The Selection and Use of Games and Activities

There is a useful place for educational games and creative activities in the classroom if a teacher is willing to be selective in the type and utilization of such experiences. The following checklist and annotated resources are intended for those who use such experiences to 1) reinforce existing or newly taught skills or concepts; 2) improve social interactions among youngsters; 3) provide circumstances for student-directed learning; and 4) bring an enjoyable alternative to learning in the classroom

Allocation of time in reading

How teachers allocated instructional time in reading classes served as the focus of this study. Twenty teachers were observed during reading sessions to answer two research questions. For question 1, how do teachers allocate time, observations indicated that teachers used class time in the following increments: reading and responding 35.47%; listening and discussing 24.89%; waiting 8.36%; completing skill development activities 20.28%; telling, writing, and narrating 7.52%; and devoting 3.47% of the remaining instructional time to other activities. Question 2, does time allocated for reading coordinated text exceed more than 50% of the total time designated for reading instruction, answer appeared to be no. Teachers observed in this study allocated only 35% of instructional time for children to read and respond to concentrated amounts of coordinated text. Recommended time allocations that stated that time reading should exceed the time allocated to all other reading class activities was not observed