#UDL #PEP #Educational Play #What am I? Where am I?
When looking at developing classroom activities through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) perspective, play is a good fit. Universal Design for Learning is a wide ranging concept that essentially is broken down into three areas. A UDL classroom includes 1) multiple ways to present material, 2) multiple possibilities for student engagement and 3) multiple ways to assess learning. This does not simply mean looking at teaching through the outdated 'modality' lens. It encompasses so much more. How can we incorporate play to help us design lessons that reach all students, regardless of language, activity level, emotional maturity, motivation, and ability level? Being mindful of specific academic targets is critical. As we focus on the target we develop ways to present the skill, engage the students and assess learning. Much can be done during the initial UDL design and preparation to get us ready for whoever comes through our classroom door. As we get to know the specific needs and interests of individual students, however, activities can be tweaked and new UDL lessons planned.
One example of incorporating play is through the use of the What am I? Where am I? game. The game focuses on location words. It includes sets of 3 pictures of the same animal in different settings, a word card that names each animal, and a word card that describes each animal's location (i.e. beside, above, below.) What am I? Where am I? sets are built by matching the 5 cards for each animal. The initial game introduction is planned as a whole group activity. One card for each animal is placed on separate desks. All other cards are divided among students. The task involves students walking around to find the matches for each of their cards and building a rectangle out of the matching cards. Specific skills levels can be addressed by strategically assigning the cards. Students with limited English or reading difficulties can be assigned the pictures for this initial activity. Others can be given the word cards. Another idea is to use more than one game and give both picture cards and word cards to all. If students struggle to read the word they may still be successful at matching the word placed on the What/Where set by another student. After sets are complete visit each animal and discuss the game characters and the words, make up silly sentences together, play around with the words. The silliness of the characters makes them fun and entertaining. To extend the activity students can write a sentence, or multiple sentences describing a What/Where picture about their favorite animal(s.)
Students needing additional support can work individually, or in small groups, starting with picture cards only, or selecting the correct word when given only two or three word cards from which to pick. What am I? Where am I? can easily be adapted for small group work, learning center activities, writing assignments, and much more. But the most entertaining seems to be to simply play the a game!
Developing game-related extension activities
(The P.E.P. Project)
The P.E.P. Project gave me the opportunity to assist teachers in 3rd grade classrooms. I worked with teachers to develop additional activities and extension materials that correlate with the P.E.P. games. A large focus was on the What am I? Where am I? game. Word lists were developed in Spanish, Russian, and Uzbekistan. Word-to-word matching cards, picture-to-word cards and flash cards were made. I found that including a few of the words in the students' native languages in the flash card sets was so rewarding. It never failed to become a lesson for me. A 10-page booklet was developed, one page per What/Where animal. Cut-apart-sentences were made, as well as sentence completion worksheets. Consistent throughout all the activities were the 10 animal words and 14 location words. The repetition reinforced the basic 24 words, while allowing students to expand with sentences, paragraphs, and lots and lots of language. The game quickly became the focus of extensive activities for students with limited English, and fun for all. So many learning activities from one basic What am I? Where am I? game!