ED421217 PS026639
Title: Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work. Early
Childhood Education Series.
Author(s): Helm, Judy Harris; Beneke, Sallee; Steinheimer, Kathy
Pages: 203
Publication Date: 1998
Notes: Foreword by Lilian G. Katz.
ISBN: 0-8077-3678-3
Available from: Document Not Available from EDRS.
Availability: Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University,
1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027; toll-free phone: 800-575-6566;
fax: 212-678-4149; World Wide Web: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~tcpress/
(Cloth: ISBN-0-8077-3679-1, $42; Paper: ISBN-0-8077-3678-3, $19.95).
Language: English
Document Type: Book (010); Guides--Classroom--Teacher (052); Reports--Descriptive
(141)
Geographic Source: U.S.; New York
Journal Announcement: RIEDEC1998
This book
grew out of the experiences of three teachers as they learned to
document young children's work in their respective schools. Part
I of this book enables readers to learn about documentation. Chapter
1 provides the rationale for the study of documentation, and chapter
2 explains the windows framework that guided the teachers in thinking
about documentation. Chapter 3 presents the web of documentation
types. Chapters 4-8 provide an in-depth exploration of the variety
of documentation types, with samples collected by the teachers.
The children's work and teacher notes illustrate what children learned
and how they developed through use of the project approach. Part
II of the book explores learning how to document children's work.
Chapters 9-11 explain how to collect, organize, and share documentation
with children, other teachers, parents, and the community. Throughout
the book and especially in chapter 10, teacher reflections illustrate
how the teachers used documentation to inform teaching and to make
decisions. Chapter 11 discusses how documentation as described in
this book relates to recommendations and requirements for assessment.
Part III of the book explores the documentation of one project,
"Our Mail Project," which was completed by a class of
3- and 4-year-olds over a 6-week period. The teacher's documentation
and the children's documentation show the progress of the project
as it grew, expanded, and concluded. The complete documentation
of this project illustrates how a project develops, how documentation
can be integrated into all areas of development, how documentation
informs teaching, and how documentation enables others to see how
much learning took place in the classroom. (Author/LPP)
Descriptors: Active Learning; *Classroom Techniques; Cooperative
Learning; Creative Development; Discovery Learning; *Documentation;
*Early Childhood Education; Experiential Learning; Group Activities;
Instructional Innovation; Learning Activities; Portfolios (Background
Materials); Problem Solving; Reflective Teaching; Student Evaluation;
*Student Projects; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Role; Teacher
Student Relationship; Teaching Methods
Identifiers: *Project Approach (Katz and Chard); Reggio Emilia Approach;
Self Reflection; Webbing (Thematic)
