Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years / Edition 3

by Judy Harris Helm, Lilian G. Katz

Overview

Now in its Third Edition, Young Investigators provides an introduction to the project approach with step-by-step guidance for conducting meaningful investigations with young children. The authors have expanded their bestseller to include two new chapters— How Projects Can Connect Children with Nature and Project Investigations as STEM Experiences—and to provide more help to teachers of the youngest children (toddlers) and older children (2nd grade). The new edition also shows teachers how to use standards in the topic selection process and identifies activities and experiences that will help children grasp key concepts and skills. Throughout the text, readers listen to teachers’ concerns, witness how they find solutions to challenges, and experience how excited children become during project work. This book is appropriate for those new to using the Project Approach, as well as for teachers who already have experience with implementing the Project Approach.

Book Features:

• Examples of projects from child care centers and preschool, K–2, and special education classrooms.
• Instructions for incorporating standards and STEM skills into project work.
• A variety of experiences to help children connect to the natural world.
• Toddler projects that reflect knowledge from recent mind/brain research.
• Tools for integrating required curriculum goals and for assessing achievement.
• A Teacher Project Planning Journal that leads teachers through the major decision points of project work.
• Full-color photographs of children engaged with projects.
• A study guide for pre- and inservice teachers (available at tcpress.com).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807756904
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	05/14/2016
Series:	Early Childhood Education Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Judy Harris Helm heads her own educational consulting and training company, Best Practices, Inc., in Brimfield, Illinois. Her books include Becoming Young Thinkers: Deep Project Work in the Classroom; The Power of Projects: Meeting Contemporary Challenges in Early Childhood Classrooms—Strategies and Solutions; and Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work, Second Edition. Lilian G. Katz is past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and professor emerita at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface  xi

Acknowledgments  xv

Introduction: How Children Really Learn  1
Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes  1
Learning Is in the Brain  2
Connected Learning  3
Synaptic Junctions  5
Brain Structures  6
Pruning  8
Respecting Child Thinking  9
Play as Mental Development  10
Pillars of the Mind  11
Using What We Know  14

1.  Projects and Young Children  15
The Project Approach  16
Intellectual Competencies of the Early Years  22
More on Building Mind and Brain Capacity  23
Guiding Projects With Young Children  25

2.  Getting Started  29
Issues in Selecting Topics for Projects  29
Anticipatory Teacher Planning  38
Building Common Experiences  44
Finding Out What Children Already Know  45
Developing Questions for Investigation  48
Setting Up the Classroom for Investigation  48
The Next Phase  51

3.  Developing the Project  53
Beginning Phase II  53
Preparing for Investigation  56
Moving Into Investigation  62

4.  Investigation  63
Field-Site Visits  63
Debriefing  70
Moving Into Phase III  80

5.  Concluding the Project  81
Culminating the Project  81
The Power of Documentation  86
Types of Documentation  87
Using Materials and Equipment for Documentation  95
Distilling Documentation  96
Evaluating the Project  97

6.  Preschoolers Engaged and Learning  99
The Camera Project  99
Learning as a Journey  112

7.  Using the Project Approach With Toddlers  113
The Fire Hydrant Project  113
The Sign Project  122
Diverse Pathways to Rich Experiences  125

8.  How Projects Can Connect Children With Nature  127
Thinking About Children’s Contact With Nature  127
Finding a Project Topic on Nature  128
Overcoming Teachers’ Fears of Science  130
Investigating Nature  131
Sharing Nature Projects to Educate Others  134
The Canada Goose Project  135

9.  Project Investigations as STEAM Experiences  141
STEAM and the Project Approach  141
STEAM Disciplines  143
The Airplane Project  147
STEAM in the Airplane Project  150

10.  Responding to Challenges Teachers Face in Project Work  153
“Yes, But” Thinking  153
Focusing on Teacher Decision Points  156
Final Thoughts From the Authors  172

References  175

Index  181

About the Authors  190

Project Planning Journal  

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Previous Editions:

"As an elementary school principal and former teacher educator, I highly recommend this book. It is an essential professional development tool for promoting effective teaching and learning. The content of the book centralizes authentic, student-driven project work that leads to positive outcomes for elementary and early childhood students."
—Tricia DeGraff, principal, Academy for Integrated Arts

“This practical book is full of good ideas for teachers developing investigative projects with the youngest children. A powerful resource, it combines sound educational theory with many ways to support and document learning.”
—Sylvia C. Chard, University of Alberta, Canada

“In this beautifully written book, the reader takes a journey, discovering the many answers to the why, what, and how questions about the project approach. In addition to providing the essential how-to guidebook for projects, Helm and Katz address today’s burning issues—standards, evaluation, special populations, and relation to the larger curriculum.”
—Sue Bredekamp, early childhood education specialist

Editorial Reviews

"Everything you could possibly need to start a project is covered in this book, so start investigating!"

—Association for Childhood Education International (of first edition)

"Everything you could possibly need to start a project is covered in this book, so start investigating!" —Association for Childhood Education International (of first edition)

From the Publisher