Learning, Playing and Interacting - Good practice in the Early Years ...

46 The National Strategies | Early Years
Learning, Playing and Interacting – Good practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Planning around a particular concept, knowledge or skill
Adults planned a series of
activities around sorting and
classifying, giving reasons for
decisions. There was a walk
outside to look at ways that
trees were the same or different,
and how they could be grouped
(e.g. fruit or not, trees/bushes).
Then adults planned a focus
group activity sorting leaves,
and recorded each child’s
thinking and decisions about
how to sort the leaves.
Identifying and
supporting
next steps in
learning
Interpreting
children’s
actions and
words to try
to understand
the child’s
thinking and
learning
Partners in learning
Joshua decided to paint a tree, and used the style of making small marks that had been the focus of
a small group painting activity. As Joshua painted, he described his thinking to the adult who took an
active interest.
‘We need to do a sun because the sun makes the tree
grow. There can be holes in it for animals to live in.’
The adult made a mental note that Joshua was
making a connection with the books he had read.
He left a space where a hole could be.
‘We need branches here, as they don’t all come out
the top.’
Scaffolding
children’s
learning
through talk,
discussing
strategies
and ideas,
suggesting
possibilities
and modelling
approaches
Joshua was looking out of the window at a tree to
consider what colours he wanted to use. ‘Leaves can be
any colour green and when they fall off they change
colour.’ He used his knowledge of mixing colours to support him in
making the colours that he needed. He mixed blue and yellow. ‘Look,
I’ve made green’. He then added black or white to lighten or darken the
shade required. He used both a light and a dark green for the leaves.
‘There could be over a million leaves.’
Points to the ‘hole’ space in the tree.
‘What colour do we do this’
They discuss the colours, then decide to try to find out.
There is no hole visible in the tree outside the window,
so they go outside.
No trees have holes, but they do have splits.
Joshua decides this is the right colour to use
for the hole.
‘A dark brown. It needs to be very dark.
Almost black.’ Joshua considers his paints.
‘We could add some black.’
Encouraging
and supporting
children
to persevere
through
difficulties, to
take risks, to
ask questions
and problemsolve
00775-2009BKT-EN © Crown copyright 2009