About the Project

Studies show that play is one of the most effective ways for young children to learn. This project aims to enhance the play experiences of our emergent bilingual students in TK and kindergarten. The project has two main objectives, first, to purchase developmentally appropriate, open-ended materials and resources. These materials will expand the implementation of the literacy-based play workshop, which is a student-driven, instructional approach that allows students to plan, implement, and reflect on their play choices. The structure of the play workshop time allows students to practice emergent literacy skills including book making, retelling, and revision. When emergent bilingual children engage in purposeful play and inquiry-based activities they are more likely to learn strong linguistic and social skills, develop strong agency, and have higher levels of academic and intellectual achievement in both languages. The second objective is to use our shared space to host four family workshops to empower families to use their children’s play to support literacy at home. The family workshops will be a time when parents can share their cultural competencies and assets with the school community as they participate in sessions focused on ways to support their children’s academic, linguistic, and social-emotional growth through play and literacy.