- picture or photograph of a playground slide
- fast
- slant
- slide
- slow
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
Language/L.PK.MA.1: Demonstrate use of oral language in informal everyday activities.
Language/L.PK.MA.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Language Development/Expressive Language: Uses language to express ideas and needs.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Talk Together: Sliding Experiences
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: A ramp or an inclined plane, is a surface with one end higher than the other; An object placed on an inclined plane will roll, slide, or stay put
ELA Focus Skills: Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary
Display a picture of a slide. Ask children if they can identify the slide. Ask, Do you know what this is? Explain to children what a slide is. Say, A slide is a structure at a playground. It has steps to climb up and a slanted part to slide down. Trace the slanted part of the slide from the high end to the low end as you talk about it.
Talk with children about their experiences with slides. Ask, Have you ever been on a slide? What was it like? Encourage them to talk about how they feel when they ride on a slide, how fast or slow they go down the slide, etc. You can prompt the discussion with questions such as,
- Can you tell about a time you were on a slide? What happens when you are on a slide? How do you feel when you go down a slide?
- How do you move when you go down the slide? Do you go fast or slow?
- What do you like about going down a slide? How does it feel?
Adaptation: For groups with varying age ranges you may wish to talk about words with more than one meaning. Help children understand that the word slide can be an object (like the one found at a playground) or an action (when a child or an object moves along a ramp or slippery surface). Point out that other words in a sentence give clues about which slide is used. Have the children say “slide” while they practice sliding something, for example, their bodies on the floor or an object on a desk. Say, Your body slides on the floor just like it does on a slide.
English Language Learners: After you say “fast” and “slow” mimic with your arm going down the slide fast and then slow to convey meaning. Ask children to repeat with you.