the-Children-Play.pdf
6
It’s About Documenting
Video Segments:
• Introduction (3:46)
• Assessment: Running Record (3:46)
• Shared Reading (8:39)
• Documenting the Learning (4:41)
• Documentation Panels (12:30)
• Concluding Thoughts (3:23)
“
”
In the early primary years particularly, teachers can ensure they are capturing
accurate representations of student understanding by providing children with a wide
variety of authentic ways to demonstrate their learning.
Capacity Building Series – Primary Assessment
Early Learning–Kindergarten teams use reflective practice, planned observation
and a range of assessment strategies to identify the strengths, needs and
interests of individual children in order to plan intentional play-based learning
opportunities that are appropriate for each child. Teams listen and observe
closely to determine what children are thinking, what concepts they are
demonstrating and what they reveal about their prior knowledge. They use
appropriate assessment tools to pay particular attention to the development
of language and early literacy skills in these young learners and to plan rich
authentic learning activities that support each child’s literacy development.
In this segment, you will see how educators are using a variety of forms of
technology to document and make learning visible to children and their parents.
The documentation highlighted in this segment is an example of assessment
as learning. Discuss this statement.
7
The teacher featured in this segment cited examples of how she used her
documentation to communicate with parents as well as students. What methods
resonated with you as particularly powerful means of communication, and why?
This teacher spoke of using her planning and preparation time more efficiently
and effectively. She abandoned her previous practices in favour of linking her
planning to the needs of her students. What would a teacher need to know and be
able to do in order to teach with such precision?
For additional reading and reflection…
Consider the Walls
http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200405/ConsidertheWalls.pdf
It’s About Self-Regulating
Video Segments:
• Introduction (4:18)
• What is self-regulation? (6:17)
• What is the difference between compliance and self-regulation? (2:39)
• How does play-based learning support the development of self-regulation? (3:22)
• What can educators do to support students in developing self-regulation? (4:06)
• Concluding thoughts (7:47)
“
”
Self-regulation skills in particular provide children with the capacity to recognize their
strengths and needs and to monitor their progress, and adaptive, coping,
and management skills help them to respond to challenges as they learn and
develop.
8
Hattie, 2009
Teachers often say that so much time is taken up managing children’s behaviour
that they are left with too little to enrich children’s play. However, research done
by Dr. Stuart Shanker on self-regulation suggests that children need assistance to
develop the ability to self-regulate so that they are able to learn. He stresses that
educators need to help children understand how much stimulation they need to
be actively focused for learning.
This research suggests that we need to re-think how we look at both the
behaviour of the teacher and the children in the classroom. If children are to
learn to self-regulate, they need an environment that is intentionally structured
to help them to develop the ability to resist impulses, to focus their attention,
to stay on task despite distractions, to hold information in their brains and to
change their focus when needed.
In this segment, Dr. Shanker speaks about how educators can intentionally
support the development of self-regulation.
• Think about your prior knowledge of self-regulation. How has your thinking
been impacted by Dr. Shanker’s message?
• How might you include parents/caregivers as partners in helping their children
develop self-regulation?
• Dr. Shanker speaks of what teachers need to know and be able to do.
How might you support professional learning in the area of self-regulation?
For additional reading and reflection…
Developing Young Children’s Self-Regulation through Everyday Experiences
http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201107/Self-Regulation_Florez_OnlineJuly2011.pdf
9
It’s About Inquiry
Video Segments:
• Introduction (4:35)
• Types of Inquiry (11:33)
• Play-Based Inquiry (6:00)
• The Teacher’s Role in Play-Based Inquiry (1:43)
• Concluding Thoughts (3:44)
“
”
Students must be ready, willing and able to ask effective questions in order to succeed.
Green, Gould Lundy & Glass, 2011
Most children are naturally curious about their surroundings. They have an
interest in exploring and investigating to see how things work and why things
happen. Children have an innate sense of wonder and awe and a natural
desire for inquiry. Kindergarten programs can capitalize on children’s natural
curiosity and their desire to make sense of their environment. However,
curiosity on its own is not enough. The guidance of a thoughtful and intentional
teacher is essential to enabling children to maximize their learning through
free explorations, focused explorations and guided inquiry-based learning
opportunities.
In this segment, you will see how educators are engaging their classes in inquiry
in a variety of classroom settings.
• What does the word “inquiry” mean to you? How do you currently encourage a
spirit of inquiry in your Kindergarten program?
• What evidence do you see of the four stages of inquiry (Provocation,
Exploration, Investigation, Communication) as described in the Full-Day Early
Learning–Kindergarten Program?
10
• Through inquiry-based learning, the students in this segment are developing
lifelong skills. How might you make students and parents aware of the
relevance and power of what they are learning?
• Effective questioning is a lifelong skill. How might you help children develop
their inquiry skills so that they can pursue their interests, assume a critical
stance and remain motivated to dig deep for meaning?
• Meaningful integration helps children deepen their understandings of what they
are learning. Comment on the evidence of effective integration that you noticed
in this classroom.
For additional reading and reflection…
One Teacher, 20 Preschoolers, and a Goldfish
http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200603/LewinBTJ.pdf
It’s About Thinking
Video Segments:
• Introduction (4:13)
• Self-Regulation: The Teacher’s Role (2:29)
• Teachers’ Use of Intentional Language (4:58)
• Re-Thinking Teacher Practice (5:57)
• The Teacher’s Role in Play-Based Learning (4:12)
“
Effective teachers are powerful mediators of children’s thinking and learning.
They design learning environments that stimulate children’s curiosity.
”
Salmon, 2010
11
Robust thinking is not reserved for older children. Our youngest learners are also
capable of analyzing situations, comparing and contrasting information, drawing
conclusions, making judgments and coming up with new and different solutions.
The secret for younger children is grounding robust thinking tasks in hands-on,
multi-sensory experiences that engage both their bodies and their minds. It is the
role of the teacher to use his/her assessment data to plan such experiences but to
also participate in such experiences in order to support and extend the children’s
learning.
In this segment, you will see how educators are promoting deep thinking skills
through intentional play-based learning opportunities across the curriculum.
• Consider the role of the educator. How does the educator support and extend the
children’s thinking?
• How does the classroom environment act as the “third teacher” in these
scenarios?
• Metacognition is the process of thinking about one’s own thought processes.
What opportunities did you notice in this segment for teachers to support
students in developing their metacognitive awareness?
For additional reading and reflection…
Tools to Enhance Young Children’s Thinking
http://fiu.academia.edu/AngelaSalmon/Papers/623364/Tools_to_enhance_young_
childrens_thinking
12
“
Concluding Thoughts: It’s About Changing
”
An empowered teacher is a reflective decision maker who finds joy in learning
and in investigating the teaching/learning process – one who views learning as
construction and teaching as a facilitating process to enhance and enrich
development.
Fosnot, 1989
As educators of young children, we are being asked collectively to change our
thinking in a number of ways. We must re-think the materials we use, the
classroom structures we institute, the learning experiences we provide and the
language we use. Such re-thinking represents a major shift in our beliefs about
what young children are capable of and what role educators of young children
need to play in helping children to realize their potential.
• How has your view of Kindergarten children changed as a result of viewing this
video?
• What role does “co-construction” play in Kindergarten? How can children’s ideas
and thinking be negotiated into the learning?
• How might you begin to help parents understand the value of play? 13
Resources and Related Reading
Florez, I.R. (2011). Developing young children’s self-regulation through everyday
experiences. Young Children. July issue.
Fosnot, C. T. (1989). Enquiring teachers, enquiring learners: A constructivist
approach for teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.
Green, Gould Lundy & Glass (2011). Talking to learn. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Hewes, J. (2006). Let the children play: Nature’s answer to early learning.
Lessons in Learning. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Learning.
Lewin-Benham, A. (2006). One teacher, 20 preschoolers, and a goldfish. Young
Children. March issue.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2010). Growing success: Assessment,
evaluation and reporting in Ontario schools. Toronto: Queen’s Printer for
Ontario.
Ontario Ministry of Education (2010). The full-day early learning –
Kindergarten program. Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
Ontario Ministry of Education Monographs:
Integrated Curriculum (2010). What Works? Research into Practice.
Integrated Learning in the Classroom (2010). Capacity Building Series.
Primary Assessment (2010). Capacity Building Series.
Peaslee, A., Snyder, I., & Casey, P. (2007). Using documentation for professional
development. Young Children, 62(4).
Salmon, A. (2010). Tools to enhance the young child’s thinking. Young Children.
65(5).
Tarr, P. (2004). Consider the walls. Young Children. May issue.
14
Technical Instructions
How to Access the Print and Video Resources
To access the Print and Video Resources folder in Windows, insert the DVD
into the DVD drive of your computer and:
1. Click on the Start menu.
2. Select My Computer.
3. Right-click the mouse on the DVD icon titled either KINDERGARTEN_
MATTERS_DISC_1 or KINDERGARTEN_MATTERS_DISC_2 to open a drop-
down options list. (Both DVDs contain the same resources.)
4. From the drop-down list, select and click on the Open option.
5. Double-click on the folder titled Print and Video Resources to access the
files. Ignore the folders titled Audio_TS and Video_TS.
6. Select the resources you wish to use directly from this folder,
OR Copy onto the Desktop and open files from the Desktop.
Alternatively, when the DVD is inserted and the options box opens:
1. Select the option Open Folder to View Files.
2. Click on the Print and Video Resources folder.
3. Select the files you wish to use directly from this folder, OR
Copy the files onto the Desktop and open them from the Desktop.
To access the Print and Video Resources folder in Mac OS X, insert the DVD
into the DVD drive of your computer and:
1. Exit from the DVD player (which typically opens automatically when a DVD
is inserted in the drive).
2. Double-click on the DVD icon titled either KINDERGARTEN_MATTERS_
DISC_1 or KINDERGARTEN_MATTERS_DISC_2. (Both DVDs contain the
same resources.)
3. Select the files you wish to use directly from this folder, OR
4. Copy the files onto the Desktop and open them from the Desktop.
15
How to Save the Video Files to Your Computer
The video files can all be copied and saved to your computer using either of
the following methods for copying and pasting files.
Method 1
1. Right-click on the file and choose the Copy option.
2.Right-click within any computer folder into which you would like to save
the file, and choose the Paste option.
Method 2
1.Left-click the mouse on the file you want to save, so that the file is
highlighted.
2.Simultaneously press the Ctrl and C keys (or, for Macintosh users, the
Command and C keys) to copy the file.
3.Left-click within any computer folder in which you would like to save the
file, and simultaneously press the Ctrl and V keys (or, for Macintosh users,
the Command and V keys) to paste the file there.
For Macintosh users, the Command key is the one with the following
symbol:
NOTE: If you want to insert video files into a PowerPoint presentation, you must
save these video files in the same folder that contains your PowerPoint file. If
you save a PowerPoint presentation to another location (e.g., a memory stick,
CD-ROM, etc.), you must also save the video files in the same location in order
for the video to play. So, if you transfer the presentation to another computer,
you must also transfer the video files with it, or else the video will not link to the
PowerPoint presentation.
16
How to Insert Video Clips (WMV files) into a PowerPoint Presentation
On this DVD, you will find WMV versions of all segments of the webcast. To
insert a clip into a PowerPoint presentation, follow the directions below:
1. Open your PowerPoint program.
2.Create a new PowerPoint presentation OR open an existing PowerPoint
presentation, and within it, open the slide on which you would like to add
the video.
3. Insert the webcast DVD into the DVD drive of your computer.
4. I f a new window opens asking how you would like to view the files on the
disk, choose the option Open Folder to View Files; OR
If a new window does not open, open the My Computer window from the
Start menu. In the My Computer window, double-click on the icon that is
shaped like a disk, which will likely be labelled D: or E:.
5.Save the video segment that you want to insert in a PowerPoint into the
same folder that contains your PowerPoint presentation.
NOTE: Video files that have been saved to your computer can be cropped
and edited into smaller segments using Movie Maker (free on PCs) or iMovie
(free on Macintosh).
6.Open the PowerPoint slide on which you would like to insert the video, and
click on the Insert menu in the PowerPoint menu bar.
7. F
rom the Insert menu, select Movies and Sounds, and click on the Movie
from File option.
8.A window opens, prompting you to select the video file that you would like
to add. Find and select the video file that you saved in step 5.
9.Once you have chosen the video file you need, another window opens and
asks whether you want your movie to play either automatically when you
enter the slide, or only when it is clicked. Choose your preference.
(You will notice that the starting image of your movie is not displayed on
the slide.)
17
Printed on recycled paper
ISBN 978-1-4435-7324-5
© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2011