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(Child) Do one side and then the
spider crawled up the house and then...

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(Heather) Playful learning to me is
seeing the joy on the children's face

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when they're learning something new.

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So seeing them smile, seeing them
be able to use it in context

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when they're playing,

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because they've learned it
through play from us.

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When I see them giggling and laughing,

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but still doing
what I've asked them to do

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I say: "Yeah, that's it. That's great."

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(Children voices)

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Storyland is oral storytelling.

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My students are learning
the basics of writing,

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but they're learning it orally

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which is where they need
to learn it in kindergarten.

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They need to learn the oral part of it

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before they can move into the written part

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as they get older.

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Once upon a time, tell me
about your beautiful house here.

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(Child) One day, a spider...

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(Heather) I cover each table
with a tablecloth

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and it becomes that land.

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So, you know, the land of fall,
the land of water, the land of snow,

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so all of those different lands.

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I change them up so that
they're not always the same.

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What we play with is nature-based.

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I had acorns, I have pine cones,
I have shells, I have pieces of wood.

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I do have animals out
so that they can add those in.

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I put out the baskets
with all the nature items in it,

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and then they come in very quietly

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and they gather the items
that they want to play with,

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and they bring it to their land of choice.

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And then they create
whatever they're making,

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the house, the trees, whatever it is.

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And they start telling their story
to themselves,

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or sometimes with a partner.

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(Child) I think this is actually real.

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This is real, so we tuck down...

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(Heather) And then I circulate

39
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and I walked around
and I make sure that I touch in

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with every child at least once.

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(Child) And then this ran away
and then they jump back up there...

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(Heather) So then, as they play Storyland,
I'll go around and I'll say:

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"Okay, what's the setting of your story?"

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and then they orally tell
me what the setting is.

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(Child) And this is the water
where he swims.

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(Heather) If we're working on characters,

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I'll say: "Okay,
who are the characters in your story?"

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(Child) It was birds flying
and some butterflies.

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(Heather) It was birds flying
and then their friends were butterflies?

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Right now, I'm trying to work on
more of a beginning, middle and end.

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And so when they get to grade one,
if they can orally tell the story,

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they can hopefully start to put
something down on paper.

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It's magical to them and they love it,

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so that's a good way
for them to start their writing.

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(Child) I make this goat never get
his chocolate peanut butter--

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(Heather) Oh, look, and I think
someone's at the door.

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(Child) That's a bear.

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(Child) Hello. Who's there?