Interview Questions

Preliminary Interview:
1. Do you think play supports literacy in kindergarten?
a. Play can support literacy in kindergarten classrooms but it
is the teacher's responsibility to find the balance between
academic and social enrichment programs.

2. What are your thoughts on play in our classroom?

a. Due to the diversity of our students, it is important to
balance play and academic enrichment in our schedule.

3. Do you think play supports other areas of development in

children? If so, which ones?
a. In our classroom, play benefits the students by developing
their imagination and social strengths.

Interim Interview:

4. Can you think of any specific times/situations you observed a

student learning through play?
a. Since our current students have a vast array of emotional,
intellectual and social needs, play tends to focus more on
social enrichment then academic enrichment. I think the
age difference in our classroom makes it a struggle to
observe the academic benefits.
5. Do you think play should be incorporated into the language arts
curriculum in kindergarten?
a. With the proper support tools such as learning games and
manipulatives, play would benefit the development of the
students.

Post Interview:

6. If you could make changes to the way we integrate play into our
classroom, what changes would you make?
a. Knowing the dynamics of our current classroom, I would
separate free play and centers. Centers would have three
students with an educational tool or manipulative game.
Free play would be in areas directed by the teacher with
only four per group, and the children would be required to
play in the same area the entire time.

7. Over the last seven weeks I tried to incorporate more play into
the curriculum and have free play more often. Do you think it
was beneficial to the students?
a. Based solely on our current group of students, I think a
decrease in free play would be optimal for their
development. Due to their different temperaments and
social, emotional, intellectual and environmental needs, a
better balance needs to be explored to reach a positive
outcome. I think over time, as we decrease the multiple
forces that are hindering our childrens ability to benefit
from play, we can increase their play time.