Explore, Engage, Experience: A Playful Approach To Lesson Design

Outline

I. Introduction (5 minutes)
Content: Introduce myself and outline the purpose of the session.
Engagement: Icebreaker: Participants will share one challenge they face in student engagement. We will use a Padlet to allow participants to reflect in a shared space.

II. Explain the Story Behind the Need to Create the PLAY Framework (5 minutes)
Content: Discuss issues of student boredom and disengagement. I will share insights from Adam Grant's book, Hidden Potential, and explain how I learned about "boreout," a concept I realized I was experiencing in my teaching. I will describe how I began asking my students about their playtime in school and received disappointing news—that they only played during recess. With their help and the use of AI, we developed a way to approach required lessons in a playful and joyful manner.

III. Sharing (40 minutes)
Content: Introduce the components of the framework:
Playful Exploration
Link and Leverage
Active Engagement
Yield to Reflect
Engagement: I will teach the framework concepts using the PLAY framework, reinforcing learning through creation and fun. Participants will actively engage in creating while also learning about the sequence.
Process: Q&A will be incorporated throughout the session.

IV. Sharing and Building a Community (5 minutes)
Content: Participants will share ideas they have developed for their lessons. As a group, we will decide how we want to stay connected to continue growing and advocating for more of these experiences for our students.

V. Q&A and Closing (5 minutes)
Content: Open the floor for questions.

Supporting research

Boryga, A. (2022, August 5). For young kids, the power of play-based learning. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/young-kids-power-play-based-learning

Blair, J. (2021, March 8). Play can be an effective strategy for assessment. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/education/play-can-be-an-effective-strategy-for-assessment/2013/04

Grant, A. (2023). Hidden potential: The science of achieving greater things. Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Mardell, B., Ryan, J., Krechevsky, M., Baker, M., Schulz, S., & Constant, Y. L. (2023). A pedagogy of play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools. Project Zero, Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Mraz, K., Porcelli, A., & Tyler, C. (2016, April 1). Purposeful play. Heinemann Publishing. https://www.heinemann.com/products/e07788.aspx

Price, C. (2024). The power of fun: How to feel alive again author price, Catherine. Dial Press.

Wohlwend, K. (2023), Serious Play for Serious Times. Read Teach, 76: 478-486. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2157