Lori Williams
ED 320
Phase ll- Developing the Project
Project Topic: Harvest
Focus of the Topic: To allow the children first hand, real life experiences of what harvest really is
Date Phase ll Began: Around October 5, 2015
What curriculum goals will integrate into this project? This project will integrate math, science,
English/language arts, early writing and literacy, social Emotional, approaches to play and learning,
social studies, creative arts, physical health and growth. Yes, I think I have integrated all of them at
some point in this project.
Are there experiences that should be provided at times other than project work times? Yes, I have the
children work on their letters, colors, sight words, etc. However, I just dont push writing as a
requirement, I try to make it a choice for them. Each child has a writing folder. We have several dry
erase boards and chalkboards for the children to practice their letters. Because I dont push it, they are
much more apt to come to me and ask if they can work on their letters. We have been working on the
letter H of course for harvest, the letter F for farm, and then they have chosen another they would like
to work on. I keep pictures of their work that I have in our photo album. This has worked so much
better than standing over them and getting them to work on their letters.
What can the children gain from this experience? What content and skill development do I hope to see?
What dispositions do I hope will be strengthened? My hope is that the children will gain an
understanding of exactly what harvest is, where our food comes from, and just how very hard our
farmers work to make this happen. I hope the children will gain an understanding of farming and our
community and how it affects all of us. I hope that the children will develop skills to be able to work
together and problem solve. I hope to see good attitudes and enthusiasm as we continue on with this
project. My goal is for the children to experience first-hand, real life experiences that will be
unforgettable and will stay with them as memories for life.
Preparing for Investigation
How can the investigation become focused? After the field trip to Peden Farms, we came back to
daycare and sat in a group and had this huge discussion about everything we saw. We took a lot of
pictures of our experience which are in our photo album for the children to review and revisit the farm.
We actually do this after every field trip. Sometimes we write things on the board during discussion.
We have taken several field trips during this project. We didnt, but we could have made a new web
about what we saw. For example we could have put the farm in the middle and everything we saw
coming out from it. The list would be endless, just like our original web.
What additional resources should be brought into the classroom to enable and support in-depth study?
I am constantly bringing in new books from the library and books that I find. I have gotten on the
internet and showed the children just short little videos of farms, farming and tractors and machinery. I
had my boyfriend come into the classroom one rainy day for them to talk to him about farming. We
took another field trip to a different type of farm so the children could understand that not all farmers
harvest soybeans and corn. We actually shelled the corn from the field for our sensory tub so we
brought in corn from the field. They shucked it and shelled it. One day at lunchtime we actually
shucked our own sweet corn for corn on the cob. This was a great experience because they were able to
see the difference in the corn and they did it themselves.
What skills might the children need help with? Because they are a young group of preschool children
they do need help with asking questions of adults. When we are on these field trips, a lot of times they
just blurt out random questions and the adults get tickled. We probably should have thought of some
questions to ask prior to going. Honestly, until reading this I never thought about posing those
questions first so they could practice them. These guys are young so they need help in tallying data.
When we do this, we make it really simple, like county how many tractors you see as we go on this trip.
And then we have an adult keep track. When we get back from every field trip we always sit in a group
and discuss what we saw, what we learned, and what we liked best. A lot of times because they are so
young, they need extra help with cutting and pasting, using hole punches or cutters. Because of
technology, it is amazing that a 3 year old can use a camera and video but sometimes they need help
with that as well.
How can the children best be prepared for field-site experience? The best way we can prepare them is
sit them down and let them know exactly where we are going, what we will be doing and talk to them
about safety and my expectations of their behavior. I also remind parents and the children at least 3
days before. During story time, we do a count -down if we are going on a big trip. I will say look at the
calendar children, it is only 2 days left until we go to the farm! I just constantly remind them so they can
remind their parents. Also, I send home a permission form to sign.
Planning for Field Trip Sites
Permission forms should always be signed when a provider is taking the children off of the premises. If
car seats are needed, or special arrangements are needed for transportation, the caregiver must know
that in advance and not the day of the trip. If a caregiver does not have a bus or a van to transport the
children, arrangements will need to be made for parent volunteers. Just make sure that if a parent is
driving, that all insurance forms are on file, especially if they are transporting another child other than
their own. Do not allow the children to ride in vehicles without proper restraint.
Prior to going on the field trip, call and remind the field site personnel that you are coming.
Conduct a checklist to make sure that everything is going to run smoothly. For example, discuss any
safety issues that may need to be addresses such as holding hands, buddying up, paying attention to the
teacher, listening, buckling up in the bus or car, wearing a jacket if chilly, and being kind to the animals if
the farm has a petting zoo.
Talk to the personnel at the site and let them know that you are excited to come and how important it is
that the children have first-hand experiences that they can cherish for life. When scheduling a field trip,
it is important that the caregiver relay what is being studied and what your expectations are from this
field trip. A provider may want to share some of the things that have been discussed and some of the
things that the children are already familiar with so the field site personnel knows what to address.
Plan and prepare for Adult Helpers/Chaperones
Because I am a larger facility, I always have the necessary staff to take these types of field trips so I
rarely need extra chaperones. However, I encourage parent participation and if a parent ever wants to
go on a field trip I encourage that and always give that day as credit when paying for their childcare.
Some take advantage of this, but for the most part, very few could care less to accommodate on a field
trip. My bus holds 13 children plus the driver and another teacher. We usually take 13 children and two
teachers (one being the driver of the bus) on all field trips. This is within the state ratio. My staff does
not need any additional preparations because they are already familiar with field trips. We do, however
go over safety issues with the children and staff prior to going. I do ask that they make this the best
experience possible for the children and discuss what the goals are for the trip. One of the most
important things when going on a trip other than safety is the time factor. I make it clear what time we
will be returning and expect the teachers to adhere to that if I am not the one going.
Gather material and supplies for the Field Site Visit
It is super important to make sure that you always take things that can be recorded so that the children
can re-live their experiences. For example, never leave home without a camera or video recorder to
capture those moments. Always take a clipboard to hold the childrens names and any other important
information. Always take blank paper and writing utensils. Not only for the teachers, but for the
children as well. When going on a longer trip, the ride home is an excellent time for the children to
draw and dictate what they saw on the field trip. If going to be gone for lunch, DONT FORGET THE
LUNCH!!!
Organize the Children
We always just organize our group into one large one with two teachers. Always works out just fine.
However, depending on the trip, there may need to be a buddy system, and maybe broken up into two
small groups.
Write a narrative about what happened during the field trip. Where did the children go? What did the
children see and do? With whom did they interact? What were the highlights of the experience?
Throughout this experience, we have taken several field trips. We have taken several walking field trips
to the local market just around the corner to buy pumpkins, gourds, decorations and flowers. The times
that we did this were awesome because the children were able to pick out their own decorations for fall.
They asked several times to go. One of the highlight field trips was the trip to Peden Farms in
Bloomington. This was the first time I had ever taken this trip so I was not real sure what to expect.
However, this was the best trip I have ever experienced. This trip was filled with interactive stations set
up where the children could churn butter, make persimmon pudding, eat popcorn after it was popped,
ride a wagon, discover soybeans, learn about farming, see the difference between hay and straw and a
huge petting zoo with every animal imaginable. This is actually only a few of the things that we did that
day. The list is too huge to list everything. There were guest speakers such as firemen and farmers that
the children were able to talk to. This particular day it poured down rain all day long. We were soaked
but had the best time ever. I normally would not say that during a rainstorm with children, however
they were well behaved and the day was great. We took another wonderful trip to Kelsay Farms in
Whiteland. This was also extremely interactive and the childrens experiences were captured thru
pictures in our album. At this trip, they learned about milk cows and were given a tour of the dairy barn
and all that happens at a dairy farm. Afterwards, they played in the corn bin which was a huge building
with a slide filled with corn. Basically, a huge sensory tub. The final trip of this project was taken to a
farm where we sat on the front porch and watched my boyfriend harvest corn. Believe it or not, this is
the trip they enjoyed the most. I am not sure if it is because they like him so much or because it was
such an easy trip without a lot of expectations but whatever, it was a good one. We took a lot of
pictures for our album of this experience as well.
Arranging for Visiting Experts
I arranged for Bobby to come to visit and talk with the children, but we had to play it by ear because he
could not take off work so we had to wait until it rained. Because this was Bobby I did not have to do a
lot of preparation and reminders, however if a caregiver is planning for a visitor to the classroom, they
must plan with a phone call, possibly a reminder letter and possibly share with the visitor what is being
studied. I just did not have to do this because my boyfriend was already very well aware of what we
were talking about.
Plan and Prepare for Adult Helpers
I did not need any additional adult helpers, however sometimes it is necessary to ask for additional help.
If, for example, the guest speaker is bringing a lot of materials or things that could potentially be
dangerous, such as wild animals or snakes, it may be necessary to ask for adult helpers for that day.
Gather Materials and Supplies Needed When the Visiting Expert Comes
When someone comes to visit in the classroom always make sure that you can document that
experience. Make sure there is batteries in the camera and if you have a camcorder or a recording
device, use it. Make sure that there is paper and pens or pencils available to write things down that will
be memorable.
Plan Interactions with the Visiting Expert
Decide how the children will be seated prior to the visitor coming. This makes for less disruption. We
usually just always sit on the story time rug in one large group.
Our visit was very informal, as the children already know and love my boyfriend Bobby. However, he
was the one that was nervous and did not know what to say and do. I told him to be himself and just
answer their questions. He just sat in the chair on the story time rug and talked to them about what his
job was and he showed them some pictures on his phone. They asked him a lot of questions about the
big green tractors and did he like driving them. They asked him what he does in the winter. They all
hugged him and told him bye.
Representing What Was Learned
We have compiled all of our pictures into a photo album that the children can look at in the reading
center. I developed two sets of pictures so that we could make two albums to prevent fights or ripping
the album. I am still working on finalizing this video to share with the parents but it is coming along.
The children have drawn a lot of pictures of their experiences and have dictated several stories as well.
How can children be encouraged to use secondary sources? I encourage a lot of book reading and
looking at pictures. I am constantly getting new books for them to look at. I am always changing the
room around as well and adding new things or changing out the toys from the shed. I try to change out
toys so they do not become bored or become used to one toy and refuse to play with other things. I
definitely encourage play in everything that I do. I am constantly going outside and taking the
discussions outside.
How can the children represent what they have learned about the topic? The children represent what
they are learning through a lot of drawings and sketches, paintings, dictations. They also show what
they are learning in how they are playing. For example, I have noticed the boys and the girls as well
pretending to be farmers and wearing hats, gloves, glasses and boots. To encourage representation, I
need to always be adding new things like cars, trucks, construction materials and things in the dramatic
play center and the dress up center. I could also encourage representation by letting the children take
their own pictures. I could buy some old cameras or ask for donations of old cameras for the children to
use.
I have seen a lot of problem solving during this project. Mostly over trucks and tractors and scoops.
Most of the conflicts have occurred in the sensory tub fighting over those items. I have just made sure
that I have provided a lot of choices for those experiences. I usually sit back and within a few seconds,
the problems are usually worked out because they realize there are a lot of choices.
I have seen and heard the children talk about working together. This was evident when we visited the
farm during harvest and watched the grain cart pull up beside the combine and then they both went
down the field together. They had to work together to get the job accomplished.
The children have been very actively engaged in this project. They have been very enthusiastic in
everything we have done and have shown a lot of excitement about every trip we have taken as well as
any project we have done at the daycare. As long as they are engaged and excited about what they are
doing, there is less chance for anger and disagreements. We have seen dispositions change, only
because that is a given with 3 and 4 year olds, however for the most part, these children have a great
attitude about what we are doing and the only real fights I see going on usually involve trucks and
tractors and those are always worked out easily because I bought so many.
Revisiting the Childrens Web and List of Questions
What have the children learned? Did they find the answers to their questions? I feel confident that
they have learned what harvest really is. They have learned it is not just big green tractors and tractors
cutting corn. I think they have learned that it is team work that gets the job done.
Are there new questions for investigation? How might they be answered? One question they keep
asking is what do they do now? What is Bobby doing now? What do they do in the winter? I could
help to answer these questions by taking them back to the field that they watched him farm. They could
watch him plow the dirt because after harvest is over, all of the ground has to be plowed. I think this
would be helpful to explain what a farmer does after harvest. I could also get some books on plowing or
find a good video of plowing the fields.
At this point, the children are pretty much done with Harvest and seem to be satisfied with what they
have learned. We are wrapping it up now.
