The Project Approach
- 2. What is the Project Approach? A project is an in-depth investigation of a topic worth learning more about. In a sense, like a good story, the project can be described as having a beginning, a middle and an end, each memorable in its own way. Projects develop through three phases.
- 3. Phase 1.1 The teacher is particularly concerned to find out how much individual children already know and what first hand experiences form the basis of their current understanding. The children engage in an initial discussion of the topic and offer ideas and stories of their experiences. The children also paint, draw, write about, dramatize or role-play the experiences and understandings they bring to the study.
- 4. Phase 1.2 The children acquire a collective baseline understanding of the topic through representing their own experience and sharing this work within the class group. The first phase concludes with the class recording a list of questions that they would like to investigate.
- 5. Phase 2.1 This phase involves planning fieldwork and inviting experts to the classroom to talk with the children. The teacher’s concerns center around the provision of new first hand experiences for the children and the collection of other resources.
- 6. Phase 2.2 A field trip is arranged. Real objects and processes are investigated, questions answered, more questions posed, explanations sought. Children read, write, draw, compute, gather data and represent many different kinds of findings and reactions to their experiences.
- 7. Phase 2.3 A representative selection of the work is displayed on walls and shelves in the room for all the class to see. Documentation samples of a child’s work at several different stages of completion photos showing work in progress comments written by the teacher or other adults working with the children transcriptions of children’s discussions comments and explanations of intentions of the activity. The documents reveal how the children planned, carried out and completed the displayed work.
- 8. Phase 3 This phase features the culmination of the work in some form of opportunity to share the project with others, the principal, other classes, and parents. The work is reviewed, evaluated and particular items are selected for presentation. The emphasis is on communication of learning. There are also opportunities for children to personalize the new information for themselves in more imaginative art and dramatic activity, and personal story and poetry writing.
- 9. The Project Approach A few important things The project approach has three stages, all of which lead to an in depth investigation on a topic of interest for the children. Documentation should be taken throughout the whole process and put in view of the children, parents, and staff. Projects can be done in as little as a few weeks or they can last all year.
- 10. The following companies and people helped make this presentation possible Joyful Noise MetroKids Helene Farnen Reni Clemente