• The Dispositions to Write and Read
  Lilian G. Katz
• Strategies to Incorporate Literacy in Project Work in the Pre-Kindergarten Classroom
  Sallee Beneke
• Strategies to Incorporate Literacy into Kindergarten Project Work
  Mary Ann Gottlieb
• Strategies to Incorporate Literacy in Project Work in Primary Grades
  Dot Schuler
• Strategies to Support Literacy Development in Second-Language Learners through Project Work
  Rebecca A. Wilson
• Look! See How They Are Learning
  Judy Harris Helm

Introduction

Children are developing concepts about reading and writing long before they begin to produce conventional print or begin to read in the conventional sense. In fact, "reading and writing acquisition is conceptualized better as a developmental continuum than as an all-or-nothing phenomenon" (NAEYC, 1998). It is also important to recognize that literacy includes other skills in addition to reading and writing. Consequently, in many states, such as Illinois, listening, speaking, and conducting research are considered integral aspects of literacy and are included in standards for early childhood education (Illinois State Board of Education, 2002). In combination, these skills support children in learning and communicating their ideas.

This communication of ideas and concepts is an integral part of project work and provides a wonderful context for pre-kindergarten children to develop their literacy skills. In addition, not only does project work provide many, many opportunities for children to apply the literacy skills they already have, it also motivates children to acquire new skills so that they can undertake research and communicate about the topic more deeply. The resulting growth can be seen in their use of print for communication, as well as in their listening, research, and connection with books. As are many skills in real life, literacy skills are often applied simultaneously in an integrated, rather than isolated, way. For these reasons, literacy skills are best taught and acquired in a context in which they are useful and meaningful to the child, such as that created by the Project Approach. Teachers can capitalize on this context by making use of several strategies that support children in using skills in an integrated way.

Practical Strategy 1: Use Webs to Record Children's Concepts, Knowledge, and Theories

Webbing is a process that can be used throughout the project. This process can begin in Phase 1 when the teacher records the children's prior knowledge of the topic. New knowledge and concepts can be added in Phase 2. A web that summarizes all that has been learned is often displayed as part of Phase 3.

Webs can support the development of pre-kindergarten children's reading skills in several ways. Children offer ideas to be recorded on the web. As the teacher records their ideas on the web, children are able to see that print stands for these ideas; they see print as a meaningful, useful tool. The use of webs is especially meaningful to children if the teacher creates an expectation that the web is a working document. As a project develops, she can return to the web periodically and review what has been included by pointing to each word as she reads it out loud. Through her comments, she can help children connect the print with prior discussions. For example, on February 25, a new incubator was delivered to our classroom, and as it became apparent that the children were interested in discussing this addition, I began a web of their ideas about eggs. The following day, we revisited the web. Several children who were not there on the preceding day were interested in knowing what had already been written and who had suggested each item. I read and pointed to each word on the web and noted who had contributed each idea.

The words dictated on the first day were mainly simple pieces of information, such as types of animals that lay eggs. However, on the 26th, as children added to the web, hypotheses and theories began to emerge. For example, on the 25th, it was suggested that eggs can be different colors. On the 26th, Sara said, "Birds lay eggs that are pink, blue, yellow, and purple." When asked why the eggs are different colors, Sara said, "It depends on the color of the bird." Sentences and phrases such as these can be recorded on a web, and as the children learn more about the topic through their project investigation, these phrases can be revisited and expanded or revised.

Recording the information in a web format is more useful than a list when the information is to be expanded on and revised on an ongoing basis. Children take pride in the words that they have suggested to be added to the web, and they like to "read" them. It is easier for the child to locate his own dictated words when he can remember the position of his words in relation to the rest of the web. Writing the child's name next to his contributions also helps the child to locate his words. Children can combine their understanding of letter/sound combinations with the clues described above and use the information to "read" the words. Children in our class are often able to read their words and also the words contributed by many of their friends. Because the web is usually created as a result of group discussion, several children are generally involved in the ongoing discussion and use of the web. The web becomes a shared history of their discovery and is therefore more meaningful to them. Children can model for and assist each other in locating and reading the words on the web. It is also easier to expand on concepts and ideas when text is arranged in a web rather than a list. Items on the web are more likely to have adjacent white space available for elaboration of ideas, while this flexibility is limited in a list. The web can be reduced and copied so that children can take it home and discuss their ideas with their families. If children take a web home periodically, parents can note and reinforce the use of additional vocabulary words and new ideas that have surfaced as the project has developed.

Practical Strategy 2: Take Dictation

Taking children's dictation allows the teacher to model the process of recording ideas with symbols. Opportunities to take dictation occur frequently and are very useful in all three phases of project work. For example, in Phase 1, children can dictate stories about their prior experience with the topic. In Phase 2, they can dictate plans for investigation, or they can dictate what happened as they did their fieldwork or interviewed guest experts. Throughout the project, the children can be encouraged to dictate narrative to display with documentation of their work.

In Phase 3, they can take the long view and dictate the overall story of their investigation and what they have learned. Project work especially lends itself to the creation of child-dictated and illustrated books. For example, they can tell about what happened first, what happened next, and so forth. They can explain what they learned, and they can tell about their future plans. Children who have conducted an in-depth investigation can also write books from the standpoint of experts on the subject of their investigation. For example, in the Greenhouse Project, the children wrote a book about what helps flowers to grow and what will kill them. Children can illustrate these books with their drawings, or they may choose photographs from a class collection.

Practical Strategy 3: Provide Ongoing Opportunities to journal about the project

Offering individual journaling as a routine classroom activity helps children make a regular, personal connection with the practice of writing. This practice can be helpful even at the pre-kindergarten level, when most children's writing skills are only beginning to emerge. Making the project topic a part of the journaling process can help motivate children to participate in journaling by providing them with something to write "about." Likewise, encouraging children to journal about project-related items can help teachers to "read" out loud what the child has written in her journal. We provide this connection to project work by incorporating project-related items into a daily script that is offered as a possibility for journaling. We also provide concrete, project-related objects that can be drawn by children who are at earlier stages in the development of their writing skills and who record information with pictures rather than print. Often, children do both.

Younger children are often encouraged to participate in journaling by watching the older children journal. For example, on one of her first days at our center, 3-year-old Adia chose to join 4-year-old Nicole at the writing table. That day, the children were folding and cutting snowflakes, and several pre-cut snowflakes were displayed on the writing table. The script for journaling at the writing table was "Today we have snowflakes." Four-year-old Nicole chose to copy the script and draw the snowflake (Figure 1a). Three-year-old Adia's entry (Figure 1b) included a drawing of the snowflakes, attempts at drawing the letters in her name, as well as other drawings and letter-like shapes. Offering children routine opportunities for journaling communicates the expectation that the child is a "writer" and encourages children to move toward using writing to communicate. As the teacher supervises the writing table, she can help children make the connection between letter combinations and their sounds by sounding out the portion of the words that children have written so far. Children love to have adults read what they have written.

Figure 1a. Nicole copied the script and drew a snowflake. 

Figure 1b. Adia drew a snowflake and tried to write the letters in her name.

Practical Strategy 4: Record Project Words on a Word Wall

As we discover new vocabulary words in the course of a project, we write each word on an unlined index card and post it on the wall alongside the writing table. This wall acts as a lexicon for the children as they visit the writing table during choice time. Many of the cards on the word wall are written by the teacher, but children can also volunteer to print the word on the card. The teacher can add a drawing or other picture of the item alongside the text on the card. This strategy helps children to determine which card is likely to contain the word they want to use. As with journaling, the teacher can help the child to figure out how to sound words out by modeling the "sounding out" process.

Practical Strategy 5: Emphasize Print in Real-Life Context

Children who are engaged in project work often have to use real artifacts and materials in the course of their investigations. Teachers can assist children to see the usefulness of print by reading and referring to environmental print that will provide useful information to children in their project work. For example, during the Greenhouse Project at our center, the children looked through photographs taken during the construction of a neighboring greenhouse. The children were especially interested in the heavy equipment used in the construction. Several of the children chose to draw these machines, and they typically included the letters and words that were printed on the machines. As the children encountered these words, the teacher would read them to help the children understand the meaning of the photograph. The teacher can take advantage of these opportunities to help children recognize letter/sound relationships in a meaningful context.

Practical Strategy 6: Encourage Child-Created Signs and Labels

As children uncover new knowledge in Phase 2 of project work, they often create constructions, pictures, or other representations or models of their work. They are usually eager to display their accomplishments and take pleasure in helping viewers to understand their work. Rather than labeling these creations herself, the teacher can encourage children to write or type their own labels. Many such representations and constructions were created in the Greenhouse Project. The children created their own greenhouse, complete with plants, pots, flowers, and tools. They labeled these constructions so that visitors to the classroom would be sure to understand their meaning (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. A child labeled a greenhouse "pot."

Practical Strategy 7: Chart and Graph Results

Teaching the children to record their observations on charts and graphs is another way to help children learn to use and interpret print. In Phase 2 of project work, children often make hypotheses and predictions, and then they test them. Children who are beginning to enjoy copying words often enjoy recording the results of these investigations. For example, during the Car Project, children predicted which parts of a car would attract a magnet. Their predictions were recorded in one column, and the results were transferred from the small version of the graph that the children took with them as they experimented. Four-year-old Lisa asked if she could record the results. She copied the words "yes" or "no" onto the large poster-size classroom version of the graph so that all the children could see the results (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Lisa copied the words "yes" or "no" on a graph.

Practical Strategy 8: Encourage Use of Symbolism across the Curriculum

When they read, write, and speak, children use systems of symbols to communicate. As children engage in dramatic play in the housekeeping or block areas, they can act out events in their lives and take on the roles of others. In essence, through their dramatic play, they are symbolizing what they know. Likewise, as children draw and paint, they are often creating representations of real objects or events. The objects, events, and people involved in the three phases of project work often provide a rich collection of experiences and information that children can draw on and interpret in symbolic play and representation. This process can help them digest or organize what they already know. It can take place in almost any area of the classroom and across the domains of development.

Practical Strategy 9: Use a Variety of Research Materials

Many types of printed materials can be used for research and reference in projects. Reference materials that are geared toward young children can be very useful, but printed matter developed for adults can also be useful. In fact, children are often more motivated to use "real" adult materials than they are to use those developed for children. These materials can include flyers and brochures, manuals, magazines, instruction pamphlets, and books. For example, as the children helped to unpack the incubator to hatch duck eggs, they looked at the diagram and instructions for assembly. The teacher helped them to find words on the instructions that matched the print on the incubator itself, such as the model number and the temperature settings. As children look at materials such as these, the teacher can apprentice them in learning about the various ways in which reading material is organized. For example, they can learn about columns, chapters, tables of content, and glossaries. This type of practical application of reference materials helps children to see the usefulness of reading and motivates them to apply reading in solving problems and answering questions through research.

Practical Strategy 10: Read for Humor and Enjoyment

As Lilian Katz has said, project work helps children develop their "horizontal knowledge" about the topic. Rather than knowing a little bit about a lot of things, they become experts and know a lot about the project topic. This knowledge helps them to recognize the humor in stories, nursery rhymes, and other writing involving fantasy. Children also enjoy reading about something that is familiar to them. As experts on the project topic, they can enjoy and recognize stories that revolve around realistic characters and plots, and they recognize jokes that have their basis in reality. For example, in a project on eggs, the children might have experience with a rotten egg and would recognize the meaning of the saying, "Last one there is a rotten egg."

Practical Strategy 11: Discussion

Discussion is an important feature of project work. Children and teachers often discuss the next steps in a project during a large group meeting and then agree on teams that will carry out the work that is necessary to carry the project forward. As children discuss their hypotheses, possible experiments and resulting findings, ideas for group constructions, and work plans, they learn to take turns in conversation, consider the content of others' ideas, and respond in a constructive way. For example, during a project on cars, three girls discussed the colors of markers they would need to bring along to mark their survey (Beneke, 1998, p. 48).

Mary (picking up a green marker): I can do this, too.

Marissa (to Mary): Mary, no! They're supposed to be all different colors! We already have a green one.

Emma: A green one. That's light green.

Mary (Mary picks up a pen): But you don't have black.

Marissa: That's a ... Hey, sorry ... That is a pen. (pause) A pen does not count.

The teacher can extend discussion about the project to the home by sending home Project Updates or by including a description of the project in a current center newsletter. At the IVCC Early Childhood Education Center, we frequently feature the current project as our headline story.

Practical Strategy 12: Learn to Form Hypotheses and Questions

Projects offer children many opportunities to form hypotheses and questions. For instance, in Phase 1, the teacher often creates a web or list of what children currently know about the topic. In the Egg Project, one of the children noted that eggs can be blue, purple, and green. She hypothesized that the color of the egg "depends on the color of the bird" that laid it. As the project moved into Phase 2, the children began to dictate questions for further investigation. Among the questions they asked were, "How long does a duck live?"; "Will the ducks bite our fingers?"; and "Do all ducks quack?" Teachers can help children begin to form questions by modeling questioning, by recognizing the children's attempts, and by rephrasing them in a question format. For example, in the Egg Project, I started the children off by asking the children, "What part of the bird do you think will grow first inside the egg?" Children are often curious about an aspect of the topic, but they don't know how to phrase their words in a question format. In this case, I often take their statement, rephrase it as a question, and then check with them to see if I have given their question voice. For example, as we listed our questions about eggs and ducks, 3-year-old Eric said, "How does a duck swim on the ice, because he might slip?" I said, "Are you wondering if ducks can walk or swim on the ice when the water is frozen?" Eric eagerly nodded his agreement. Sometimes, it takes several attempts at rephrasing before we reach agreement about the question, and in the process, the children build their ability to form questions.

Conclusion

The three phases of project work provide many opportunities for children to apply literacy skills in ways that are meaningful to them and that motivate them to learn more. This approach is effective because the reading, writing, speaking, listening, and research are about something that takes place in a context that is meaningful to the child. This meaningful context not only encourages children to apply skills and helps them to believe that someday they will be readers and writers, it creates a context in which they are readers and writers at their own level. With the support of teachers and parents, these literacy skills can be developed and refined so that children can develop these literacy skills as life-long, useful tools.

References

Illinois State Board of Education, Division of Early Childhood. (2002). Illinois early learning standards. Springfield: Illinois State Board of Education.

National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association. (1998, May). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. (ERIC Document No. ED420052)

Return to the top

Strategies to Incorporate Literacy into Kindergarten Project Work

Mary Ann Gottlieb

View PDF of this paper.

Introduction

When reflecting on my years of facilitating projects with kindergartners, I keep coming back to the importance of literacy and how it permeates almost all the projects that I have facilitated with children. When I was asked to write a chapter for The Power of Projects on my experiences moving children toward literacy through project work, I identified 14 practical strategies that foster literacy development and are found within project work (Helm & Beneke, 2003):

1. Emphasize building vocabulary as a foundation for further learning.
2. Encourage children to play around with letter and word recognition.
3. Provide opportunities for publishing and reading child-made books.
4. Provide events that encourage writing.
5. Help children develop email relationships.
6. Help children create pamphlets and brochures.
7. Encourage children to use and create references.
8. Plan for language-rich play.
9. Encourage peer coaching.
10. Help children learn how to ask questions.
11. Tap the potential of culminating experiences.
12. Provide opportunities to listen to experts.
13. Provide opportunities to listen to peers.
14. Read topic-related informational books to children.

Let me address each of these strategies as you might find them in a classroom where child-initiated learning can be found.

Emphasize Building Vocabulary as a Foundation for Further Learning

We are all aware of the need for building vocabulary, especially for those children who come to us with limited experiences. As young children show interest in a possible project, I read many books about the subject. By doing so, I begin to build vocabulary about the topic for the possible project. At times, I have used a word wall to display these words so that the children can see them and use them in daily writing or play. I think a more meaningful way to display those new words is to place them in an area reserved for project words. If a photograph illustrating each word is placed above the word, I believe that the visual image helps to reinforce the concept, as well as to help the child quickly identify the word that he may be seeking.

When we begin a new project, we take the time to web our current knowledge about the topic. The first web may be thin, with few contributions and perhaps some inaccuracies. However, this web represents the children’s knowledge at the time. Sometimes, a child knows what he wants to say but simply does not have the words to do so. Visiting a field site early in the project may help to provide some of the basic words connected with that project.

Webbing at the end of the project allows the children to commit to paper new concepts and vocabulary. This web will be more detailed and probably will contain numerous new words. I find myself smiling when I think back to one farm project when we compared the beginning and ending webs. The boys and girls seemed genuinely surprised—and then proud—of what they had learned throughout the project as evidenced by what was placed on the final web.

Don’t forget the artifacts that you may be collecting as the project gets under way. Putting a label next to each tool, construction, or representation helps reinforce the idea that an illustration or construction has a written symbol, which may be a new vocabulary word.

Field site visits early in a project may be the means of connecting words to objects or artifacts that the children are familiar with but just cannot articulate. Field site visits answer questions the children have voiced concerning the project. Children may have inaccurate concepts about a topic that are clarified during the field site visit. These inaccuracies may become apparent through the questions they pose as they prepare to make the field site visit. By allowing the children to discover the answers at the field site, the teacher is actually allowing the children to take charge of their learning.

Photographs from the field experience can reinforce new words. Encouraging the children to describe what they see in the photo as you write down their words helps them make the connection from speaking to writing to reading. I have put together these word books and sent them home so that parents can understand more about the project and, one hopes, incorporate some of those words in daily conversation with their children. Figure 1 is a page from the word book from the Farm Project. These word books become a valuable resource as the children continue to work on projects. For example, pictures taken at Kroger’s became the valued reference we used when constructing the hallway flower shop as part of the Grocery Store Project.

Encourage Children to Play Around with Letter and Word Recognition

 Word games using project words allow the teacher to meet district goals while doing project work. In our kindergarten classroom, we made rhyming words using farm animals: cow how bow; horse force course; and pig wig big. We also used animal words when learning about descriptors: pink pig; red rat; and blue bunny. For alphabet recognition, we listed all the farm words we could recall in alphabetical order. Sometimes, we had more than one word for a specific letter; sometimes, we had no word for a letter. We even illustrated alphabet books using project words such as those from the Grocery Store Project or the Tracks in the Winter Project. Nursery rhymes and songs relating to a specific project are another resource for phonological awareness. Figure 2 is an illustrated page from the song “Miss Molly Had a Dolly.” During the Health Center Project, we learned the song, “Miss Molly Had a Dolly,” and the rhyme, “Doctor,Doctor, I Am Ill.” You might want to put songs or rhymes from all your projects into a book so that the children can take turns taking the book home. This strategy would encourage parents to read the books, modeling the reading process for their children.

Provide opportunities for publishing and reading child-made books

Books about a project become classroom references. Some can represent the combined effort of all students, such as the Grocery Store, ABC Book, or the Farm Project Photo Book. These books are comparable to pictionaries for students who are not yet reading. Figure 3 is one page of a book containing hospital words. I used pictures from a hospital handout to make a dictionary of hospital words. Another meaningful book might contain a time line of photos showing the development of the project from “messing around” to the culminating activity.

During our small group time, we often made books relating to the project. We made Jack and Jill during the Water Project or Pat a Cake, Pat a Cake during the Bakery Project. Math counting books such as 1,2,3, a snowflake counting book, or a book containing pictures of pairs of mittens for counting by two’s were made during the Tracks in the Winter Project.

Provide Events That Encourage Writing

Writing events permeate most projects if you recognize and capitalize upon them. Some of these events will be conducted by the teacher, who will be modeling the writing process. Some will be conducted by the students and will be valued by all if, from day one, you accept each kindergartner’s level of writing as natural and valuable.

Kindergartners can add to project webs if they use the sounds they hear and know. You can add a small picture to each addition to help clarify it. Questions that the children want to investigate should be written and displayed prominently. These questions will be referred to frequently and answers added as they become apparent. Further investigation may pose more questions, which can then be investigated.

Children can write in pairs or small groups with the more fluent writer modeling for his peer. For example, children in one classroom wrote to another classroom about the construction of the Hinton Health Center. Every child can contribute something to the writing—an idea, a sound, or the period at the end of the sentence. Sometimes, I write with a child, putting in sounds that he does not know. We have written to other classrooms seeking information or guidance. All of the children who contributed to the letter will sign it.

Many small books are made in the classroom during small group time for a variety of purposes. As we made illustrations of the farm animals, the children used resource books to spell the names correctly. In Figure 4, a child is using the farm book as a resource. We made another small book using words that rhymed with cat. Once the children saw the correct spelling of the first word, most of them were able to make additional words. More mature children helped their friends who had not yet mastered the concept of rhyming words.

During the Hospital Project, I made a dictionary of hospital words, using simple pictures from a coloring book. The children kept this book in the writing area so that they could refer to it when writing during center time.

Help Children Develop Email Relationships

Many children come to kindergarten already having computer experience. Some have computers in their bedrooms. Computers are a part of their world, and as teachers, we need to help everyone become computer literate. The Internet is a source of information for any project, and the teacher can share that information with the class. However, I think a more appropriate use of the computer during project work is to help the kindergartners develop email relationships with experts or with other students. We corresponded with a farm wife when we had further questions about the field site visit. We also corresponded with children in another classroom in a different city. Both classes were working on a farm project. Pam Scranton’s class had hatched eggs, and we wrote asking about their experience.

Now that many schools are online in every classroom, corresponding with children in other classrooms is much easier. In fact, today it is possible for a kindergarten class to summarize each day’s project activities and email them to parents at the end of the day.

Help Children Create Pamphlets and Brochures

Kindergartners seem to enjoy writing for a specific purpose—for example, making pamphlets explaining how the health center operated as part of the Hinton Health Center Project. We had to first decide what to write. Then it was important that all words were spelled conventionally because the pamphlet would be “published” and distributed to all classrooms. We also created a brochure to announce the opening of the health center. The words in the brochure, too, had to be spelled conventionally. The children learned about first drafts, the need to limit what was said because the paper was only so big, and how to fold and distribute the finished product. Just think of the possibilities: directions for mailing packages (Mail Project), how to care for a pet (Fish Project), recipe for brownies (Bakery Project), ways to save water (Water Project)…

Encourage Children to Create and Use References

I have already mentioned several references my children created during project work. The photo album and the farm animal book were references during the Farm Project. A word wall, an illustrated word wall, or a word wall set on a time line allow all children to see the project words all the time.

Using a pictionary for conventional spelling, especially when writing a letter, is a skill that kindergartners can begin to learn. I worked with my children to help them learn to think about each letter’s position in the alphabet—beginning, middle, or end. When we wanted to spell zebra during the Zoo Project, we knew to look at the end of the alphabet for the word.

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a video camera to take on a field experience with you, consider asking a parent, grandparent, aide, or other adult to film the experience. Dr. Judy Helm has trained senior citizens to film by focusing on the event, not the children. She helped one grandfather film a horse, zooming in on the eyes, nose, and mouth. Wouldn’t that footage aid our kindergartners as they try to re-create the horse by sketching, modeling, or painting?

Plan for Language-Rich Play

As my kindergartners became involved in the Water Project, they created a Laundromat in our family living area. The children used words directly from the project in their play: water, laundry soap, fabric softener, bleach, washer, washing machine, dryer, change, and vending machine. We built mailboxes during the Mail Project, and used a real cash register to make change for stamps. Five classrooms created a hospital in the hallway where a few children from each room played every day. Teacher associates took turns supervising the play. The Bakery Project culminated when we set up a bakery, where the children “played” being employees of the bakery and sold bakery goods to other classes. Project work enriched the vocabularies of the children who then used the new words in their play.

Encourage Peer Coaching

In my multi-age classroom, peer coaching was taking place all the time. You can have it happen during project work with any group of children. The kindergartners helped their younger or less mature peers. I remember when Andrew was coached about how to paint the bat cave. He was a good painter and wanted to help. He was able to take direction and worked tirelessly painting the gray outside of the bat cave. In another project, the Water Project, one of the boys directed his project group in the construction of the plumbing in the cardboard house we were making. He tore off the tape and assisted in the taping, but verbally directed another friend who was actually laying the “pipe.”

Help Children Learn How to Ask Questions

Kindergartners think they know how to ask questions, but often what they are really doing is making statements. Asking questions is a skill that needs to be taught. Five-year-olds are capable of learning that questions often begin with one of these words: who, what, where, when, why, can, do, could, or should. I do not hesitate to rephrase a child’s comment, turning it into a question. For example, if we were talking about what we wanted to find out when we went to the hospital to visit, and a child said, “You gots to take your own clothes.” I might say, “Are you asking if the hospital has any pajamas for you to wear when you are sick?" We could ask, “Do you have pajamas for kids to wear when they come to the hospital?" Or perhaps I might say, "You want to ask, Are there clothes _______________?" and wait for the child to finish the question. This strategy allows him to complete the thought and take it along on the field experience. Putting the question (with illustrations if appropriate) on an index card that the child can carry with him gives him a visual reminder of his question.

Do not forget to write those questions in front of the children. Your modeling is so important. You can later cut the questions into strips and allow the children to respond to them. The questions can then go home where, one hopes, parents will also ask about them.

Tap the Potential of Culminating Experiences

Every project needs a culminating experience. Children need to bring closure to the project as well as to have an opportunity to share their learning with others. You can conclude a project by inviting others to observe it. Let your children practice talking about different parts of the project. We tried this strategy with the Zoo Project, which we relocated in the hallway. We invited other classes to come and listen to the project members tell about the zoo construction. Figure 5 shows children sharing the construction of the zoo with the students in a pre-kindergarten classroom.

Another way to share a project is to invite parents and other adults to view the project. We held an open house when we worked with Judy Cagle’s 3- and 4-year-olds to make the Hinton Health Center in the center court of our school. Our Open House coincided with an important meeting being held in the building. Many of the attendees stopped to visit the Health Center. Some of those we invited assumed roles of ill students. We were able to show the community what we had learned, practice using new vocabulary, and talk to an unfamiliar audience.

On two occasions, we constructed a hospital and a grocery store in the hallway. In both cases, the culminating experience was the actual play with older and younger children. After corresponding with children from two other districts, we invited them to join us for a morning of shared farm experiences. This culminating experience involved 80 children and 20 adults, all talking, reading, and drawing about their farm experiences. We shared snacks and farm songs before our visitors left.

Provide Opportunities to Listen to Experts

During every project, it is important to find an expert whom the children can interview. The expert may be a parent, a professional, or someone else who knows more than the children do about the topic. Sometimes, we invited experts to come to school. The water meter reader came into our classroom with his tools and several water meters. A mother decorated cakes while we watched. Not only were the children able to ask questions, but they were also able to use project words that we had already learned. We were building more experiences upon which the children could scaffold further learning. Then when we went to the grocery store, we already knew a little about cake decorating.

Sometimes, our experts are at the field site. The farmer’s wife addressed each of our questions. She and I had talked prior to our visit so she knew what was important to the children. In each of these instances, the children practiced listening etiquette—look at the speaker, raise your hand if you want to ask a question, listen quietly, etc.

Provide Opportunities to Listen to Peers

The project group may not include all members of the class. Not every child is deeply interested in all projects, so daily reports about the projects keep everyone else informed. During meeting time, problems may be discussed, and other students may be helpful in providing solutions. At the end of the day, another reporter can tell about tomorrow’s plans. Each of these times provides opportunities to listen and opportunities to answer questions.

Read Topic-Related Informational Books to Children

As we begin to talk about a new project, I head for the library where I look for informational books with good illustrations. I read these books as we are “messing around” with a possible topic. They help to build vocabulary. They provide clear pictures or illustrations of these new words. They can be used later as references for drawing and sketching should a project develop. Even if the written text is too complex for my kindergartners, I still borrow the book if the photos are of good quality. I might paraphrase what has been written, or I might just talk about the pictures. Sometimes, the books are selected for their illustrations and are never read to the boys and girls. Taking the time to explore the topic in this manner allows us to build some vocabulary and vicarious experiences before narrowing the focus of the project.

Conclusion

I believe strongly in project work for kindergarten children. I have seen firsthand how the four components of literacy—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—are embedded in the projects we have investigated. I believe that the practical strategies I have mentioned, if used in conjunction with project work, will produce literate learners.

Reference

Helm, J. H., & Beneke, S. (2003). The power of projects: Meeting contemporary challenges in early childhood classrooms—strategies and solutions. New York: Teachers College Press.

Strategies to Incorporate Literacy in Project Work in Primary Grades

Dot Schuler

View PDF of this paper.

Introduction

After attending an evening culmination at our school, the middle school assistant principal commented to me: "If I had my own classroom again, this is what I would want it to be like. The subject areas aren’t separated in real life; why do we separate them in school?" Her comment affirmed for me that project work is an ideal approach for complementing the curriculum in that a project is carried out by the children as they intertwine curriculum skills in order to learn about something in depth.

The purpose of this chapter is to give examples of how teachers can apply various strategies to enhance the development of children’s literacy skills as they are engaged in project work. I will share strategies that I apply with my second-graders. Although this chapter focuses on literacy skills and strategies for their application during project work, the reader will recognize how literacy skills interrelate with other subject areas, generating an interdisciplinary approach to teaching.

Reading

Practical Strategy 1: Provide Opportunities for Vocabulary Development

Many aspects of project work provide opportuni­ties for the vocabulary development necessary for good reading skills. Numerous occasions that enhance vocabulary take place naturally as a result of following the framework for a project, according to Katz and Chard (2000). For example, our project on birds began with the webbing process. The children brainstormed in response to some open-ended questions that I proposed: Describe how birds move. What do they eat? What is good/bad about birds? Where can you find/keep them? What sizes can they be? What colors are they? What parts do they have? Why are they important? The children wrote a word or phrase on each of eight cards to express their current ideas. Then, we met as a group to share the results, grouping their responses into categories. The category What is good about birds? prompted one child to write that birds are aerodynamic. Many children asked him what that meant. “My dad and I built a car for Boy Scouts once,” he said. “It was aerodynamic because its shape helped it move faster.” As other ideas were shared and glued on the web in the correct category, the web was displayed and used as a reference for the remainder of the project. Ultimately, as our study progressed, we were able to add new information that we learned and cross out ideas that had been incorrect. By adding new information to each category, vocabulary growth was documented.

Phase 1 of a project with primary-grade children also entails the sharing of personal stories. Before each project, I send letters to parents to inform them of the topic, encouraging them to share personal stories at home with their child. Then, children share stories with their teammates. Sometimes, they each tell a personal story while their three teammates listen; teammates are then given opportunities to ask questions about the story. Other times, children share stories in pairs, taking notes and drawing pictures while listening, so that each child can paraphrase a partner’s story, retelling it to the whole team. The interaction involved in listening, paraphrasing, and asking questions generates an abundant exchange of vocabulary (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Taylor uses her illustration to help her tell her personal story about a tree to her teammates.

Field experiences always expose children to new vocabulary. Listening to experts and adults other than the teacher is captivating for them. As they hear new words, they frequently ask about the meaning, spelling, and so forth. They record the words on their notes, and we document the collective notes on a chart after our trips. The charts are always on display for use as resources. Gradually, the children begin using the new words in their casual conversations as they work together on their investigations. For example, at the beginning of our study of the human body, I observed many children referring to organs as “guts.” After a field experience to the local hospital and after sketching models of organs in the classroom (heart, brain, eye), children began using the correct terminology or referring to the organs by name (kidneys, brain, heart, liver, intestines, stomach, and so forth). New words frequently surfaced in their informal and formal writing, as well. Having been exposed to vocabulary associated with the topic also made it easier to read secondary resources for information.

Of course, teachers can model new vocabulary, too. As the children moved from table to table sketching the human body models, I used various vocabularies to model the use of words. For example, several of the children were preparing to draw the brain, but they had taken the model apart and were putting it back together so they could sketch it. They could not get it to fit together, and when they asked me for help, I suggested that they ask the brain specialists at the other table. This approach helped the children understand that a specialist has knowledge about a particular part or function of the body. They had become specialists by studying the brain and knew how the pieces fit together.

These examples show just a few of the opportunities for vocabulary development that occur naturally during the course of a good project. Of course, systematic instruction occurs, as well. One example of using systematic instruction to build vocabulary and complement a project is the teaching of how to write poetry. As an all-week assignment at the writing center during our Rock Project, the children drafted, revised, proofread, and published rock poetry. Choosing a favorite rock from their personal collections, they followed the format for cinquain poetry and drafted the poems. When we reached the revision stage, I asked them to use a thesaurus to change at least one of the words in their poem to another word. The fourth line in Kody’s poem originally said, “It is very special.” In the thesaurus, he found a synonym for special; he replaced special with notable (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Kody used a thesaurus to change a word in
his poem.

Practical Strategy 2: Encourage Children to Use Informational Resources

After using primary resources, such as experts in the field, the children sometimes need additional information for their investigations. They use secondary resources, such as nonfiction books, the Internet, and so forth. To discourage children from simply copying what they read at the risk of not understanding the text, I ask the children to paraphrase the information for their use. If they have difficulty paraphrasing, I simply ask them to close the book and explain it to me or a friend. In one instance, Maren, studying germs, brought her book to me and said, “I want to write this down but I don’t know how to do it without copying.” To which I replied, “Okay, let’s close the book and see if you can explain it to me.” She explained beautifully in her own words that “our body has cells called defender cells that protect us from germs.” “That’s a very good explanation!” I said, and she wrote it down.

Informational books and other materials provide many opportunities to learn reading skills, such as using the table of contents and the index, scanning to determine what part of the text is useful for an investigation, and deciding whether or not to accept what is read at face value. Maren had recently read about the food pyramid during our human body project; one morning she told me that her dad and she had doubted if the bread/cereal group should be at the bottom of the pyramid, indicating that this type of food should be eaten the most. When visiting the hospital, she asked the doctor about it, and the doctor told her that the experts who had developed the pyramid were actually in the process of reconsidering that very thing! They were beginning to suggest that fruits and vegetables should be the largest section!

Practical Strategy 3: Provide Opportunities for Publishing and Reading Child-Made Books

As the children begin to represent their new knowledge, one option considered is writing a book. Whether writing a regular book, pop-up book, or shape book, the basic parts of the book are front cover, title page, dedication page, first page with a main-idea sentence(s), pages with details, conclusion page, and, finally, pages that tell about the author(s). The books are read to the group at our meetings for sharing project work; children also enjoy reading their books to visitors duringculminating events. Many times, children decide to donate their books to our class library after theproject ends, so children now have access to alarge selection of current and previously made books.

Furthermore, many of our reading or writing assignments are a result of systematic instruction in areas that lend themselves well to class books. Alliteration, riddles answered in a complete sentence, similes, math story problems, and poetry are examples of skills that are practiced as learning center assignments and then compiled to make books. In one instance, we wrote a class pop-up book when we were engaged in a water project. At the writing center, each child wrote a paragraph to describe something related to the topic, such as sink water, river water, and so forth; their assignment was to include similes in their descriptions. Each child’s essay and pop-up illustrations were included in the book.

Writing Practical Strategy 4: Provide Events That Encourage Writing

Project work provides copious events that encourage purposeful writing. Personal stories from Phase 1 are written and illustrated for display. Notes are written as children listen to experts or go on field experiences. Children paraphrase their research, writing notes to be used when making representations: books, webs, charts, diagrams, murals, paper-roll movies, graphs, and so forth (Figures 3 and 4). They often write informally in their daily journals about the project topic. As a part of systematic instruction, they may write a persuasive essay to help us decide what to study for our next project; they may write an expository essay to explain how to make a book, diagram, and so on. During Phase 2, children write in learning journals each morning. These journals are a daily log of our project journey. They record the date, tell what they are working on, describe how it is progressing, state their goal for the day, or express how they feel about their work.

Figure 3. Kelci traces the letters on her flowchart.

Figure 4. Kelci’s flowchart tells how an acorn becomes a tree.

Figure 5. After we walked along the riverbank with a park ranger who helped us spot birds, Randi wrote this card to him.

Practical Strategy 5: Encourage Children to Create Thank-You Cards and Letters to Experts

Each time we go on a field experience or invite an expert to visit our classroom, the children thank the expert in writing. They often design thank-you cards, including at least one item of information they learned from the expert. They use our class charts of collective notes as a reference. They are also encouraged to let the expert know their personal feelings about the experience (Figure 5). When teaching letter writing, the children express their appreciation in the form of a friendly letter.

Speaking

Practical Strategy 6: Plan for Language-Rich Group Gatherings

Our class meets at least three times a day at the carpeted area. In the morning before beginning project work, we meet to hear a few children read their learning journal entry to the group, so we know what they are planning to do for the next hour. We meet again right before lunch in order for several children to share progress on their investi­gations. After they explain their project to the group, other children may offer comments, sugges­tions, and encouraging remarks; they may also ask questions. The purpose of our meeting at the end of the day is for listening to several children read their daily journal entries. Sometimes, we have discus­sions that lead to differences, which lead to new questions; through these discussions, children learn how to wonder about things and ask questions, which are documented for all to see. When meet­ings occur frequently and there is adequate time for the meeting process, children gradually become comfortable speaking in front of a group. Eventu­ally, some of the children may even offer to speak to parents as we gather for refreshments before each culminating event. Taking parents through theclassroom and explaining each project is another opportunity for children to speak to others. They particularly enjoy explaining the displays to chil­dren from each classroom as they visit our room the day after evening culmination (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Alan explains to first-graders how the fossil game works; the game was designed and created by Alan and several other classmates during our rock project.

Practical Strategy 7: Encourage Peer Coaching

As mentioned above, peer coaching sometimes occurs during our meetings when progress is shared. Children become receptive to suggestions and even constructive criticism from their peers. During our pet project, Wayne and Crystal constructed a model aquarium out of a cardboard box. The group was very complimentary of the model, but when they later shared the written explanation of the model (a bulleted chart explaining the parts/functions of the parts of an aquarium), the children said it was a “little hard to read.” Wayne and Crystal decided the lettering was too small; they started over the next morning, and in the end, it was much more pleasing to them and their peers.

Before beginning project work each day, the children record their plans in their learning journals. Each child has a partner who trades journals with him and reads the entry; when each partner is satisfied with the entry, they join others at the rug for the meeting. When the children are reading their partners’ journals, I frequently hear comments such as, “You forgot your period,” “I think you left out a word,” “Maybe tomorrow you could begin your entry with something different; you’ve been starting it the same all week.” One morning, a child politely told me that she couldn’t read her partner’s journal. I didn’t even respond because they immediately began a conversation, and I noticed her partner erasing and rewriting in several places. When they were both satisfied, the child told me, “I couldn’t read it so I helped her with some sounds in her words and now I can read it.” They contentedly joined the rest of the group at the rug.

During project work, I am unable to help everyone at once. I encourage children to help each other. Perhaps a group of children is having difficulty with the construction of a model and someone can give a suggestion or lend a hand… Maybe someone needs a piece of tag board and can’t remember where it is kept… Maybe someone is having trouble knowing what to do on the computer… One day, a small group of children had decided to write a book using computer software. As we began to clean up for the day, I glanced at the computer screen, saw that the book was gone, and apprehensively asked the group, “Did you save your book?” “Yes,” they replied, “Travis and Trevor showed us how.”

Listening 

Practical Strategy 8: Provide Opportunities to Listen to Experts

Proper listening etiquette is essential to bring the advantages of project work to children, including growth in literacy skills. What they learn while listening provides content that they write down in field notes, thank-you notes, and letters. The examples above show how listening to experts provides exposure to new vocabulary and experiences, as well as finding information. You can help children listen well by teaching them listening behaviors. Having frequent group meetings in the classroom offers practice in listening protocol. Before the children read from their journals, for example, they learn to ask for eye contact. When listening to others as they share progress on their investigations, children learn to wait until the peer presenter is finished before they offer comments and suggestions. When listening to experts, children expect each other to follow the same etiquette. These are all good ways to teach children how to listen.

Practical Strategy 9: Provide Opportunities to Communicate Content Knowledge to Peers

As children formulate questions for investigation, interest groups begin to form. Children working together on a project communicate constantly. They must first accumulate data, whether from primary or secondary sources. Next, they need to organize the data. They must then decide which data they want to represent and in what mode. Upon deciding which mode of representation to use, they must then determine each individual’s responsibility in the ongoing task (Figure 7). Com­munication in this fashion requires cooperation, consideration, negotiation, and problem solving. 

 
Figure 7. As this group studied the local gas company, they decided to construct a model of the propane truck; Whitney and Anna worked on the front of the truck, while Haley tried to make wheels.

Practical Strategy 10: Provide Opportunities to Listen to Topic-Related Informational Books

I always wait until our current project is over before I read topic-related nonfiction books to the entire class. While they are in interest groups, working on subtopics of personal interest, I help them with their reading when they seek help. Otherwise, after the project ends, I might choose a book or two that I want them to hear, gather them together at the rug, and read to them. This way, they are always amazed at the new knowledge they have already learned from their own investigations and from their peers. When they recognize content information from the book that they have recently acquired, they are genuinely proud of their accomplishments! 

Conclusion

When engaged in good project work, the learning environment is not segmented into subject areas. Rather, the subject areas are interrelated, just as they are in real life. This is especially true when a teacher has a thorough understanding of the literacy knowledge and skills that children are required to learn and takes advantage of opportunities in the project to accomplish these goals. With knowledge and awareness of required curriculum and state learning standards, along with high-quality documentation, teachers can have confidence that children are applying countless basic skills while learning important subject matter during project work. Equally important, however, the children are being intellectually challenged, practicing social skills, and acquiring positive learning attitudes while applying these skills.

References

Helm, J., & Beneke, S. (Eds.). (2003). The power of projects: Meeting contemporary challenges in early childhood classrooms—strategies and solutions. New York: Teachers College Press.  

Katz, L. G., & Chard, S. C. (2000). Engaging children’s minds: The project approach (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: Ablex. (ERIC Document No. ED456892)

Strategies to Support Literacy Development in Second-Language Learners through Project Work

Rebecca A. Wilson

View PDF of this paper with photos.

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to provide teachers of young second-language learners with strategies to enhance literacy development during project work. Projects provide experiences consistent with research findings on language-minority education. Research examining language-minority student performance in classes taught through collabora­tive discovery learning (meaningful, cognitively complex, interdisciplinary content) has found that active learning accelerates language-minority students’ academic growth (Ovando & Collier, 1998). These second-language learners may be in a variety of instructional settings including both bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. Project work can take place in all of these settings.

The ability of a teacher to support literacy development of second-language learners depends on the language knowledge of the teacher. In early childhood education, literacy is most easily developed through the child’s primary or home language. In this chapter, I will share examples and teaching strategies that I have used teaching in dual-language kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classrooms, which may be used if the teacher speaks the child’s primary language. I will also share practical strategies for literacy development if the teacher does not speak the child’s primary language. In either situation, support for literacy development can easily be found in project work.

Don't Just Tell, Show

The more children see, the easier they compre­hend—especially second-language learners.Many times, experts are good at thinking of demonstrations related to the project topic.Demonstrations provide children learning a second language with opportunities to practice speaking and listening.During demonstrations, children are introduced to new vocabulary in a natural way with concrete examples.When demonstrations occur as part of project work,children alsopractice writing through note taking and thank-you cards, in both their first and second languages.Language skills are also encouraged by peer interaction, through follow-up activities to the demonstration such as watching the video of a field site visit or examining artifacts from the demonstration.At the pre-kindergarten level, I have found that children share and listen especially well during follow-up activities when they are in small groups with others who speak the same language.Later, we get together as a large group and share information discussed in the smaller groups. In Figure 1.children are learning about applying drywall cement in the building project.

 
Figure 1. Children learn about applying drywall cement.

Provide Opportunities for Role-Play

Creating dramatic play environments encourages role-play and the use of language related to the project topic, especially if children are involved in the creation of the play environment or structure. Figure 2 shows the children creating a soda machine as part of the Mexican Restaurant Project. Figure 3 shows the machine with the word labels.

Figure 2. Children creating a soda machine.

Figure 3. The soda machine with word labels.

Providing plenty of time for play during project work is beneficial for second-language learners. In our Fire Station Project, this fall, children chose to create a fire truck in the classroom, complete with hoses. I observed complex play from my students. One day during center time, several English and Spanish speakers were pretending to put out fires. In order to keep the play sequence going, second-language communication occurred frequently in this role-play. 

A native English-speaking child was on the student-made computer and radio, calling out the name of the street with the fire to two children dressed up as firefighters. As they fought the fire with their hoses, also created by students, I heard them communicating to each other, “Bring the hose over here,” and “The fire’s getting bigger!” As the Spanish-speaking “firefighter” reported in English that the fire was getting bigger, the child on the radio said that it had moved, “All the way up to 15th Street now!” A fourth and fifth child, one native Spanish speaker and one native English speaker, alternated between driving the fire truck and making the fire on a nearby chalkboard “grow” by adding more lines and scribbles. This native Spanish-speaking child demonstrated growth in receptive language as he interpreted the English words “bigger” and “grow” by making more lines on the chalkboard as the firefighters reported the status of the fire. When the fire was at last out, the two firefighters reported it to the two drivers, who then erased it from the chalkboard.

Children’s play naturally supports language development. Role-play also offers many opportunities for literacy development in both first and second languages. Having paper and pencil near play structures encourages children to create their own props and to use writing in meaningful ways. For example, during a project on a Mexican restaurant in my kindergarten class, the children created menus. They wanted the menus to be in both languages, so that everyone who came to their restaurant “could read them.” This activity involved several children, both Spanish and English speakers, writing the menus, comparing menus, and translating words. Their motivation for such a difficult writing task at the kindergarten level surprised me! A similar experience occurred when the children were doing a service station project. They wanted a form for customers to fill out when they dropped off their vehicles. The children wanted the form in both Spanish and English, and spent about 30 minutes typing up the form on my computer. I later printed copies of their forms, to encourage children to use the writing during their play.

Start with What Children Already Know

Graphic organizers, frequently used by ESL teachers, take place in almost all project work. These organizers can include planning webs, question lists, and word walls, as well as project books or dictionaries. When teachers use webs in project work, they often record a picture next to the words so that the second-language learners can understand what is being discussed. If the teacher speaks the language of the second-language learner, he or she can accept the child’s contribu­tion to the web or question list in either language and record a picture next to the words so that all children in the class understand what is being discussed. For example, during the Fire Station Project, our class was making a web. A Spanish speaker suggested that I write “camión” (fire truck) on the web. A few days later, the children were making a book of things they had seen at the fire station. Drake, a native English speaker who is a second-language learner of Spanish, asked me, “How do you say truck again in Spanish?” I was able to point to our web and say the first letter sound, and he was able to remember that the word was “camión.” The web validates everyone’s knowledge in the room and gives children a chance to build on the information they already know. All learners in my room refer back to the web often when they are working independently in journals or want to write a particular word.

If the teacher does not speak the language of the child, she or he can still invite second-language learners to contribute to the web by asking them to draw an illustration of their idea on the web. For example, if the children were studying the post office, and the child thought of the mail bag, but didn’t know how to say it, he could draw it. Once the child had drawn the mail bag, the teacher could reinforce this by saying, “Yes, that’s the mail bag. That was a good idea.” A second-language learner could also point to a picture in a book of something he wants to have on the web. Another strategy I often use is cutting photos of words pertaining to the project and writing the word in both languages onto word cards. These cards are very popular with children and can be of service to a native speaker, as well as a child learning a second language. I usually color code the lan­guages; for example, Spanish is always green and English is always red, so as not to confuse young writers. If the teacher does not speak the language of the child, he or she can show the parents pictures and ask them to write down some key words from the project. This approach facilitates both parent participation and a feeling of inclusion and acceptance to the second-language learner.

Repeat and Practice

Tailor Questions for Language Level

Every project involves the investigation of children’s questions. Questions provide children with a chance to use their second language to ask experts. For example, a Spanish speaker was the expert in our Mexican Restaurant Project. Native English speakers worked to express themselves in Spanish. In addition to speaking, teachers can also use questions to maximize opportunities for writing and reading development. I write the children’s questions on index cards with illustrations next to words to remind second-language learners, as well as emergent readers, what the question says. Not only does the question card help the child to be prepared for the expert interview, it also helps the expert. Many times, the expert will read the child’s question from his or her clipboard if the child is shy or reluctant to speak in the second language. I also encourage children at all levels to ask questions. The examples in Figure 4-6 display a series of kindergarten children’s answers to their questions in their second language during the Garden Project ranging from simple yes/no answers to more complex writing.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

If the teacher does not speak the language of the child, he or she might work with the child individually during center time and show some photos of the related topic. The teacher might ask the child to point to what he or she wanted to know more about; for example, the wheel on the tractor. Children are highly motivated to communicate to get their questions answered. For example, in the Garden Project, Estephanie worked hard to learn the English word for hose, so she could ask the visiting gardener if he used a hose. In Figure 7, the children's questions that related to how many of various items were on a machine were put on a tally sheet for children to use. This approach encourages discussion but also does not require reading for participation.

Figure 7. Children's questions were put on a tally sheet.

Engage Parents in the Project

When choosing a topic, consider whether the topic is being mentioned in the everyday play and conversations of second-language learners. It is helpful to have some of the projects during the school year focus on a topic relating to the culture or home life of second-language learners in the class. The more relevant a project topic is, the more likely children are going to be to speak, listen, write, and read about that topic. Another way for teachers to support native language is by inviting experts who speak the minority language and are part of the community. For example, when my children were interested in restaurants, I specifically selected the Mexican restaurant as a field site visit because I knew many of my students were familiar with the restaurant and their employees were native Spanish speakers. Often in larger businesses, such as a bank, at least one employee speaks another language. It is always worth investigating before the field site visit to see whether there is anyone on hand who may be able to support the second language. Even if there is only one child who speaks a second language in the classroom, the teacher can still support and value that native language by connecting the child with the speaker.

Parents can be a great source of information in providing vocabulary words in their native language for the project, especially if the teacher does not know the language. One way of using the vocabulary words is by creating a print-rich environment in the classroom with signs in both languages. Many times, parents of second-language learners have artifacts relating to the project that have print or writing. For example, during a beauty parlor project, a Chinese family might be able to bring in a shampoo bottle with Chinese print, or during a mail project, a Brazilian family might be able to bring in envelopes from Brazil. Additional artifacts might include cookbooks, food boxes, or supermarket ads. Parents are valuable resources and can also assist with literacy development on field site visits by taking dictation about the sketches of second-language learners.

Conclusion

Over the years, I have found that many literacy goals are met through project work. No matter what the topic is, children are involved in listening and peer discussion, writing for a purpose, forming questions, and research. Because project work is visual, meaningful, and relevant, it is a valuable resource for teachers of second-language learners.

References

Helm, J., & Beneke, S. (Eds.). (2003). The power of projects: Meeting contemporary challenges in early childhood classrooms—strategies and solutions. New York: Teachers College Press.

Ovando, C. J., & Collier, V. P. (1998). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Look! See How They Are Learning

Judy Harris Helm

View PDF of this paper.

doc·u·ment·ed, doc·u·ment·ing, doc·u·ments (-mènt´)
2. To support (an assertion or a claim, for example) with evidence or decisive information.

The American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language, 3rd ed.

Documenting Literacy

Many parents and educators are concerned about the problems some children are having when learning to read. They want to be sure that children are mastering these important skills. Literacy in­struction needs to occur throughout the day, including direct instruction at the appropriate level for the age of the child, and in a variety of contexts besides project work. However, project work pro­vides some unique opportunities for both literacy instruction and the practice of literacy skills. It is in project work that we can provide practice of liter­acy skills and observe whether these skills have become useful tools for a child. In other chapters in this book, Beneke, Gottlieb, Schuler, and Wilson provide many ideas for integrating literacy skills into project work and describe ways to maximize literacy learning in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and primary class­rooms. An important part of increasing effective­ness of literacy learning in project work is to be sure that it is included in the documentation process.

Documentation enables the teacher to focus on the literacy learning occurring and at the same time help others see how that learning is occurring. There are many reasons that teachers document during project work. They document to facilitate decision making during the project process, such as to determine children's main interests, to find out what underlying questions they have, or to plan ways to deepen project work. However, in addition to guiding the project process, documentation also has the potential to inform teachers and others of children's knowledge and skills in academic areas. By carefully collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and displaying evidence of children's learning, a teacher develops a deeper understanding of the learning occurring and communicates that learning to others. 

How Documentation Relates to Literacy

 Just doing a project in a classroom does not guarantee that the classroom will become literacy rich and that the children will learn and practice literacy skills. To make sure that children learn and practice literacy skills requires teacher facilitation. Documentation is a tool for the teacher to use to make sure that this learning is occurring. Documentation relates to literacy instruction in the following ways.           

1.   Good-quality documentation can enhance instruction in the area of literacy.

Teachers are more effective when they document. Perhaps the greatest value of comprehensive documentation is its power to inform teaching. Teachers who have good documentation skills are more likely to make productive decisions when planning literacy experiences for their children. These decisions include how to incorporate literacy in the classroom, what to do next, what questions to ask, what resources to provide, and how to stimulate each child to apply reading and writing skills. The more information a teacher can gather to inform these decisions, the more effective a teacher is likely to be.

When teachers document children's learning during engaged experiences such as project work, they are able to do a better job of moving children toward literacy. Documentation can provide the following:

• insight into the reading process when it occurs in complex learning experiences such as project work,
• a framework for organizing teachers' observa­tions and recording each child's progress as they apply reading and writing skills, and
• evidence of how children are learning literacy skills through active exploration and interaction with adults, other children, and materials.

Documentation also can

• enable the teacher to assess a child's application of literacy skills so the teacher can increase the difficulty, complexity, and challenge of an activity as children are involved with it and as they develop understanding and skills, and
• provide insight into the children's feelings and emotions during literacy experiences and the development of positive dispositions toward reading and writing activities.

Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory explains the importance of teachers' decisions in maximizing learning. According to Vygotsky (1978), the teacher is most effective when teaching is directed toward a zone of proximal development for each child. Children learn easiest when teacher decisions result in learning experiences within that zone of development. The teacher needs to assess a child’s skill, probe the child’s thinking as he or she uses the skill, and provide learning experiences that will build a bridge or “scaffold” to higher level skills (Berk & Winsler, 1995). Often, the most helpful information for the teacher is data that reveal what the child partially understands, what the child is beginning to be able to do on an inconsistent basis, or what the child is trying to integrate into existing knowledge. As the teacher collects field notes and other information during project work, she can see how valuable this practice can be for children.

Documentation can also help the teacher make decisions about when additional support is needed for a child's literacy. For example, a teacher can observe when it is helpful for a child to learn how to use indexes or tables of contents in books. If the teacher collects a child's work over a period, the teacher can see if the child is progressing as expected or if mastery of a skill is just around the corner. When the teacher does not see mastery or emerging skills, she can provide direct instruction and help during other parts of the day.

2.   Children value what is documented.

Children in classrooms where teachers document their learning perceive that learning to be important and worthwhile. This is especially true of literacy. Extensive documentation of children's work helps children perceive that their efforts to learn are important and valued. Teachers who carefully document have observed that as they increased the attention given to documentation, children have become more careful about their work and more evaluative. When teachers document children's first, second, and even third attempts at a task, such as making a poster for a display, children begin to reflect upon their own skill development. Children also understand the effect evidence of their learning has on their parents through documenta­tion. Even the youngest children can see the excitement that evidence of their emerging ability to read and write can generate in their parents.

3.   Documenting children's literacy learning in a variety of ways enables teachers to respond to demands for accountability.

There has been an increase in demand for accountability. Schools and other early childhood programs are finding it necessary to do a better job of informing constituencies about how children are learning and the effectiveness of curriculum experiences. When parents see children's field notes, they see how the children are using writing for a purpose. When they see lists of words that children knew before a project displayed next to a list of words they knew at the end of the project, they understand how children's vocabulary has grown. When they see pictures of children using books to answer questions, they understand that children are developing an understanding of the value of books and reading. These experiences with project documentation can be very powerful and are often more memorable and convincing than test scores or summaries of school improvement. It is difficult not to conclude that children are learning to read and write when right there in front of you are samples of their reading and writing. At the same time, the need to document literacy experiences to show others insures that the teacher will take the time to make sure that they occur for each child.

Ways to Document Literacy

Most teachers doing projects with children have some familiarity with documenting children's learning. However, many teachers may not be fully aware of how many different ways there are to document (Helm, Beneke, & Steinheimer, 1998). The more familiar a teacher becomes with the variety of methods, the better the chance that the teacher will document meaningfully. To be most effective, teachers vary their documentation to match the learning experiences of the children. For example, a teacher who wanted to know what a child knew about a topic might collect the child's drawings about a topic but might not think to have the child write (or copy) labels for the parts of the item drawn. The teacher may assemble a bulletin board but not think to have the child dictate or write a narrative to accompany a photographic display. Knowing a variety of ways to collect literacy work also enables the teacher to do a better job of getting accurate information about a particular child. For example, a child may not attempt to read difficult words in fiction library books or reading texts but may put forth extended effort to decode difficult words as he tries to read the manual for a piece of equipment he is studying.

There are as many different ways to document learning as there are ways that active, engaged children try to make sense of their world. Here are some ways that lend themselves especially to the area of reading and writing. The appendix to this chapter lists types of documentation and specific ways this documentation occurs in project work.

Project Narratives

A narrative statement, which tells the story or history of a project, is the most traditional method of documentation. Stories are a powerful way to help others understand events and experiences of other people. Narratives can take the form of stories for and by children, narratives for adults in the form of books and letters, or displays that visually tell the story. They are usually written over a period and focus on evidence of change and growth in knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

To take advantage of the interest that comes from an evolving project, teachers can write narratives such as those that accompany hall displays and then continuously update the narrative as the children's work proceeds. Parents and children will look at the narratives.

Products

Literacy products such as books, signs, graphs, charts, and narratives are the most obvious means of documenting literacy learning. Writing samples are, perhaps, the most familiar product perceived by adults as proof of children's learning to read and write. Labels on pictures, webs, songs invented and written down, construction signs, collections of data, and organization of materials and oral language samples are also categories that produce significant documentation. Lists of words on word walls can document vocabulary growth.

Group-constructed play environments also are sources of documentation of literacy skills. The children build what they know with the skills they possess, and they often include literacy-related materials in the environment, such as menus and signs. Children are also motivated to create literacy play objects such as order pads. 

Checklists

Observing and recording reading and writing skills and then recording what is observed on a checklist or into a structured portfolio is almost a necessity for the teacher to know exactly what knowledge, skills, and dispositions children are developing regarding literacy. These checklists may cover many areas of development including language and literacy development. The teacher may also use checklists that focus on the areas of reading and writing. In recent years, observation systems, such as the Work Sampling System (Meisels, 1993), have been developed that coordinate checklists based on standards. The checklists are used systematically to document growth and develop­ment of skills over time. Project documentation can provide the evidence needed to mark these check­lists. For example, observations of a child during project work will provide insight for the teacher to mark the item "uses print materials to find answers to questions." These checklists enable a teacher to reliably identify skills, knowledge, behaviors, dispositions, and accomplishments as they emerge; to support and encourage them; and to know when to provide additional direct instruction.

Individual Portfolios

Documentation during project work goes beyond observations and checklists. Most teachers also gather data, write anecdotal notes, and collect children's work samples for portfolios. Data can be gathered and then recorded in individual portfolios. For example, a teacher might keep a list of which children were able to read the class-made project history book independently. Anecdotal notes about reading behaviors, such as asking for help decoding the name of a bird, also can be part of a portfolio. Teachers often collect children’s writing during project work for the portfolios. The sources of these samples are many (see the appendix).

When the teacher systematically collects these samples of children’s work over time, and from project to project, she is able to observe and docu­ment growth in writing. This documentation is more significant when it is linked to a “comprehen­sive and developmentally appropriate picture of what children can be expected to know and do across all domains of growth and learning" such as an assessment system (Meisels et al., 1994), which combines a standards-based checklist with a port­folio. Portfolio items can also be collected as evidence of a child’s progress as measured on a checklist. 

Self-Reflections

Self-reflections provide the most accurate assessment of the child's emotional involvement with learning. Children will often make statements about how much they enjoy reading a book on a topic of a project. If dispositions are an important part of project work, then documentation of dispositions is also important. Dispositions can be documented by collecting statements from the children, observing the amount of time that children spend doing an activity, or recording discussions. Dispositions can also be documented through photos, which capture children's emotions and involvement in project work.

The Power of Documentation

In conclusion, documentation is a powerful tool to help teachers to do a better job of teaching reading and writing. It can also be a powerful way to show others how these skills are developing in a classroom.

References

Berk, L. E., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding children's learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. (ERIC Document No. ED384443)

Helm, J. H., Beneke, S., & Steinheimer, K. (1998). Windows on learning: Documenting young children's work. New York: Teachers College Press. (ERIC Document No. ED421217)

Meisels, S. (1993). Remaking classroom assessment with the Work Sampling System. Young Children, 48(5), 34-40. (ERIC Journal No. EJ465921)

Meisels, S. J., Jablon, J. R., Marsden, D. B., Dichtelmiller, M. L., Dorfman, A. B., & Steele, D. M. (1994). An overview: The Work Sampling System. Ann Arbor, MI: Rebus Planning Associates.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.).  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

APPENDIX

Types of Documentation for Literacy

Adapted from Documentation Web. Helm, J., Beneke, S., & Steinheimer, K. (1998). Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work. New York: Teachers College Press  (p. 36).