Using ICT in the Foundation Stage: Brent LA - case study

Date of issue: Oct. 2007

Theme: Supporting boys' achievements

J...’s trip to the supermarket
As part of a literacy unit the reception class went on a trip to the supermarket. On the way to the supermarket we looked for signs and labels and talked about what they might be used for. When we got to the supermarket, J…. had to find an item from the shopping list by looking at the signs and labels. J...’s job was to find the cream of tartare sauce. Here he is pointing to the item and trying to find out how much it costs.

Small world play
The next day J... and his friends used the small world play toys to recreate the trip to the supermarket. They drew the road to the supermarket and J... said, ‘I am going to draw the pavement’. They then used the play people to go shopping. His friend used the video camera to film their play people going to the supermarket. He conducted the filming, while J... and
another friend acted out their story. The children then watched the video footage. The children thought this was great fun and everyone wanted to have a turn.

Setting up the role-play area
The same three children were involved with making the role-play shop outside. They helped to stack the shelves and organise the tills and shopping baskets. They were all very excited at the prospect of making a shop to play in.

After making the shop, the children took it in turns to be the shop assistant and the customer. J... wanted to be a customer first and he selected his items and went to the tills to pay for his shopping. He then put his shopping into a bag and walked over to the playhouse. Inside the playhouse he discussed with friends what he had bought from the shop. J... also enjoyed being the shop assistant and using the tills. He revisited this activity a number of times taking it in turns to play the different roles.

Filming role-play area
After a couple of days of playing in the role-play area, J... filmed the children using the role-play area. He filmed the children using the shop and what they were doing. He also filmed what they had in their shopping baskets.

Looking back at the tape and talking about it
Later that day, J... showed his video of the role-play shop using the interactive whiteboard. He talked to the class about what he had filmed and the children had great fun spotting themselves on camera.