Monday, March 17, 2014

PLAY-TITUDE #16: CREATE RITUALS FOR FUN AND FOR CONNECTION



Happy St. Patty’s Day and Top o’ the Morning to You!  St. Patrick’s Day is here and I am thinking about rituals as play—both in our homes and schools.   

St. Patrick’s Day is not the biggest of celebrations in my family, but there are many celebrations—large and small that we embrace as a way to play and to have fun.  St. Patrick’s Day is one of them—although on a smaller scale.  Our ritual today is a food ritual—my family is making Rueben sandwiches and eating Irish cheese to celebrate the day.  I will add a bit of Bailey’s Irish Crème to my coffee in the evening for a Top o’ the Evening toast.  When my children were younger I created leprechaun hunts and more elaborate rituals.  That has waned through the years, with other holidays and family moments housing stronger play rituals for us.  Still, in a small way the clovers and green live in our house.   For other families, rituals on this day are very important.   Whether the rituals are large or small these rituals add playfulness to family life.
  
The kindergarten teachers in one of the schools that I support have been busily planning learning connected to fun for the children around St. Patty’s Day.  These teachers believe that play is an important part of learning.  They create ways to embed fun activities within instructional goals.  In everyday activities they have developed a play space that incorporates learning challenges in such a way that learning happens through play every day.  Tomorrow is St. Patty’s day, and the learning will occur with St. Patrick’s Day in mind.  Adding moments of magic and leprechauns create an environment of fun that enhances learning when done with thought.   Protecting fun within learning supports creating some rituals as classroom celebrations.   Rigor and strong instruction are absolutely necessary.   The best teachers I know couple strong instruction with play and ritual.   Instruction happens most naturally for young children—and older children alike—through play.   Creating fun also creates memories.  I do not know of a child that remembers the lesson on how to answer a test prep question.  But remembering the day that the leprechaun visited the kindergarten classroom and asked the class went on a learning scavenger hunt to find treasure at the end of the rainbow—well that is something that for many will be long remembered.   This kind of ritual fun builds a classroom community. 

Rituals and fun prevail in families and in schools on St. Patrick’s Day and on many days across the year.  How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day today?  Do you have other rituals your family or class celebrates? 

Happy St. Patty’s Day to all who celebrate in both large and small ways.  May the luck of the Irish be with you!


PLAY-TITUDE #16:  Ritual creates fun and memories.   Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for dedicating space and time for writers and teachers of writing to come together to share ideas, practice and life experiences.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for the reminder to be a teacher who has lots of fun. I have been a bit "focussed" lately and I think we all need to let our hair down a bit. My class has just left for this St Patricks Day but I am inspired to plan something fun for tomorrow. Thanks for this great slice.

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    1. You are welcome. Fun mixed with learning--the best kind of both:)

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  2. Ah, may the spirit of fun be always with you...and those kindergareners for whom you are making memories.

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    1. Thanks, Tara. Nothing like having fun with 5 year olds.

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  3. My youngest granddaughter (2 1/2) came home from her pre-school last week talking about leprechauns. They found out that the kids had been getting ready for St. Pat's Day, & looking for these wee folk outside on the playground, in the bushes, etc. Lots of fun there!

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    1. Don't you love the imagination of young children. Enjoy your granddaughter!

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  4. You and I have been writing about the same things! My St. Patrick's Day is about cooking. My #16 slice has the recipe my mother-in-law taught me to make cabbage taste yummy to have with the corned beef. Tomorrow my slice is about hearing Tony Wagner speak about the importance of PLAY and my reflection on having play occur in my 4th grade classroom. You are SO right. Kids will NEVER remember fondly any test-prep. They will remember the play and fun they have at school. I hope we can both always give our students those playful moments. If you are looking for a new St. Patrick's Day recipe, read here: http://mywritingstoriesbysally.blogspot.com/2014/03/march-16-st-patrick-day-recipes.html

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    1. I will definitely visit your website. I look forward to your slice about Play tomorrow. It has been fun to spend a month digging into a single topic, to tell my slices about play while discovering what play is for me in a deeper way.

      Speaking about recipes, a few of my friends are making Guiness Cupkates with Bailey's Frosting for dessert today. The link for that recipe is: http://americanheritagecooking.com/2014/03/guinness-chocolate-cupcakes-baileys-butter-cream-salted-caramel/

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  5. Your piece made me green with envy.

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  6. Ruebens, yum! My corned beef leftovers will make some great sandwiches. It's a skillful teacher who can make learning feel like play.

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    1. I agree. One of the teachers I wrote about texted me just a little while ago to tell me that her class spent the day writing How To books in Writers' Workshop--many of them choosing the topic--How to Catch a Leprechaun. I love children!

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  7. I did not grow up celebrating St Patrick's Day. Maybe that is why it is fun for me to learn new things and traditions while reading blog posts. I have to admit that I am not so sure about the foods.....Thanks for your green post!

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Jaana. We do learn from one another!

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