ECE 407 Play: Literacy & Numeracy
Case Study 1:
You are the ECE in a preschool classroom supporting a new practicum student who has never read aloud to a group of young children. Create a “how to” resource for this student to promote emergent literacy. Consider the following questions and provide detailed responses:
- Why should the student read aloud with the preschoolers?
- When should read alouds happen?
- What are the key elements of a “good” read aloud with children?
- Who is engaged in the read aloud? What is the role of the educator? What would we expect of the children?
- Where should reading take place with children?
| Components |
| Promote children’s engagement with a range of texts and gaining meaning from them |
| Promote children’s understanding of how symbols and patterns work |
Case Study 2:
A family of one of the toddlers in your classroom asks you: “my daughter is being raised in Nova Scotia and learning English, but we really want her to learn about her family’s culture. We are Arabic and want our daughter to learn both English and Arabic. What can we do?”. Relate your answer to emergent literacy and emergent writing and diversity in literacy.
| Components |
| Promote children’s engagement with a range of texts and gaining meaning from them |
| Value children’s linguistic heritage, and with family and community members, encourage the use of and acquisition of language |
| Provide children with examples of the many ways identities and culture are recognized and expressed |
| Acknowledge and understand that children construct meaning in different ways |
| Plan learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge where children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and take appropriate risks in their learning |
| Provide children with rich and diverse creative resources that reflect children’s social worlds |
| Support children developing curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, and imagination |
| Explain to families how children learn through play (making learning visible) |
Case Study 3:
You are working in a pre-primary classroom. Your co-teacher wants to teach the children numeracy concepts. He tells you, “we want to prepare the children for big school- so let’s print out some worksheets about math”. You know that emergent numeracy can happen in multiple environments. List:
- 5 ideas to promote emergent numeracy in the outdoor environment, within natural routines
- 5 ideas to promote emergent numeracy for families in their own day-to-day routines
| Components |
| Promote children’s understanding of how symbols and patterns work |
| Support children in developing a range of skills and processes such as problem-solving, inquiry, experimentation, researching, and investigating |
| Acknowledge and understand that children construct meaning in different ways |
| Plan learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge where children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and take appropriate risks in their learning |
| Explain to families how children learn through play (making learning visible) |
| Support children developing curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, and imagination |
