K-12
Developmentally Appropriate Play by Call Number: LB1137.G73 2010ISBN: 9781605540375Publication Date: 2010-07-01This book was written as a resource for teachers with the Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in mind.
The Classrooms All Young Children Need by Call Number: LB1139.23.C66 2009ISBN: 9780226115238Publication Date: 2009-10-01Cooper analyzes the work of teacher and author Vivian Paley and distills it into a classroom recipe that incorporates play, imagination, and inclusion.
Free to Learn by Call Number: BF717.G73 2013ISBN: 9780465025992Publication Date: 2013-03-05Gray talks about how the current testing culture has created "imprisonment schooling" and argues that children need more freedom to play and learn on their own terms - to pursue their own interests. There is a huge bibliography included that folks can use if they want to follow any interesting threads they find in the book.
Games in Use
This is a photo I took during a creative writing program that I did with 5th-8th graders. We used two games, Rory's Story Cubes and Once Upon a Time, as tools for creating writing prompts. In this photo the kids are rolling Rory's Story Cubes to get ideas for characters, places, and objects in their stories. You can contact me for access to the worksheets that I created for this activity.
Book Series with Lesson Plans
Teaching Through Games by ISBN: 9781499490152Publication Date: 2015-01-01This series aligns specific games with specific subjects often taught in schools and talks about the importance of play in learning. Each book includes lesson plans, related readings, and assessments. (This series is not available through the Chicago Public Library. See the link for the publisher's website.)
Titles in the series include these topics:
Underground Railroad
American Revolution
Financial Literacy
Secondary Science
Programming Concepts
Non-K12 Classroom Settings
Early Learning Through Play by Call Number: Z718.3.G725 2019ISBN: 9781440865824Publication Date: 2019-03-13Learning happens every day in libraries around the world. This text focuses on early childhood education via play in library programming.
Postsecondary Play by Call Number: LB2395.7.P68 2014ISBN: 9781421413068Publication Date: 2014-06-01This book goes beyond K-12 education and looks at play, in the form of games and social media, in postsecondary education. For K-12 educators and parents, it is a look into the future and a potential preparation map.
Play at Work by Call Number: HD30.26.P46 2013ISBN: 9781591844792Publication Date: 2013-10-03This book is an overview of how games can help us learn. It is not specifically focused on children, but people in general. It is a good look at why games should not simply be dismissed as leisure or a waste of time. It is something parents and teachers can look to when asking themselves "Why games?"
