Section 3: Project Summaries

The Veterinarian Project

A Project by 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-Year-Old Children at Donald C. Parker Early Education Center, Machesney Park, Illinois

Length of Project: 2 months
Teacher: Susan Andrews

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

This project started when we got a new classroom pet—“Prince Charming” the water frog! I shared a story with the class about how our new friend had recently been sick. He had eaten a bunch of aquarium rocks and had a belly like a beanbag. I had to call the veterinarian and find out how to save our new friend. Many children shared stories about their experiences with their own pets and veterinarians. I could see the high interest in this topic, and the Veterinarian Project began. As a class, we webbed, read many books about pets and vets, and even created a veterinarian office in our dramatic play area. The level of play in this area increased as the weeks went on. The children were ready for a more in-depth investigation.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

The children were ready to extend and deepen their knowledge about veterinarians. Field visits were arranged to allow the children to experience real objects, processes, and roles. The children who came in the morning were able to visit a “Mobile Veterinarian Practice,” and the children who came in the afternoon visited “Hillcrest Animal Hospital.” On the actual field visits, the children were divided into small interest groups. It was their responsibility to interview the experts, record answers to their questions, and to sketch tools and various parts of the clinics. Parents were used on each field visit to assist the children in this ongoing investigation.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The children were anxious to return to our room and share all of their new knowledge. Each group decided on a way to represent what they had learned. Several groups decided to make books, other groups chose to sketch or paint. One group made a movie documentary about their visit to the vet. Each group had the opportunity to present their information to all classmates and parents. Dramatic play continued in our classroom “Veterinarian Office” until the end of our school year.

Comments

I have been using the Project Approach in my classroom for several years, and I felt that this particular project was one of the best. The topic was very meaningful to the students. They had lots of background information, and I feel this information helped fuel the project’s longevity. The interest level of the children was high and remained that way throughout the entire project. I received positive feedback from many parents. This project confirmed that small group work around a purposeful topic creates many opportunities for children to pay attention, practice skills of communication, and reflect about themselves and others. My active presence—through observation, questioning, and documentation—helped the children see that I value their thinking and trust and believe in them.

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Exploring Butterflies

A Project by 2-Year-Old Children at Illinois State University Child Care Center, Normal, Illinois

Length of Project: 7 weeks
Teacher: Scott Brouette

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Every time we went for a walk, we would see many, many butterflies! The children talked about the butterflies and tried to catch them. One day, we caught a bee, a large crane fly, and a Common Sulfur butterfly. The children focused on the butterfly. They discussed butterflies that they had observed at home as well as at school. A few days into our discussion, we constructed an idea web. As we made the web, we discovered that most of the children's prior knowledge involved parts of a butterfly. This aspect of butterflies became the focus of our investigation. Usually when I am working with 2-year-olds, my expectations at the beginning of the year are simple; however, this group of 2-year-olds dove right into project work and proved to me that they were eager for more information.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

The main focus of our investigation was butterfly anatomy. The butterfly bodies and movements fascinated the children. We were lucky to have a butterfly garden right on the school grounds, which we visited often. In order to observe butterflies more closely, we constructed a habitat in our classroom, using mosquito netting hung from the ceiling.

We used factual books as well as the Internet to gather information. The butterfly garden provided a great place for observing butterfly behavior. The children made many sketches of butterflies out in the garden as well as in our classroom. The children also designed their own butterfly wings to become butterflies. We also pretended to be butterflies by using straws to drink like butterflies do. Through our investigation, the children strengthened their knowledge of butterflies as well as dispelled some of the misinformation they had. The children discovered that butterflies do not wear shoes or shirts, which some believed at the start of the project. Parents were encouraged to observe butterflies at home with their children. They would share many stories of butterfly encounters with the group.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The children voted to write and illustrate a book to conclude our project. They chose to include many of the facts we discovered through our investigations. Each child recited a page and illustrated that particular fact. The book took several days to finish, and the children were excited to see it all put together. Each family was allowed to check out the book and take it home to share with the whole family. The children were truly excited to share what they had learned. We all acquired new knowledge of butterfly behavior, anatomy, and environments.

Comments

I was amazed that the children had so much prior knowledge about butterflies. It was exciting to see them apply newly acquired information to prior knowledge. Each day, the children’s interest showed that the study of butterflies was a valid topic. The children came in everyday and showed their parents our butterflies and explained what they were doing. One child who spoke little English was a main contributor to discussions at the end. If I did this project again, we would start earlier so we would have a longer period to observe butterflies. Our new project is investigating plant growth. One of the children's first thoughts on plants was, “Butterflies eat on plants!”

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The Egg Project

A Project by 4-Year-Old Children at Ysleta Pre-K Center, El Paso, Texas

Length of Project: 6 weeks
Teacher: Debbie De Anda

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

We were trying to get a project started about supermarkets when we decided to take a vote on which was our favorite food. Macaroni and cheese and pancakes were the top choices. I then planned to make pancakes for our Wednesday Cooking Experience. As I prepared the Wednesday lesson, I gathered the ingredients and kitchen tools along with some read-alouds. Eric Carle’s Pancakes, Pancakes has always been a favorite of mine, so I chose this book. Then Wednesday’s lesson began. I have a couple of students that lead the rest in many areas and speak the loudest during instruction time. We try not to ignore them because they are our windows to these 4-year-old minds. As I read Pancakes, Pancakes, we came to the part where the little boy needs to get eggs for his mom to make the homemade pancakes. Living on a farm, he gets the eggs from the hen. As soon as I read that part, Noah shouted, “Hey, he can’t take that egg from there!” “Of course he can,” Michael and I replied. “No, you get eggs from the store, not from chickens.” Oh, what a connection to the supermarket, I first thought. But as I looked at Mrs. Lemos, we had the same look. We knew we had to teach about eggs and where they come from—our project began.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

We then taught ourselves about eggs and chickens. Our school library had many books on birds, eggs, and related topics. Mrs. Lemos and I researched and then knew we could do this project. As I mentioned this project to different people on campus, we found that we had a school incubator, warmer, and feeder. I also wrote to our parents to see if they could possibly be our experts on eggs. As it turned out, Michael and his family raise chickens at home. His father brought us some eggs and answered the children's questions. We watched the incubator carefully and monitored what happened. The children also researched and found many interesting facts through our books and the Internet. However, the most valuable learning experience was observing firsthand the live chicks in our classroom who arrived after 21 days. The children watched the chicks eat and walk and make sounds. They drew pictures of the chicks, and we spent lots of time discussing what we observed about these creatures.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

As we observed the chickens, we drew pictures of the changes in the chicks. After the chickens began to grow, we returned them to Michael's family. We shared the information we had learned by writing stories and making a book about the chickens. We wrote a thank-you note to Michael's family.

Comments

This project was meaningful for our children because it began with intense interest and a need to find out whether or not their thinking about eggs was correct. Our children learned lots of new vocabulary words, research skills, and how to compare and contrast. They also discovered that little chicks can be extremely cute and fun to watch. As teachers, however, we also remembered how much fun it was to be a 4-year-old!

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The Stringed Instrument Project

A Project by 3- through 5-Year-Old Children at St. Ambrose University Children’s Campus, Davenport, Iowa

Length of Project: 8 weeks
Teachers: Stacie DeVries & Karen Blend

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

After two children spontaneously created a guitar, the teachers brought in a small guitar, ukulele, and autoharp to investigate. The children continually returned to the instruments to explore the sounds, hold them in various ways, and notice the similarities and differences through observation. A parent visited to share his guitar. He encouraged children to participate by singing and strumming his guitar. After his visit, children began sketching the guitar and noticing the parts. Others constructed guitars out of wood, nails, and wire. Questions began to emerge: What are the parts? How do the buttons make it louder/softer? What do the buttons on the guitar do? To introduce another stringed instrument, a student employee brought her cello. The children immediately thought it was a violin or guitar! After hearing the cello, some noticed the difference in sound. Other questions emerged: What is rosin? What does it mean to pluck? What are the hand strings called where you put your fingers?

Phase 2: Developing the Project

We visited Galvin Fine Arts Center and met with the band director. Children asked their questions about the guitar and cello and were introduced to a new stringed instrument—the bass. Children made comments and asked several spontaneous questions about the bass. Answers to questions were recorded on clipboards. Some children chose to sketch, while others explored the instruments by touching them.

Back in the classroom, we created a web about what the children knew. New construction materials were provided, and children created guitars from rubber bands, Styrofoam, tubes, and lids. Some children painted representations of guitars and made sketches of the cello and bass.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

We documented the project with photographs and sketches. Children selected a piece of documentation to share during open house. They shared information about the photograph or sketch pertaining to the stringed instrument and prepared it for display. After open house, a display was created outside our classroom door. A child helped dictate the sign, “It’s about guitars, cellos, and bass.” If onlookers had questions, they were encouraged to come into our classroom and ask the stringed instrument experts! The children strengthened their mathematical skills by comparing sounds and sizes. All children used their senses to explore. The dispositions to be curious and to persevere were nurtured and strengthened.

Comments

Throughout the project, the children were engrossed in their exploration and representation of instruments. The guitar was the instrument of choice for most children. Phase 1 was longer than usual, but we had our best representations during this phase using a variety of materials. Phase 2 came and went quickly! Representation was difficult during this phase, maybe because children were tired of representing the same thing. Phase 3 really encouraged each child to reflect on his learning. Next time, I intend to think more about the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2. I will also try to encourage more collaborative representations.

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Dinosaur Models

A Project by 3- through 4-Year-Old Children at Preschool for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin

Length of Project: Not yet completed
Teachers: Nancy Donahue & Joan Kerman

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Our investigation began in mid-January after a few children brought toy dinosaurs and dinosaur books to school. We were hesitant to explore this interest for two reasons: (1) we saw a potential for aggressive play in a classroom with a large ratio of “active” boys and (2) dinosaurs are not a part of our everyday experience in the real world. However, interest continued to grow as evidenced by the children’s choosing activities with dinosaurs and books brought from home on a daily basis. They also made dinosaurs the subject of artwork and searched for dinosaur fossils on our playground. It seemed as though we would be ignoring what was a very strong interest if we did not explore the topic.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

We began by collecting some toy dinosaurs and putting them in the classroom to see how the children used them. Over the next week or so, we put some dinosaur fact books and storybooks in the classroom. The children frequently asked to have them read to them and chose them to look at during their rest time. We also added some natural materials—large pieces of tree bark, rocks, and artificial greenery to the block area. The children quickly combined these materials with the toy dinosaurs. This activity led to the construction of a dinosaur habitat that was large enough for a couple of children to sit in while playing with dinosaurs. We also asked the children what they knew about dinosaurs and what they wondered about them during the first week. One child wanted to know how they lived, and another asked what they did all day. So we focused on dinosaur “life”—dinosaur families, specifically nesting habits, eggs and development, and where they lived (habitats). Many of the books and videos we have looked at show volcanoes, so we took a little side trip to explore volcanoes, and we made a volcano model out of papier-mâché. We also talked about paleontology and pretended to be paleontologists by finding fossils and bones (processed chicken bones and plastic T-Rex model bones) in sand and dirt and using tools to clean them. When we were well into the project, a guest speaker (who spends his summer at dinosaur digs) came to our classroom to share experiences, present a slide show, and show us fossils and some T-Rex bones he had found. We also went on a field trip to the geology museum on the University of Wisconsin at Madison campus.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

Over a four-week period, the children made a large papier-mâché dinosaur model with our art specialist in the art studio. Because it was too big to put in our classroom, we decided to put it out in the piazza and make a museum exhibit out of it. The children reflected on the trip to the geology museum and other museum experiences to help them design and build their dinosaur exhibit. They also made a book that contained drawings and information about dinosaurs (so we revisited what we know about dinosaurs). The project culminated with the unveiling of our exhibit and a tea party in the piazza.

Comments

At the time of writing, this project has not been completed. Reflecting back on what we have done so far, we would have liked to have allowed the children to spend more time with each other theorizing about dinosaurs before we provided information through books and videos. We did spend some time talking about theories about dinosaur extinction, but two of the children already knew about the theory of a meteor hitting earth and insisted that this is what happened to them. Although we were initially hesitant to go into this topic, it has held the children’s interest, and they have taken their curiosity and enthusiasm home. At the beginning of the project, a student had said that she hated dinosaurs and did not want to talk about them. A month into the project, she drew a picture and wrote “love dinosaurs” on it. Even though dinosaurs are not a part of their everyday life in the real world, they are definitely a big part of many young children’s lives.

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The Bird Project

A Project by 5- and 6-Year-Old Kindergarten Children at Towne Meadow Elementary School, Carmel, Indiana

Length of Project: 5 weeks
Teacher: Candy Ganzel

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

The topic of our first project of the school year was birds. I chose the topic because, as part of a Lilly Endowment Grant I had won, I had visited Waterton/Glacier National Parks and developed an interest in birds and photographing them. I was required as part of the grant to incorporate what I had learned into my classroom. I brought my scrapbooks and photo albums into the classroom for the children to view. They were excited at the many bird photos I had taken, and they spent much time looking at them. We then had many discussions during morning circle about what the children already knew about birds and their experiences with birds. We also took many walks around our school to see what birds we could find and identify. During this phase of the project, we also made many drawings of what the children thought they knew about birds and what they thought birds looked like. After many days of drawing and discussions, we made our web, and the children divided themselves into groups by interest.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

As the children wrote their questions and after more discussions, they started bringing in all types of objects associated with birds—books, binoculars (for bird watching), calendars, statues, and many, many nests. This bird center turned into a wonderful learning center. The children worked in their small group to write questions (at their developmental level). We decided to do our fieldwork at our school by bird watching and having an expert come to visit. We were very lucky to have a park ranger from Glacier National Park, who lives in Indianapolis during her off-season, as our expert. Her specialty was birds! During her visit to our classroom, she shared many visuals along with answering all of our questions. The children were excited to see her in her uniform. Besides answering our questions, she also dispelled some of the myths. The children had thought for sure we had an eagle that flew over us every time we went bird watching. They quickly learned it was a hawk. After all of our investigation, the children came up with many ways to represent what they had learned. Some used clay, some made books, some made dioramas, and some made posters. Our projects were displayed in the classroom and hallway for all to see.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The groups of children made presentations to the rest of the class about their part of the project, explaining questions they had asked and what they had learned. After the class presentations, the children invited their families to school to view their projects. We set up a museum-style event. The children were the tour guides and guided their families through the project. The parents had a brochure (made by me) that helped them know what questions to ask to gain the most knowledge from their child’s experience. This brochure also gave the parents a list of standards covered during this project.

Comments

It was very exciting to see the children want to know more and more about the birds around them. It was also fun for me as a teacher to have a huge display of bird objects spontaneously develop in the classroom. The children really spent a lot of time looking at books, photos, feathers, and nests. They also spent time writing stories about birds. This project really carried over into everything the children did in the classroom. I saw a lot of their interest in birds show up in their daily journal writing. As a result of this project, the children quickly learned how to question, research, wonder, and work cooperatively in small groups. We also covered many of our Indiana State Standards. It is nice to be able to share with administration how many of the state standards can be met through doing projects!

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Our Snake Project

A Project by 3-, 4-, and 5-Year-Old Children (multi-age class) at Timothy Christian Preschool, Elmhurst, Illinois

Length of Project: 5 weeks
Teachers: Ruth Harkema & Deb Lanenga

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Four-year-old Max was fascinated by a snake during our fall field trip and suggested we study snakes. We previewed Brookfield Zoo’s reptile house, gathered books from libraries and bookstores, discovered a pet store willing to let us borrow a desert king snake, and asked children to represent snakes with paint, colored markers, or Model Magic ä. They wanted to find out how snakes move and climb without falling, how they use their tongues, whether all snakes are poisonous, and what they eat. We hoped the children would develop a sense of wonder about a misunderstood member of God’s creation that would dispel their fear and create a desire to touch a snake.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

We showed clips from the video The Ultimate Guide: Snakes. Children checked out snake books, book-marking favorite information and pictures with their parents to share with the class. They touched snake skins and skeletons brought by our high school biology teacher, asked him questions, observed and touched the desert king snake, and, with parent volunteers, sketched snakes and looked for answers to questions at Brookfield Zoo. After comparing their zoo sketches to photographs of their snakes, the children made pen and liquid watercolor drawings to illustrate their dictated stories in our Snake Book—even Hope who came from China with no English 20 months before this project. She started by painting a black-line snake and, when asked what she wanted to learn at the zoo, announced to the class, “ Do not open cage.” At the end, after her hands had reached out to touch four different snakes, she painted a complicated scale-covered snake and sounded out and wrote her own story words. During their research, children discovered that a reticulated python could be 33 feet long or as long as a school bus, so they measured a 33-foot length of paper, painted a python, and marched it out to the parking lot where 24 proud hands stretched it alongside bus #20. To complete our study, the children made 3D snakes using tubing, piping, wood, or Model Magic ä, and they wrote snake party invitations to their families.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

Our celebration began with a Snake Ram-Sam-Sam nonsense rhyme. Then each child took the stage and with a paper tube “microphone” told what he or she learned about snakes. Parents created a caring celebration as they clapped equally loud and long for each child. Children showed their parents their snakes, photographs of themselves at work, our almost-school-bus-length python; ate snake cookies; and took home copies of our Snake Book.

Comments

We were pleased with the children’s enthusiasm during the project and the quality of the work, but we underestimated the power of the project for families until parent reflection questionnaires were returned. Parents appreciated that their children were allowed to study what interested them. They listed as benefits of this long-term study their children’s excitement, depth of focus, increased love of learning, eagerness to do research, and their competent sharing of what they had learned. A year later, parents are reporting that their children still ask to check out snake books, want to report findings to their former classmates, and, when visiting the zoo, ask to visit the reptile house first.

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The Clothing Project: Where Do We Get Our Clothes From?

A Project by 4-Year-Old Children (preschool) at Freeburg Early Childhood Program, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Length of Project: 4 weeks
Teachers: Marsha Gwen Harmon & Julie Schutte

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

A visit from local firefighters spurred Jamell to ask, “Who invented firefighters’ uniforms?” As his classmates responded to this question, Shamia inquired, “Where do we get our clothes from?” A lively discussion ensued that included responses such as the store and sheep. Afterwards, Gwen (classroom teacher) and Julie (student teacher) brainstormed how the children could investigate Shamia’s question. They started by webbing about sheep and their role in the making of clothing. We read Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie DePaola and set out other informational books.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

Children read about sheep, recorded their findings, and examined wool clothing. Some children were interested in sheep and developed new questions such as, “Do sheep get milk from a bottle?” Others washed a wool sweater to see if wool really shrinks and also learned about color fading. An expert spinner visited and expanded children’s knowledge of different types of materials and modeled spinning on two different types of spinning wheels. Other experts demonstrated using a loom, knitting, and crocheting.

The children encountered new vocabulary. For example, dye was a confusing word. They used a die in playing classroom games, had some understanding of the word die as in death, but they really didn’t understand dye. Teachers provided opportunities for children to dye using beet juice, Kool Aid, and special watercolors. Children’s understandings were documented through time-1 and time-2 drawings, videotapes, photos, and class discussions.

Children’s interest in materials changed to sewing when the family worker brought her sewing machine to class. With assistance, children cut out fabric using simple patterns, and they sewed tops and pants with simple straight seams. They were so excited about their outfits that they would not take them off at the end of the day.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

This project did not really conclude; it just changed directions. Presently, the preschoolers are filling clothing orders for the newly established department store in the kindergarten class. The Clothing Project was a rich experience that allowed children to gain a better understanding of their world and teachers to integrate meaningful experiences across all curriculum domains. For example, children developed literacy skills by constructing a vocabulary glossary and becoming familiar with informational books. Children extended mathematics knowledge by examining and designing patterns through weaving, sewing, and art activities. Using simple tools and carrying out experiments with dyes developed scientific thinking. Cutting fabric, weaving paper, and threading plastic needles honed fine-motor skills. Throughout all of these experiences, children shared ideas and exchanged perspectives.

Comments

The Clothing Project was a wonderful experience for the children and us. The topic, which genuinely emerged from the children, was meaningful and relevant to their daily lives. It provided an opportunity for children to actively explore a variety of questions and participate at different levels of involvement. Equally as important, this project allowed us to implement integrated curriculum in meaningful and purposeful ways. We found the most difficult aspects of project work to be allowing children to join us as co-constructors in planning curriculum and posing questions that challenged children’s thinking.

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Who Measures What in Our Neighborhood?

A Project by a Kindergarten/First-Grade Class at University Primary School, Champaign, Illinois

Length of Project: One semester
Teachers: Nancy Hertzog & Marjorie Klein

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

The head teacher began the project by sharing a story about the wall in her house where family heights were recorded. Students shared many stories about being measured by a doctor and measuring to build things. They represented their memories with drawings, surveys, Kid Pix graphics, and models of measuring tools made of clay, Legos, blocks, rods, or boxes and junk. The teacher and class brainstormed words associated with measurement and categorized them to form a web. Students had questions about the ideas they generated. "What tools are used for measuring?" "How do measuring tools work?" "What things get measured?" "How do you measure with measuring tools?" "Why do we measure?" "Who measures what in our neighborhood?" Their questions guided their investigations.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

The students engaged in field studies and asked experts to answer their questions. Field studies included several neighboring sites: Children's Research Center, Illini Credit Union, ceramics studio, Fire Service Institute, State Water Survey, and a sheep farm. Visitors included a mechanical engineer, a food inspector, animal researcher, a potter, a pilot, a seamstress, and a father who brought his car to show the children what you measure in a car.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

During Phase 3, students reviewed and reflected upon their work with the goal of communicating what they had learned. To conclude the project, students brainstormed and summarized what they had learned about Who Measures What in Our Neighborhood? Students also discussed how they would tell the story of what they learned about Who Measures What in Our Neighborhood? Students worked in small and large groups sharing comments, listening, and discussing the products that they were constructing for the open house. They chose a number of ways to share their findings. Some groups finished their representations that told about their fieldwork, while others worked on a fabric quilt, murals depicting the concepts learned, stories, homophones, poems, and PowerPoint presentations.

Comments

The students' reflections demonstrated that they now have a better understanding of how measurement is a part of everyday life. The vocabulary that they used in their second web showed that they increased their knowledge of types of measuring tools. This vocabulary extended beyond the typical kindergarten and first-grade mathematics curriculum. By using graphic organizers to analyze and draw conclusions from their data, students met and often exceeded Illinois Learning Standards for kindergarten and first grade. The students gained an awareness that measurement is a part of everyday life. In addition to rulers, scales, and tape measures, students learned about specific types of scales, including spring scales and balance scales. Students became more comfortable using measuring tools and measuring for their own purposes.

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Fashions, Beauty, and Barber Shop

A Project by 5- and 6-Year-Old Kindergarten Children at Freeburg Early Childhood Program, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Length of Project: 4 weeks
Teachers: Sherice Hetrick-Ortman & Shirley Bruce

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Brightly colored scarves had been donated to the classroom and placed in the pretend play area. Faith was inspired by the fabric and began draping the scarves over furniture, creating an attractive cove for artistic expression. La’tece became interested in what Faith was doing. Faith had an idea, “Let’s make a beauty shop.” “Yeah!” said La’tece, “That’s a good idea.” The excitement generated by Faith and La’tece caught the attention of two more girls in the classroom. All four girls began moving furniture around in the pretend play area. They removed items they did not need (food stuff, baby beds, cooking utensils) and began stocking the shop with combs, brushes, and mirrors.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

A web about barber and beauty shops was created, and the teachers noticed areas of interest and brought in related items. Sherice and Shirley supplied the shop with lotions, empty shampoo bottles, blow dryers and curling irons (with the cords removed), fake nails, and gemstone stickers for ear piercing or nail decoration. After experiencing the shop for a day, the teachers realized that rules needed to be written.

The children were ready to open the shop up to the public. The children wrote the name of the customer, date of the appointment, and service requested (style, wash, nails) in an appointment book. Children cut out and put up pictures from hair-styling magazines on the walls of their shop. The class decided to change the name of the shop to Fashions, Beauty, and Barber Shop because the boys said they went to a barber shop to get their hair cut not a beauty shop. La'tece created a sign that read, La’tece’s Prices (HARWRSH 11.00, RAP 12.00). Faith made a sign that read, Nals by Faith. Literacy was supported throughout the project. Children were inspired to write about the shop in their journals. Class books written by children were compiled and placed in our classroom library.

A field site visit to the College of Hair Design was scheduled. Brayden’s representational drawing of a massage table inspired the class to add massages and shaves to the list of services our shop provided. Children, teachers, and support staff came in regularly to schedule an appointment. The class would meet as a group and discuss how much money had been made at the end of the day.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The project lost its momentum after week four. The appointments began to dwindle, and supply and demand was apparent when we ran out of hair tattoos. In a class meeting, the children voted to change the pretend play area into something other than a beauty/barber shop.

Comments

The Fashions, Beauty, and Barber Shop quickly became a project and brought the community of our classroom together in a way that it never had before. The topic came entirely from the children and provided a catalyst for meaningful learning across the curriculum. The project proved to be the most successful experience in building inter- and intra-personal skills among all children in our classroom.

If the project were done again, information about inventors/history would have been included. The first African American woman who invented the flat iron was never presented, but we had planned to discuss her.

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The Truck Project

A Project by 3-, 4-, and 5-Year-Old Children at Fairview Early Childhood Center, Rockford, Illinois

Length of Project: March to May 2002
Teacher: Jean Lang

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

This project began when parents were invited into the classroom to share a job, hobby, or interest. One father brought several Nylint trucks from his place of employment. His presentation caused a great deal of attention, and we saw interest in trucks in the classroom. Several children painted trucks almost every day; block play included trucks consistently. We read several books about trucks. I wrote to parents about the children’s interest and asked for materials or experts to help. Next, I created a teacher anticipatory web that included possible concepts, curriculum goals, and portfolio items. I also made a list of focusing activities, possible field sites or resource people, ideas for dramatic play or constructions, and possible culminating activities.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

The children had many ideas and questions such as, "Who can drive the trucks?" "What does he do with the cement?" "How many people fit in the truck?" "How many wheels does it have?" "How does the dump truck's shovel move?" A grandparent brought her dump truck for children to sketch. Another family arranged for a cement truck to come and pour cement from which we made circular garden stones. We sketched and asked the experts our questions. We observed a sewer construction in the school neighborhood and sketched. We were able to visit the construction site on four different occasions. There was so much activity at the construction site that families, teachers, and children could hardly record all the information.

The children were fascinated by the trench box that held the soil back in order for the workers to safely build the cement water and sewer lines. They again had many questions, such as "Why is the trench box in the hole?" "Why do pipes go in the hole?" "What is the trench box made out of?" "How do you make the poles on the trench box stand up?" "When he puts the cap onto the trench box, will he hammer it together?"

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The children decided to build a dump truck in the classroom out of appliance boxes. We also built a model of a trench box, which the children buried in the sand box on the playground. A parent made a base for a cement truck out of dense foam blocks that had been donated through a recycling center. The children painted the models and added wheels. We culminated our project with a sharing night for families to view our documentation panels and constructions. This project was one of the longest and most successful projects that we have ever completed.

Comments

There were many positive aspects to this project. We were able to involve many of the families in our classroom as the catalyst for the start of the project and also as resource experts and support during field site visits. In addition, the community that surrounds our school environment was a major contributor to the development of this project. The Rockford Water and Sewer Department and even the Coca Cola delivery truck that serves our school became involved in our project work. It is important to remember that educators are much more effective when we tap the resources and knowledge of both our community and our families. I would like to share and extend the knowledge of project work to several families within our classroom so that they can support their children in project work outside our classroom. This experience will develop a lifelong skill of investigation and learning.

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What Happens at McDonald’s?

A Project by 3- through 6-Year-Old Children at Illinois State University Child Care Center, Normal, Illinois

Length of Project: September through November 2002
Teachers: Pam Morbitzer, Lisa Lee, & Barb Gallick

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

The children in our program pretended to play restaurant in the dramatic play area regularly. During morning meeting, the teachers and children began to discuss restaurants everyone had visited. Small groups of children interviewed the class and created graphs showing our favorite restaurants. Because there was a McDonald’s on our campus, we took a walk to visit this restaurant. The children made some initial sketches of the restaurant. The children expressed interest in learning more about how the kitchen was run and what was behind the counter. They asked many questions about how the counter area machines operated.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

After visiting the McDonald’s on campus, the children formed groups that would investigate the following areas: (1) eating, (2) kitchen, (3) counter, (4) play, and (5) office/storage. Each group of children formulated questions related to their area of interest. The play area group visited a McDonald’s in Bloomington. The other groups visited the campus McDonald’s. At each McDonald’s, one of the managers answered the children’s questions and gave them a tour. During each field visit, the children sketched the areas they were investigating.

The children decided they wanted to create a McDonald’s restaurant in the dramatic play area of our classroom. They sent a letter home requesting items to be used in the restaurant. Various small groups worked to create an ice cream machine, a drink machine, a juice machine, menus that would be posted on the wall, and food items made from hard-drying modeling clay. Many families contributed drink cups, sacks, Happy Meal toys, fry bags, and other paper products from visits to McDonald’s. Once the machines were completed and other items collected, the children rearranged the dramatic play area. They spent some time discussing the layout of the kitchen, office, and eating and counter areas. Some children created labels for various bins and shelves that were used to store food and paper items in the restaurant.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

A group of children painted a sign for the dramatic play area McDonald’s. Once this sign was hung and the restaurant opened for business, the children were able to apply, in their dramatic play, the knowledge gained during fieldwork. The children shared the project with their parents by giving them tours of the McDonald’s as well as serving them “meals.” The process of setting up the McDonald’s involved the use of organizational skills, brainstorming, problem solving, and teamwork. The children gained an understanding of what is involved in the daily operation of a restaurant.

Comments

Because of the age and inexperience with project work of a majority of the children, the teachers found themselves taking more of a leadership role than in previous projects. The McDonald’s restaurant project progressed at a slower pace than other projects, but the teachers felt that it was still a valuable experience for the children. The “behind the scenes” investigation expanded the children and teacher’s knowledge base as well as provided opportunities for social interactions and language development. Restaurant operations served as a good topic for the children who were new to project work as well as an interesting topic for the children who had prior project experience.

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The Worm Project

A Project by Pre-K and Kindergarten Children (multi-age and like-age groupings) at Donald C. Parker Early Education Center, Machesney Park, Illinois

Length of Project: 8 weeks
Teacher: Nancy Plate

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Each year, rainy spring days bring out worms, whose appearance peaks the curiosity of our students. In spring of 2002, I decided to cultivate that curiosity by starting a composting system using worms. A grant was written for the necessary materials. This project was open to all interested kindergarten students and at-risk and special education preschoolers. Children represented their previous knowledge on the subject by webbing, doing time-1 drawings, and drawing and writing their predictions about how 1,000 worms would be delivered to our school. Students helped construct the worm bin and readied it for the arrival of the worms.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

All investigations for this project took place on site. Some questions included the following: Do all worms turn into butterflies? How do they move through the mud? How long do they live? Do they have very tiny hands?

The worm bin composting system offered a constant supply of worms to study in the classroom. Occasionally, the weather brought worms to the surface of the playground for study. The students used magnifying glasses and the overhead projector to study the worms and their movement up close. For expertise, nonfiction books and information located on the Internet were consulted. Students represented their learning through drawing, writing, movement, constructing with unifix cubes, and yarn. Measuring and counting were practiced as students learned about worm length and worm segments. One fact that seemed to fascinate the students was that worms have five hearts. They chose to represent this information in a variety of ways. During Phase 2, students did time-2 drawings and added information to their original web. Because many different groups of children were studying worms, the project's raw documentation was displayed across the wall of the learning center. This display facilitated groups learning about and questioning what other groups were doing. While the worm project was progressing in the learning center, some individual classrooms were studying caterpillars. Those students participated in making a Venn diagram comparing worms and caterpillars.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

Finished documentation of this project was displayed in the hallway for parents and teachers. A book written by the students explaining the worm bin building process is housed in the learning center. This book and pictures from the project have stimulated interest from current students in building a worm bin. During the project, measuring, counting, and writing were practiced. The children discovered ways to communicate what they had learned. The students had opportunities to observe and make comparisons. They participated in group discussions and cooperated within their groups. They learned to be respectful of living things.

Comments

What I found most meaningful about this project is how much the children learned from each other. I noticed once again that children are highly motivated to practice skills when they sense an immediate purpose for them, such as writing in a way that would ensure clear communication with others. The models for these skills were often other students. This project provided authentic opportunities for students to communicate and solve problems. They consistently rose to the occasion. As always with projects, I am impressed at the level of concentration young children exhibit when they are investigating a subject that interests them.

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Second-Graders Study Their Community

A Project by 7- and 8-Year-Old Children at Grafton Elementary School, Grafton, Illinois

Length of Project: October 25 to December 18, 2002
Teacher: Dot Schuler

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Because our state standards and district curriculum goals include a study of the community, we always do a community project. Our project began when children created a web revealing their beginning knowledge; they also told personal stories. Each story was written, illustrated, and displayed; our web was placed on a bulletin board for reference. Daily journal entries stimulated discussions and questions. I documented the questions on a chart, noting that the children’s interests would lead to investigations that would help us meet state standards of understanding historical events; geographical characteristics; and political, economic, and social systems of our local community.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

Several small groups of children had questions about local buildings, businesses, and government offices, so I planned some walks. We walked to City Hall; and the secretary, chief of police, and a local historian spoke to the children. We also walked to the post office. On each of our walks, we stopped occasionally so the children could sketch places of interest. After each walk, we met as a group to document our notes collectively on charts to be used as resources. Three children investigated the local propane company; the owner (grandfather of a student) visited our classroom to tell about his business. Two children investigated our two rivers using the wall map to locate the source and mouth of each river and find the confluence of the rivers east of our town. One child investigated how the bluffs were formed; a local environmental educator answered her email message to help her with an understanding of the rock formations. Two children studied the new park; three students conducted interviews to see why people like Grafton; three students learned about “numbers” in our town, such as the number of people, houses, businesses, and so forth; another student learned about the founder of our town.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

Our table display of models was accompanied by written representations of new knowledge (charts, mobiles, books, maps, a time line, webs, a paper-roll movie, and a dichotomy). After our evening culmination, our models were proudly displayed at City Hall so businessmen and women could view the amazing likenesses created by the children. While the models were on display at City Hall, we walked to the building to hear three local people read books. The chief of police, an alderwoman, and a retired librarian each read a book to the children as a part of the Illinois governor’s program Illinois Reads in Special Places.

Comments

While many state standards were met, another goal was accomplished—to create an interdisciplinary context of learning that complemented all areas of the curriculum, using language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and fine arts to communicate new knowledge. Moreover, as positive dispositions for learning were nurtured, the project, I hope, stimulated students to continue learning the rest of their lives. Studying our community always provides unforeseen surprises in that different community members offer their contributions according to the children’s interests. These varying contributions help shape projects that feature their own uniqueness each year, even though the community topic remains the same.

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The Construction Project

A Project by 3-, 4-, and 5-Year-Old Children at Discovery Preschool, Peoria, Illinois

Length of Project: 2 months
Teachers: Pam Scranton, Lora Taylor, & Terra Shelton

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

When school started in early September, there was major construction happening on the road in front of our classroom. Each day, the children would come in full of comments about what they had seen outside. Questions came fast and furious: “How does that dump truck work? How come those big shovels go up and down? Where are the wheels for that tractor?” Very quickly, we realized that we couldn’t ignore the children's interest, even though it was only the second week of school, and we began listing their questions, webbing their ideas about what they wanted to learn, and exploring options for experts and field sites.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

One of our families had a grandpa who was the road commissioner of a small town and arranged for the children to visit. “Papa Pete” became our expert for their investigations of construction. He encouraged the children to climb all over the different tractors and explore them, sketch them, and graph them; they even got to drive them! They came back from the field site with lots of information about construction machines. With the construction going on right outside our classroom, we also had a site that we could continuously visit for new information. Once back in the classroom, a small group of children began constructing a large dump truck and backhoe loader. During the construction of the tractors, another small group was involved in re-drawing, using their field sketches as a reference; these same drawers later began mural work, again using their time-2 sketches and blowing them up using an overhead projector. As the tractor group was finishing their construction, they began labeling the parts of their tractors and solving the problem of how to get the arms of the backhoe to move up and down.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The children decided they wanted to invite their families to school to see all their project work, so they wrote an invitation; arranged their constructions, paintings, drawings, and stories; and held the Construction Project Night. Our expert, “Papa Pete,” also came to project night, and the children delighted in telling him and showing him all they had learned during the construction project!

Comments

We were in no way ready to begin a project the second week of school, but we just couldn’t ignore the children's interest and their excitement. The availability of our constant field site for revisiting and our wonderful expert made this project a success.

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The Clubhouse

A Project by 4-Year-Old Children at Preschool for the Arts, Madison, Wisconsin

Length of Project: All Year
Teachers: Nicole Smith & Elizabeth Raymond

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

The Copper Room Class started as an intimate group of only eight 4-year-old children, all of whom were new to the school, in a very large classroom. The children were very interested in exploring the school and became very excited about the lofts and structures that many of the rooms had. They wanted room to have a cozy, special place; they wanted to build a clubhouse. The children built small- and large-block clubhouses, but they were not satisfied. They were very determined that they wanted to build a "real" clubhouse with nails and wood. Although their interest began during the first week of school, the project the children started would last the whole year and grow as the class size grew to 18 children.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

The clubhouse became a frequent topic of conversation, play, and drawings for the rest of the year. The children decided that it would have a pitched roof with pinecones, be big enough for them to all fit inside, and have openings for light to come in. While working on plans and drawings, the children started practicing running a bakery to do a real one as a fundraiser. Bakery Eat It was a big success, so we started looking for an expert to help us figure out what we should buy and to help us build. We spent a lot of time measuring and decided to make a cardboard clubhouse to test out the size. It was not big enough for our growing class, but we enjoyed the cardboard version for two months while we explored using tools. We built several individual and group wood projects, including a small model of the clubhouse, to get lots of practice. Finally, we were ready! The building committee began meeting with our volunteer carpenter to finalize plans and make a list of needed materials. Several small groups went to lumberyards and hardware stores to buy different needed materials. Two at a time, children helped with all aspects of the construction. We soon had an 8-by-10-foot clubhouse in our room! 

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

When construction was over, we were not finished. The children painted and decorated the clubhouse. They finally got to move furniture in and play in it (although at several points in the building process, we did halt for a few days to let them play and explore in it). They were so proud of their work that they wanted everyone to see it and play in it. They planned a Clubhouse Warming Party and invited parents, administrators, and anyone who had helped them along the way. They used their new baking skills to make refreshments, which they served out of the "drive-up windows" that they had designed.

Comments

This project not only impressed the children, but very much impressed the teachers. I was amazed at the determination of the children in seeing that their vision became a reality. The children were able to figure out that they needed an enclosed space to help overcome the vastness of the classroom. Their planning process was filled with constant compromises and pushed their representational drawing skills, understanding of numbers and measuring, emergent writing (the children made many letters and signs to make this project happen), comfort working with other adults (they made several of the planning phone calls themselves) far beyond what we would have imagined possible. Underlying all of the project, though, the predominant learning was social in nature. They needed a space to feel comfortable in and to be with a small number of children, and as each new child arrived, the group welcomed them by pulling them into the project. They became not only a class, but a true team.

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Memorials and Sculptures

A Project by 5- through 7-Year-Old Children at Valeska Hinton Early Childhood Education Center, Peoria, Illinois

Length of Project: 5 months
Teachers: Jean O'Mara-Thieman, Heather Goocher, & Kendrya' Johnson

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

The students selected the topic of memorials after they read about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his future memorial in Washington, DC. They initiated the project in the block area by constructing their concepts of Dr. King’s future memorial, as well as constructing other memorials from the Washington, DC area. I added the study of sculptures as a means of expanding their knowledge, as a means of providing a comparison, and as a means of developing their creativity and ability to investigate. As we looked to our community for information and resources, the class wanted to know: What is a memorial? What is a sculpture? Is the White House a memorial? Do we have memorials and sculptures in Peoria? These questions developed as the boys and girls worked in the block area and during discussions.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

We began to explore memorials and sculptures within our community. We started with our school as we investigated how it got its name and how the entry bench got there. Our investigation expanded to neighborhood sculptures and memorials on Jean Baptiste du Sable, Ira Nelson, and Romeo B. Garrett. As we walked to each of these sites, the students took their clipboards and sketched the different memorials and sculptures, noting the shapes and materials used. On the computer, the boys and girls observed other memorials in the Peoria area.

The class took a walking tour of the city, guided by a member of the Peoria Historical Society. Another member of the Historical Society came to the classroom to show slides and answer questions. Before we created our own sculptures, we visited the Peoria Art Guild, and we had a Bradley student sculptor bring samples of sculptures and work with us on the uses of clay. On another site experience, the class visited Springfield to see Lincoln’s home and his memorial.

Students represented their learning in a variety of ways. They created and wrote about their own sculptures, developed a class newspaper about local memorials and sculptures, and wrote a book about local memorials and sculptures. The construction area was utilized throughout the project for block building of memorials and for creating a neighborhood map of memorials and sculptures.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

To culminate our study, the boys and girls displayed their sculptures and writings throughout the building. They placed their neighborhood map with its memorials and sculptures in the hall along with their memorial and sculpture book. Newspapers were available for all to read as part of the display. The students invited their families and friends to stop by and see their project work. The children acted as resources for all who came.

Comments

It is so powerful to see a project initiated by the children. There is no building of the interest; it is there! In this project, the children constructed much of their own learning and developed many of their own goals and areas of investigation. It certainly allowed them to be successful learners. Initially, I had been concerned that the investigation was too abstract for the boys and girls, but the use of the book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox, and the accessibility of materials alleviated that problem. This was an excellent topic. Because we are in the city, we were in an excellent position to take walking site visits to numerous memorials and sculptures, many located in or by our city buildings. The project helped all of us develop an interest in and appreciation of our community. Further, it helped the children develop a beginning understanding of time and the effects of the past on all of our lives. One child, LeBrandon, stands out in this project because he so loved history that he was able to motivate the entire class to delve into this topic.

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The Salt Truck Project

A Project by 4-Year-Old Children in a Dual-Language Head Start Classroom at West Liberty Community Schools, West Liberty, Iowa

Length of Project: Late January–March
Teachers: Rebecca A. Wilson, Sylvia Frausto, & Jen Buysse

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

Our window faces a street, and I had noticed children were interested in watching vehicles. When the school bus or garbage truck passed, they were very excited. I provided several focusing experiences to better determine children’s interest, including examining my car, the school bus, a teacher's bicycle, and a grain semi truck. After the visits, we made a web with the children about all of the vehicles they had seen. Interest was highest following the semi truck visit. I brought in nonfiction books about trucks, and the children named the different trucks and their purposes. I recorded the children’s questions. The children were interested in how to drive a truck, the windshield wiper fluid, oil, and gasoline.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

One day while we were writing in our journals, Misael drew a truck and told me it was the kind that “puts salt on the road.” This comment prompted a big discussion among the children about why the salt goes on roads and how the truck puts it there. We had a hard time finding photographs of salt trucks in the literature and discovered that the salt truck is the same thing as a snowplow. I contacted our city service garage and arranged a visit from our city snowplow driver for the following week.

City workers brought over a backhoe loader, sometimes used to move snow in parking lots. The city workers were very helpful and first came into our classroom to answer the children’s questions. Their questions had narrowed from trucks, in general, to how the salt gets on the road and how the snow gets moved. The city workers demonstrated how snow is moved, both with the snowplow and the backhoe loader. They also showed where the gas tank, oil stick, and windshield wiper fluid reservoir are on the equipment. After watching the demonstrations, the children sketched the snowplow and backhoe loader. They also represented their learning through painting. Later, they created a play structure of the snowplow.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

After completion of the snowplow, documentation of the children’s learning was shared. The children made a list of whom they wanted to invite to see their project. The students created their own invitations, and we ended up having a snowplow “open house” to share their learning with parents, other children in the school, and the community.

Comments

Among the many things that I learned from this project was how meaningful and life changing projects can be for children. Many new experiences like finger painting or taking off his shoes frighten Misael, and he cries. When our associate teacher’s husband brought his semi truck to school, Misael was terrified and cried. I carried him out to see the truck, and he buried his head. But when Mr. Buysse started talking about his semi, Misael lifted his head and was fascinated! By the time our class got halfway around the semi, Misael was down on the ground listening intently with the other children. Back in our classroom, in the block center, Misael re-created his experience, even showing where the grain fell out of the bottom of the truck. Since that day, Misael has been investigating trucks and is opening up to new experiences and sharing with other children. He was instrumental in the children’s interest in “salt trucks!” Misael has become a leader in our classroom, sharing ideas with other children about how to create the snowplow. The project has transformed Misael’s role in our class and helped him to communicate verbally with his peers.

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The Greenhouse Project

A Project by 3- through 5-Year-Old Children at Illinois Valley Community College Early Childhood Education Center, Oglesby, Illinois

Length of Project: 13 weeks in the spring and 3 weeks of revisiting in the summer
Teachers: Marilyn Worsley, Kathie Zecca, & Mary Ann Vollmer

View PDF of this project with photos.

Phase 1: Beginning the Project

When the teachers learned that a greenhouse was to be built next to the playground, they thought that greenhouses might be a project topic. During the months before, the children had shown an interest in growing and caring for plants. We also realized that there could be daily opportunities for hands-on learning directly from the experts and their materials. We didn’t know when the construction was to begin, so we were happily surprised when we discovered tall metal posts sticking in the ground. When trucks carrying boxes and equipment arrived, the children were curious and ready to investigate. They asked for clipboards and began formulating questions and theories about the events. A group eagerly approached one of the workers to find out what they were building.

Phase 2: Developing the Project

While the construction workers were at the site, the children took advantage of their close proximity to question them often about their work and equipment. After the children were allowed to sit in the all-terrain forklift, the teachers thought the children would want to build their own. Instead, they began making their own greenhouse, using the real one as a reference. We visited a fully functioning greenhouse to further their understanding. Several parents helped guide the children through the enormous greenhouse, documenting the children’s representations. After the trip, the children's interest shifted more to growing and caring of plants. The children created murals, clay tools, and paper plants to supply their greenhouse. Toward the end of the project, another shift in the investigation took place as the children began noticing the classroom plants dying. We arranged to visit the horticulture instructor to find the answers to the children's many questions concerning our plants' deaths. Some of the children then decided to make a book about the life cycle of plants. They dictated each page, starting with the buying of the seeds and ending with the plant going back into the ground to become fertilizer for a new plant.

Phase 3: Concluding the Project

The children decided to share their knowledge and experiences with their parents and the college community by displaying the greenhouse and the book in the lobby of the “big school.” A list was created of the exact items they wanted to display, including signs that labeled the greenhouse and some of its contents. The main greenhouse group set it up, and the children shared their experiences with the different community members.

Comments

This project turned out to be so wonderful for all, just as we had hoped. The children’s vocabulary expanded (such as "polycarbonate sheets") during the investigation of the various jobs and materials. The children gained so much by this experience that we revisited the project for a few weeks during the summer when the workers returned to finish the inside work. This topic provided many social studies experiences for the children that are sometimes difficult for teachers to provide.