Supporting Language Culturally Rich Dramatic Play Analysis

Sara Smilansky is a Developmental Theorist who has identified four types of play: Functional play, Constructive play, Dramatic play, and games with rules. Smilansky says that Dramatic play is the most mature type of play because this is the time where children start to understand their surroundings and imitate what they see others doing. The research on play focused on sociodramatic play and the impact it has on children’s learning. In Smilansky’s book ‘The Effects of Sociodramatic play on Disadvantaged Preschool Children’, she says that “…a form of voluntary social play activity in which preschool children participate”.

Explain the role of play in literacy learning and examine its position in relation to society, the National Curriculum, and cultural issues. In what ways should early playful learning encounters be built upon in the context of schooling?

Dramatic play permits children to fit the reality of the world into their own interests and knowledge. One of the purest forms of symbolic thought available to young children, dramatic play, contributes strongly to the intellectual development of children. Young children learn by imagining and doing and dramatic play allows them to do so. Dramatic play also promotes the use of speaking and listening skills. When children take part in this type of play, they practice words they have heard others say, and realize that they must listen to what other “players” say in order to be able to respond in an appropriate fashion. This style of play also promotes the development of social skills through interaction with others, peers or adults, which is a necessary factor in a child’s future.

Introduction to reading comes through phonetic reading boxes. The reading boxes are cleverly organized, going from simple to the complex. Reading does not follow the same process of writing, which is taking our own thoughts and symbolizing. When we read, it is not our language with which we are working with, it is the author’s language. Reading is the analysis of the language followed by a synthesis. Story telling and socio-dramatic play in the environment can help the child develop an imagination that fosters a higher capability to understand what is being read to them.

According to Lev Vygotsky, in the article Play: The Work of Lev Vygotsky (2017), when children partake in play they are building their language and cognitive development

As well as the quality of spoken language that children hear on a day to day basis will have a vast impact on the grammar and language they use. Therefore teachers and all teaching staff should ensure they continue to develop children’s confidence when it comes to communication by developing the skills needed to explain their understanding this is also vital when it comes to understanding and explaining of books or other recourses. All children should have access to and be encouraged to develop their role in drama. Pupils should be able to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They should have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre

An example listed in my article was following the conversation of a little boy and his classmate, both of a different cultural background. The boy was explaining to his teacher how to make a particular dish. He was delighted to be making this pretend meal for his teacher, who did not know much about it. THe child's classmate came over to investagate, insisting that the meal that was being "created" was actually a mango, not "mangu," like the dish native to the first child's heritage. The second child was intruged to learn that mango and mangu are two different things, as her classmate pointed the mistake out cearly. THis ordinary example illustrates how play allows children to teach their peers aspects about their heritages, languages, and families. It opens doors that often remain closed behind language barriers and cultural differences. THey are more than willing to utilize all their knowlege and help explain to us, if we will just listen. As teachers, it is our job to engage along with the child, not direct their imaginative play. We are very welcome characters in whatever game they can create next, and they will be sure to invite us into their

The timeline of the drama program is it would start in October and end in May. The program will include teachers and community members as volunteers. Ideally, the people who volunteer would be interested in the arts such as: music, art, dance and acting. But, experience in those fields is not required. The students will have the opportunity to learn reading comprehension skills such as: sequence of events, vocabulary and summarization. The students will choose one book to read and study per month, and the activities will coordinate with those books. The books the children will choose from will vary in topic and difficulty, but will be on the 2nd grade reading level. The drama techniques that will be used are: hotseating, role-play and tableaux.

I was very lucky to have grown up into a family of artists and theater folk. My parents met in a show (like my wife and I) and continued to perform in community theatre shows when my brother and I were young. The lifestyle called to me and I was able to do my first show when I was 5 along with my parents.

The dramatic play is one of great activities to evaluate and promote the social skills because in order to play a role in a dramatic play, the child needs the understanding of the role and able to make “appropriate response to the others” (Beaty, 2014, p. 126). Thus, Draco performed a great learned skills that are social skills, speaking skills, motor skills, and his affection during the dramatic play.

There are numerous theories of play and countless theorists, from Freud and Spencer to Piaget and Vygotsky, who have studied play in relation to what it is and what it does for the child. This essay will outline the definition and value of play and the importance of how it can foster the child’s learning in regards to these theorists who studied the effects in great detail. It will discuss the how the environments constructed by educators can impact play and the theories of learning relating to the quote “play and learning are inextricably woven together ...” Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2010, p. 5).

The NSW Drama Syllabus also states, “the study of drama engages and challenges students to maximise their individual abilities through imaginative, dramatic experiences created in cooperation with others”. In this topic I will explain why drama is not only important for the curriculum, but why it should be incorporated into all key learning areas and teaching practices. My research states that drama is natural to how children learn, I say this as I think back to my employment experience watching toddlers engage in play. The

According to Lev Vygotsky, play is essential part of both language development and a child’s understanding of the external world. Children at play make sense through a process of inner speech. This is what Alonte’ showed when talking out loud to himself in his play. This shows that he is able to use his imagination a relate what he explores through his play.

Drama of Color is a manual for educators who want to read folk writings and practice relaxed classroom drama to encourage multiethnic understanding with elementary scholars. Saldana introduces twenty folk tales pulled from the spoken customs of Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Africans, and African Americans. He urges educators to utilize the writings as a foundation and springboard for pantomime and oral improvisation, including comprehensive techniques for dramatizations, with follow-up activities in the social studies and language arts. In these dramas, educators and their scholars discover not only the commonalities that connect each person, but the significant morals, representations, and customs that distinguish and differentiate people as human beings and groupings as well.

This portion of the Play Project was done back at Wendell Johnson. We met with Jihan and the teacher aides to discuss what we thought was working well in their classroom, and our suggestions to further facilitate language development. Since the last reflection, our goal was to come up with strategies the teachers could use to continue to promote language development for their children. Me and my other group members tried to attain this goal by providing handouts and examples of strategies that we thought would be helpful for the teachers. We used the acronym FIGS (Fill in the blank, Interactive Play, Gestures, and Speak) to help them remember the strategy. They seemed to respond well to this and thought it was a good way to remember the strategies.