Reading and play

As I am teaching in a junior classroom again this year, I have been looking into incorporating play into my classroom routine. Not just free play where they go for it. Structured play with provocations and prompts to guide the conversation and/or play. 

I have seen a few ideas floating around facebook and instagram with themed play in a classroom. 

As I have little learners coming to visit every fortnight on a Tuesday, I'm going to use that literacy block to be themed around a picture book. The first one is around the book "Piranhas don't eat bananas". I will have a range of themed activities out along with a task card,  for students to use to play, build and then shared their learning. An example is one in the picture below - a piranha peg!

I can't wait to get this underway this week and will use it to start and see the success of this programme. There are so many opportunities and benefits for structured play in the classroom and linking it to picture books is a fantastic start! I can't wait!