KG Rosie's Walk
TKS Kindergarten Students get Active with Literature
By Zachary Smith KG PE Teacher
Students and teachers in the TKS Kindergarten have been collaboratively exploring a new physical and mental space for learning: a Conceptual PlayWorld. A Conceptual PlayWorld is an imaginary scenario created by an educator where young children are invited to go on imaginary journeys, meet and solve challenges, and learn concepts – all while playing. The idea has been pioneered by Professor Marilyn Fleer from Australia's Monash University. In the TKS Kindergarten's PlayWorld, students have been invited to learn about and physically explore the story Rosie's Walk. In this story, a hen goes on a walk through a farm, heedless of a fox trying to catch her, which he can never quite accomplish. The book offers different roles for students to play and uses a variety of directional language terms that are essential for both academic and physical learning, such as across, around, over, past, through, and under. The TKS Kindergarten PlayWorld is unique in that it is a physical space that has been transformed into the book's setting, called Rosie's Farm. As they replicate Rosie's Walk, students traverse a number of obstacles, such as climbing over a climbing structure, lifting buckets filled with bean bags via ropes and pulleys, and crawling through tunnels.
The Wave October issue
The PlayWorld is a hybrid space - it is a K1 PE classroom, as well as a space that students can visit with their classroom teachers outside of PE time. Since the beginning of the year, students have been actively engaged in learning about Rosie's Walk in Rosie's Farm. Along the way, they have been picking up concepts related to narrative structure, characters, sequence, perspective, and directional language. They have also been exercising their bodies and developing physical skills that are essential for life and learning. Most importantly, they have been developing a love for literature and movement!
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