Book: You Can't Say You Can't Play

[Ludwick Mary <ludwickm@LISD.NET>]

I heard the author discussing the following book on NPR on Saturday.
It sounded intriguing.  I am ordering it for our library.
The information is from amazon.com

Title is "You Can't Say You can't Play"  available from Amazon.com
author: Vivian Gussin Paley
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Synopsis
                    In this fascinating look at the moral dimensions of
the classroom,  MacArthur Prize-winning educator Paley introduces a new
rule--"You can't say you can't play"--to her kindergarten students.
"Explores how to keep students from being ignored by their
classmates."--Publisher's Weekly. Line illustrations.

                    Booknews, Inc. , September 1, 1993
                    The author is an esteemed kindergarten teacher at
the U. of Chicago Laboratory Schools whose previous writing has been
about using children's stories and fantasies as vehicles for
learning. Here she interweaves her private reflections, her
conversations with children, and a story she spins, to tell what
happened when she instituted a radical new order in her
classroom. Her new rule prohibited children from excluding
someone who wanted to play. The implications of such a
non-exclusion rule are profound; most of the children resisted at
first, but with discussion began to adjust their behavior and truly
experience the benefits of making no one a stranger. Paley
makes a powerful statement in this slim book, to teachers,
parents, and society at large. No scholarly paraphernalia.
 Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. --This
 text refers to the hardcover edition of this title

                    Customer Comments
                    Average Customer Review:  Number of Reviews: 1
                    arete11@aol.com from Maplewood, NJ USA , December
                    2, 1997
                    Perfect teacher gift
                    Vivian Paley's tender observations and patient
interactions with Kindergarteners kept me turning the pages of this book
long before my own children were pre-school age, or before I had
been teaching long enough to realize that this book would
become a useful resource for teachers of any age students. I
come back to this book all the time to find the truth about how
classroom rules and environments can and should be
constructed.


--

Mary Croix Ludwick, MLS    B.B. Owen Elementary K-5
Lewisville ISD,  The Colony, Texas (near Dallas)
ludwickm@lisd.net (school)   ludwick@swbell.net (home)

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