Have You Met Scottie ' s

Scottie the Brave knows that every journey is better with friends who can help each other along the way. That ' s why he ' s not going on his big Journey of a Highlander alone— he ' s bringing his best buddies along too! Meet the five loyal friends who will be helping Scottie and all of our young learners grow up to become curious, caring, and creative Highlanders!

One of the classrooms at McAnnulty Elementary School has been outfitted with a variety of large playsets that transform it into a mini town. There are food trucks, a veterinarian area, a grocery store, a nursery, and more, each inviting children to immersive play. Teachers take turns visiting the Dramatic Playroom, where students are introduced to the context of the play set and then invited to play with one another. Tricia Fusco, Principal of McAnnulty Elementary, explains,“ Specific lesson plans have been created for the play sets in the Dramatic Playroom. When the teacher brings their class into the playroom, the students are explicitly taught that specific lesson for the play set, such as vocabulary that would be used at that job. For example, employee, employer, cashier, cash register, payment, bagger, etc … Each of these roles are reviewed and the responsibility of each explained. Students are selected to assume these roles and the teacher will walk them through the lesson plan. Think about a trip to the grocery store from when you start shopping to the minute you leave the cashier— that is the lesson. Once the

60 BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL teacher runs through it once, a second group will try it on their own before they are released to the other play sets to practice what they’ ve learned.”

The dramatic playroom gives children a fun environment in which to learn important life-skills. Fusco shares,“ One of the biggest benefits of dramatic play is that it helps students develop social skills. Kindergarten is paramount for learning how to interact with your peers, initiate friendships and develop relationships. There is no better way to do this than playing with your peers! Students continually imagine and innovate through the world the Dramatic Playroom opens up to them. Fusco recalls,“ recently, one little guy was‘ working’ as a cashier and decided that his cash register was broken. His friend was working at the workbench play set, so he went over and asked him if he could come to his store and fix his cash register. His buddy brought his tools and worked on his register until it was‘ fixed.’ It also organically helps build empathy, social and emotional learning, and helps strengthen cognitive skills!”