Construction Center

Children pretend to be construction workers and plan, draw, and build structures. They discover and learn more about buildings and construction tools and equipment through a variety of books and other printed materials.

Materials & Resources

Literacy Support

Dramatic Play Props:

Toy people, buildings, vehicles, yellow vests, hard hats, tool belts, and tools, tape measures, rulers, activity rug

Oral language- construction vocabulary, storytelling, emotional expression

Comprehension skills-problem solving and critical thinking

Story concepts-understanding plot, character, and setting

Literacy Props:

Clipboards with paper and pencils, blue prints, and construction pencils.

Oral language- construction vocabulary

Functional use of print- labeling blue prints

Emergent writing- making signs for buildings

Environmental Print:

Street signs

Safety Posters

Tool Poster

Construction Equipment Poster

Labels

(*Labels and posters with print in Spanish or other languages will be included as much as possible)

Emergent reading- decoding street signs

Concepts of print

Functional use of print- gain information

Alphabet awareness- recognize beginning letters in street signs, tool names, and labels

*Inclusion

Other print materials: Construction/architecture magazines or catalogs such as Caterpillar’s equipment catalog and Architectural Review

Create interest in reading

Model reading of variety of texts

Book Examples:

A Visual Dictionary of Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching,

*Architecture and Its Models in South-East Asia by Jacques Dumarcay, Michael Smithies.

Dazzling Diggers by Tony Mitton

*Into the Sky by Ryan Ann Hunter

The Busy Building Book by Sue Tarsky.

Oral language- book discussions

Emergent literacy- repeating stories, pretending to read

Concepts of print- reading left to right

Concepts of books- knowing the parts of a book

Alphabet knowledge- Noticing letters like the “D” in Dazzling Diggers and finding other D words in the story.

Phonemic awareness- hearing the repeated sounds like the “D” in Dazzling Diggers.

Comprehension skills- understanding plot, character, and setting, problem solving, and critical thinking

*Inclusion