Playful Literacy: Supporting Early Literacy Development for 3-8 Year Olds

When

12 Jun 2018 - 13 Jun 2018
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Australia/Brisbane

Where

Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise (exact venue to be advised), QLD

Event Tag

In this workshop, we will explore literacy in its natural habitat: a child’s playful exploration of the world.  Teachers will think about the role of play, materials and the physical learning environment in children’s literacy development, reading and writing in a world that is increasingly digital, but our learning is still deeply rooted in hands-on explorations.  This workshop combines hands-on play, presentation, small and whole group discussion, and reflection.

Objectives
Upon successful completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the importance of child-centered play in learning
  • See the world as a place that is alive with literacy, and understand how to use that in planning and assessing children’s literacy.
  • Enhance their classroom/learning environment and daily schedule to embed more natural experiences for children’s literacy development
  • Restructure traditional reading and writing workshop and storytimes into playful, engaging, exploratory experiences for students
  • Create lessons and activities to energize kids while doing simple assessments and observations.
  • Understand how to document the process of student literacy development over time to share with parents, teachers, families, and others.

Outline
Day 1:

  • What is literacy, and why is it important in the classroom, community, and world?
  • How do children learn through play?
  • Hands-on explorations of materials and literacy-centered play
  • The role of the adult ins support children’s playful literacy explorations
  • Adding playful literacy to the curriculum: practical applications for participant’s learning environments
  • Symbols and Text: Reading the world

Day 2:

  • The role of children’s literature: choosing and sharing picture books
  • Mark-making and the development of representation (drawing and writing)
  • Stories as literacy exploration: creating structures for daily and weekly workshops
  • Hands-on, interactive story creation, editing, and sharing
  • Observation, Assessment, and Playful Literacy experiences
  • Reflections: putting it all together for action in the classroom and considering differentiation

Trainer’s Profile
Allie P., M.S., is an early childhood educator from Washington state, USA.  She holds her B.S. in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education from New York University, as well as her M.S. in Early Childhood Education/Child Development from the Erikson Institute in Chicago. She is an experienced early childhood educator, having spent ten years teaching children 0-8 in a variety of educational settings.  Her personal curiosities have brought her to visit learning environments around the world, including forest Kindergartens, children’s museums, and the schools of Reggio Emilia.  She believes that child-directed play is a powerful learning tool, and spends her time writing about early childhood education and working with teachers around the globe on bringing play into the curriculum.

Methodology
This workshop is structured as playful inquiry, creating the conditions for learning that participants will learn to bring back to their own classrooms.  Participants will engage in hands-on, exploratory play; small and whole group discussions; games/challenges; and personal reflections.  The majority of the time will be spent at play and deepening understanding of how the concepts may look in the spectrum of classrooms that are represented.

Target Audience
Early Childhood Educators of children 3-5 years old; Elementary School Educators of children 5-8 years old; Early Childhood and Elementary Administrators.

Investment
AUD800.00/pax
AUD700.00/pax if register by 1 Feb 2018

Duration: 2 days, 12 hours
Closing Date: 1 Apr 18



Other Available Sessions
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