Michelle Belanger

May 4, 2013
SEI 529
Project Approach

Introduction:
I have decided to do my project approach on the broad topic of friends. I
wanted to focus on what makes us friends and how even though we are alike and
different we can still be friends. This is a topic I would introduce at the beginning of
the year as children are just starting in my pre-k room. The reason for this is
because it is in the beginning of the year I talk a lot about respecting your friends
and we are all friends. It occurred to me that some children may not know what it is
to be a friend or how friends act. Other children may be in a situation with children
of different cultures for the very first time and this topic is a means to show children
even though some of the children in the room wear different clothes or look
different, there are similarities that the children have that can foster friendship.
I have based this project approach on what I have experienced in the past
with children who are hesitant to play with new children in the classroom or ask
why some children talk a different language or eat different foods or even why they
wear different clothes than they do. Around the age of 3 and 4 children become
aware of differences in the people around them and this project is aimed to bond the
children around how even though they are all different they all have similarities.
The purpose of this project is to answer questions from the children about
what it means to be a friend and how we can all be friends even though we are not
all the same. This project is meant to highlight how special it is to be different,
whether that means in color, religion, culture or ability. It is to prevent exclusion of
some children. By incorporating games for children to play where they need to take
turns and follow rules, or having items that are familiar to some children but not to
others, such as different clothes and languages, even by counting in different
languages show that different languages are accepted and normal within the
classroom.
I imagine that children will enjoy telling each other about themselves and
once they figure out what differences they all have they will be happy to share that
with each other and likewise when they find out what similarities they have they
will be excited to figure that out. This is a project they really take ownership of and
it is the hope that it will bring the class closer as they learn about friendship and
how they can all be friends. Likewise it is my intention to set the classroom up and
provide projects so the children can start to think globally and be open minded and
excited about differences instead of generalizing about cultures they dont know
about.
I feel that this would be a great project to document with documentation
panels. I would take pictures of the children exploring different things together and
have them make a friendship fruit salad by each child bringing in a different fruit to
add to a fruit salad and then enjoying it all together. The children could write
invitations to each other to a friendship party where we can make the fruit salad.
This could be the final presentation where we can talk about, to each other, what we
had learned over the course of the project. The documentation in general is
something I feel that based on the ELLCO the classroom could do better with. The
panels along with observation and running records and quotes would be a good why
to determine what the children have learned about being friends and each other.












Lesson Plans
Curriculum Area: Social Science(Economics) / Free Play House area
Materials Needed: Clothes from different cultures, Hats, Food, utensils. Items may
include but not limited to: Sombreros, kimonos, Berets, chopsticks, faux sushi.
Description: I would introduce these items to the children at first in a large group
and then I would leave them in the dramatic play area for the children to use and
explore. I would also print pictures of the items in use and have them up in the
dramatic play area.
Assessment: I would spend some time observing in the dramatic play area. The
observation would be used in assessing what the children has learned.
Connection: I think that this would be a good activity to help with the understanding
that in other cultures people dress differently and people eat different things. This
is a lesson in cultural understanding for the children. The hopes would be that there
would be some clothing or food that the children from other ethnic backgrounds
could relate to, making them part of the classroom on an everyday basis will
hopefully bridge the gap between the differences.
MELG: Domain of social studies the indicator being: Identifies unique products of
another culture such as toys, food, songs, currency and crafts.













Curriculum Area: Language Arts/Free Play
Materials and Description: Books written in different languages and that point out
differences. Books I would include: A Somali Alphabet by Nadifo Ayanle, The Color
of Us by Karen Katz and We are all Alike We are all Different by The Cheltenham
Elementary School. I would also ask parents to bring in any favorite native books
that they have at home that they would like to share with the class. I would leave
these books in the book area as well as put some in the dramatic play area and
depending on the topic of the book I would include them in different areas of the
classroom. These would be left out for the children to look at freely. I would read
the books to the children at small and large group time to peak the childrens
interest and then I would encourage the children the look through them and talk to
them about the books.
Assessment: Again I would observe the children and see how often the children look
at the books or engage a teacher in the reading of the books. I would also talk to the
children to see what they have learned from the books, what they saw in the books
and if they have any questions about the books.
Connection: This activity would really be able to show children that books come in
many different languages and that even though it is a different language then some
things are the same. By showing the children the book of the Somali alphabet,
children can make the link that things are different, such as the language but the
concept is the same, such as the alphabet theme. The illustrations in the book will
also demonstrate the way of life in other cultures and show people of different race.
MELG: The Domain of : Early Language and Literacy. The element of: Book
Knowledge. The indicator of: Knows that books provide information about the
world.






Curriculum Area: Science/Large group activity
Materials: Kitchen, cooking supplies, depending on the recipe, ingredients for the
recipe.
Description: I would first reach out to the parents and see if they would be willing
to come in and teach the class how to cook a favorite dish, I would then have them
come in and make the dish for the children. I would have the children help with the
activity, peeling vegetables, chopping (with adult supervision). If there are any
ingredients that may look different then I would have the parent explain what it is
and maybe have the children try that ingredient.
Assessment: This is an activity that would be assessed by using the MELG. I would
have the process use measuring utensils and explain where the ingredients come
from.
Connection: this is an activity that would again stress the importance that even
though something is different than what you eat at home, it may be similar to
something they eat at home. I would encourage the children to try different things
they may not be familiar with and let them know that people from different cultures
eat different things. This would also be a good tie in to the items in the dramatic
play area. For example if you were to make sushi with the children, I would put a
sushi rolling mat in the dramatic play area along with chopsticks.
MELG: The Domain of Scientific Process and the Indicator of Explores and
experiments with different materials, objects and situations. The materials can also
include different foods.









Curriculum Area: Creative arts/ Small group
Materials: Baby food jars, Multicultural paint, paintbrushes, paper
Description: I would start by sitting a few children down and then ask them what
color do they think their skin is. If a child says white, black, or brown I would
put a drop of white, black or brown paint on their hand and ask them if that is their
color. It would not match, so I would start mixing a few of the multicultural paints
together till we matched the childs skin color. I would then put that mixture into a
jar and label the jar the childs name. I would then have the child paint a self-
portrait using their color.
Assessment: I would use the childs art work for the assessment. This can assess a
childs self-image, fine motor control, and how well they are able to identify colors
and shades. Use portraits on documentation panels and hang up in the classroom.
Connection: This activity shows how children identify and group themselves based
on their color of their skin. It is an activity to show that no one person is white or
black and in fact no two people probably have the same color skin. This will show
that they are all different but based on their self-portraits, they all have 2 eyes and a
nose and a mouth, so they are all the same.
MELG: The Domain is participating with increasing interest and enjoyment in a
variety of music, movement, visual arts, drama activities with the indicator being:
Progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, and other art creations that
reflect more detail, creativity, and/or realism.










Curriculum Area: Math/Small Groups
Materials: Magazines, pictures of different animals or cultural pictures
Description: The children would look at all the different pictures that were cut out
of a magazine or picture found on the internet and would sort those pictures based
on a similar attribute.
Assessment: For this activity I would use a checklist to see if the children can sort
the correct objects or not.
Connection: Again this activity is to have the children make a connection that things
that have differences also can be similar. It would be an interesting activity to see
how the children sort out the objects, either by culture or by where the picture is
from geographically. This is an activity that would should be surrounded by a lot of
conversation about how to sort the pictures. The teacher will need to have clear
ideas on how the pictures should be sorted.
MELG: The domain is Patterns the indicator being: Matches and sorts objects

















Resources


Katz, J. H. (2011). Young Investergators. The Project Approach in Early Years
(2nd Edition ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Miriam Smith, J. B. (2008). Users Guide to the Early Langugae and Literacy
Classroom Observation. Baltimore: Brooks Publishing.









































Criterion Possible
Points
Points
Earned
Addresses all required components of the project in a
comprehensive manner see project description above

50


Applies course content and concepts and does so in an
accurate and relevant manner and provides specific
references to course readings

40

Logically/clearly organized and formatted
Introduction and conclusion
Uses subheadings and headings to organize
information
Typed, double-spaced, margins within reason
Quality of writing (grammar, spelling,
sentence/paragraph construction, punctuation, etc.)

10




Total Points


100