The 3rd Annual Jane Davidson Forum on Play was a great success! Thank you to all of our presenters, participants & volunteers. Click here to read a UDaily article about the event.
3rd Annual Jane Davidson Forum on Play
Saturday, June 2, 2012 during UD Alumni Weekend
8:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m.
Registration now closed
$20 Registration Fee includes Breakfast and Lunch
Join us for the third annual Play Forum created in honor of former UD Lab Preschool Master Teacher Jane Davidson, who had an extraordinary ability to teach young children through play. At a time when play is disappearing from many schools, this part-day forum will highlight the critical 
role of play in young children’s development and will focus on how professionals in the field can effectively articulate and demonstrate the importance of play. This forum will provide 4 training hours.
This event will take place at the UD Lab Preschool
459 Wyoming Road | Newark, DE 19716
Schedule of Events
8:00-8:30 Check in & Breakfast
8:30-10:00 Session 1
10:15-11:45 Session 2
12:00-1:00 Lunch with Faculty Panel
The following workshops will be offered:
Session 1 (8:30-10:00am)
“Hey, Teacher! Look what I did!”: Promoting Science Learning During Water Play
Laura Morris and Cynthia Paris
Children are curious. Children love to explore water. This makes water play a perfect way for children and teachers to think like scientists- to extend children’s natural curiosity and begin to support emerging inquiry skills. In this session, participants will learn ways to promote science inquiry through focused water explorations.
The Trouble with Dramatic Play: Raising Critical Questions about Fun, Fairness and Equality
Nancy J. Edwards and Deborah G. Torbert
In this session, our goal is to raise critical questions regarding the true value of dramatic play. What if play is not fun? What if play is not fair? What if play is not equitable? Participants will be challenged to leave their long held unquestioned beliefs about play at the door. We intend to ask questions that provoke discussion and debate, rethink and reevaluate our own beliefs, decisions and actions regarding what is fun, fair and equitable in creating play contexts in dramatic play.
Literacy: Making connections between required standards and interactive play based lessons
Cara Cuccini-Harmon and Jessica Peace
Are you given a large list of standards and/or curriculum guides for literacy? Do you feel so overwhelmed that it’s difficult to make the lessons your own? Do you want to meet your children’s needs, while still completing required work, but aren’t sure how to do that? Come to our workshop and discover how to create a meaningful, integrated literacy environment to meet your student’s needs. We will play with materials, create some materials and discover how to look at standards in a new way. Be ready to create a list of ideas and take home some resources for your own classroom.
Multiple Representations: Playing with Math Across the Curriculum
Brenna Hassinger-Das, Nancy Dyson, and Casey Irwin
This workshop will introduce participants to ways to integrate playful mathematics instruction across the curriculum for children in early elementary school (PreK-1). After presenting a research-based rationale for our approach, the presenters will provide participants with ample time for playing a variety of mathematics games. During the session, we will highlight both traditional mathematics games as well as innovative work using quantitative language.
Let’s Sing…Music Play with Infants and Young Toddlers!
Kelly Freel, Lori Dempsey, and Charisse Dryden
Music, the universal language, encourages infants and young toddlers to be involved in and connected with the world around them. Through music, babies can learn to better understand themselves and others; they can learn about movement and balance; they can develop early language and literacy skills; and most importantly, they can share fun, love, and create memories with the people they love. Participants will play with music techniques ideal for encouraging multi-domain development in infants and young toddlers. Leave with a renewed sense of how to intentionally incorporate music experiences in your curriculum!
A Bright Start on Literacy
Cynthia Zettler-Greeley, Gail Long, Marika Ginsburg-Block
Educators and researchers from the Nemours BrightStart! early literacy program will present information about early literacy screening and the Nemours BrightStart! curriculum for preventing reading failure. Participants will be able to test their own knowledge of early literacy skills and activities. Examples of playful classroom activities for enhancing phonological awareness, letter, and print knowledge will be shared. Participants will increase their knowledge of the early identification of reading difficulties, critical early literacy skills and activities, and understanding of the Nemours BrightStart! program, an evidence-based early literacy curriculum. Procedures for extending school-based learning to the home environment will be discussed.
Session 2 (10:15-11:45am)
Play in the World of Autism
Nadine Heim
This workshop will look at the role of play in the lives of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Discussion will include the relationships among play, language and cognition, the challenges in play for these children, strategies that could be effective in supporting the imitative and independent play of children with ASD and the role of peer-supported play in facilitating the social play of children with ASD.
Thinking with your Children about Thinking!
Rebecca Godwin, Cynthia Paris, and Katie Pollock
Participants will learn strategies which will help them consider what children think about, how they think about it, and what teachers can do to access and use those thoughts in the classroom.
Keeping the “PLAY” in Kindergarten
Tara Sutton and Suzie Whitcraft
A look at how a group of kindergarten teachers unite to prove the power of play.
Playing extra with children at risk in language and literacy development: A case of successful play tutoring
Myae Han, Meghan Julia, and Nedda Moinolmolki
Do you have children who are in need of extra support in learning language and literacy? Do you wonder how you can support their language and literacy development while at the same time support their play? This workshop introduces a case of successful play tutoring program providing additional early language and literacy skills through play. Children learn vocabularies, alphabet, phonological awareness while they are playing. We will introduce concrete examples of using dramatic play and games to teach early language and literacy skills as a supplemental instruction.
Baby, let’s go outside!
Polly Lung and Dorit Radnai-Griffin
The topic of outdoor play for infants and toddlers is not often highlighted. In this session, we will discuss the importance of outdoor play as part of the experiences planned. The participants will explore how outdoor play could be an extension of indoor activities, and how it could be used to support the overall development of infants and toddlers.
