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Copyright © 2005 by Teaching Strategies, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any formor by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storageand retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodiedin critical articles or reviews—without prior written permission fromTeaching Strategies, Inc.Written by: Cate HeromanSeries Editors: Cate Heroman, Toni S. Bickart, Laurie TaubCover, book design, and illustrations: Carla UrionaProduction: Jennifer Love KingTeaching Strategies, Inc.P.O. Box 42243Washington, DC 20015www.TeachingStrategies.comISBN: 978-1-933021-10-2Fourth Printing: 2008Teaching Strategies and The Creative Curriculum names and logos areregistered trademarks of Teaching Strategies, Inc., Washington, DC.The publisher and the authors cannot be held responsible for injury,mishap, or damages incurred during the use of or because of theinformation in this book. The authors recommend appropriate andreasonable supervision at all times based on the age and capabilityof each child. Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard for their inspiring work on the Project Approach that has greatly advanced our thinking about quality curriculum for young children. Thanks also to my Teaching Strategies team who worked hard to conceptualize and bring to fruition this Teacher’s Guide and the series of Study Starters. Special thanks to Cate Heroman as lead writer and Toni Bickart for managing the project; Charlotte Stetson and Candy Jones for writing; Carla Uriona for editing, design, and production; Laurie Taub for careful editing; and Larry Bram for helping us to craft the idea. Thanks to Sarah Bickart and her kindergarten class for testing our ideas as we wrote. —Diane Trister Dodge
Studies are one of the most effective ways for children to learnscience and social studies content while developing skills in literacy, math,the arts, and technology. They support children’s wonderful ability tobecome totally engaged in topics and activities that interest them, and theygently challenge children to extend their thinking to ever higher levels.Studies are meaningful to children because they provide them withopportunities to gain information through direct observation andexperimentation and then to link new ideas to what they already know.Studies help children develop content knowledge, because theymeet children’s need to work on projects over time and to beguided by adults who know how to help them constructunderstandings. Each day’s learning builds upon what wasstudied before, and each new study provides opportunitiesfor children to extend skills acquired in previous work.To engage children in a study, teachers select agood topic; learn about the content that can beaddressed; identify related investigations thatwill interest their children; and plan ways tointroduce the topic, guide learning, and documentchildren’s understandings. Study Starters will help you get started and guideyou through the entire process. They suggest topics that offer the rich rangeof experiences you want to provide for children and show that the workinvolved in conducting a study is really quite manageable. Using this model,you may wish to explore other topics based on the interests of your groupof children and the resources you have available in your community.Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 1
Each Study Starter presents one topic that addresses important concepts in social studies and science, and it offers suggestions for each step of the study without restricting you to those ideas. Study Starters are planning booklets with room for you to take notes, record your observations, and preserve your ideas about additional ways to help children explore the topic. This format invites you to adapt each Study Starter to fit the children in your class and the community resources available to you. Study Starters are not prepackaged, prescriptive units or themes that tell you what to do and when to do it. You can pick any topic that appeals to you and try it with your class. Each Study Starter outlines a coherent process that is based on how children construct understandings in science and social studies. The process includes 1. exploring 2. formulating questions 3. finding answers to the questions through investigations 4. celebrating learning through culminating activities Study Starters are models to help you implement investigative, project-based learning in your classroom. As you gain experience with project-based learning, you can use these Study Starters to generate new ideas. Whatever studies you decide to try, you will find that each offers a wealth of learning opportunities for children. What Children Learn Each Study Starter has learning goals related to specific process skills as well as to science and social studies content. Process skills are the methods used to learn content. Content includes the knowledge and understandings that children should learn in science and social studies. Specific activities and materials are suggested to offer opportunities for children to make discoveries and demonstrate their learning. Keep the goals and objectives of your program in mind as you use these Study Starters. Process Skills Observing and exploring are skills children use to notice objects, events, or conditions in the environment and to consider how and when they change. These skills also include manipulating objects to understand their properties and how they work. A study always begins with observing and exploring.2 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
What Children LearnConnecting information means linking new information to prior knowledge.When children make connections, they make sense of new information byseeing how it fits with what they already know. This is why it is so important tostart a study with ideas familiar to children and then help them make the link tonew information.Problem solving involves identifying a problem, thinking of ways to solve it, andtrying solutions. Problem solving requires generating new ideas, using materials indifferent ways, and taking risks to try something new. Studies can provide manyopportunities for children to apply problem-solving strategies.Organizing information involves knowing how to break a whole idea or probleminto parts, how to classify, and how to compare. These skills make gathering,tracking, and using information possible. Once information about a topic isorganized, it is easier to make inferences and draw conclusions.Communicating and representing involve the skills needed to share observationsand understandings with others. When children draw, write, dramatize, and makegraphs and models, they represent what they know and understand. In studies,children apply these skills throughout the study, but most especially in theCelebrate Learning phase.Science ContentThe following list shows some of the important science concepts that children canlearn as they explore different Study Starters. Each Study Starter topic was chosenbecause of the science learning opportunities it offers.Physical Science• Objects have observable features (e.g., color, shape, size, temperature) that can be examined, described, and measured.• Objects are made of one or more materials, such as metal, wood, or paper.• Physical properties of objects and materials can change (e.g., when ice melts it becomes liquid).• There are different forces in nature (e.g., wind, gravity).• Objects can move or be moved in space in various ways (e.g., pushing, pulling, rising, sinking).Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 3
Life Science • All things on earth are either living or nonliving. • Living things have characteristics that can be observed. • Living things grow, change, and reproduce. • Living things have similar basic needs (e.g., animals need food, air, and water; plants need air, water, light, and nutrients). • Living things can be grouped in different ways (e.g., appearance, behavior, plants, animals). • Living things live in different environments. • Living things have similarities and differences in their appearance and behavior. • Living things depend on each other. • Living things go through a cycle of growth. Earth and the Environment • There are different kinds of weather, and weather changes from day to day and, in some places, over seasons. • Weather can be described and measured. • The environment changes from one season to another in some places. • The Earth’s surface is made of different materials (e.g., rocks, sand, dirt, water), and each material has properties that can be described. • The surface of the Earth changes, sometimes slowly (e.g., erosion), and sometimes suddenly (e.g., earthquake or volcano). • Different objects can be seen in the sky. • We can affect the world around us in positive and negative ways.4 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
What Children LearnSocial Studies ContentThe following list shows many of the important social studies concepts thatchildren can learn as they explore different Study Starters. Each Study Starter topicwas chosen because of the social studies learning opportunities it offers.Spaces and Geography• The places where each of us lives have geographical features (e.g., mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers).• We each have personal geographic information (e.g., where we live, our address).• Our location tells us where we are in relation to other people and objects.• Regardless of where we live, we depend on people far away for many necessities and information.• Maps are tools that help us determine location through the use of symbols.People and How They Live• Each person has unique characteristics.• There are similarities and differences among people and cultures.• A family is a group of closely related people; each family is unique.• There are basic principles for getting along in society.• People everywhere communicate verbally and nonverbally.• People have basic needs that must be met in order to stay healthy (e.g., food, clothing, shelter).• People use money and barter to get goods and services that they do not raise, make, or find themselves.• People use a variety of means of transportation to move goods and go from place to place.• People have different jobs in the community.• There are rules in our home, school, and community; each rule has a purpose.• People have certain rights.• People have different ways of solving problems.Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 5
People and the Environment • People can affect the environment in positive and negative ways. • People depend on the physical environment (e.g., food, clean water). • There are many ways people can take care of the environment. People and the Past • Things and people change over time. • We can measure the passage of time. • There are words to describe time (yesterday, today, tomorrow, past, present, future, day, week, minute, hour, month). The following section illustrates how one teacher built a study around children’s wonder and curiosity about an elevator that was in their school building. Process skills—observing and exploring, connecting, problem solving, organizing information, and communicating and representing—are highlighted as well as the particular concepts in science and social studies that apply. As you read the elevator study, think about the skills children are learning in other content areas as well: literacy, math, the arts, and technology.6 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
What Children Learn The Elevator StudyConnecting On an extremely cold Minnesota winter day, we decided to Observing and Exploring• Discussing previous take a walk in our building instead of going outside. We went up and down the stairs; then we decided to take the • Noticing features of the experiences on elevators elevator to the next floor. elevator• Sharing what we know There were so many things to notice about the elevator • Asking the custodian about people with that we continued to explore for the next few weeks. We questions disabilities and how they discussed previous experiences on elevators. We examined access public places and drew the numbered buttons inside the elevator. We • Exploring where the B figured out how wide and long it was by using children as button on the elevatorProblem Solving the unit of measurement, and we recorded our findings on would take us• Figuring out how to a chart. We counted to find out how long it takes for the elevator to open after pressing the button. Examining the • Finding out more create a replica of an Braille writing led us into learning more about people with information about Braille elevator out of Duplos® disabilities, including how public places are made accessible.• Deciding how to make We read the fire safety sign by the elevator and discussed • Exploring how a pulley a pulley that will move why it is important to take the stairs when there is a fire. works the Duplo® elevator up and down On our various trips to the elevator, the children took their journals and wrote about and drew pictures of the elevator. They wrote the letters from the signs and dots to indicate the Braille. A group of children made a model of the elevator out of Duplos®, cardboard, tape, string, a pulley, and small people figures.Organizing Information The children also wanted to know where the B button on Communicating and• Recording measurements the elevator was supposed to take us, since nothing Representing happened when we pressed that button. We asked the of the elevator custodian if he could take us to the B floor. He used a special • Sketching the elevator’s• Drawing parts of the key to take us there. What a surprise! It took us to the features basement of the building, where we went on a spontaneous elevator and referring to field trip. We saw an exercise room and examined the • Making signs in Braille them in representations weights. Then we saw the furnace room and found out how our classroom stayed warm when it was so cold outside. • Writing in journals Physical Science • Objects have observable Later, children made elevators with large cardboard blocks, • Creating models taping on a B button to take them to the basement, where features (e.g., color, shape, they got off and exercised. The photos, journal pages, • Constructing elevators size, temperature) that can drawings, and models were displayed for the children to with blocks be examined, described, reflect upon their learning and share with their families and measured. and visitors. • Working cooperatively and • Objects are made of one making plans to complete or more materials, such as a model of an elevator metal, wood, or paper. • Objects can move or be • Talking about our elevator moved in space in various experiences with families ways (e.g., pushing, pulling, and visitors rising, sinking). — Mary Lockhart-Findling, Heartland Community Action Agency Head Start People and How They Live • People everywhere communicate verbally and nonverbally. • People use a variety of means of transportation to move goods and go from place to place. • People have different jobs in the community. • There are rules in our home, school, and community; each rule has a purpose. Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 7
Using Skills in Literacy, Math, the Arts, and TechnologyChildren will practice and apply skills in literacy, math, the arts, and technology tofind information and represent what they are learning in science and social studies.Here is a sample of the skills they may use.Literacy MathLanguage and literacy skills are used to gain Math skills are used to quantify informationinformation and communicate findings: and draw conclusions:• Listening • Using number concepts (e.g., counting, tallying, quantifying,• Learning and using new vocabulary estimating, comparing)• Expressing ideas orally; participating • Finding patterns in conversations • Exploring 2- and 3-dimensional shapes• Following directions; asking and answering questions • Measuring• Reading for information • Collecting, organizing, and representing data (sorting, classifying, graphing)• Using print and book concepts• Making meaning from print• Using writing for a purpose• Writing letters and wordsThe Arts TechnologyThe arts are used to represent and Technology skills are used to findcommunicate thinking and learning: information and explore how things work:• Using visual arts (e.g., drawing, • Locating information, communicating, sketching, and making murals, and representing using computers constructions, models, and rubbings) • Using tools in investigations (e.g., digital• Dramatizing (e.g., dramatic play, cameras, tape recorders, binoculars, re-enactments, dramatizations) magnifying lenses)• Using music, movement, and dance • Figuring out how things work as representations• Taking photos (e.g., digital photography makes it easy to print photos, create slide shows, and insert images into booklets)8 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
Study Starters: Begin the StudyHow Each Study Starter Is OrganizedIntroductionThe introduction asks you to reflect on the children in your classroomand consider why they might be interested in this topic. Write what youhave observed children doing or saying in relation to the topic.1. Begin the Study Begin the StudyThe first section has seven parts: Your ideas Exploratory Investigations• Exploratory Investigations Gather balls of different sizes, materials, and weights. Ask famili• Background Information for Teachers friends to help you build the collection. A sample letter to famili• Pause and Reflect included at the end of this Study Starter. Here are some suggestio• What Children Already Know balls to collect:• What Children Want to Find Out• Create Idea and Content Webs baseball golf ball racquet ball• Integrate Content Area Learning basketball kick ball soccer ball beach ball koosh ball volleyball bowling ball marble whiffle ball dog ball ping-pong ball football pool ball In addition to the types of balls that usually come to mind, think balls that are not used for play such as: cotton ball popcorn ball silly putty ball crystal ball ball bearing Magic 8 ball globe beads ball of yarnExploratory InvestigationsChildren have a natural, spontaneous curiosity that drives them toinvestigate. Your first step is to give children time to explore. Thissection shows you how to set up initial exploratory investigations.Exploration is an important step. Children are not ready for formalinvestigations until they have become familiar with the objects ormaterials. As children explore, teachers question, probe, and drawchildren’s attention to the characteristics of the objects or materialsbeing studied.Background Information for TeachersYou do not need to be an expert in science or social studies in order touse Study Starters. It is important, however, to be knowledgeable aboutbasic science and social studies information so that you can respond tochildren as they investigate and ask questions. To help you get started,we provide some basic information. We encourage you to learn more bytalking to knowledgeable people, reading, and using the Internet.When you are asked a question, lead children to research the answersby asking, What do you think? and How can we find out together?Your own curiosity and sense of wonder will be a model to encouragechildren to investigate. Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 9
This section has vocabulary words to use as you interact with children during their explorations. There is no need to drill children on the meaning of these words; just use them in the context of your conversations. For example, Child: There’s nothing inside this ball. Teacher: Yes, it is hollow, but there is air inside that we can’t see. We have also left space for you to record questions you wish to explore. Pause and Reflect Ask the following questions when selecting a topic to study: • Does this topic address children’s current or potential interests? • Is this topic real and relevant to children’s experiences, and is it age-appropriate? • Do enough of the children have experience with the topic so that they can think of questions to investigate and explore? Does the topic allow children to build on what they already know? • Can children explore the topic firsthand? Can real objects be manipulated? • Are resources (e.g., people to talk to, places to visit, objects or living things to observe and explore, books to read) available? • Can children do some research for this topic independently without depending entirely on the teacher’s assistance? • Can the topic be explored in a variety of ways over an extended period? • Will the topic permit children to apply literacy and math learning in real-life contexts? • Will the topic allow children to explore key components of science and social studies? • Can the arts and technology be incorporated readily into the topic? • Does the topic lend itself to representation in a variety of media (e.g., dramatic play, writing, constructions)? • Can you facilitate communication with families about the topic? Are family members likely to want to get involved with the project? • Can you plan investigations that respect cultural differences? • Is the topic worth studying?10 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
Study Starters: Begin the Study If you can answer yes to most of the questions on this list, you have found a topic worthy of your valuable time and your children’s effort. Since the topics have been selected for you, the Pause and Reflect section shows you a justification for their selection. However, to complete the topic-selection process, space is left for you to raise any other questions you may have. What Children Already Know and What Children Want to Find Out Find out what children know and create a chart to record this information. Keep this list handy so that you can add to it throughout the study as children make new discoveries. Also record what children want to find out and add questions as they arise. This list will inspire your investigations. Think about which questions can be answered by means of hands-on investigations that will lead to important understandings. Later on, you will find suggested investigations that are based on typical questions that children ask during this stage. Create Webs of Important Ideas and Content Creating an idea web is a way to think about the key ideas related to the topic and the ideas children might explore. A web has been started for you with space to record your ideas. In this way, you can adapt the Study Starter rubber metal to the available resources in your own community and the particular learning that you want to emphasize. Add to this web plastic as new ideas come to mind. Check off ideas as they are captured in the investigations and other experiences. Bal l s are mad e roll-on deodora nt of d i fferent computer mouse materi al s and are d i fferent ballpoint pen si zesBal l s move or Bal l s are used The second web you see is a content web. We recognize thatcan b e mad e to as tool s to you are required to address learning standards that describe themove make thi ng s general knowledge and skills children are expected to learn in move or rol l various subject areas. The sample webs outline the science and social studies concepts the study might address. Refer to your There are program’s learning goals or standards related to literacy, math, many typ es o f the arts, and technology, and use this page to identify the ones ball s that your study will include. balls forplaying games balls for other uses ¥ bowling ball ¥ cottonball ¥ beachball ¥ meatball ¥ basebal ¥ matzahball Integrate Content Area Learning Each Study Starter has examples of how to integrate the learning related to these standards in a manageable way. Think about how each experience helps children gain a deeper understanding of the topic. Record your ideas about experiences you want children to have in each of the content areas. Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 11
2. Investigate the Topic This section has three parts: • Weekly Planning and Enhancements to Interest Areas • Sample Investigations • Further Questions to Investigate Weekly Planning and Enhancements to Interest Areas While you pay attention to children’s interests, you also plan for possibilities and consider important learning goals. You think about what children are currently doing and the direction the study might take. You have already begun your planning by identifying the big ideas in the web and writing possible ideas for specific content learning. Use your weekly planning form as a tool to organize your study on a weekly basis. Record any materials you want to add to the interest areas. Enhancements to interest areas are suggested in each Study Starter. You may choose from the suggestions or add your own ideas. List only those materials that will help the children gain a deeper understanding about the topic. For example, in a study of insects, an art activity encouraging children to create a paper plate caterpillar may not help children learn more about a caterpillar’s characteristics. However, observing a caterpillar and then sketching one or modeling one with clay might encourage children to pay close attention to its features. The materials you place in the interest areas may either be part of a particular investigation or be designed to encourage children to explore and develop new questions. Keep in mind that it is not necessary to add materials related to the topic to each interest area. Do so only when it seems logical and makes sense. Make notes about your focused, planned experiences as well. For each day of the week, record large-group activities, books to read, small-group activities, and any special activities. Large-Group Time – Use group time to introduce the topic to the entire class. Watch children’s faces and listen to their questions to learn their degree of interest. Group meetings are also a good time to discuss what you are learning throughout the study and to make plans about what to do next. Because all children may not be involved in every aspect of the study, it is a time to communicate with others about study events.12 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
Study Starters: Investigate the TopicStory or Book Time – Include informational books as well as fiction related to thetopic. Informational books are those that provide factual, real-world information.Some of these books are written in ways that are ideal for reading aloud. Othersmay be more appropriate to use as a resource for locating particular facts.Small-Group Activities – In addition to study experiences during choice times,small-group time is another context for investigations. You may choose to have onegroup investigate one aspect of the study while another group finds answers todifferent questions.Special Activities – Add special events that you plan in relation to your study, suchas site visits or having an expert visit the class.At the end of this Guide you will also find a Studies Planning Form that you canattach to your weekly planning form. Here is an example of how you mightcomplete this form if you were studying wildflowers.What will happen next? How will How does this link children represent to the objectives and/or standards? their learning?We’ll go on a nature walk, Observational Drawings Life sciences – living thingsdo observational drawings, Field Guidesand take digital photos of Graph Literacy – locatingwildflowers. Back in the informationclassroom we’ll use fieldguides to identify the Process skills – observing,different kinds of flowers. representing,The children will graph the communicating,different kinds of organizing informationwildflowers found. Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 13
Sample InvestigationsInvestigations that enable children to find answers to their questions are the heartof your study. Review the What We Know chart you created earlier. As youexamine the children’s questions, you may see that it is lengthy. It may beimpossible to answer each question.You may also notice that some questions are abstract and rather difficult for youngchildren to investigate on their own, such as, Why does the wind blow? or Howmany stars are in the sky? Those questions may best be answered by reading booksor consulting experts. The sample investigations respond to questions childrenmight ask by suggesting activities that you can do with children to find answers.Here are a few tips for using the sample investigations:• Feel free to adapt the investigation based on the children in the class and the materials you have available. You may find that you have a better way to investigate the question.• Be flexible and open to children’s ideas. If a new question emerges, follow their lead in exploring.• It is not necessary for all children to be involved in an Are bigger balls better for rolling, kicking, and thro investigation at the same time. Investigations may be done in a whole group, in small groups, or Materials independently. Groups of children can also conduct Balls, yarn, or string (preferably two different colors) investigations during choice time. Where This Might Take Place• Observe and document what you see children doing and saying. Use this information in your assessment. Discovery Area, Outdoors, Toys and Games Area, Small-Grou Time Area• A single investigation may take several days to complete. What to DoEach sample investigation includes the following elements: • Hold up a flat, circular object such as a CD, a Frisbee, or cut from paper. Ask children to name the shape. Then hol ball and ask about its shape. How are they the same and Explain to children that a ball is a sphere and that no mat you look at it, it still looks like a circle. • Ask: Do you think that bigger balls are better than smalle rolling, kicking, and throwing? A k h h ld f d b h b llQuestion—Each investigation is based on a question Sample Investigation 1that children might ask. Notes Are bigger balls better for rolling, kicking, and throwing?Materials—This is a list of easily found or inexpensive 14 Study Startersmaterials necessary to complete the investigation. Materials Balls, yarn, or string (preferably two different colors)Where This Might Take Place—These are suggestionsabout where the investigation might occur. Where This Might Take Place Discovery Area, Outdoors, Toys and Games Area, Small-GroupWhat to Do—This section includes step-by-step Time Areadirections to guide children through the study.How you interact with children—the questions What to Doyou ask, the comments you make, and your • Hold up a flat, circular object such as a CD, a Frisbee, or a circleinquisitive nature and curiosity—will assist childrenin the investigation. cut from paper. Ask children to name the shape. Then hold up a ball and ask about its shape. How are they the same and different? Explain to children that a ball is a sphere and that no matter how you look at it, it still looks like a circle. • Ask: Do you think that bigger balls are better than smaller balls for rolling, kicking, and throwing? • Ask the children for ideas about how to measure a ball. Discuss their ideas. • Show them how to wrap yarn around a ball. Then, by measuring the length of the yarn, they can find out about the size of the ball. • Ask each child to choose a ball from the collection. • Ask each child to predict (guess) how big around his/her ball is by cutting a piece of string or yarn. Use one color of yarn for these predictions. • Invite the children to test their predictions by wrapping the pieces of yarn that they cut around the balls. • Using a second color of yarn, encourage each child to wrap a new piece of yarn around the ball and cut it the appropriate length. Discuss the results. • Ask the children to compare their yarn length to different objects in the room such as a block, table, window pane, foot, hand, etc. • Have pairs of children take a large ball and a small ball and make predictions about which one they will be able roll, kick, or throw the fastest or farthest. • Discuss findings.14 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
Study Starters: Celebrate LearningDocument Findings—Here you will find ideas Document Findings:for children to represent their thinking and communicate Create a display of balls that are solid and hollow on twhat they know. This documentation can be shared with children to make predictions for other balls.families and others outside of the classroom todemonstrate children’s learning. Indicate on the display which balls are best for rolling, throwing.Learning Goals or Content Standards Addressed—Knowwhich learning goals you are addressing as children work Learning Goals or Standards Addressed:through an investigation. This will also help you if youare required to document the learning objectives or Science: Predicting, testing hypothesis, exploringstandards in your plans. properties of objects; learning concepts air Social studies: Working collaboratively Literacy: Engaging in conversations; learning new asking and answering questions Math: Sorting and classifying, representing da Technology: Understanding how things workAdditional Investigations—You will find suggestions of Additional Investigations About What Is Inside Balls • Create a hollow ball with paper maché. Cover a roadditional investigations to continue an exploration of the question. paper maché. When dry, make a small opening, poThere is also space to record your ideas.Further Questions to InvestigateAs you explore and investigate with children, you may see that they are still deeplyinterested in learning more about the topic. Revisit the list of questions created atthe beginning of the study. New questions that would be worthy of exploring,posed either by you or the children, may have surfaced during your investigations.Also review your idea web and mark the concepts the children have investigated.Consider whether there are other important ideas that need to be explored.This section lists questions that may arise and has space to record others.Following a similar format to that of the investigations offered in Study Starters,think of how you might help children find the answers to the questions.3. Celebrate LearningWhen most of the children’s questions have been answered or when they arelosing interest, it is time to end the study. Review and evaluate what children have learned. Bring closure by organizing a celebration or classroom event to share the Celebrate Learning children’s learning with families, other classes,Celebrate Learning administrators, or the public. Children developAs you notice children’s interest begin to diminish, it is time to bring the Your ideas important skills as they make plans, developstudy to a close. Plan a special way to celebrate children’s learning and displays, write invitations, create signs andaccomplishments. Allow children to assume as much responsibility as decorations, and prepare refreshments.possible in planning the activities. Here are some suggestions: Involve guests in sample investigations to show them• Set up stations for children to show visitors the various ways they investigated the balls.• Host an Olympics featuring events for visitors and children to play using balls.• Have the children plan a meal including only those foods shaped like balls: oranges, cheese balls, sherbet balls, olives, meatballs, matzah balls. Invite family members to participate.• Invent a new ball game and teach it to the children in another class.• Make a class book, photo album or documentation panel about the balls study.Reflections the processes that children used and the learning that took place. Encourage children to share what they What were the most engaging parts of the study? Did you discover any new topics that might be worthy of investigation? If you had to change any part of the study, what would it be? Do you have other thoughts and ideas? have learned with guests. Invite guests to ask children questions about the study. This culminating event shows that children’s work is valued and Balls 25 important and that their efforts are noticed. Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters 15
Here are some ideas to celebrate learning:• dramatization• class-made museum display• open house with demonstrations or interactive experiences for families• video or slide show of the study• sharing of study-related dramatic play setting (e.g., a flower shop after a study on flowers)This section also encourages you to think about the study experience. Use thequestions to guide your reflection process. Learn from your experiences with thisStudy Starter and think about how you might approach it when you try it againwith a different group of children.ResourcesThe resource pages in each Study Starter are divided into two parts: resources forchildren and resources for teachers. For easy reference in the future, be sure torecord any additional resources you found helpful.A Letter to Families Letter to FamiliesInvolve families early in the study by sending home a Send families a brief letter outlining the potential scope of the study. Use the letter as an opportunity toletter such as this one. Family members may have communicate with families and enlist their participation in the study.expertise or a special interest in the topic, a collectionto share, or the ability to connect you with valuable A Letter to Families About Our Study of Ballsresources in the community. We want to learn more about balls—the different kinds of balls, how people use balls, what they are made of, what is inside of them, how high they can bounce, and their uses. We need your help in finding as many different types of balls as we can. Here are just a few examples: baseball crystal ball koosh ball soccer ball basketball doggie ball marble volleyball beach ball football ping-pong ball whiffle ball bowling ball golf ball pool ball cotton ball kick ball racquet ball Please contribute whatever balls you can to our study. As we study balls, we will be learning many important concepts and skills in literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. We’ll also be using thinking skills to investigate, solve problems, and make predictions. What You Can Do at Home Play with balls of all shapes, types, and sizes: playground balls, tennis balls, ping-pong balls, koosh balls, volleyballs, baseballs, footballs, marbles. Talk about what the balls are made of, if they are heavy or light, or if they are big or little. Wonder aloud with your child to encourage his or her thinking about balls. I wonder what’s inside of a tennis ball. I wonder how far you can throw a foil ball, a beach ball, or a tennis ball. How can we find out? Help your child use all of the senses when playing with balls. What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like? Smell like? See how many types of balls you can find around the house and in your neighborhood. While riding in the car, bus or train, play a game. Think of all the words that contain the word ball in them. Look for examples of balls around you. At the end of our study, we’ll have a special event to show you all that we’ve learned. Thank you for playing an important role in our learning. © 2005 Teaching Strategies, Inc. Permission is granted to duplicate the material on this page for programs implementing The Creative Curriculum® Study Starters.16 Teacher’s Guide to Study Starters
Study Topic: _______________________________ Studies Planning Form How does this link to the objectives and standards? What will happen next? Week of: ___________________ How will children represent their learning?© 2005 Teaching Strategies, Inc.Permission is granted to duplicate the material on this page for programs implementing The Creative Curriculum® Study Starters.
RESOURCESBickart, T., Jablon, J., & Dodge, D. T. (1999). Building the primaryclassroom: A complete guide to teaching and learning. Washington,DC: Teaching Strategies, Inc.Chalufour, I., & Worth, K. (2003). Discovering nature with youngchildren. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.Chard, S. C. (1998). The project approach: Making curriculumcome alive. New York: Scholastic.Chard, S. C. (1998). The project approach: Managing successfulprojects. New York: Scholastic.Diffily, D., & Sassman, C. (2002). Project-based learning withyoung children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Dodge, D. T., Colker, L. J., & Heroman, C. (2002). The CreativeCurriculum for preschool (4th ed.). Washington, DC: TeachingStrategies, Inc.Helm, J. H., & Beneke, S. (2002). The power of projects: Meetingcontemporary challenges in early childhood classrooms. New York:Teachers College Press.Helm, J. H., & Katz, L. G. (2001). Young investigators: The projectapproach in the early years. New York: Teachers College Press.Helm, J. H., Berg, S., & Scranton, P. (2004). Teaching your childto love learning: A guide to doing projects at home. New York:Teachers College Press.Jablon, J. R. (1992). Integrated curriculum for four- througheight-year-olds. In A. Mitchell and Judy David (Eds.), Explorationswith young children: A curriculum guide from the Bank StreetCollege of Education. Mt. Rainier, MD: Gryphon House.Katz, L. G. & Chard, S. C. (2000). Engaging children’s minds: Theproject approach (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: Ablex Publishing Corp. P.O. Box 42243 Washington, DC 20015 800-637-3652 www.TeachingStrategies.com
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