0:00:00.186,0:00:05.266
(Child) Do one side and then the[br]spider crawled up the house and then...

0:00:05.266,0:00:08.706
(Heather) Playful learning to me is[br]seeing the joy on the children's face

0:00:08.706,0:00:10.500
when they're learning something new.

0:00:10.776,0:00:15.816
So seeing them smile, seeing them[br]be able to use it in context

0:00:15.816,0:00:17.146
when they're playing,

0:00:17.146,0:00:22.346
because they've learned it[br]through play from us.

0:00:22.346,0:00:24.306
When I see them giggling and laughing,

0:00:24.306,0:00:26.795
but still doing[br]what I've asked them to do

0:00:26.795,0:00:29.016
I say: "Yeah, that's it. That's great."

0:00:29.076,0:00:32.716
(Children voices)

0:00:36.316,0:00:39.300
Storyland is oral storytelling.

0:00:40.096,0:00:44.446
My students are learning[br]the basics of writing,

0:00:44.446,0:00:46.376
but they're learning it orally

0:00:46.796,0:00:49.536
which is where they need[br]to learn it in kindergarten.

0:00:49.686,0:00:51.516
They need to learn the oral part of it

0:00:51.516,0:00:53.986
before they can move into the written part

0:00:53.986,0:00:55.000
as they get older.

0:00:55.000,0:00:58.500
Once upon a time, tell me[br]about your beautiful house here.

0:00:58.500,0:01:00.200
(Child) One day, a spider...

0:01:01.000,0:01:03.652
(Heather) I cover each table[br]with a tablecloth

0:01:03.652,0:01:05.200
and it becomes that land.

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So, you know, the land of fall,[br]the land of water, the land of snow,

0:01:10.596,0:01:12.246
so all of those different lands.

0:01:12.626,0:01:15.800
I change them up so that[br]they're not always the same.

0:01:16.396,0:01:18.800
What we play with is nature-based.

0:01:19.610,0:01:24.766
I had acorns, I have pine cones,[br]I have shells, I have pieces of wood.

0:01:25.236,0:01:29.186
I do have animals out[br]so that they can add those in.

0:01:31.000,0:01:34.951
I put out the baskets[br]with all the nature items in it,

0:01:35.646,0:01:37.406
and then they come in very quietly

0:01:37.406,0:01:40.426
and they gather the items[br]that they want to play with,

0:01:40.426,0:01:42.476
and they bring it to their land of choice.

0:01:50.056,0:01:54.106
And then they create[br]whatever they're making,

0:01:54.106,0:01:56.500
the house, the trees, whatever it is.

0:01:56.810,0:01:59.326
And they start telling their story[br]to themselves,

0:01:59.326,0:02:01.026
or sometimes with a partner.

0:02:01.026,0:02:03.106
(Child) I think this is actually real.

0:02:03.106,0:02:04.876
This is real, so we tuck down...

0:02:04.876,0:02:06.405
(Heather) And then I circulate

0:02:06.405,0:02:08.865
and I walked around[br]and I make sure that I touch in

0:02:08.865,0:02:10.895
with every child at least once.

0:02:10.895,0:02:14.426
(Child) And then this ran away[br]and then they jump back up there...

0:02:14.426,0:02:17.786
(Heather) So then, as they play Storyland,[br]I'll go around and I'll say:

0:02:17.786,0:02:19.826
"Okay, what's the setting of your story?"

0:02:19.826,0:02:22.376
and then they orally tell[br]me what the setting is.

0:02:22.376,0:02:25.636
(Child) And this is the water[br]where he swims.

0:02:26.136,0:02:28.106
(Heather) If we're working on characters,

0:02:28.106,0:02:30.756
I'll say: "Okay,[br]who are the characters in your story?"

0:02:30.756,0:02:34.800
(Child) It was birds flying[br]and some butterflies.

0:02:34.900,0:02:38.400
(Heather) It was birds flying[br]and then their friends were butterflies?

0:02:40.446,0:02:44.376
Right now, I'm trying to work on[br]more of a beginning, middle and end.

0:02:53.156,0:02:57.556
And so when they get to grade one,[br]if they can orally tell the story,

0:02:57.556,0:03:00.786
they can hopefully start to put[br]something down on paper.

0:03:01.736,0:03:03.578
It's magical to them and they love it,

0:03:03.578,0:03:06.526
so that's a good way[br]for them to start their writing.

0:03:06.526,0:03:10.926
(Child) I make this goat never get[br]his chocolate peanut butter--

0:03:10.926,0:03:13.506
(Heather) Oh, look, and I think[br]someone's at the door.

0:03:13.506,0:03:15.406
(Child) That's a bear.

0:03:15.466,0:03:18.000
(Child) Hello. Who's there?