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    Plan détaillé Texte intégral Introduction 1 Philosophy of learning: the importance of exploratory and play-based literacy activities, on children’s premises 2 Practice: supporting literacy in the transition from kindergarten to school Conclusion Notes de bas de page Auteurs

    Initiatives collaboratives pour l’enfance

    Ce livre est recensé par

    • Alexandre Labelle, Les dossiers des sciences de l’éducation, mis en ligne le 16 février 2024. URL : https://journals.openedition.org/dse/6094 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/dse.6094
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    Exploratory and play-based literacy-activities in the transition from kindergarten to school

    A Norwegian example

    Åse Kari H. Wagner et Gunn Helen Ofstad

    p. 27-44

    Texte intégral Introduction 1 Philosophy of learning: the importance of exploratory and play-based literacy activities, on children’s premises 2 Practice: supporting literacy in the transition from kindergarten to school 2.1 Resources supporting literacy practice 2.2 Tommy the snail. A multimodal literacy event 2.3 Sleepy, messy hair? A shared reading session 2.4. “Letters for sale!” Children’s early writing activities in outdoor play 2.5. Letter from first grade to the kindergarten Conclusion Notes de bas de page Auteurs

    Texte intégral

    Introduction

    1In recent years, Norway has seen an increase in the values of professional development within kindergarten and schools as a measure to ensure literacy activities and learning opportunities. This is based on research showing that kindergartens and schools with a cooperative work environment and a culture for collective reflection show better student learning than kindergartens and schools where teachers work mainly individually (Hoel, Jernes & Billington, 2020; Dalli, Miller & Urban, 2012). To help increase the skills and expertise of kindergarten and school teachers in the areas of language development, reading and writing, the online professional development resources Language Tracks have been developed. “Best practice” examples from these resources are used to discuss how to ensure a better cooperation in the transition from kindergarten to school, and to provide examples of exploratory and play-based literacy activities. The learning philosophy advocated in this chapter is adapted to future national curriculum plans where 21st Century skills such as deep learning, participation and dialogue will influence the school’s way of interacting and teaching. Based on a description of Norwegian philosophy of learning regarding language and literacy in kindergarten, our chapter explores the values of play-based and exploratory literacy approaches in kindergarten and early school. It also discusses how a strong recognition of children’s participation, dialogue, play and outdoor learning might contribute to ensuring a better transition from kindergarten to school, which in Norway starts the year children turn six. The chapter stresses the importance of learning activities where children are active agents in their own learning, and where a sensitive kindergarten teacher acknowledges the children’s interest and utilizes the opportunity by adding meaningful literacy activities. Further, it emphasizes the importance of recognizing the literacy competence that children bring with them from kindergarten into the school, and how this recognition can ease the transition.

    It’s time for their Norwegian-lesson, and the six year old first graders are in the middle of hospital play. They have a doctor’s office where they write prescriptions; a pharmacy where they invent the names of medications; a check-in office where they receive patients and give them bracelets printed with their names; an operating room where they write and edit reports after operations, and a blood test station where they fill out test sheets. The children discuss and negotiate letters and spelling along the way. They help each other with decoding and pronunciation, guided by their teacher when needed. There are stethoscopes, test tubes, plastic surgical equipment at the different stations, and plenty of access to writing materials.

    2This example is taken from first year in school. The intent of the hospital play in the classroom is to integrate writing activities as an important part of the students’ play. When the six year olds enter school, play-based writing activities also help form a link between kindergarten and school, as these approaches to learning will be familiar to them from kindergarten.

    3Regarding kindergarten, the Norwegian framework plan for kindergartens (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017) builds on a sociocultural approach that emphasizes “holistic learning” (Ministry of Education and Research, 2011, p. 16). The core tenet of holistic learning is that education must be child-centered, and based on values such as relationships, respect, play, nourishment, and development. In order to achieve this goal, the kindergarten teacher must be able to respect the children’s autonomy and agency in the process of their own learning.

    4The Norwegian framework plan emphasizes that the kindergarten must protect the children’s right to participate, and that children’s play should be central to the kindergarten - both as an intrinsic value and as an essential platform for children’s learning and development. This approach to learning is shared by the Nordic countries and often referred to as the Nordic kindergarten tradition (Johansson, 2007). There are no strict boundaries between informal and formal learning situations, and the kindergarten teacher will to a large extent allow informal child-initiated activities to be the starting points for learning situations on children’s premises.

    5The same approach also applies to the understanding of literacy (Snow, 2006, 2017; Gee, 2007; Barton, 2007) and literacy activities, which should be exploratory and play-based, and on children’s premises, and if possible using nature as an arena for play, curiosity, exploration and learning. This differs from the Early Education traditions in many other countries (e.g. Anglo-Saxon countries, or France), where kindergarten has been far more subject-oriented, with high accent on teaching, learning and monitoring of how children learn and develop literacy skills (OECD, 2006, chapter 3; Jensen, 2009, p. 11).

    6Based on a description of Norwegian philosophy of learning regarding language and literacy in kindergarten, the aim of this article is to discuss the value of exploratory and play-based literacy approaches, and how these might contribute in the transitioning from kindergarten to school, which starts the year children turn six. As researchers at the Norwegian National Centre for Reading Education and Research (The Reading Centre) we participate in collaboration with kindergarten and school teachers nationwide. One of our central tasks is to provide kindergartens and schools with research-based resources for their work with literacy. Our online resources Language Tracks (www.sprakloyper.no, see Mossige, Wagner, & Rongved, 2016) will be introduced below, and we will use some of the pedagogical examples from this resource to illustrate and support our discussion.

    1 Philosophy of learning: the importance of exploratory and play-based literacy activities, on children’s premises

    7The Norwegian kindergarten welcomes children between one and six years of age. Kindergarten is non-compulsory, but 92.2 percent of all children attend kindergarten (Statistics Norway, March 2020).1 The kindergartens usually organize the children according to two age groups, with the one-three year olds typically in groups of nine children and three adults, and the three-five year olds in groups of 18-20 children with three to four adults. The adult-children ratio is regulated by law (one adult per three children under three years of age, one adult per six children over three years of age) and there must be minimum one certified preschool teacher (three year university grade) in all groups.2 The framework plan implemented by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (2017) emphasizes that kindergarten care, children’s play, social formation and learning should be viewed as one whole. In Norwegian and Nordic kindergarten philosophy early childhood is a quality in and of itself, and not as a phase of life that primarily has value in longer educational terms (Grøver, 2018). Pedagogically controlled and planned activities should go hand in hand with everyday situations and child-initiated free activities, with no clear distinctions between them. Learning should take place in meaningful situations involving both “head, body and emotions” (Bøe, Steinnes, Hognestad, Fimreite, & Moser, 2018). Such a unified approach to learning is supported by research (Einarsdottir, 2014; Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006; Saracho, 2001; Saracho & Spodek, 2006), and has also been highlighted as exemplary by the OECD (OECD 2006, p. 13).

    8Children’s participation is a governing idea in the framework plan for kindergarten (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2017). With reference to the Norwegian Constitution and to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 12 (1)), the framework plan emphasizes that children’s participation must inform the educational methods of the kindergarten, by facilitating and encouraging children’s views on how they experience life in kindergarten. Children should also be given the opportunity to actively participate in the planning and assessment of kindergarten activities, as co-creators of their own culture, and in an atmosphere of warm relations, humour and joy. They should feel that they are able to influence what happens in kindergarten, in ways that are adapted to children’s age, experiences, individual premises and needs (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2017). Kindergarten teachers must detect, follow up on and expand children’s interests. As opposed to traditional upbringing practices, characterized by a dominating adult with less emphasis on children’s autonomy in their own learning, this philosophy demands an adult role which is open to improvisation and child participation. This is supported by theory and research documenting young children’s competence to express themselves and convey feelings and intentions from an early age (Løkken, 2000; Stern, 2018). Also, research underlines that children’s participation develops when there is space for both the children and the kindergarten teacher to elaborate the communication, and where the teacher control is not so much about power, but rather about being emotionally present, supportive and responsive (Bae, 2009; Emilson & Folkesson, 2006). Further, children seem to experience learning as more meaningful when they are allowed to act on their own initiative and exercise choice in their practices. This is demonstrated in Breathnach, Danby and O’Gorman’s (2017) study, where the four-five year olds were unenthusiastic about writing activities, yet constantly chose to engage in writing activities during free time, utilising classroom resources (paper, pens and other writing materials) in play with peers and adults.

    9Also, dialogue is fundamental. The framework plan (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2017) emphasizes that the kindergarten teachers should create a diverse language environment where children have the opportunity to experience the joy of using language and communicate with others. Kindergarten teachers should invite the children into different types of conversations providing the opportunity to tell stories, to talk about books, and to wonder, reflect and ask questions (Alvestad et al., 2019). Through dialogue and interaction, the children should be supported in communicating, contributing, listening, understanding and creating meaning. This is supported by theory and research emphasizing the important role of dialogue for children’s language development in early age, for example in shared reading activities in kindergarten (Grøver, 2018), where children are invited to take an active part in the book reading (De Temple & Snow, 2003), and where the adult take on a more withdrawn role and rather asks many questions, encouraging the children to contribute information to the story (Schick, 2015; Pollard-Durodola, Gonzalez, Saenz, Soares, Resendez, Kwok, Davis, & Zhu, 2016). Further, dialogue is also fundamental for children’s later reading achievement, understanding and engagement in school. Classrooms with a high degree of dialogic participation have shown higher engagement, reading achievement and deeper understanding in students (Wegerif, 2016; Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, & Gamoran, 2003; Muhonen, Pakarinen, Poikkeus, Lerkkanen, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2018), as well as increased student reasoning and elaboration (Wilkinson, Murphy, & Binici, 2015; Boyd & Kong, 2017).

    10Finally, play has a central place in Norwegian and Nordic kindergarten philosophy. The Norwegian framework plan for kindergarten (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2017) requires of kindergarten that it recognizes both the intrinsic value of play, by providing good conditions for free play, friendship and children’s own culture (e.g. the cultural expressions shared and used by children among themselves), and also utilizes play as a basis for learning, development and interaction. This view is rooted in Vygotsky’s social-cultural theory, emphasizing that individuals construct their knowledge when participating and interacting in different social environments (Vygotsky, 1986), and also supported by research on the importance of play for children’s linguistic and communicative competence (Engdahl, 2011) and holistic learning (Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006; Breathnach et al., 2017). Also, McInnes, Howard, Crowley, & Miles (2013) find that children in early years classrooms learn more when playing with other children, with adults present, than when placed in formal learning situations where an adult dominates. The framework plan also underlines that kindergarten should inspire and give room for different types of play, and help all children to experience joy, humour, excitement and commitment through play.

    11Children’s play also forms an important basis for working with the different subject areas described in the framework plan (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2017). Regarding the subject area communication, language and text, or early literacy, the focus is not on formal literacy education (not even for the five year olds), but on engaging children in improvising, experimenting or playing with rhyme, rhythm, sounds and words, or in activities where they can explore and gain experience with various written language expressions, such as exploratory writing. The aim is to discover and explore, based on children’s involvement and contributions.

    12Being outdoors in nature is embedded in the Norwegian culture (fig. 1). In line with Friedrich Fröbel’s (1887) philosophy that children should develop in harmony with nature, also the Norwegian kindergarten has a long tradition for using nature as a place for learning (Bøe et al., 2018). From a very young age, all year round and in all kinds of weather conditions, children spend a large part of their day outdoors in the kindergarten area. All kindergartens will also have regular weekly trips to nearby nature in their plans. This provides opportunities for literacy activities such as rhyming and singing while walking, extending vocabulary by naming trees, insects etc., finding letters shaped by the nature, creating stories together inspired by the children’s play in the nature. Interestingly, it is also supported by more recent research underlining that outdoor learning promotes children’s in-depth and holistic learning (Dettweiler, Lauterbach, Becker, & Simon, 2017), and that outdoor learning may support children’s attention and protect against inattention-hyperactivity symptoms (Ulset, Vitaro, Brendgen, Bekkhus, & Borge, 2017).

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    13In Norway, children start school the year they turn six. Also in school, children’s participation, play and dialogue are emphasized as important prerequisites for learning (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2005; Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2018). The curriculum underlines that student participation must characterize the school’s practice. It also states that students should be considered as competent participants and contributors in their own learning, and that the teachers’ task is to support them in their learning. Further, the curriculum emphasizes that play is necessary for the youngest children’s learning and development, providing the opportunity for creative and meaningful learning throughout the education. Oracy, and thus also dialogue, is an important part of the L1 subject throughout basic education, as well as a basic competence in all subjects.

    2 Practice: supporting literacy in the transition from kindergarten to school

    14It is established by law3 that kindergarten and school must collaborate in the child’s transition from kindergarten to school, including the after school programme, in order to ensure a safe and sound transition for all children. It is the individual Norwegian municipality’s responsibility to draft and implement plans for the transition from kindergarten to school and after school programme. Schools must also cooperate with other municipal childcare providers (such as educational-pedagogical services or child welfare) in the assessment and multidisciplinary follow-up of students with special needs. However, although cooperation is decreed by law, it is up to the municipalities themselves to define how to collaborate, and this will vary from municipality to municipality.

    2.1 Resources supporting literacy practice

    15As a national centre, The Reading centre provides kindergartens and schools with research-based resources for their work with literacy. Our online professional development resources, Language Tracks (www.sprakloyper.no, figures 2 and 3), are designed for kindergartens and schools to work in teams (mostly within the kindergarten or school, but sometimes also across institutions, as shown below). The aim is to increase the skills and expertise of teachers in the areas of language development, reading and writing (i.e. literacy). The online resources are organized in thematic courses, each equivalent to about a year of work in the group of colleagues. The courses include academic texts, filmed examples of educational practices, questions to use in group discussions with colleagues, examples of parent-teacher cooperation, and exercises to try out in kindergarten and school. This kind of practice is supported by research showing that kindergartens and schools with a cooperative work environment and a culture for collective reflection show better students’ learning than kindergartens and schools where teachers work mainly individually (Hoel, Jernes & Billington, 2020; Dalli, Miller, & Urban, 2012). Also, the opportunities that lie within online professional development (e.g. to repeat or to adapt the pace to individual needs) seem to contribute positively to teachers’ reflective thinking and learning (Fishman, Konstantopoulos, Kubitskey, Vath, Park, Johnson, & Edelson, 2013).

    Fig. 2 — Shows an overview of the Language Tracks resources for kindergarten, containing five courses, each consisting of seven to ten sessions. https://sprakloyper.uis.no

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    Fig. 3 — Shows the seven sessions in the Language Tracks course on Meetings across cultures taken from the section; From Kindergarten to School.

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    16This 66-minute professional development session entitled Meetings across cultures focuses on similarities and differences between kindergarten and school. The session also highlights how important it is for kindergartens and schools to share knowledge, experiences and practices in order to ensure a good transition for the children. Teachers from both kindergarten and school meet in person to work together on this session, with the goal of communicating how to work with literacy and learning about each other’s practices. In these meetings, teachers also get acquainted with one another’s governing documents (framework plan for kindergarten and curricula for school), and discuss how to create a comprehensive learning for the child in the transition from the working methods, content and culture of the kindergarten—to that of the school. Both kindergarten and school are based on a socio-cultural perspective (Säljö, 2000) on learning, and this provides a clear context. The hour-long session on Meetings across cultures also highlights the importance of creating continuity between kindergarten and school, especially for children who are struggling and who are vulnerable when it comes to transitions.

    17As mentioned, the law requires kindergarten and school owners to make a plan for the collaboration. However, the content of the plan will vary from municipality to municipality. A good example of collaboration on such a common plan is documented in Language tracks in the description of Malvik municipality, and where dialogue meetings are in focus. Malvik municipality arranges six annual mandatory meetings for leaders of schools and kindergartens, for discussion of issues relevant to both institutions, and exchange of information on current focuses in schools and kindergartens. Also, there are four meetings a year where teachers from schools and kindergartens meet and discuss relevant topics. As part of gathering knowledge and insight into the different practices, school and kindergarten teachers also spend time in each other’s classes. Each spring, there is a meeting dedicated to the exchange of information regarding individual children starting school. The participants in the meeting are kindergarten and school teachers, leaders from kindergartens and schools, as well as school teachers, special needs teachers, special needs coordinators and staff from after-school care. The information exchanged is approved by the parents, and typically includes each child’s strengths, early literacy development and interest in books, social skills, aspects that are challenging, general developments during the years in kindergarten, motivation and cooperation with parents. Finally, in the autumn, after the children have started school, teachers from kindergartens and schools meet again, to share information and provide feedback on ways to improve the transition from kindergarten to school. In the transition between kindergarten and school, it is important that the child’s voice is heard and that the child’s needs are taken into consideration. Structured cooperation between kindergarten and school can help to achieve this (Hogsnes, 2019).

    18The Malvik collaboration is one example of the professional development resources kindergarten and school teachers work with in Language Tracks. Other resources in Language Tracks focus on how, in kindergarten, to facilitate exploratory and play-based literacy activities, on children’s premises. The resources are built around best practice examples from typical play-based literacy practice in Norwegian kindergarten. In the following we present short glimpses of these best practice examples taken from Language Tracks, and comment on their value as literacy activities in the transition from kindergarten and school:

    2.2 Tommy the snail. A multimodal literacy event

    19In Leistad kindergarten, spring has arrived, and with it, an abundance of nature life. The large playground, typical for a Norwegian kindergarten, is a combination of a garden with grass and flowers, trees, stones and hilly parts, and manufactured playground apparatus like swing sets, sandboxes, playhouses and slides. The children have access to different outdoor toys, and spend a large part of the day playing outside. The group of six five year olds have become particularly interested in bugs. This interest has spurred a range of activities, supported by the adults, but driven by the children’s initiative and motivation. Especially snails have become a favourite, and the children have collected snails (fig. 4), painted snails, moved like snails, read about snails, fed snails and observed the snails in nature. Supported by the kindergarten teacher, the children’s passion for snails in nature became a point of departure for a common literacy event, resulting in the children’s own multimodal literacy product on Tommy the snail. The story was first created, orally, by the children, and was next written down by adults. The children then wanted to make the story into a movie. With the help of the kindergarten teacher, the children took pictures and made drawings that were animated, and finally also recorded their own voiceover for the movie.

    Fig. 4 — Shows Magnus (five years old) holding the snail which became the inspiration to the story about Tommy the snail.

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    20The story created by the children about Tommy the snail goes as follows:

    Tommy is white and has a house. Inside the house there are worms, spiders, baby snails, bugs and snail skeletons. The snail drinks muddy water and eats hot dogs and pizza, but most of all it likes to eat worms. One day, the snail meets the boy Tobias. Tobias stamps on the snail. Then the snail meets Magnus and Henning. Magnus picks up the snail in his hand. Henning comes with a leaf to the snail. Magnus puts the snail up in a tree, because there are plenty of leaves to eat there. “Come and catch us”, Magnus and Henning shout. But the snail doesn’t want to do so, because Magnus and Henning have been so kind to him. Instead, the snail brings cake, porridge, sugar, pancakes, soft drinks, buns, chocolate, ice cream, biscuits and candy for the boys (Fig. 5). And all agree that children must be nice to snails.

    Fig. 5 — The children created all the props used in the film. Here are props used to show the food the snail brought to the nice boys.

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    21In this example, the teacher intercepts the children’s interest in snails and utilizes the window of opportunity by adding a meaningful literacy activity. It is the children themselves who create the story, who choose which pictures and illustrations to include in the film (for example, snail drinking muddy water), and who “read” the voiceover in the film. The role of the kindergarten teacher is to provide enough support for the children to be able to co-create the multimodal product, resulting in a literacy event in which all the children participate.

    22The use of nature in learning is also valued in school. In Norwegian school, 1st grade students have one day a week of outdoor learning, where they usually go on excursions in nearby nature. This type of engaging and child-initiated literacy practice, where the children use their “heads, bodies and emotions” (Bø et al., 2018), is therefore excellent also in school, and may contribute positively to the transition from kindergarten to school.

    2.3 Sleepy, messy hair? A shared reading session

    23Another example from the Language Tracks resources for teachers’ professional development is part of the session on shared reading: Liv, kindergarten teacher for the four to five-year old children in the Rainbow group, sits on the floor, reading a book with five children, about a boy and his family (fig. 6). In one of the pictures the father’s hair is messy after sleeping all night. Kjetil (four years old) points at the picture and exclaims: “His hair is really messy!” “Yes, like sleepy hair messy”, says Ingvild (five years old). Liv pauses in the reading, and asks the children: “What does messy, sleepy hair look like?” Emma thinks it looks untidy, and Vegar says it looks crazy. “My hair was very messy this morning, and we had to comb it for a long time”, says Ingrid. “My hair was also very messy”, adds Sofia. “Maybe a messy sleepy hair means that we have had a good night’s sleep?”, suggest Liv, and they continue to talk about what is means to sleep well before they return to reading the book again.

    Fig. 6 — To facilitate active participation in shared reading the kindergarten teachers typically divide the children in smaller groups and read in a child friendly environment.

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    24Contrary to the traditional “sit still and listen” type of reading, the focus in shared reading is using the book as a common start for an open dialogue (Mangen & Hoel, 2017). The aim is not necessarily to read the book from start to finish, but to give room for children’s initiative and participation and to ensure all children’s participation. Thanks to a strong culture for children’s participation in Norwegian kindergarten, it is natural for the children to comment and “interrupt”, and unthinkable for Liv, the kindergarten teacher, not to stop and dwell on the children’s contributions (Gjems, 2011). The dialogue is open, and the goal is not to find correct answers, perhaps not even to teach the children specific things, but to allow the children to use their language as a thinking tool (Vygotsky, 1986).

    25Despite a strong focus on the importance of oracy, participation and in-depth learning in the Norwegian curriculum for school (Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2005; Norwegian directorate for Education and Training, 2018), the dialogic space still remains limited in Norwegian schools, with too little opportunity for students to engage in oral interactions and explore issues in their own language in the subjects (Skaftun & Wagner, 2019). The teacher-student ratio is higher in school. Still, dialogue-based shared reading activities are possible also with first grade students, creating a link to a well-known activity in kindergarten and space for active student participation and language learning.

    2.4. “Letters for sale!” Children’s early writing activities in outdoor play

    26The following short glimpse of playful literacy practice is part of the Language Tracks session on Children’s everyday language experiences: “Come and buy, come and buy, the shop is open”, Jakob (four years old) and Maria (five years old) shout to their friends playing outdoors in the kindergarten. They have made a shop on a table, and the shop sells letters written on tiles (fig. 7). There are so many letter tiles that they cover the whole table. The shouting seems to work, as children are lining up to buy letters.

    Fig. 7 — In their free play outside, the children are given access to letters written on tiles. The letter tiles are incorporated in the children’s activities as they see fit and provide a resource for literacy activities.

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    27“I want five O’s”, says Emma (four years old), and hands over a handful of stones symbolising money as payment. “I want to buy my letter”, says Thomas (five years old), and after agreeing on what is the first letter in Thomas, he is given a T. Several children arrive to buy letters, some just one, others asking for letters in words they know. Bjørnar (four years old) wants to buy a tile with the letter X, because this is the coolest letter. And together Jacob, Maria and Bjørnar find all the cool X tiles in the shop, and pile them up into a high tower. “Let’s make towers of all the letters’”, says Jakob, inspired by the tower of all the X tiles, and so the three children begin to pile the letter tiles into more towers. Anna, the teacher, comes over, and praises the children for the many high towers. “They are towers of letters”, explains Maria. “But can you write words with the letter towers?”, Anna asks. The children discuss if this is possible, and agree that the easiest way to make words, is to take one letter from each letter tower. After taking a letter tile from each tower, the three children place letter tiles in a long line, forming the “word” DKUBALIRENPØTRESXRTO. They ask if Anna can read what it says, and Anna reads it out. The children and Anna laugh. “That was a long word”, says Bjørnar— “and very strange”, adds Jakob. Now the children want to make shorter words, and Anna helps them read out what the lines of letter tiles say. Jakob has written IS (ice cream in Norwegian), and all of the children recognize the word. Bjørnar writes BIL (car), and Anna reads it out to those who don’t recognize it. Anna replaces the letter tile B with the letter tile P, and reads out the new word (PIL) for the children, and the meaning has changed (from meaning car to meaning arrow). Maria forms her own name and reads it out. Anna is wondering if the boys can make their names with the letter tiles, and together they find all the letters included in the boys’ names and place them in the correct order. “I simply love letters!”, Bjørnar exclaims.

    28An important factor in facilitating literacy experiences is to provide children with material that can be used in their play—such as the letter tiles in this example. Unplanned literacy events, such as the play that arose from the outdoor letter tile shop and continued throughout the afternoon, are driven by the children’s interests and are first and foremost free play. However, Anna, the kindergarten teacher, knows how to expand the children’s interest to include literacy activities at a higher level than most of the kindergarten children manage on their own (she invites the children to write and read words, draws their attention to minimal pairs, and she reads words aloud), while still protecting the children’s play. She also remains sensitive to the fact that the different children have reached different levels in their early literacy progress. As shown in our initial example from the hospital play, writing activities can be initiated as important parts of children’s play also in school. This type of play-based activities will often lead to high engagement among the students and lots of writing (Breathnach et al., 2017).

    2.5. Letter from first grade to the kindergarten

    29The last short example of child initiated writing activities is taken from Charlottenlund Primary School, where the first graders were invited to write letters to the five year olds in kindergarten, i.e. next year’s school starters. The five year olds valued the expertise offered by the first graders in their letters about school:

    Fig. 8 — The letter written by the two girls Tiril and Ida (five years old), addressed to the Mayor’s office.

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    Friday May 13th 2016 To a school starter! Welcome to Charlottenlund Primary School. Here we learn to read and write. We learn all the letters in the alphabet. We learn maths and numbers. Are you looking forward to starting school? I hope you will enjoy school. We go hiking. In breaks we are free. We get a sponsor just after you start school.

    30The writing of the letters was facilitated by the school teachers in cooperation with the kindergarten teachers, and the letters were sent by mail to the kindergartens and distributed to the children. Both the students at Charlottenlund Primary School and the children in the kindergartens receiving the letters experienced the power and purpose of written communication. Authentic written communication has positive implications for children’s literacy development, both for learning and motivation. Again, the literacy activity is supported by teachers realizing its potential for learning, and who use the first graders’ own experiences and knowledge about literacy activities, providing them with a designated receiver, next year’s school starters. Emergent literacy activities like these (Barton, 2007) emphasize the social and interactional aspects of literacy and are suitable tools for supporting the transition from kindergarten to school.

    Conclusion

    31Based on a description of Norwegian philosophy of learning regarding language and literacy in kindergarten, the aim of this article has been to discuss the value of exploratory and play-based literacy approaches, and how these might contribute in the transitioning from kindergarten to school. To support our discussion we have given best practice examples of literacy activities, taken from the online professional education resources Language Tracks. All these examples illustrate exploratory, play-based activities constructed around the children’s own premises.

    32Children experience learning as more meaningful when they are able to act on their own initiative (Breathnach et al., 2017). However, fully allowing and embracing child-initiated activities on the children’s own premises requires the presence of a sensitive, empathic adult. In the “letters for sale”-example, we see Anna gently nudging learning among her kindergartners, while maintaining respect for the autonomy of their play. For Vegar, the letter V expands from being just “his” letter and becomes part of new possible words. Anna lets the children explore in play, but keeps herself from dominating the activity. In the “Sleepy, messy hair” example, we see that Liv, the kindergarten teacher, is sensitive to the children’s contributions and interests, although she might not have planned to open up for a dialogue on the issue of sleepy, messy hair. Liv does not search for specific answers, does not define words or concepts in her adult way, but allows the children an equal part as participators in their dialogue. Liv and the children wonder together—in line with the essence of shared reading, which is to allow the children to use language as a tool for thinking, and experience the joy of using language and communicate with others (Grøver, 2018; De Temple & Snow, 2003).

    33The outdoor area in Leistad kindergarten embodies a series of common characteristics common to most Norwegian kindergartens: sand boxes, playhouses and slides; grassy, rocky gardens; hills and trees that the children are allowed to climb. The children in Leistad are also granted access to children’s tools, like saws, or hammers for crafts. The children are not kept under constant supervision in their outdoor play, and are encouraged to play with friends, exercise their bodies, and use their senses. This is also the case when kindergartens go on excursions, which most do at least once a week. As already mentioned, outdoor school is common practice also in Grade 1 in school—with the opportunities this provides for using the child-initiated literacy practices known from kindergarten to promote children’s holistic learning (Dettweiler et al., 2017; Einarsdottir, 2014; Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006).

    34Many of our examples illustrate the importance of the process over the product. In the process of creating the multimodal literacy product Tommy the snail, the children get to work on the text in the context of many modalities. The process is intrinsically motivated (a need to convey that one must be kind to snails), the children have knowledge about snails and other bugs, and they remain the experts in the process. The final product is textually and linguistically quite simple, yet the children’s very own creation, and not something the kindergarten teacher has edited or helped improve—which would be more natural if the focus was on the product. The same is true of the letters from the first graders to the kindergarteners. The letter in the example is typical for the writing skills of first graders, written in a “telegraphic” style, and with some misspellings, which a teacher focusing on the product could be tempted to correct. However, the focus of the activity is not on the product, but on taking part in a literacy culture where both the sender and the receiver are communicators. It is an authentic writing activity, based on the children’s own experiences, which provides them with the knowledge needed to write a letter for someone who is soon to start school. The first graders get to experience that written language is a tool for sharing knowledge, and the kindergarteners are met with a written text that they themselves will be able to produce soon, when they start school.

    35Children’s positive literacy experiences in kindergarten, together with the support of adults and peers, develops their language, but also start children on their path to become competent literacy users. In the transition to school, it is important to recognize the literacy competence that children bring with them from kindergarten. Although school is governed by more standardized competence goals than kindergarten, it is still possible to make space for the child-centered methods already familiar to the kindergarteners. This is seen in our initial example of hospital play in first grade, where writing activities are central components in the students’ play. In this learning activity the children are allowed to explore and discover, write in their own pace, discuss and negotiate letters and (mis)spellings, help each other with decoding and spelling words – guided by the teacher when needed.

    36In fact, with a new curriculum currently being introduced in Norwegian schools,4 child-centered values such as holistic learning and participation are more highlighted than before. More focus is also placed on interdisciplinary theme-based learning activities, critical thinking and in-depth learning. As such, the philosophy of the new curriculum for school has several commonalities with the kindergarten's comprehensive philosophy of learning. Hopefully, this may lead to more play-based literacy activities also in school in the future and contribute to ease the transition for many children from kindergarten to school.

    Notes de bas de page

    1 Statistics Norway [Statistisk sentralbyrå] (2020) Retrieved from: https://www.ssb.no/barnehager.

    2 https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTI/forskrift/2017-12-19-2418.

    3 https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTI/lov/2018-06-08-29.

    4 Fagfornyelsen [The renewal of the subjects], Norwegian directorate for education and training, to be implemented autumn 2020, https://www.udir.no/in-english/Core-Curriculum-in-five-languages/.

    Auteurs

    • Åse Kari H. Wagner

      Norwegian National Centre for Reading Education and Research, University of Stavanger

    • Gunn Helen Ofstad

      Norwegian National Centre for Reading Education and Research, University of Stavanger

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    1 Statistics Norway [Statistisk sentralbyrå] (2020) Retrieved from: https://www.ssb.no/barnehager.

    2 https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTI/forskrift/2017-12-19-2418.

    3 https://lovdata.no/dokument/LTI/lov/2018-06-08-29.

    4 Fagfornyelsen [The renewal of the subjects], Norwegian directorate for education and training, to be implemented autumn 2020, https://www.udir.no/in-english/Core-Curriculum-in-five-languages/.

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    H. Wagner, Åse K., & Ofstad, G. H. (2021). Exploratory and play-based literacy-activities in the transition from kindergarten to school. In F. Torterat & B. Azaoui (éds.), Initiatives collaboratives pour l’enfance (1‑). Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23406
    H. Wagner, Åse Kari, et Gunn Helen Ofstad. « Exploratory and Play-Based Literacy-Activities in the Transition from Kindergarten to School ». In Initiatives Collaboratives Pour l’enfance, édité par Frédéric Torterat et Brahim Azaoui. Montpellier: Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23406.
    H. Wagner, Åse Kari, et Gunn Helen Ofstad. « Exploratory and Play-Based Literacy-Activities in the Transition from Kindergarten to School ». Initiatives Collaboratives Pour l’enfance, édité par Frédéric Torterat et Brahim Azaoui, Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2021, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23406.

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    Torterat, F., & Azaoui, B. (éds.). (2021). Initiatives collaboratives pour l’enfance (1‑). Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23303
    Torterat, Frédéric, et Brahim Azaoui, éd. Initiatives collaboratives pour l’enfance. Montpellier: Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23303.
    Torterat, Frédéric, et Brahim Azaoui, éditeurs. Initiatives collaboratives pour l’enfance. Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2021, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pulm.23303.
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