This research focuses on exploring teacher motivational scaffolding and preschoolers motivational triggers in a playful learning project conducted in a Finnish preschool context. The aim of playful learning was to promote preschoolers' multiliteracy and digital skills in a news-making project. The participants were 17 preschoolers and their…

Researchers and statistics educators consistently suggest that students will learn statistics more effectively by conducting projects through which they actively engage in a broad spectrum of tasks integral to statistical inquiry, in the authentic context of a real-world application. In keeping with these findings, we share an implementation of…

Instead of deciding what should be taught, music educators should allow students to discover what they know about music. A project that requires students to compose musical commercials and a project that requires students to invent a notation system for writing music allow students to discover answers instead of memorizing them. (Author/AM)

How to use elementary school children as curators of a classroom museum is described. The teacher decides the concept or unit to be showcased in the museum. As curators students are responsible for many tasks including writing descriptive paragraphs for the artifacts and arranging the artifact display. (RM)

Interview with Lilian Katz, one of the foremost authorities on the project approach to learning. Discusses the misconceptions and advantages of the project approach, the teacher's role in project-based work, and the qualities teachers need to insure its success. Gives historical background on the development of the approach, and some common…

Due to increasing energy demands and decreasing supplies, it is important for teachers to provide students with a solid foundation for energy decision making. Activities are presented which offer hands-on experiences with four sources of energy: wind, water, sun, and fossil fuels. (JN)

Offers guidelines for creating and implementing an age-appropriate project that fits children's needs, interests, and surroundings. Using the example of a supermarket project, outlines the four stages of a project's development--preliminary planning, getting started, investigation and discovery, and wrapping up the project. Gives tips on learning…

This unit uses a learning center approach to helping elementary students learn about Israel. Following a rationale for implementing an interdisciplinary approach to global education, the unit discusses methodology and management of the program, which consists of seven independent learning centers and one library research center through which…

Presented are four mathematical discoveries made by students on an arithmetical function using the Fibonacci sequence. Discussed is the nature of the role of the teacher in directing the students' discovery activities. (KR)

This paper describes: (1) the experiences of a class of 6- and 7-year-old students as they designed and built a small farm on the Laboratory School grounds at Berry College (Georgia); (2) the understanding that comes with the relevant and meaningful experience of building a farm and raising animals; (3) the infusion of Friedrich Froebel's…

A project is an extended, in-depth investigation of a topic, ideally one worthy of children's attention and energy. This catalog, prepared for an annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, combines articles explaining the project approach in the classroom with summaries of projects displayed at the meeting. It…

Projects are in-depth studies of a topic undertaken by a class, a group, or an individual child. Projects are intended to strengthen children's dispositions to be interested, absorbed, and involved in in-depth observation, investigation, and representation of worthwhile phenomena in their own environments. This Catalog on the Project Approach, the…

Describes a learning unit on women's contributions to society that was developed cooperatively by third grade teachers and a library media specialist. Students brainstormed what they knew about women's accomplishments, conducted group and individual phone interviews, and questioned a panel of women who visited the school. Sidebars include the…

Unlike units and themes in the early childhood and primary curriculum, projects are defined as children's in-depth investigations of various topics--ideally, topics worthy of the children's time and energy. As increasing numbers of teachers and school districts incorporate project work into their curriculum, questions have been raised about what…

This updated handbook is designed as a guide for teachers and students in choosing and developing mathematics projects, from simple demonstrations of mathematical problems or principles that the teacher has assigned as classroom learning experiences to complex, sophisticated exhibits, intended for entries in fairs and competitions. The use of…