Playful Literacy Activities
Overview
Playful activities, including pretending, games, and other child-led activities, can support the development of learners' Metacognition and also inspire their narratives and writing. A creative task helps students brainstorm and develop their ideas prior to engaging deeply in the writing process, easing the demand on Working Memory. Unstructured pretend play in which children can mimic authentic literacy activities, such as writing restaurant orders or playing teacher, can enrich their Foundational Writing Skills and support literacy development overall.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch as these elementary school students use Legos as an aid in their narrative writing. Students use the Legos to brainstorm, try out different ideas, and add details to their writing. Their delight in play increases Motivation and positive Emotion towards writing.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Learn how Night Zookeeper, an online game, can help students play individually and with others to create their own zoos. Students can create their own characters and are shown game options to help them play while working on emergent literacy skills. This program is aimed at elementary students, particularly those who already know how to read, however, younger students can use this application with assistance from parents and educators.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Active Learning Strategies
Creating and acting out texts or original narratives can enhance literacy for young learners, solidifying their comprehension and building Narrative Skills.
Students activate more cognitive processes by exploring and representing their understandings in visual form.
When young children draw and are encouraged to explain their drawings, they are sharpening the cognitive and motor skills involved in conventional writing.
When students explain their thinking process aloud, they recognize the strategies they use and solidify their understanding.
Visiting places connected to classroom learning provides opportunities to deepen understanding through firsthand experiences.
Free choice supports learner interests and allows more complex social interactions to develop.
Games help students visualize new information and immerse themselves in the learning process.
Imagining allows students to step back from a problem or task and think about it from multiple angles.
Reading aloud allows students to hear and practice reading and fluency skills.
Project-based learning (PBL) actively engages learners in authentic tasks designed to create products that answer a given question or solve a problem.
Response devices boost engagement by encouraging all students to answer every question.
