In response to the recent emphasis on communicative skills and simulation in the language class, a new approach brings the techniques of dramatic improvisation into the classroom. (MSE)

Describes the use of a game, Grand Prix Wagon Racing, to prompt speaking in the foreign language and to provide visibility among parents and administrators of the foreign language program. (PMJ)

Suggests that parents who are aware of the differences between home play and school play more fully understand and value the role of play in the early childhood curriculum. Discusses benefits of school play along several dimensions, including interaction with peers and adults, group size, materials, planning, and guidance. Suggests ways for…

Proposes a narrative approach to moral experience through dramatic play and writing. Argues this approach works with multiple dimensions in student lives and gives them chances to benefit from their moral experiences. Bases this approach to moral education on action research conducted in Quebec (Canada) and Belgium secondary moral education…

Describes a block play activity undertaken in a kindergarten through second-grade multiage classroom, in which children used blocks and various other props to construct and operate an imaginary snack shop. Discusses the benefits of block play and guidelines for teachers to follow in establishing block play activities. (MDM)

Describes and provides examples of how storytelling can help develop children's language ability. Argues that the goal is not to teach children language but to create an environment that will allow language learning to occur naturally. (SRT)

Discusses the critical relationships among play, learning to read, and early reading achievement. Gives examples of kindergarten play activities that nurture the ability to read, including painting, playing with lettered blocks, movement activities, sociodramatic play, and field trips. (FL)

Profiles Sherry Stidolph and her ongoing efforts to bring Shakespeare to children. Stidolph uses her knowledge of child development to decide which plays to choose and which elements to emphasize. Includes drawings by the children illustrating scenes from the plays. (MJP)

Describes how the personal narratives of Vivian Paley led one early childhood specialist to surprising insights about the ways young children and adults learn. Focuses on the role of children's storytelling and playacting in supporting thinking, classroom discipline techniques, and using children's thinking to improve one's teaching skills. (KB)

The University of California at Santa Barbara Reader's Theater program educates students about the prevention of alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and HIV through a live, dramatic script reading. Peer educators serve as both actors and follow-up workshop discussion facilitators. (SM)

Describes a preschool curriculum unit that includes activities designed to help prepare young children for medical treatment, visits to hospitals, and health care. (BB)

Reviews the way in which story dramatization stimulates children's development. Discusses five steps in the process of story dramatization. (BB)

We evaluated an intervention package for teaching generative sociodramatic play activities to a young boy with an autism spectrum disorder. In Phase 1, the boy learned computer activity schedules that featured embedded video models of what to say and do. A 3 x 3 instructional matrix defined 9 activities to be performed involving combinations of 3…

Presents results from ethnographic study on children's everyday life in Finnish daycare centers. Raises question of the relationship between play and real life, and analyzes play and playfulness as communicative resources used by children in creating everyday routines. Argues play is not a separate children's world; by using play, children also…

Recounts a week-long environmental program that revolved around staff dressing up as Alpha Centaurions to point out pollution on Earth. Activities were chosen to teach students about ways in which our environment is being ruined and students were encouraged to look for solutions. Activities included zoo visits, ecological study of Brockhill Valley…