CCE 285: The Project ApproachMondays 6:30-9:00 pmNorth Seattle Community College, IB 1409Candice Hoyt, InstructorCourse online: http://northseattle.angellearning.com/

4/19/10 Phases I, II & III overview Reggio video examples Amusement Park for the Birds Silent Movies

Assembly & democracy Your wetlands projects Report assembly style Monday: Bring & present

documentation for Phases I-II Following Monday: Complete

through Phase III

Phase 1 DocumentationYoung Investigators p. 13

Phase 1 (a): Teachers What are the children interested in? Teachers’ webs

Anticipatory knowledge webAnticipatory questions webAnticipatory Planning Web

= topics derived from questions + curriculum opportunities

Explore resources & field sites Provide focusing activities &

common experiencesBased on resources & field sites

Decide if topic is appropriate and practicalBased on activities done

Phase 1 (b): Teachers & Children together

Children’s webs (teacher documents only, no questions, answers or additions) Knowledge web – current

concepts and understanding(What do the children know?)

Question web/list (What do they want to find out?)

Move to Phase II to investigate questions listed

Phase 1 notes Practical Considerations in

Topic Selection (Young Investigators, pp. 14-15)

Types of documentation (Windows on Learning, p. 21)

Narratives Letter to parents Teachers web Meeting time between

adults runs along-side these actions

Teachers’ journals

Products Children represent Children’s webs Draw Record words & conversations

between kids Feed kids/busy them to keep them

talking - “coffee cloche” “If anyone wants to make ____ out of

playdough, I have the playdough here.”

Child self-reflections Record their conversations/

themselves & play it back Kids bring in artifacts/representation

Figure 3.1 (p. 21) for more

Phase 1 notes Children’s web Listen & write down

What they KNOW What they WONDER Do NOT correct Do NOT answer Write it and support that

they are talking about “it” Can say, “I want to write

down what we all wonder about.”

Play “ignorant” on kids’ level

Essentials of Projects “We are learning together” Emergent Curriculum Test root interest Treasure spontaneous shifts in

direction Skill development opportunities

Numeracy Literacy Exploring with new media

Clay Sugar cubes & colored glue

Shift from: Asking kids to do something at our

request

Phase 2 stages Begin Phase II

(Young Investigators, p. 28) Note [P] = Parent

Involvement Opportunity Teacher

Re-examine anticipatory planning web

Revise to actual “planning web”

Teacher & childrenPrepare for field work &

expert visitors [P]

Phase II stages Phase II continued

(Young Investigators, p. 38)

Investigate (YI, p. 10)Visit field sitesTalk to visitors & other

experts [& read about?]Examine artifactsConduct experimentsTeacher: document children’s

experiences Photos Video Transcriptions of discussions

Represent what was learned (as it is learned)Writing & drawing Writing/sketching on-siteCounting/measuringConstructionDancing & dramatic playTeacher: document children’s

experiences as in “Investigate” Revisit web or re-web

What was learnedIdentify new questions

Repeat Investigation Representation Re-web

Phase II documentation Teacher journal (private) Teacher & children:

Webs and re-webs Teacher: document children’s

experiences & representations Children working:

Photos Video Transcriptions of discussions

Children’s work: Construction Dancing & dramatic play

Visitors Field trips

Children: represent Writing & drawing Writing/sketching on-site Counting/measuring Construction Dancing & dramatic play

“The Contribution of Documentation to the Quality of Early Childhood Education” by Lilian G. Katz and Sylvia C. Chard (1996) – optional

Moving into Phase III Children begin to run out

of questions Project discussions fail to

inspire much interest or participation

Class & teacher lose interest in the topic

Children choose project activities & examine project documentation less frequently

Phase III(Young Investigators, p. 52)

Teacher & students prepare: Debrief Plan culminating event for students to

share the narrative & products of the project

Create narratives (see YI p. 21) Teacher & students complete:

Do culminating event or activities Do activity Display/finalize narratives Present to outside audiences

Teacher: Review project & assess achievement

of goals

VIDEO EXAMPLES Thinking Big West Seattle people are

going to meet up to watch together

Amusement Park for the Birds

Silent Movies

REGGIO VIDEO EXAMPLEAMUSEMENT PARK FOR THE BIRDS

Thoughts Direct questions / tutorials

The teacher pushed Simone to tell her what he thought made the fountain run

Isn’t this against D3 (etc)? Cultural –

USA: Children expected to have the right answer

Reggio: Children invited into a conversation Can create a culture in your own

environment Children want to sit and have a

conversation – with a follow-up question

When do kids start writing (on their drawings, etc)?

When they want to - ask you to write something so they can transfer it

Mixed-age groups work great

REGGIO VIDEO EXAMPLESILENT MOVIES

Thoughts How to get a kid to start a web

(never did one before)? Show example: When I wanted to learn

more about slimy water, first I made a web about what I knew, and then one about what I wanted to know.

Explain usefulness: I used the “what I know” to come up with the questions, then I used the questions to plan what to do to find out answers to my questions.

My kids are too young to do a web. Do the teacher’s anticipatory webs, then

do the focusing activities (trying out the idea) and watch for non-verbal cues about their knowledge about and interest in particular items and their questioning

When I started asking why he liked it he closed up and now doesn’t like cars anymore!

How do I keep a kid interested?

Kids in groups talk to each other – feed off of each other.

What if only 1 child in the group (or pair) is interested?

Focusing activities, etc, can help – do the field trip or read the books all together; maybe the other child will get interested.

ASSEMBLY & DEMOCRACY

Assembly & Democracy Democratic

Community “Push it back” to the

people Ex: If teacher is

concerned about too much noise, record noise & play it for kids so they can talk about it.

“Facilitating Civil Discourse in the Classroom” (Ashton, 2006) (PDF) (Word)

Socially-Constructed Reality

Socially-constructed reality in projects determine what we do.

Decide what is… Right Necessary Worthwhile Possible

To determine socially-constructed reality…

Voting: majority rules Compromise: someone

gives something up Consensus: confirmed by

silence GOAL: Search for

wisdom: through disagreement & continuous revision

Phase 2: Assembly/meeting

Teacher roles Document children’s ideas

and questions Do not answer questions

Paraphrase to return them“So you are wondering if…”

Do not ASK questions Can talk from “I…” to

model how children should talkI wonder…I know that…

Facilitate the tempo & energy of the meetingEnd meeting if too wild (with

promise to continue later)Have children split into smaller

groups each with a teacher concurrently or consecutively

Break children into individuals and do a roaming assist of children documenting their own questions and knowledge before returning to a larger group to collect and document

PREPARE FOR ASSEMBLY

Wetland Projects AssemblyPHASE ONE Your webs

What we know What we want to know Curriculum additions

PHASE TWO Your investigation

activities Your discoveries Your new questions

WETLAND PROJECTS ASSEMBLY: PRESENTATIONS & DISCUSSION

Lilacs Pretending each of us is a

small group of children

Questions: Meaning of a lilac

Curriculum Senses Pollination, photosynthesis Seasons Comparisons

Scents

Library research Difficult/expensive to get lilac

extract Artificial Could crush flowers with hands but didn’t

smell on hand Where they’re from Caterpillars lay eggs on lilacs & eat

when they hatch New questions

How many lilacs in my neighborhood map Colors, scents, etc

Bring in variety of lilacs Memories connected to scents

Symbiosis

Slimy Water Want to know

Safe to drink? There all the time? Seasonal? Who lives there? How deep?

Curriculum Geography/maps Graphs on depth – math Biology, science (safe?) Literacy Doing songs, etc

Investigations Revisit pond

Water samples Microscope – very alive!

Video Maps Wild life Branch into water

Finding songs, etc New question

Are there fish there? Representation

Play dough model of pond Drawings of the algae

Madrona Tree What we know

Neighborhood named Doesn’t grow straight Grows taller than other trees around Sheds bark Flowers Grows in NW climate

Want to know Why bark sheds Depth of roots Weather (moist?) Commercial products produced Looks like in other seasons Length to grow to max height Other names (Latin) Animal life / animal shelter

Curriculum additions Math

Counting days of flowers/ bark Blooms on branches

Science Try to grow our own Examine shedding under microscope

Arborist to talk Investigations

Revisit & looking online Flowers smell Flowers: in clusters, variety of foliage around trunk Bark peels to show golden bronze, very smooth

Edible berries – limited amt for humans Called “The Madrone” – specific to West Coast

New questions Why does the trunk bend? Following sun? How long bark shed? Berries & flowers grow together Seasonal? Cycle/direction of Flowers? Leaves? Berries? Considered Evergreen

Beavers We didn’t know much when

we started Build dams Mammals Probably not any in Seattle

Questions Everything else

Curriculum Literacy Math – building Geography, mapping distance Try to build a sufficient dam

Investigations Researching

Beavers chew on bark not eat them like Nutrias

European vs. N. American Mate for life Alter environment as much as

humans (or… more than other animals)

Revisiting It’s a pile of sticks Q: What’s the difference?

Visiting actual beaver dam Ask ranger what is in the pond?

Project Examples Example of project with

documentation: “The Movie Theater Project”

Windows on Learningpp. 85-109Optional to read this by 4/26 for

assistance with your project’s documents preparation for Monday.

Required to read this by 5/3 (added)

“Multiple Symbolization in the Long Jump Project” (Forman) (PDF) – optional

Reggio Look through the books

in pairs or 3’s Look around online

yourself

Assignments In class (team)

4/26 – Present Phases I & II of wetlands projectsBring ALL documentation, including drawings & photos

Submissions 4/25 – Interval Paper A7b(3)

4/26 – Read: pp. 51-97 5/2 – Interval Paper A7b(4)

5/3 – In-class: Completed bound book Readings

4/26Required: “Facilitating Civil Discourse in the Classroom”Optional (5/3 required): Windows on Learning, pp. 85-109Optional: “Multiple Symbolization in the Long Jump Project”