Design & Carry Out Simple and Action-Based Projects

 

On the previous page, we looked at the overview of 5 phases in a unit of study, as shown in the image opposite.

Now, here and on the following page, how to conduct a project — and some of the simple products a child can create.

We begin by looking at the difference between two types of projects the child might carry out on any topic. For they can choose between a “Simple Project,” and an “Action-Based Project.”

 

Thinking Ahead: “Simple” and “Action-Based” Projects

As the project planning begins, the first thing to do is consider the purpose of the project they’ve selected. The question now becomes, What are they going to do with the information they gain through the project? 

Here, they have 2 choices. It could be —

A Simple Project. Do they simply want to know more about the topic just for themselves and get credit from the teacher for doing the project? If so, they will write a report, accompanied by the products they created to illustrate their findings.

 They will end by presenting the report and products personally or by sending them to classmates, family, and anyone else they’ve involved in the project.  

Or, it could become  —

An Action-Based Project. Are they also trying to affect a positive change? If so, they will end up with a written report, products, and  recommendations. In the butterfly example from the previous page, they might create a 1-page flyer listing insecticides safe to use — along with ideas other things people might do to help butterflies survive.

In this case they will have an authentic audience — anyone in a position to follow their recommendations.

An Action-Based Project Establishing a Business or Service. Action-based projects might also be, for example, to create a video service for use during student dances, sporting, and other school events. Or it could be selling something, such as marketing a product they’ve created.

Even very young children can carry out action-based projects. Options for students of all ages are endless. You’ll find many examples on the following page.

It’s not necessary for a child to decide ahead of time which type their project will end up being. But they should at least have these two options in mind, as they go.

Next, we look at how the three phases child goes through to conduct either type of project.

Phase 4 A. The Investigation

Here the child uses the following methods for their investigation —

Reading  articles, posts, etc. — hard copy and online. You will be selecting readings for your young child. But with an older student, you’ll need to discuss how to determine the validity of the sources they use.

Here’s a discussion of the issue and a set of criteria I found simple enough to be helpful. You might prefer to do your own Google search. In any case, consider how you evaluate sources for your own reading and discuss this with your student. Then decide how the two of you want them to handle it.

Viewing videos, TV documentaries, podcasts. Again, discuss validity.

Gathering Opinions and Ideas. Even very young children enjoy doing this, and it develops a multitude of skills and concepts. They can do it in person or over the phone, involve classmates, family members, friends, even local experts, etc. Methods include the following:

• • 

    Survey With Simple Choices. This can be as simple as asking, Which cereal do you like? (Image shows, for a very young child, an all-in-one survey, which includes the report of results.

  • 

    Survey With More Complex Findings. For an older child, a survey of change over time — requiring more work to carry out and record.

  • Interview With Closed Questions. Do you think we should change the voting age to 16?
  • Interview With Open Ended Questions. Please tell me what you think about climate change. An older child has to take notes and be ready with follow-up questions. See tips you can give students for conducting interviews.

Observing. This could simply be measuring the rate of growth between plants treated differently. Or it could be observing how family members use water in the home, how the school parking lot is being used, how children are using the interest areas/centers in the classroom, and so on. These would end by making recommendations about caring for plants, saving water at home, changing the parking scheme, or closing one interest area and replacing it with another.

See How and When to Collect Observational Data,  for a brief, practical overview of 4 basic types of these observations:

• Participant vs. Non-Participant Observation
• Simple vs. Behavioral Observation
• Direct vs. Indirect Observation
• Covert vs. Overt Observation

Phase 4 B. The Analysis of Findings

 

Reflecting Facts. For the young child, this will take adding up the options they gave in their simple opinion survey and showing it with a bar graph. It may mean a free-hand drawing of a simple map, to go with an observation. See ideas for recording and reporting results for young children here and here.

Older students will be conducting more complex opinion surveys, interviewing with open-ended questions and conducting more complex observations. So they will have to learn to recognize, sort and categorize various responses. They’ll need to reflect them both in charts, illustrations, and with written explanations.

Cause and Effect. Once you see what the issues come up in what the child is investigating, search the internet for interesting ways they can analyze and illustrate their findings. For instance, an older child should be thinking about cause and effect. And even a young child can begin to think about it.

So if at home and it’s applicable, you and the child can keep clicking together on things there that look interesting.  For instance, the search term, “cause and effect for students,” can eventually take you here, or  here. Just keep clicking on things until you find something that fits the situation and appeals to you and your young child or older student. See other charts/graphs for older students here.  (Or in a classroom, search alone for a method you want to present to the children.) 

But I would avoid having the students search for someone else’s cause and effect during their initial investigation. We’re not trying to have them learn what someone else thinks — at least until they’ve come up with their own ideas. Then they could compare and adjust their thinking (or not) accordingly.

Phase 4 C. The Written Report, Additional Products & Recommendations

The child dictates or writes a report and creates a product to illustrate what they’ve done.

Write a Report.

For a very young child, this would be dictating 3 sentences or so. Write it in exactly in the child’s own words, so they can “read it” back. I goes something like, I studied how to take care of dogs like Ruffy. Mom read me books, and I asked Grandpa. Cuz he’s a vet. Dogs need lots of food and water, and they need to go for lots of walks.

For an older child, it’s the same, only they write it themselves, and in greater detail. Following is a sample outline to help them develop their own outline and report:

What I studied and why, how I did it, what I learned and  think about it myself, and what I want to study/do next.

Present Their Work. As discussed above, the child has two options for sharing what they’ve done:

If it’s a Simple Project, it can be presented in person  or by sending the report to classmates, family, friends, or those involved in the information/opinion gathering.

If it’s an Action-Based Project, they will have identified an authentic audience — those in a position to make the recommended changes. That might simply be their neighbors, but it could also be an official in the city’s park department. Or older students have actually been known to write legislation and present it to state representatives.

Finally, when the presentations are over, the child/older student preserves at least some of what they’ve done. This is usually done in one of two ways.

Phase 5. Preserve the Results Of the Unit

Folder of Work Samples for a Young Child. A young child sometimes adds the products from their project to the wall reserved for displaying student work. But they usually prefer to take their work home to show their family. However, the teacher occasionally keeps a piece of work to a child’s folder — dated, to show their growth over time. Then that folder goes home at the end of the year. The child may help choose a piece of work to preserve in their folder.

A Portfolio for An Older Student. The older student is responsible for adding samples of unit and project work to their Project Portfolio.  These samples serve as an assessment of how much they’ve accomplished, in terms of the growth of process skills, as well as content.

You’ll see more about this on the following page. It begins with how to get a young child started with projects and discusses other project-related issues. Finally, there’s  a PDF document with several pages of examples of projects designed by, with, or for students of various ages.

NEXT —> PROJECT EXAMPLES & ISSUES