Nikki's Peer Review Portfolio

PSELA2a: Engages in one-on-one and small group dialogue with children about their ideas, activities, interests, and motivations in order to promote oral language development and model conversational skills

Evidence 1:  Transcript of Conversation and Photos of Building Crew

Description:   One morning during Guided Discovery four children began building with the blocks.  I asked what they were building, and the conversation above followed.  

Analysis:  When listening to children as they communicate with each other, teachers and caregivers can learn much about the cognitive processes that are occurring.  In this dialog, Jesse begins by trying to name the city being created.  He has just returned from a trip to Florida with a layover in New York.  Jesse has also begun reading, "Harry Potter" at home with his family.  He has learned the term "head master" and tries to incorporate it within his play.   His learning is extended when a new term, Mayor, is introduced.

Evidence 2:  Transcript of Conversation and Photos of Building Day 2

Description:  On returning to school the following day, Jesse and Julia discover pictures and a transcript from the previous day's building adventure posted in the block area.  They decided to try and replicate their creation from the previous day.

Analysis:  While building on this day, different children were present at school.  Taryn joined Jesse, Julia and Jocelyn as they again pulled all of the blocks into their construction zone and began building.  When building began on day one, Noah used the square blocks with round holes for stores, but when Taryn joined the play, she decided that these blocks were bathrooms instead.  Julia had gone to her Kindergarten visit the week before all of this block play began, and was introduced to a wheelchair accessible restroom there, so when Taryn stated that the larger square block was too big for a bathroom, Julia remembered her experience from the previous week and shared it with her friends.