Broad & Abstract vs. Focused & Narrowed: Common topic trap

Often times when beginning a project, a topic can start pretty broad. For example, a teacher might observe that their children enjoy the Arts, so they may be thinking Art could be a good topic. Or maybe the students enjoy animals, or being outside in Nature. All of these ideas are good starting points, however, they would make very difficult project topics as they are very broad and abstract. These broad and abstract topics can become a trap.

Risks with a topic that is too broad or abstract:

  • The topic may not be researched as in-depth, making it more of a unit or theme and not a project.

  • It may not be truly focused on what the children want to know, so they may lose interest quickly. Projects are meant to be studied over a longer period of time.

  • The topic may not be developmentally appropriate. Young learners use their senses to explore and learn about the world around them. If the topic does not allow for them to discover answers through hands-on exploration, the teacher ends up doing most of the investigating instead of the children.

During Phase I, it’s important not only to look at children’s interests and environment to gather a topic, but to focus and narrow down that topic. So with the Art example, do students enjoy painting, sculpting, taking photos, singing, instruments, dancing? To find out, you can do different focusing experiences: bring in artifacts, read books, sing songs, or do a field site in your building. Through bringing in different paint brushes and clay, the teacher finds most students went straight for the brushes and began painting. So the teacher narrows the topic to paint and brushes.

However, without student questions, there is no direction in what to explore about paint and brushes. A teacher may have an ideas of what types of things the students may enjoy exploring, but without student input the project would be a teacher directed inquiry not a true project. To focus the topic on the children’s interest and create a launching point for in-depth child-led investigations, questions need to be gathered. You can ask students what they want to know, do a web, and/or observe their behaviors to gather their current knowledge and questions. With non-verbal students, observing their actions is crucial for discovering the questions they have or what they want to learn more about. After doing these activities, the teacher finds the following student questions around painting and brushes:

-How do I make paint?

-Do I have to use a brush to paint?

-Why are some brushes small and other brushes big?

-What makes it brown?

-Why does it get wet?

-How long until I can take my painting home?

Now that there is more information about what the students want to know, the topic has narrowed from Art, which is broad and abstract to Paint and brushes. With questions and a focused topic, the teacher and students can head into Phase II, Investigating! Additional artifacts and tools such as measuring tape, rulers, timers, different types of paint and brushes and more can be added to the station for deeper investigation. The teacher can guide students through provoking questions: How do you think we can make brown? What other things can we paint with besides brushes? What happens when we use these other tools?

Just imagine all the new things the students will learn and discover with their focused and narrowed topic!

 Written by Amelia Troutman

Project Approach Journeys: Joy Ward

“Learning how to do projects is often described as a journey, an ongoing process.”

Judy Harris Helm

The Project Approach Catalog 3, the Project Approach Study Group

Here at the museum, we see many different journeys each year as new and veteran teachers take on new projects. Each journey is different and unique. To share some the many stories that we hear, we interviewed past participants and mentors who have continued to develop their roles in the Project Approach movement.

Interview with Joy Ward Director at Toon Town II

Joy has truly made a career at her center, journeying from lead teacher, to curriculum coordinator, and then to assistant director before her current role as director.

 

I know you’ve been involved in Early Childhood Education since you were 19, and your major became Early Childhood Education, was there a turning point or something that really moved you to make the commitment to Early Childhood?

“Having my children. I was working in childcare and thought ‘What can I do in life that will allow me to still have an influence in my children’s lives?’ I made the decision to make working in early childhood education a career instead of just a job.”

 

How did you hear about the Kohl Children’s Museum Project Approach Training?

“I don’t remember, but I think it was after a field trip. We were on a list and started to receive emails and letters. It may be that the director came with a letter to show us.”

 

What influenced your decision to participate in the training?

“I’ll be honest, money. The field trip, supplies, as well as the stipend were what got my attention.”

 

Can you tell me about your first project topic? How did it evolve?

“Butterflies. I was influenced by Bethanie and her experience. She was my presenter and hearing her speak about her experience, as well as it being spring time influenced the decision.”

 

Did you face any difficulties during your project? How did you handle them?

“Attempting to find a topic. We wanted to get the kids reactions, but it’s hard when they’re age 3 to word it appropriately to get a response. They didn’t know how to answer questions yet. They thought ants would be cool but screamed when ants came in the room. So, I ended up choosing the topic of butterflies.”

 

What impact did the project have on you and your students?

“On me, I learned so much more about how it encompassed so many domains. For them, it impacted their experiences. They were excited because they were able to utilize adult things like cameras. Their high involvement was the most impactful for me and for them.”

 

After your first project, why did you continue to do project work?

“I realized and witnessed the benefit of how impactful it is for everyone including the families. I wanted to continue for the next group and all children to have such experiences.”

 

What experts or field sites have you used in your projects?

“I utilized the neighborhood and community a lot. For the art project, we went to nearby art galleries and the Mexican Art Museum. For the donut project, we went to the neighborhood Jewel.”

 

What barriers have you experienced while doing Project work?

“Some things you don’t know until the project unfolds. We couldn’t experience true baking in the bakery because of restrictions, and at the Jewel they didn’t bake. But, it added to our knowledge about the bakery safety and rules, and became a learning experience.”

 

What successes have you had with the Project Approach?

“With the Art project, really having the parent involvement, influenced the children to really take pride in it. We had all different types of art mediums, from sculptures to dresses for parents to purchase. It was more than just looking at their art, the students had pride that their parents wanted to buy their art.”

 

How do your teachers incorporate the Project Approach and the Creative Curriculum?

“They go hand in hand. The Creative Curriculum is the foundation, and the project extends.”

 

While you’re no longer in the classroom, how do you continue to be involved in the Project Approach?

“Assisting and coaching teachers with implementing project skills and projects.”

Project Approach Journeys: Patricia Serrano

“Learning how to do projects is often described as a journey, an ongoing process.”

Judy Harris Helm

The Project Approach Catalog 3, the Project Approach Study Group

Here at the museum, we see many different journeys each year as new and veteran project teachers take on new projects. Each journey is different and unique. To share some the many stories that we hear, we interviewed past participants and mentors who have continued to develop their roles in the Project Approach movement.

Interview with Patricia Serrano, Owner of Three Little Angels Home Daycare

Patricia has owned and operated her home daycare for nine years. Over the years, she has worked with many different children of different ages from infant to school-age.

I know you’ve owned your home daycare for many years. Can you tell me a little about what influenced your decision to enter the field of Early Childhood Education?

“Before I came to the United States, I taught in a school as a teacher. A long long time ago, I chose to become a teacher because I like kids. Not everyone likes and understands kids. When I first applied to be a teacher, I had my first experience in a poor community. It pulled at my heart and made me want to become a teacher even more.  In the US, I struggled and it was difficult to learn the language. I worried if I trained to work in another school, I wouldn’t be able to write well or teach the way they want in English. Having a school in my house, I am able to teach my way.”

 

How did you hear about the Kohl Project Approach Training?

“One of the other mentors, Lucia, I have known for over 10 years. We went to school together. And when I started my daycare, I was looking for trainings. She recommended the program. I feel and my kids feel, when we are doing project work that we are professional and really learning at high levels.”

 

What was your first project topic? How did it evolve?

“The pizza project. It was a big challenge. At that point, I only had older, part time kids. They decided the topic of pizza because they always wanted to eat pizza. Since it was my first one, we did it little step by little step, and when I looked, we had spent 3 months investigating! Since they were older students, they were very interested, but didn’t always want to show it to be ‘cool.’ One day, we spent a day really looking at all the different recipes. We didn’t know there were so many and that pizza is not an easy process. It takes a long time.”

 

Did you face any difficulties during your project? How did you handle them?

“Yes, where I live, there’s no walking access to a pizza place. I asked two different pizza places, but they didn’t respond. Another said they wouldn’t have kids. When I found a place, I asked the parents, but they didn’t have time because it was late. Luckily, one parent helped, and we each took half of the kids. We also cooked here 2-3 times making our own pizzas. Another difficulty is not much parent participation sometimes. The project topic may not seem as serious, but when parents see the papers, photos, and messages from the teacher they become interested and see the learning.”

 

What impact did the project have on you and your students?

“I feel like we really learned something. The kids learned more than just pizza. They learned about how it takes time and precision. I learned a lot about pizza dough and leaving it to grow and grow. There are machines to make all the pizzas equal quantity. There are also many ways to make a pizza. The pizza can be healthy, with different toppings and quantities.”

 

After your first project, why did you continue to do project work?

“It’s the best way kids can really keep information in their brain and learn more. They use all of their senses, so it sticks better and they remember it all better.”

 

What experts or field sites have you used in your projects?

“For the pizza project, we had an expert at the pizzeria. For the dog project, there was a trainer and she was really good. She explained the different ways dogs are trained like a family house dog versus a service dog. Service dogs cost around $20,000 to train because it takes a lot of time. She explained the importance of patience and for safety she emphasized to not touch the dog first without asking the owner.”

 

What barriers have you experience while doing Project work?

“It’s a little difficult to get more experts. Sometimes it’s hard to get ideas on what types of experts and to then actually find the experts. In the pizza project it was harder. The dog project, the parents were very excited and helped out a lot.”

 

What successes have you had with the Project Approach?

“There’s a lot of things. Since the dog project, we understood and respected dogs more. Children had a connection with the animals, learned to take care of them, and developed social emotional skills. Some of the kids even got a dog that they still have! I also got my own dog at the end of the project!”

 

Are you currently working on a project?

“Yes, we are doing a project on cookies and baking because children talked about cookies and treats around Christmas. In their play kitchen, there’s a recipe book, and the students were always asking about and playing making cookies. But, I’m not a good baker, so our first experience making cookies, something happened and they were too hard like a rock, super hard. I wanted to throw them out, but the kids were proud and wanted to keep them. One of the parents also came and brought another kind of cookies for the children. Another student and their grandma also made cookies together.”

Authentic Artifacts

As a child, I was interested in hairstyling. I had different dolls with hair I could braid, dye, and even cut! One of the dolls was a salon doll and she came with plastic scissors and hair that could be attached with Velcro. So she could have long knee length hair and then with the pretend scissors it could be “cut” and then a new shoulder length or bob hairstyle could be added on with Velcro.  In real salons they use scissors made of steel that really do cut hair, and hair can’t just be attached in an instant with Velcro. Had I been more familiar with real scissors and how they work, I may have avoided the following incident. My mother turned around and in an instant I had gone from playing with the doll, plastic scissors, and Velcro hair, and instead I had real scissors and my own hair. My locks fell away as a very blunt choppy pixie cut emerged. My mom started screaming, and I didn’t understand until I tried to reattach my hair, the damage I had done. I learned very quickly that real scissors cut hair and hair doesn’t just grow back or get magically reattached. During project work, when students are investigating a topic, it is important that they have access to real artifacts such as tools, living things, and objects. If I had more experiences with real scissors and how once things are cut they can’t just be put back together, I may have avoided all the tears I shed when I realized I had to wear my pixie cut until it grew out.

 

If students are doing a topic on puppies and just have stuffed animal puppies, they may gain false information. Stuffed animal puppies don’t need food or exercise, so they may not realize that a dog needs to eat or go out. Or they may think that dogs can just eat people food, but certain foods can make dogs very sick. Also, stuffed animal puppies can be put away in a bin or on a shelf when you’re done and they will stay there. Real puppies move and wiggle and run! In order to be able to care for a real puppy, it is important for students to have first-hand experiences with a puppy and the object needed to care for them.

 

Another example of real artifacts came through a past project in the Early Childhood Connections program. Students were doing a project on firefighters and learned about the weight of firefighters clothes through having clothes as real artifacts. The pretend clothes were light and thin, but when the students felt the weight of the firefighters real clothes they realized how strong firefighters are and how heavy their clothes were. This led students to ask more about the clothes, why were firefighter clothes heavy? Students then began to investigate and learn about how firefighter clothes are fire-resistant and reflective and made of different materials than clothes the students wore.

 

Children are trying to learn about, understand, and navigate the world around them as they grow and develop into adults. The more real artifacts students have access to the better they can understand how things work. That said, often a question we get is how do I find lots of artifacts?

 

Artifacts can be any real life objects, tools, living things, or items. For example, in a puppy project in addition to having a puppy visit, real artifacts could be the following:


 

dog brush

leash

dog bags

dog bed

collar

food bowl

water bowl

dog food

dog harness

dog yard stake

dog house

treats

chew toys

cage

dog boots

dog shampoo

dog toothbrush

dog toothpaste

nail trimmer

cone or e-collar

dog bandages

 

A topic that is concrete and very hands on will easily lend itself to many artifacts. Experts, colleagues, parents, and other adults can be a great resource when trying to come up with artifacts. Need some help with ideas for artifacts on your topic? Check out more artifact lists in our project examples!

 

 

 

By Amelia Troutman

Selecting a Topic

“One of the most important features of Phase I of project development is the process of selecting the topic to be investigated” (Judy Harris Helm & Lilian Katz, Young Investigators, 2016).

Each year at the end of our first day of training, we receive many questions about project topics. The most common is “How do I know what topic to do and if the topic is a good topic?” Since the topic can have a major impact on the success of the project, it is important to really spend time with the selection. The majority of Phase I’s focus in on the topic.

How do I know what topic to do?

To get started, one of the best ways for a teacher to find out student interests is to listen and observe students. What things do students play with, talk about or create? For younger students this can often be seen during center or free choice time. For older students with limited free choice time this may come out through conversations, writing, or drawings. Teachers can also talk with parents, or bring in books or artifacts on different topics to incorporate into literacy or other times, to see what students gravitate towards.

How do I know if the topic is a good topic?

All interests may not make good topics. Once you’ve observed several interests, you want to evaluate if they would make a good topic. Here are some ideas on how to evaluate your topic from Young Investigators the Project Approach in the Early Years by Judy Harris Helm and Lilian G. Katz:

  • Do the children find the topic engaging and interesting? The more interested students are in the topic the deeper and more fruitful it will be.
  • Does the topic further children’s understanding of their curriculum and does it help them meet developmentally appropriate standards? A project topic should be able to easily connect back to curriculum and development goals.
  • Is this topic more concrete or abstract? With younger students the more concrete the topic the better. They need to be able to use multiple senses to explore the topic. 
  • Do you have access to direct experiences, experts, and objects related to the topic? The harder it is to find experts, field sites, and authentic artifacts, the harder it will be for students to have access to all the sensory input they need. And the more work it will be for the teacher.

*A more extensive list can be found in Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years.

Think you’ve found a good topic? Test it out! Create a web with students and a list of questions to see what they already know and what they want to know about the topic. If students are not showing a lot of interest in knowing more about the topic, a new topic needs to be selected. If students are showing an interest, but don’t have much knowledge, they need more resources to develop background knowledge.

Want some more information on topics? Check out our past project topics list in project examples.

By Amelia Troutman

From Personal Project Experience to Project Approach Connections

In middle school, we were tasked with finding a problem, researching it, and writing an editorial to the Chicago Tribune. Having just completed a health program at the end of elementary school, a friend and I were interested in if this program was as effective as it boasted. We surveyed our peers regarding their attitudes towards the health issues and the program. We found that the results it was guaranteeing were not holding true amongst fellow students. Information in hand, we set to work to write up our editorial with our findings, and lo and behold an edited version was published in the Chicago Tribune! As the years have gone by, peer reviewed studies have backed up our initial findings on the ineffectiveness of the program, and I’m always brought back to that initial excitement of picking a topic, researching, and discovering my own answers. While I’m sure our survey was not up to quality research standards, it sparked an interest and empowerment that if I had a question I had the ability to find the answer and do something about it.

 

Early experiences such as my middle school example, immediately came to mind as I was presented with the opportunity to work with the Kohl Children’s Museum Early Childhood Connections Program. The program focuses on the Project Approach in early childhood classrooms.  This specific approach varies from my personal experience with a structure and techniques to help build investigation skills in early childhood classrooms. Through the program, I have been able to see how project based learning using the Project Approach can occur with students as young as toddlers!

 

To further expand the reach of the Project Approach and provide a network of people invested in the movement, our education team has built out the Project Approach Connections website and forum. Project Approach Connections is a space to further share and collaborate around project work. Looking for more information on Projects? Check out our project examples page!

Written by Amelia Troutman