Monday, January 27, 2020

Literature Review: Play Work in Education

Literature Review: Play Work in Education Weisberg, D. S., Kittredge, A. K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., Klahr, D. (2015). Making play work for education. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(8), 8-13. doi:10.1177/0031721715583955 The article encapsulates that in comparison to other forms of play, guided play is the most effective in enhancing the learning skills of children from a range of ages. Guided play incorporates play into education without compromising learning goals or suppressing childrens exploration, as its blend of child-directed play within an adult-initiated environment enables them to become in control of their own learning. This allows them to develop autonomy by forming their own decisions in regards to their upcoming actions and gaining skills to attain information. The balance between freedom and structure in guided-play is more effective than direct teaching or free play, as adults harness a childs appeal to play in the service of learning through scaffolding their actions. This in turn promotes the acceleration of long-term development and encourages better learning outcomes. Weisberg et al have utilised evidence to strengthen their claims and formulate a convincing argument to readers. The citations displayedenable readers to access the resources cited to confirm if the evidence is accurate and to investigate and delve deeper into the topic. This provides the opportunity for readers to gain a deeper understanding of the authors claim, which makes their argument more convincing. The multiple citations also suggest that the authors engaged in an in-depth research, depicting that they share a thorough understanding of play, creating a convincing argument. The citations further suggest that other academic scholars share the same perspective about guided-play as Weisberg et al, making the article more potent. Additionally, multiple examples of studies strengthen the claim of the authors as they provide evidence of how ideas translate into practice. For example, one of the studies provided portrayed that children engaging in guided-play outperformed those who engaged in free-play, whilst learning vocabulary (Dickinson et al., 2013), thus validating the argument of the authors. Moreover, the use of direct quotations emphasise the point of the authors in a concise manner whilst providing strong supporting evidence, making a stronger claim. Majority of the arguments presented are highly convincing as the findings used to support them do not have alternative explanations. However, few cases within the article can be interpreted in another manner, weakening the authors claim. For example Weisberg (2015) claims that the relationship between learning and play is intrinsically linked through guided play. Although factual, this finding could also support a different argument such as the link between learning and free-play, as all play acts as a catalyst of learning. A comparison of the article to alternative readings enables the audience to articulate the strength of the claims made by Weisberg et al. Both Barblett (2010) and Weisberg et al (2015) propose the significance of adults preparing different environments in which child-initiated play can take place. Barblett (2010) explores how creating an intellectual environment prompts children to question activities they are partaking in, which extends their knowledge. This relates to Weisbergs notion of scaffolding, which like an intellectual environment, enables children to assimilate information at their own pace. Weisberg also suggests the importance of preparing a physical environment as it assists children in self-directed exploration and learning. Likewise, Barblett conveys that physical environments provoke and encourage children to engage in exploration and learning during play. Additionally, Brock (2013) exhibits the importance of adults creating rich learning environments as they enable children to fulfil their learning potential. Weisberg and others (2015) explore the significance of children becoming the driving force of their upcoming actions as well as what they desire to explore and how. This is similar to Goldschmeid (1987) theory of heuristic play as it involves self-exploration, which like Weisbergs concept, enables children to become in control of their upcoming actions and decide how they want to utilise the object. Furthermore, Weisberg et al (2015) suggest that elements of guided-play accompanied by direct teaching was the most productive strategy for children to learn. Including direct-teaching in guided-play diminishes the sense of child-directed play, thus becoming unenjoyable. This is supported by (Fisher, 2002) who claims that when adults continually drive learning experiences, golden opportunities for learning are missed. Moreover, Weisbergs perspective differs to Follaris (2013) concept of project work as children are in control of their learning process as they investigate areas of their own choosing. As a result, children are able to formulate concepts and engage in creative thinking which is essential for learning. Like Follari, Touhill (2012) presents the importance of project work as it enables children to exercise their growing sense of agency and autonomy and promote inquiry, curiosity and exploration.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

My Favorite Place to Vacation

Attitude/Point: Others will feel the same way about their favorite place to visit for their own specific reasons. and I have noticed that most people visit places because of the weather, and the stress relief you get when you take a vacation.Audience: Individuals or families who are looking for a serene place to vacation to or visit. People who vacation frequently or retirees would benefit from this.Purpose: I will be sharing this opinion to inform the reader of fond memories that can be obtained by visiting Southport and the pleasurable atmosphere.Topic Sentence: My favorite place to visit is Southport, North Carolina because it has relaxing beaches, great weather, and the people there are friendly.Brainstorm List of Possible Examples:Able to read booksClear mind by gazing out into the waterCool breeze throughout the day and nightLocals speak each time you come into contactSentence Outline:My favorite place to visit is Southport, North Carolina because it has relaxing beaches, great weather, and the people there are friendly. To start with, Southport has one of the most relaxing beaches; it helps people relieve stress and focus. For instance, during the school year I am living in the mountains of North Carolina, which can be a very stressful and demanding of me; nonetheless during my summer break I can be found in Southport at the beach.When I finally get to Southport, on the beach, I just lie out in the sun and gaze out at the water and read books, without a care or thought entering my brain. Southport is also my favorite place to  visit because of the weather being so pleasant; it is not to hot but also not to cold.For example, each day during the summer though it is rather warm there is always a cool breeze that will change your entire attitude about the day and the temperature. Lastly, I like to visit Southport because the people are so welcoming, which makes it so much more enjoyable and serene.Each and every time I go on a walk or bike ride, everyone i s continuously speaking to you and have a word or two more to say. The locals are always walking around with a smile willing to engage in any way to help. In a nutshell, even though I only visit Southport during the summer this is why it is my favorite place to vacation.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

A Book Report on Irene Hunt’s

Irene Hunt’s No Promises in the Wind (1975) is a story about the plight of fifteen-year-old Josh and his brother Joey, set in the desperate state of the U.S. during the Great Depression of the ‘30s.The two boys hailed from Chicago, born from a middle class family. The Stock market crashed signaling the start of the Depression (Great Depression, 2005). This has been â€Å"particularly severe in Chicago because of the city's reliance on manufacturing, the hardest hit sector nationally† (Deutsch, 2005).   More than half of the workforce lost their jobs (Deutsch, 2005), including their father, Stephan. When this happened their father changed from someone who is kindhearted into a bitter, angry man.Those times were ridden with problems and he takes his anger out on his oldest son Josh. But rather, it could be supposed that he is angrier with himself for being helpless in their situation, what with the pressures of providing for his family.Desperate times necessitate that kids those days mature early, and even though Josh is a mere boy, he leaves his family with his best friend Howie with dreams of being musicians, his little brother Joey tagging along.The brothers experience a devastating blow when Howie got run over by a train. When they continued to venture forth, they realize how hard to make it out in the real world. They were cold and hungry, at times even resorting to begging for food.They meet a lot of interesting and endearing people along the way and saw how people from different parts of the country, such as Louisiana and Nebraska, were being affected by the Depression. Such people like Lonnie, a generous trucker who tries to help them whenever he can despite tough times, and Emily, a beautiful and attractive a circus clown.Hunt paints a harrowing portrait of that period and how desperate times change people, emotionally and psychologically. She shows that when the going gets tough, man’s instincts for survival take over, even at the sake of common goodness and humanity. On the other side of the coin, it is also a testament that kindness still endures.The story is largely character driven, and the author makes good use of her skill in portraying emotions, especially how the Depression changed people. With deft descriptions and stirring language, she conjures a moving image of a desperate America, and what people do in order to survive. Some parts could seem too unrealistic, such as Josh’s illogical ambitions and the brothers’ seemingly continuous luck, but in the end it is successful in providing us a glimpse of the general populace’s real state of living during that period.ReferencesDeutsch, T. (2005).   Great Depression. In The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 22, 2005, from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/542.htmlGreat Depression. (2005). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 23, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_DepressionHunt, I. (1 975). No Promises in the Wind.   Chicago: Follet Publishing.  

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Chemical Reactions Of Energy And How It Changes Essay

Thermochemistry deals with energy and how it changes. We performed chemical reactions in a calorimeter, which is a device scientists use to determine the amount of heat produced by a process (or change). Processes that absorb energy are endothermic and processes that release energy are exothermic. Endothermic, processes that absorbed energy produced positive results. Where as, exothermic, processes that release energy produced negative results. This experiment also dealt with specific heat. Specific heat is the amount of heat gained or lost when one gram of a substance changes temperature by one degree Celsius. Our experiment this week explored these concepts. Experimental Procedures In this experiment, we performed chemical reactions in a calorimeter to determine the amount of heat produced by heat (temperature) change. In part one of the experiment, we set up our calorimeter as shown in a diagram given. We connected it to our computer for data collection with the temperature probe. 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