PHASE III Concluding the Project

In the third phase children bring work to completion and summarize what has been learned. It is
important that children are able to elaborate what they have learned so that its meaning is
enhanced and made personal (Katz & Chard, 1989, p.94).

Sharing with Others What We Have Learned

What evidence of childrens learning can be gathered and discussed with them?
Drawings/
Painting
Constructio
Language
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
sketches
s
ns
Products
Final webs
Lists
Yes Play
Discuss the project with the children. What do the children think they have learned? They
learned about many important careers within our society. They learned that it is essential for
everyone to work together to get all of the jobs done and allow the community to work
effectively.
With whom would they like to share their project? Their parents, their peers, other family
members.
How might the children share what they have learned?
Yes
Exhibit
Yes
Role-play in play environment
Make histories of the project
Write reports
Yes
Plays, dramas, music
Make individual scrapbooks or files
School presentation
Yes
Open house for parents
Presentation for parents
Yes
Take home books
Yes
Community displays

Reviewing the Documentation

What types of documentation have I used to document this project? Review the following list of
varieties of ways to document (see Chapter 5; also Helm et al., 1998a, 1998b).
Project narratives
Ye
Observations of child development
s
Checklists of knowledge and skills in curriculum
Anecdotal notes
Ye
Individual portfolios
s
Individual and group products:
Written language products: Signs, letters, books
Verbal language products Yes
Webs and lists

Pictures Yes
Representational pictures: Time 1/Time 2 pictures, symbolic
pictures
Music and movement
Constructions: Play environments, sculpture, blocks, or building
toys Yes
Self-reflections of children Yes
Consider the Next Project
Is there another topic that has emerged for further investigation? Transportation vehicles.
Police cars, fire trucks, buses, etc.
Would this be a topic to investigate now or at a later time? It would be best to do this topic now
because it ties in to the previous.

Evaluating the Project:

Learning How to Do It Better
Teacher
Journal:
Project
Evaluation

Review the Project. What have you learned about topic selection? Was this a good
topic? Why did it work or not work for childrens investigation?
This is a great topic to work with kids. They are so interested in all of these
careers and they were so excited to meet real life people that do these jobs.

Review page Phase II. Did the children gain the content knowledge and skills that you hoped they would?
What did you learn about Phase I? A great way to brainstorm and think the project out before doing it.
What did you learn about Phase II? I learned how to think the project through and the best ways to teach
the children. Also, different methods to use to allow the children to explore the topic.
What did you learn about Phase III? A way to reflect and figure out what to change for the next year.
What would you do differently in the next project? I would ask more people to come into the classroom.
What suggestions do you have for other teachers working with the same age group or topic? Make sure
you cover this topic thoroughly and have lots of people come in to volunteer.

Evaluate Engagement in Learning

Apply the concepts of engaged learning to your project (see Chapter 5).
Did the children take responsibility for their own work or activity? Yes
Did they show that they have a voice in what they study? Yes
Did they take change of the learning experience and explain or show the teacher
what they wanted to do? Yes
Were children absorbed and engrossed in their work? Yes
Did they find satisfaction and pleasure in their work? Yes
Were they developing a taste for solving problems and understanding ideas or concepts? Yes
Were children strategic learners? NA
Were they developing problem-solving strategies and skills? NA
Did they apply what they learned in one experience to a similar experience? Yes
Were the children becoming increasingly collaborative? Yes
Did they work with other children? Yes
Could they talk about their ideas to others? Yes
Were they fair-minded in dealing with those who disagreed with them? Yes
Did they offer each other support, suggestions, and encouragement?

Did they recognize their strengths and the strengths of others?

Were tasks in the projects challenging and integrative? Yes
Were they complex, requiring sustained amounts of time over days or even weeks?
Did the tasks require children to stretch their thinking and social skills in order to be
successful? Yes
Were children learning how literacy, math, science, ad communication skills are helpful?Yes
Were all children encouraged to ask hard questions, to define problems, and to take part
in conversations? Yes
Is childrens work from the project being used to assess their learning? Yes
Is there documentation of how children constructed knowledge and created
artifacts to represent their learning? Yes
Is there documentation of achievement of the goals of the curriculum? Yes
Does the documentation include individual and group efforts? Yes
Does the documentation make visible childrens dispositions in the project such as
to solve problems, to ask questions, and so forth? Yes
Does the documentation include drafts as well as final products? No
Were children involved in the documentation process and encouraged to reflect on
the documentation? Yes
Were children encouraged to generate criteria, such as what makes a good
observational drawing or a good question? Yes
Did you, as a teacher, facilitate and guide the childrens work? Yes
Did you provide a rich environment, rich experiences, and activities? Yes
Did you encourage sharing of knowledge and responsibility? Yes
Did you adjust the level of information and support based on childrens needs?Yes
Did you help children link new information to prior knowledge? Yes
Did you help children develop strategies to find out what they want to know? Yes
Did you model and coach? Yes
Did you feel like a co-learner and co-investigator with the children? Yes
Write a final narrative on this project, Was this project an engaged learning
Teacher experience for you and your children? What might you have done differently to
Journal: increase engagement? Closing thoughts: This was such a fun project that the
Final
children enjoyed very much. The children loved the police officer and what he
Narrative taught them. They enjoyed going to the Post Office and talking about what their
parents thought about the letters they sent.