Sparking Joyful Learning: A Teacher’s Guide to Connecting Play and Reader Response

Grounded in research and theory, Sparking Joyful Learning: A Teacher’s Guide to Connecting Play and Reader Response highlights the connections between play and literacy and provides teachers with resources for building upon children’s playful reading responses in the PK-3 classroom. Readers will find guidance on using diverse children’s literature and ways to connect responsive play to literacy instruction, standards, and assessments. The approaches outlined in this book aim to spark imaginative learning with literacy instruction that is creative, joyful, and meaningful.

Tori K. Flint is an associate professor of literacy and early childhood education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the co-director of the Louisiana Center for Research and Education on Languages and Literacies. She believes that education should be joyful and that we should listen to and learn from the brilliance of children.