ED424977 PS027125

 

Title: Rearview Mirror: Reflections on a Preschool Car Project.
Author(s): Beneke, Sallee
Author Affiliation: National Parent Information Network, Champaign, IL.(BBB34525); ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Champaign, IL.(BBB34257)
Pages: 91
Publication Date: November 1998
Notes: Photographs may not reproduce well.
Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. (EDD00036)
Contract No: DERR93002007
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC04 Plus Postage.
Availability: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Children's Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7469; phone: 800-583-4135, 217-333-1386; fax: 217-244-7732 (Catalog No. 220, $10, plus $1.50 shipping in U.S.; $3 shipping outside U.S. Payment must be in U.S. funds. Make checks payable to 'University of Illinois').
Language: English
Document Type: Book (010); ERIC product (071); Reports--Descriptive (141)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Illinois
Journal Announcement: RIEAPR1999

This book documents the work of a master preschool teacher, her co-teachers, student teachers, and very young children as they explored the automotive laboratory adjacent to their early childhood classroom at a community college. In addition to introducing the project approach, the master teacher also introduced the staff and students to documentation practices, including systematic curriculum-based assessment through the use of the Work Sampling System. The book's introduction discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by the location of the early childhood classroom in the college's Automotive Mechanics Building. The first chapter, "Planning and Anticipating the Car Project," discusses reasons for choosing cars as a project topic, the generation of a topic web, and reasons for using the project approach and the Work Sampling System. The second chapter, "Phase 1: Beginning the Project," describes the early stages of the project and individual children's experiences starting their exploration of cars. The third chapter, "Phase 2: Building the Car," describes how individual children solved the problems that arose in the course of the project, in addition to discussing various topics, including the challenges presented by the irregular attendance patterns of the children at the center, when to include teacher-initiated activities in project work, and the value of demonstrating a new activity. The fourth chapter, "Phase 3: Sharing and Celebrating Accomplishments," discusses displaying documentation as a record of the project, documenting the project in portfolios, and the final display of the car. The publication concludes with four ERIC digests: (1) "The Project Approach"; (2) "Issues in Selecting Topics for Projects"; (3) "The Contribution of Documentation to the Quality of Early Childhood Education"; and (4) "Performance Assessment in Early Childhood Education: The Work Sampling System." Includes 91 illustrations. (LPP)

Descriptors: Active Learning; *Class Activities; Classroom Techniques; Cooperative Learning; Curriculum Based Assessment; Discovery Learning; *Documentation; Experiential Learning; Integrated Curriculum; Learning Activities; Personal Narratives; *Portfolio Assessment; Preschool Curriculum; Preschool Education; Problem Solving; Student Projects; Teacher Role; Teacher Student Relationship; Teaching Methods; Young Children
Identifiers: *Project Approach (Katz and Chard); *Work Sampling System (Meisels)