Kacey Rexhausen

Observations: Teacher Roles, Assessment & Planning

A) Summary of Play Scenario

Four children are in the dramatic play area. Olivia and Nya have put on dresses, Lucas has
donned a cape, and Tessa is wearing a pair of sparkly, oversized heels and a gauzy veil. Olivia directs
the others: “Lucas! Me and Nya are princesses and Tessa's our mommy and you're the knight who
protects us from dragons, okay?” Lucas nods and replies, “Okay, but I gotta find my sword.” He
rummages around in a bin until he pulls out a cardboard wrapping paper tube. Nya points at the
ceiling and shouts, “Help! There's a dragon coming!” The girls duck under a table while Lucas swings
his “sword” at the unseen foe. After a few quick swipes and “ksh! ksh!” sound effects, Lucas
declares, “Okay, the dragon's gone. You can come out!”

B) Developmental Outcomes

Cognitive Social/Emotional
• abstract thought • developing independence
• background knowledge • practicing peer skills
• negotiating roles • experiencing healthy peer relationships
• spatial relationships • enhancing feelings of security
• strategy • being a community member
• storytelling • negotiating rules of play
• developing attention span • developing competence
• symbolism • experiencing “fun”

Motor/Physical Language
• spatial awareness • communication skills
• developing gross motor skills by defeating • storytelling/narration
a dragon • nonverbal communication
• developing fine motor skills by dressing • communicating to solve problems
themselves • sound effects/descriptive sounds
• understanding language that is heard

C) Teacher Analysis

+ • offered varied materials to encourage exploration and play

• provided open-ended materials such as cardboard tubes to allow for imagination
• allowed exploration and didn't turn play into work
• was thoughtful in interactions with children and the decision whether or not to enter
play
– • could have entered play and engaged with the children
• could have implemented a theme in the dramatic play area
D) Extending Play

Fairytale Kingdom Theme

• Contact a local theatre company and ask if they can come visit your class in character as various
people in a kingdom (king, queen, princess, prince, knight, peasant, etc.). They could perform a
short skit and talk to the children/answer questions.
• If possible, take a field trip to a Renaissance Faire or similar festival. Talk to as many actors as you
can, and have them tell the children about the roles people played in that time period.
• Plan an art activity in which children create crowns or pointed damsel hats from foam or
construction paper. Provide decorations such as plastic jewels, glitter, and brightly-colored paper
cutouts of shapes.
• In circle time, have children help you write a fairytale. Ask them what characters should be
included, and prompt them with open-ended questions like, “What do you think should happen
next?”
• “Come To The Castle” sung to the tune of “Down by the Station”

Come to the castle early in the morning,

See the lords and ladies all in a row.
See the prince and princess leaving in the carriage.
People throw confetti as they go.

Come to the castle early in the evening.

See the king and queen sitting on their thrones.
See the knights in armor coming in from battle.
See the captured dragons rattling their bones.

add fiction • The Golden Book of Fairy Tales translated by Marie Ponsot & illustrated by
books Adrienne Segur
• A Medieval Feast by Aliki
• The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke & Kerstin Meyer
• Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake by Mark Warner
• King & King by Linda de Haan & Stern Nijland
• Blueberries for the Queen by Katherine & John Paterson
• The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie dePaola
• The King's Taster by Kenneth Oppel, Lou Fancher & Steve Johnson
• If I Were a King, If I Were a Queen by Veronique Tadjo
non- • Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs by Charis Cotter
fiction • Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England by Diane Stanley & Peter
Vennema

add literal • decorate chairs with plastic jewels, red fabric and/or gold spray paint for thrones
props • treasure chest
 • crowns/dresses/suit coats/plastic armor
• jar labeled “Good Dragon Potion” to convert mean dragons into nice ones
• vanity (desk or cupboard with a mirror affixed firmly to the wall behind it)
• costume jewelry in the vanity drawers
• monster gloves/slippers for a dragon
non- • large cardboard box (think a refrigerator box) for a castle
literal • paper towel tubes for towers/turrets
• wide cape for dragon's wings
• marbles for jewels
• milk lids for coins
• pool noodles for horses
• scarves for a moat
• unsharpened pencils for a wizard or witch's wand