What in the world can you teach with a bunch of random things found in just about any ECE classroom? Turns out…quite a lot.
In the summer of 2018 I traveled to Guatemala City with my niece, graduate students from Kentucky and Kansas, and a team of ECE faculty and professionals from Spain.
We were invited by Dr. Jennifer Grisham to visit Hope for Tomorrow Children’s Home – a nurturing environment for children who have been abandoned and orphaned, to help conduct developmental assessments and deliver professional development to early educators working in Guatemala City.
The morning was filled with teachings from Drs. Jennifer Grisham and Mary Louise Hemmeter.
In the afternoon, graduate students Bethany Hienz, Kimmy White, and Tiffany Taul, my niece Sam Barros, and Jennifer’s son Kendall Brown, (and me), shared how to teach with loose parts.
We then conducted an activity where the early educators used loose parts, and children’s books they were given from a grant Kendall had received, to teach math skills.
Here’s a list of the loose parts they used:
- Scraps of paper
- Pipe cleaners
- Pom-poms
- Plastic spoons/forks
- Clothes pins
- Tissue paper
- Paper clips
- Rubber bands
- Cotton balls
- Paper cups
- String/Yarn
- Straws
- Buttons
- Feathers
Here’s a list of the math skills:
- subitizes
- makes sets
- rote counts
- knows how many
- knows more/less
- identify printed #s
- counts on
- compares
- classifies
- measures
- recognizes geometric shapes
- creates geometric shapes
Click the image for more pictures of early educators using loose parts and books to teach math skills.
Want more on using loose parts to intentionally teach math skills and much more?
- Click here for an intentional instructional sequence (some think of it as a lesson plan)
- Click here to follow my Pinterest board on teaching with loose parts
Want to see teaching with loose parts in action? Check out this video!
Example of how play, instruction, and assessment can be synonyms. In this authentic assesment activity, the interventionist is working directly on counting out, rote counting, knowing how many, knowing less and more, identifying printed numerals, and counting on…all with loose parts. How many other learning experiences can you see, which are created by following children's lead, being responsive, and incorporating simple every day materials?
Posted by Kristie Pretti-Frontczak on Saturday, July 21, 2018