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”
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