In my centre we apply emergent planning during
the sessions. We do emergent planning and learning in our centre as most of our
children only come once or twice a week. As a teaching team we plan around what
is currently happening in the community or to extend on what we have been
previously learning. Most of the time we notice what the children are taking
interested in and act upon it immediately, to extend their learning and
knowledge on their interest (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer.
2012) For this experience I use the Project approach (Clark, 2007) with the
child in order to get the full experience, learning and knowledge as he is an
active thinker who is always thinking of new ideas to do things,
Beginning our project. What sparked our project
this morning was that we had heavy rain and B had been watching a TV show about
boats. B said to me ‘if there’s lots of rain we will need a boat to sail
on.’ Which lead us onto
making our boat, in case we needed it because of the rain.
Developing the project. After morning tea we got
to work to make this boat. I asked B 'what do we need to make the boat?' B said
'hot glue gun, paper, scissors and cardboard'. We started making our boat by
finding an egg cartoon to be the bottom of the boat, and B suggested that we
needed sides so that babies would not fall into the water.
While we were making our boat I would ask some
open ended questions (MacNaughton & Williams, 2004) that would get B to
extend his thinking further but also to see what other ideas he could have. B
loves to be questioned to further his thinking and loves exploring new ways
that he could change or do with his project.
B asked me to show him how to hot glue the
sides, then he started to use the hot glue gun himself. We added a plank, a
ladder and a sail to the boat. While I was cutting out the shapes that he told
me to cut out, B was using the hot glue gun to stick everything together. At times
he would ask for my help when he was not sure where to glue or not wanting to
get hot glue on his fingers when gluing small and tricky edges and shapes.
I showed B how to use the hot glue gun correctly
when gluing small shapes, I asked him how we could hold the cardboard while
gluing so we did not get glue on our fingers. B suggested we used tweezers to
hold the cardboard, which was a great idea and worked for him. This gave B the
chance to problem solve (MacNaughton & Williams, 2004) when he did not want
to get the hot glue onto his fingers.
Concluding the project. By the time we had
finished building our boat, the sun had come out and we could go outside again.
But it was not over yet. B carried on his project at home with his older sister
to see if his boat would work in the bath. And on Friday morning he told me
about how it floated for a while then got wet and ruined. B came up with
another idea that that on Monday morning he would bring in some plastic to
create another and better boat.
I cannot wait to see where we will go with our extension
of this project in the next few weeks with B and to see if any other children
want to get involved as well. One of my favourite reasons why I love being in a
small centre is because we get to do small projects with the older children.
Arthur,
L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2015). Programming and planning in early childhood
settings (6th ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: CENGAGE Learning.
Clark,
A. (2004). Changing classroom practice to include the project approach. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 8(2).
Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/clark.html
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children:
Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forrest, Australia:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
You have clearly explained your ‘project approach’ at the beginning and then continued to explain the project step by step. Katleigh, you discussed how your project started and spoke about conversations between herself and the children, this allows the reader to understand how involved the children were throughout the project. You have explained the process in which the children went through to carry out this project. Your technology tool is used consistently (hot glue gun) throughout the project.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that you have used your previous knowledge to extend on this boat provocation. You successfully have used teaching techniques such as open-ended questioning to continue to engage and interact with the children which furthers their learning and understanding of the process they are doing. You provided the children with a range of resources to extend the project and cater for all the children’s individual needs. The children involved are clearly enjoying themselves throughout this activity and I believe this is credit to you developing this idea from following their current interests.
Next time you could possibly further this project by planning an excursion for the children to see some real boats at a marina or beach nearby. You could also create a boat race where all children make their own boats then put them in the water trough and race each other. These experiences could provide the children with more learning opportunities in regards to the topic of boats.
You began your entry well by explaining your "project approach" and how you follow the steps to achieve this. You have explained in great detail what you did with and child and all the processes you went through with them.
ReplyDeleteYou have been successful in using open ended questions.But I would have loved to have known what questions you asked the child to help extend their learning. You have provided lots of resources for the child to use in making boat. It is good to read that you asked him what resources he wanted to use rather than just giving him a bunch of different resources.This a great way of allowing the child to the opportunity to take control of their own learning.
I liked that you were showing the little boy how to use a glue gun and role modelling how to use it. It was good to hear that he was able to problem solve how to hold the cupboard while glueing them down. This is another great way of allowing him to take charge and problem solve.
I would have loved to read how you used technology to further extend his learning about boats. In what ways will you further extend his learning on boats. Will you take him out on an excursion to see boats. Use technology to find different pictures of different types of boats? Or find a book on boats to read? This will provide further opportunities to further extend his learning about boats.