Keyword: Project Approach
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Pasta, Pasta!
This project example describes a preschool classroom that investigated pasta.
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Farm Implements: Learning About Tractors and Combines
This project example describes a preschool program’s exploration of farm implements.
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Exploring Project Work Through the Eyes of Toddlers and Twos
Teachers often ask if, and how, the very young children in their care can do project work. They may work in a center where prekindergarten children and their teachers are doing project work. As they watch the projects of these older children unfold, they might question whether it is possible to adapt project work for…
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The Project Approach: Resources for Teachers
Find Project Approach resources.
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Recipes for Learning: A Baking Project
The topic of baking began to generate interest in the classroom after one child began baking with his grandmother at home.
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The Squirrel Project
The Squirrel Project took place in an early childhood center that serves students ages 3–5 through morning and afternoon sessions. Program funding is provided by the local school district, statewide Preschool for All, and tuition. Of the 26 students who participated, six had Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and five were dual language learners.
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Focused Explorations and the Project Approach
Once teachers have identified a high-interest topic for a new project, they are often unsure how to get started.
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Carson’s Fishing Project
Carson’s interest in fishing began during previous trips to his grandparents’ farm in southern Missouri, where opportunities to fish in rivers and lakes are readily available. His first-hand experiences using worms and minnows for bait, and the excitement of catching a fish with his grandfather and then frying it for dinner, provided a tangible basis…
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The Sharing Pizza Project
During an investigation of pizza, students in one preschool classroom honed their investigation skills and built valuable friendships.
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The Baking Project
A mixed-age preschool class spent a week learning about pies and concluded with an event that allowed the children to bake three different types of pies with their parents.
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Universal Design for Learning and Project Work
Teachers who work with learners with diverse abilities, including children with disabilities, find that the Project Approach provides an optimal learning environment, or a universal design for learning (UDL). Today, many of our environments are more user-friendly for all of us because principles of universal design have been applied.
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Selecting Useful Topics for Projects
Selecting a viable topic is one key to getting and keeping a long-term project going.
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Implementing the Project Approach in Inclusive Classrooms
On this podcast we talk with Dr. Sallee Beneke, an associate professor of early childhood education at St. Ambrose University, where she teaches courses in early childhood education and early childhood special education.
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Doing Projects With Families From a Distance
When teachers are called on to work with children and families remotely, project work can be a welcome addition to the teacher’s toolbox for a variety of reasons.
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Coaching Others in Implementing the Project Approach
The Project Approach engages and motivates diverse groups of young children to learn and use higher order thinking skills, so it is a wonderful addition to the curriculum. But learning how to implement the Project Approach can be challenging for teachers, perhaps because it is best learned “in the action” through hands-on experience and experimentation.…
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“Where Does the Water Go?” Investigating Pipes and Plumbing
Kim Burd and Laura DeLucaJohn L. Hensey Elementary SchoolWashington, IL The Pipes Project took place in an inclusive early childhood classroom that holds two sessions each day; children attend only one session. The classroom also has an assistant teacher. The curriculum is play-based and experiential in nature. Topics of study are chosen based on children’s…
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The Pumpkin Project
Meredith Kennedy and Michaela Martens Bridgeview Elementary School LeClaire, Iowa This project was an investigation of the afternoon preschool class at the Pleasant Valley Preschool Program. Our program serves children ages 3 to 5. The classroom is inclusive and made up of 17 students. The Pumpkin Project began in October and lasted until the end…
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Traditional Costumes Project
Şermin Metin, Nilüfer Darıca, and Zerrin MercanHasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey The Traditional Clothes Project was the result of a research study that was undertaken in Pristina, the capital and largest city in Kosovo. The aim of the research study was to provide training for Kosovan Turkish teachers to embed 21st century skills in their…
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Adjusting Pace and Location of Project Work
By adjusting the pace and location of the project work to the developmental levels and experience of the children, teachers can begin to engage them in project work soon after they join the class, even at the beginning of the school year.
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The Pizza Project: A Delicious Learning Opportunity
Sarah KuhlemeierRegional Office of Education No. 8 Preschool ProgramStephenson and Jo Daviess counties The Pizza Project was completed in a mixed-age, blended Preschool for All classroom. The classroom was an inclusive classroom with a diverse group of learners, including children with disabilities, English language learners, and children identified as at-risk. Several children had language delays,…
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The Project Approach: Display and Documentation Techniques
This list contains a variety of resources associated with the project approach, as well as display and documentation techniques for parents, caregivers, and teachers.
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Doing Projects at Home
This list of resources provides helpful information for parents and caregivers about how to introduce activities which promote skill development at home.
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Discovering the World of Insects on the Playground
Kendra Nenia and Denise FennNorthern Illinois University Campus Child Care Center Our project was completed in a full-day childcare classroom at Northern Illinois University’s Campus Child Care Center. The children in the classroom were 2 and 3 years old. The study lasted six weeks.
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Cracks and Holes Project
Alicia Lindhorst and Beth FlickAkin PrekindergartenSouthern Region Early Childhood ProgramFranklin County, Illinois The Akin Prekindergarten provides full-day early childhood education for 17 children ages 3 to 5 years old in Franklin County, Illinois. The program is part of the Southern Region Early Childhood Program, a 5-county collaboration of 15 school districts, Head Start, and the…
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The Horse Project
Darby Harden and Tasha VerdeyenProto-Tykes Childcare CenterSullivan, Illinois Proto-Tykes Childcare Center provides high-quality full-day educational programs for infants and toddlers, 6 weeks to 3 years of age, and preschool-age children, 3 to 5 years old, in mixed-age classrooms. The center was founded in 1989 by a local company to provide on-site child care for its…
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The Music Project
Michele Baird and Jean StaffordDeSoto Prekindergarten, DeSoto Grade SchoolDeSoto, Illinois DeSoto is a small rural town in Jackson County located approximately 10 miles from Southern Illinois University. DeSoto Grade School is a feeder school to Carbondale District #95, which is one of the larger school districts in southern Illinois and houses prekindergarten through eighth grade.…
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Up Up and Away: The Airplane Project
Kimberly CurialeIrving SchoolMaywood, Illinois Irving School is located 13 miles west of Chicago in Maywood, Illinois. We are part of School District 89, which includes Maywood, Melrose Park, and Broadview. The 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children of Irving’s prekindergarten classes reside throughout the district. The district has four preschool classes, both with a morning class…
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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish…NEW Fish: A Preschool Fish Project
Scott Brouette Western Illinois University Preschool Center Macomb, Illinois The University Preschool Center is located on the campus of Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. The children are ages 3-5 years and are children of university faculty, staff, and students. Most of the 21 children attend full days, 5 days per week. The center is…
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Cooking with Spinach
Shalan Knapke, Gail Lawrence, and Mindy MosesThe Honeybee Room: Infants and ToddlersSt. Ambrose University Children’s CampusDavenport, Iowa The Cooking with Spinach Project took place in the Honeybee room, the infant/toddler classroom of St. Ambrose Children’s Campus, which is part of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Children in the Honeybee room attend eight hours a…
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The Worm Project
Kim Burd and Laura De LucaJ. L. Hensey Elementary SchoolWashington, IL District #50 The Worm Project took place in morning and afternoon sessions of two self-contained ECE classrooms in the J. L. Hensey Elementary School in Washington, Illinois, a community of about 15,000 near Peoria. Head teachers in the classrooms were Mrs. Kim Burd and…
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The Combine Project: Using a Museum Experience to Enrich Project Work
Angie HerringtonSt. Ambrose University Children’s CampusDavenport, Iowa This project was undertaken in the Dragonfly classroom at the St. Ambrose University Children’s Campus in Davenport, Iowa. The Children’s Campus serves children ages 2 months to 5 years old. The Children’s Campus teachers begin exposing children to inquiry-based learning in the infant room. Consequently, many of the…
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How Do People Celebrate Birthdays?
Lisa Lee and Pam MorbitzerIllinois State University Child Care CenterNormal, Illinois The How Do People Celebrate Birthdays Project took place in a multiage classroom at the Illinois State University Child Care Center in Normal, IL. The center offers full- and part-time care for children ages 3 to 5. The ISU Child Care Center has three…
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Garden Project Sprouts From Simple Question: “What’s That?”
Mary Klug, Deb Wintrip, and Simone HaughtonOwl Child Care Services–Lincoln RoadWaterloo, Ontario The preschool Garden Project started mid-April 2015, while the new shoots where coming up out of the ground. The project lasted until late August 2015, when the harvesting of our garden was completed. The preschool children ranged from 2.5 to 4 years old.…
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The Tractor Project: Noisy Neighbors Lead to Investigation
Erin Hamel, Mollie von Kampen, Sara Dolezal, Brianna Kennedy, Ashley McConnell, and Jordyn NikkilaRuth Staples Child Development LaboratoryLincoln, Nebraska The Tractor Project was completed in the younger classroom of the Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The laboratory serves children ages 18 months through 5 years old. This classroom includes children…
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Magnets and Cars
The teacher took the 3- and 4-year-olds to visit the automotive lab next door to the classroom. The next day she asked the children to predict what parts of a car would attract a magnet.