Drama Centre: Post Office
For Field Placement this year, I was placed in a Full-Day Kindergarten Classroom at St. Monica's Catholic Elementary School. St. Monica's feels like hoe to me because I have completed three different placements at this school.; I was a grade 11 co-op student in a grade one classroom and a third year of University student in the other FDK classroom. In my current classroom, I am working with 19 JK children and 10 SK children. In addition, not only do I work with the children, but I am very honoured to be pa part of the professional team in the classroom; both the teacher and ECE have included me in everything they do. Both the teacher and ECE are dedicated to their job and do their best to ensure that the children are engaging in different learning activities that they are interested in. The children are always eager to try new activities and cannot wait to share their work with their peers and family members.
When I asked my Site Supervisor if it was a good idea to redecorate the Drama Centre, she could not help but be very excited for the change. She understands it is important to create new learning experiences at the Centre but she mentioned that she did not have enough time to always change the theme for the children; she already has a lot to her plate. For this, when i proposed to make the change, she agreed and encouraged me to do so, as we both wanted to see how he children reacted to the change and if they would benefit from it.
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The project I have implemented at my placement this year was to redecorate the dramatic play area for the children. Ever since I started my placement in September the Drama Centre has been set up the same; there is a kitchen, dolls, tables, pots, food, etc. Seeing that this gave the children little opportunity to further their learning in this Centre, I decided to implement a new theme in the Drama Centre for the month of February. Since February is the month of love and Valentines Day is a time of giving love to our friends and families, I decided to introduce a Post Office to the chidlren. In the post Office, I encouraged the children to make sweet mail (write letters, color, decorate hearts) for their peers. In addition, when the children completed their sweet mail, I set-up file folders for the children to use as mail organizers; each file folder followed an alphabetical code for children to match the first letter of their name with and file mail.
The audience for this project was the children in the room. The children were the ones directly involved in the experience and they were able to watch the transformation occur. The children were curious as to what the new Centre was and could not wait to play in this Centre.
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The purpose of this change was to have the children experience something new. Instead of always playing house, I wanted the children to experience what it is like to write letters, color or decorate pictures for their friends, organize mail, and receive mail. In addition, I wanted to give them the opportunity to explore and experience what it is like to work in a Post Office as a cashier, mail carrier, or customer. Through research it was found that make-believe play enhances a child's social, emotional, and cognitive development (McEntire, 2009, p.208-210). By giving children the opportunity to explore different roles and to take on new responsibilities, they are able to fully understand new concepts, become familiar with new information, and appreciate others in the community more. By changing the theme for the Drama Centre, children are able to socially interact with their peers in different context and learn from themselves and one another (Furman, 2000, p.173)
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By implementing this project, the children had the opportunity to further develop their cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills.
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Physical Skills: Fine Motor (cutting, pasting, glueing, writing, colouring) & Gross Motor (moving around the Centre)
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Social Skills: to communicate their thoughts & feelings to their peers; to be fair in sharing materials and roles; to discuss their experiences
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Cognitive Skills:by critically thinking about their prices, items, and options they have available to them; by solving problems; by choosing a friend to write a letter and thinking of creative ways to make the mail attractive
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Emotional Skills: by making their own choices of who they are making sweet mail for; by writing meaningful letters to their friends; by expressing their feelings and experiences throughout play; by actively taking on a new role during play
Since I implemented the change, the children were eager to play in their new Centre and were excited to try something new; they couldn't wait to have a turn in the Centre. Some of the outcomes that resulted from this project are:
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Increased participation; more children approached the Centre compared to the previous Centre
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Since the Centre was available for two chidlren at a time, the children enjoyed playing with the children they with don't usually associate with
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The SK children had the opportunity to model the use of materials ; felt a sense of responsibility
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Children showed dedication to their work; when they did not finish their letter they returned to it when they could
Based on the positive outcomes, the teacher in the room agreed on changing the theme of the Drama Centre every month; it seems like it was successful enough for the teacher to continue making changes. The children are always excited and eager to find out what the next theme will be. In additon, we decided to involve the children in the Centre preperation process. By doing so, the children feel involved in the process and valued and enjoy seeing their contributions while playing at the Centre. In fact, by allowing them to contribute, the children feel a sense of responsibility and pride when playing at the Centre.