Ms. Paley records a conversation she has with her students about the new rule, "You can't say you can't play."
They discuss whether or not the teacher should make the children play together. They also discuss when different people should have a chance to play. There is a lot of discussion between Angelo (one of the children often excluded) and Lisa (one of the 'bosses') about the possibility of playing alone.
When Ms. Paley talks with older children, they agree with the idea but they still exclude others when they play. A habit is made about who is the boss and who is excluded. She also thinks about the relationship between play and friendship. Is the purpose of playing to build or hold onto a friendship? Being in kindergarten is the first time children enter the larger world (outside of their family). It is the first time they must share both things and people.
An older boy tell Ms Paley that being excluded in the classroom prepares them for real life, but she still worries that the same children are always being rejected.
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