Let It Roll
This article serves as a guide to assist teachers with getting students to learn through play, “incidental learning,” while utilizing scientific inquiry. I have seen this type of learning oc... See More
This article serves as a guide to assist teachers with getting students to learn through play, “incidental learning,” while utilizing scientific inquiry. I have seen this type of learning occur in my transitional kindergarten classroom. As a newer teacher in this grade-level, I have struggled with shifting from incidental learning to “intentional learning” once students have had time to explore the objects. I appreciated that the authors discussed how to have this transition occur. By reflecting on my own practices, I am realizing that I am not allowing my students enough time to play with the concept before delving into the content. To introduce the academic content, the author’s stressed the importance of scaffolding the scientific language and inquiry process for children to comprehend. Although I am already doing that, I was worried that I was doing it incorrectly. It was refreshing to read about the importance of scaffolding in order to support my student’s intentional learning.