Going to the Doctor - Learning Measurement Through Play ELP

What Does the Doctor Do? - Fun With Measurement

After Christmas, Ms. Switzer and I wanted to change the drama centre so we asked the children what they would be interested in switching it to so we took a survey. The students came up with a list of choices such as: a post office, a vet centre, a hospital/doctor's office and a bakery.  After we asked everyone, the results indicated that we should have a doctor's office/hospital.

As educators, we are usually looking for ways to incorporate student learning into our play so we decided to have a knowledge building session about "what happens at the doctor?" using the "I See, I Think, I Wonder" model. Ms. Switzer took small groups of students to the doctor centre and she asked them what they know about the doctor.  She got many responses:

"I was sick at the hospital"

"He checks how tall you are. It's called measuring."

"The doctor is checking my hearing."

The children also told Ms. Switzer that when they go to the doctor, they get checked, weighed and measured.  We brought in a scale and Ms. Switzer measured and weighed each of the children. Ms. Switzer fastened some measuring sticks to the wall and left it. We began to notice that students were building creations and using the measuring sticks to measure them!