Play Behaviors-2nd grade classroom

Yesterday, (3/17/09) I observed a 2nd grade classroom from 830-1030 where there are 22 students, 12 boys and 10 girls and a very non-diverse classroom. There are Caucasian students and latino students. This class is 7-9 years old (1 child was held back so that is how he is 9). There are 4 students in this class with cognitive disabilities and behavioral issues.

This day was St. Patrick's Day, so it was a PLAY based day. The whole morning opening was based on discussion from what the leprechaun did to the room and how they can set a trap to catch the leprechaun. The day started out with a maze throughout the room that was traced with green glitter that really emphasized the difference through the genders because of the discussion that was taking place. The boys were trying to catch it and trap and the girls wanted to catch it to take it home to show their parents. The maze led to different clues about were the leprechaun was and clues to find him throughout the day. This maze caused some amazing discussion and also some GREAT journals for the morning writing. The discussion was how the leprechaun got in and out of the classroom, and in the journals they talked about his outfit and how the leprechaun was going to come back and visit. All from glitter this caused so many kids to be playing with their pencils pretending that the pencil was the leprechaun and acting out what they would say to him if they did see them. (They did not know they would meet him 2 hours later)

After they finished their morning work, they are allowed to go to the pupper show center or the carpet to read/play games, and every child went to the puppet show and they put on a play about how they were going to go throughout the school and follow the green and find the leprechaun in the school somewhere, and then what they would do with him after. The carpet also turned into the meeting station to find the stinky leprechaun. This allowed the students to take their regular carpet which is just used for meeting circle and use their imagination to allow it to be something else.

After everyone finished their work, they returned to their seats, but their assignment for cursive writing turned into a letter that could only be written in cursive because that is the only thing the leprechaun can read is cursive. This really allowed students to use what they have learned in cursive and allowed them to write something fun instead of doing a worksheet on practicing it. They took their regular day assignments and turned them into fun writing assignments.

Once they finished their letters to the leprechaun, each student gets free choice time, and they can read, write, or play a game quietly. One girl wrote a book about her day (3 pages long with pictures) and then sat on the teachers stool and pretended that she was the teacher instructing the class how she was going to catch the leprechaun. I thought about this, she wrote a whole story, became a teacher, and gave very clear instructions to the class.

After everyone was done with that, they had to clean up the leprechaun's mess, so it was a game of competition of what group can get done first with their area and the prize was to get to put your gym shoes on first. Not the best prize, but all of the groups were very quick, and this allowed the students to have inspiration to do their job and not waste time talking to eachother etc.

While I was observing the 2nd graders, the Kindergartners were on a chase to go find the leprechaun in theschool, and then the 2nd graders joined in. it was very spontaneous, but I believe that those children will remember that they went chasing a leprechaun and by the end they caught him. What a memory is that!!!!

Overall, play is incorporated through free choice time but also through work time. Both genders take play in a different way, and this allows the children to be very successful with their creativity and imagination.