Assignment
Inquiry-Based Project Plan & Rationale
Note: Projects/investigations are in-depth investigations steered largely based upon children's questions, ideas and daily activities, but also steered by materials, good ideas, opportunities, and scaffolding provided by teachers. They are NOT all preplanned in advance as units often are. Projects typically last four weeks to a few months. Projects/Investigations are an essential part of quality curriculum for young children because projects simultaneously support the development of the whole child better than a steady diet of single-subject, teacher-directed instruction does.
Project Plan*Required Taskstream Artifact
Describes a long-term, in-depth, investigation that emerged from children's interests.
Addresses Ohio Academic Content Standards and value-added assessments.
*Simple Language & Avoid Using I as possible as you can*
1) Grade level for this project plan (You decide, but it must be PK, K, or 1st).( I did K )
2) The title/focus of the project.( I Chose to be about Transportationbut it should be focus on something related to the history.
3) Provide a rationale for the project's focus. Start by imagining what your class of students might be like, then ...
a) Explain why this project focus would be appropriate given your students'backgrounds.
b) Explain why this project focus would be appropriate given your students' interests.
c) Explain why this project focus would be appropriate given the knowledge and abilities you imagine your students having.
4) Provide a timeline, showing how you imagine the project might unfold over many weeks (minimum 4 weeks). Most importantly, lay out how one activity may lead to new questions from kids, then how those questions may lead to introducing other materials or activities, etc., which may lead to other student questions or interests. You need to make it clear in your timeline how students' questions and interests help shape/determine the activities that come next. This should be at least one page, single-spaced (1" margins, 12 pt Times New Roman font or equivalent size font).The project should unfold organically from kids' changing interests, and should NOT fall into neat week-by-week subtopics, which looks too much like a unit plan.
5) Provide a concept/subconcept web for the project. (Not an activities or skills web). Ex: "Branches of government" is a concept, and "executive branch" is a subconcept under the concept of branches of government. Include a total of 20+ concepts and subconcepts (combined), and use the real concepts/terms from the subject matter disciplines.
6) List ten "hands-on" materials that you will make available or use during the project, and explain how each one of the ten helps support children's exploration and learning.(Meaning a brief but separate explanation for each. Worksheets are not a "hands-on" material.
7) Include brief descriptions (2-3 sentences) of six activities that are part of the project, and specific knowledge, skill, and emotion outcomes for each one of the six activities.
(18 outcomes total).The skill objectives should be worded in form of a skill that is improving
8) List five children's books that you will make available or use during the project, and say how you'd use each book.
9) List three ideas for site visits and/or expert visitors and/or compelling "hands-on" experiences that would be appropriate within this project.
Note: #11 & #13 below ask how you'd assess improvement for the outcomes indicated. To assess improvement, you MUST have a pre-assessment and post-assessment built into part i and part ii, and part iii of the assessment plan. Read the "Assessing Improvement 2013" handout in the Authentic Assessment module for tips on this. If you do not show you know how to assess improvement on both #13 & #14, you will be asked to revise the assignment until you do demonstrate that skill (and you can't pass the Taskstream criteria for this artifact without learning how to do this).
10) List 1habit goalthat you hope children will improve or strengthen through this project.Word it so that it's clear that students will improve/strengthen this habit. (Do NOT use motivation tendencies [i.e. intrinsically motivated to learn]).
11) Include a three-part assessment plan for assessing improvement of the habit goal from #10.
a. Describe how you'll collect data that will help you know whether or not students improved/strengthened this habit of mind or action.
Be specific, and describe the data you'll collect.
b. Describe in detail what students would say and/or do that would be evidence that they improved this habit.
c. Describe in detail what students would say and/or do that would be evidence that they did NOT yet improve this habit.
12) List 1complexperformance that child will improve/become more skilled at through this project. Complex performances include things like "getting better at... conducting experiments, putting on plays, working with others, writing stories, planning and making a presentation, etc. ( I chose "Children will be getting better at working with others"
Discussions13) Include an assessment plan for the complex performance from #11.
a. Describe how you'll collect data that will help you know whether or not studentsimproved at this complex performance. Be specific, and describe the data you'll collect. Note that complex performance involve multiple skills, so improvement might mean that they were better at any of those subskills when observed during this project than they were a few months earlier, during a similar performance. However, you need to figure out what subskillsare part of the complex performance that you are assessing.)
b. Describe in detail what students would say and/or do that would be evidence that they improved at this complex performance.
c. Describe in detail what students would say and/or do that would be evidence that they did NOT yet at this complex performance.
14) List 1 generalization that children will learn through this project. (There's a handout on generalizations examples you need to look at them )
15) Include a three-part assessment plan for the generalization. That is, include the same parts a, b, and c found on all the other assessment plans in this course. See the handout on generalizations for information on how to assess generalizations. Here, you are NOT writing a pre-and-post assessment.
16) Provide a thorough rationale for why projects in general are one type of effective curriculum for young children. First, state your own reasons why you think project-based learning is likely to be beneficial. Next, be sure to cite at least 3-4 research-based benefits (i.e., positive child outcomes) that have resulted from project-based curriculum in past studies. Many articles in journals are reporting people's beliefs about education, and it's not enough to report people's claims-you actually need studies comparing project-based learning to more traditional teaching. Please be sure to cite the specific author sources in the text next to their research findings (authors, year of study). (This should be ~2 pages, with 5 research-based benefits and more studies).Include a reference list at the end of your answer, with complete citations for the sources you cited. There's anHandout article "PBL Review of Lit-Effectiveness "that should help with this task.
How can you tell the difference between opinions/judgments vs. actual research findings? When referring to an opinion/professional judgment someone else stated, authors may say something like "Wilson (2006) stated.. " or "According to Wilson (2006) ..." When referring to an actual research study, authors will say something such as this: "In a study comparing the effects of play and non-play alternatives on 125 first-graders, Wilson (2006) found that ..."
17) For five of the following areas, list at least two grade level indicators or benchmarks that might be met or that the children might come closer to meeting through this project (10 grade level indicators total). Use the Common Core State Standards (not the Ohio Standards) for language arts and mathematics.
- emotions - motivation - physical fitness - health
- social studies - language arts - life skills - science.
Attachment:- Attachments.rar