Creating the Community College > classroom committee > the e-classroom >  teaching & learning

1. Children & Routines 2. Children &
Materials		 3. A child's Experience 4. Boys in
Dramatic Play		 5. Children
Reading




  Natural Observations of Children  
Laura Equihua Lopez
Tenure
Project
Using videotape as my observational tool, and the "Project Approach" as my theoretical framework, I captured children on tape, in everyday activities.

I will use the tapes in my classes as a focus for dialogues on children's development.

  What is the "Project Approach"?
(from the
ERIC Digest)

Lillian Katz (UI, Champaign-Urbana) is the leading theorist of the Project Approach. It is also influenced by the pre-primary schools of Reggio Emilia.

"A project is an in-depth investigation of a topic worth learning more about. ...undertaken by a small group of children within a class, sometimes by a whole class, and occasionally by an individual child. The key feature of a project is that it is ...deliberately focused on finding answers to questions about a topic posed either by the children, the teacher, or the teacher working with the children. The goal of a project is to learn more about the topic rather than to (get it right)"

Both systematic and project-based intruction are important. The differences are listed below:
Instruction Project work
Teaches skills Uses skills
Works on weaknesses Works on strengths
Motivates by obedience Motivated by activity
Is teacher-directed Is learner-directed






External Links ECE Web Guide (Project Approach and other theories)
The Project Approach (from ERIC)
project-approach.com
The Project Approach Catalog
Project Approach, University of Alberta
 PROJECTS-L: The Project Approach ...a discussion group about the Project Approach.

 phase 1   Choosing the project, brainstorming, "project mapping". My Choices
 



 
phase 2 Field Work (action research) My Methods
 



 
phase 3 Report, Debrief, "Tour" the project. My Conclusions
 




 

 

1.
Children & Routines



2.
Children & Materials




3.
A Child's Experience




4.
Boys in Dramatic Play



5.
Children Reading