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~ PRACTITIONERS

Implementing the Project Approach

in an Inclusive Classroom
A Teacher's First Attempt With Project-Based Learning

Stacey Alfonso

ne of the boggesr challongos I faced dunng my years reaching in an inclusive

O l)(ek,ndergarten classroom was dlfferentoarlng lnsrrue1lon. I was constanrly

searching for merhods 10 engage all children because their wido range of
abilities and needs required me 10 offer wried outlers for learning. My school held to
Stacey Alfonso, MSEd 111
a theme -based curriculum wlrh a strong backbone of structure rhet guided clas,room la&d read-..,, ., r,ddleheads
activities and children·s learning. I held to this approach as well. 00111. as I gained
Forest School a completely
expenence as an educator end learned more obout child dovelopf!Tient. I began 10
outdoor nar.ire -oosed preschool
ques11on what I was do,ng and to seek alterna11ve merhods.
program In Sea11le. Washington.
I wanred rhe children ,n my classroom to be mor,vared, 1uthen11cally engaged, and Sraceyconr111ues 10 search for
exc11ed 10 learn. I wanre(!f them 10 rake hold of rheir learning and drove rhelr r:,,,n ,nqu,ry-based mer hods ro teach
expenences. The ch~dro n were learning; thll. I fell rhllr rheir expe,iences should be young child,un and help rhern
more personal than I had been able 10 provide using a reacher-derived curriculum. develop a I0\19 for lea,nong

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I rhoughr rh,s oould be besr Review of literature 1n1r,nsically morivare rhe chWdren
accomplished In an oper.-ended ,n my classroom, while mee11ng a
environment where children are r,ee John Dewey was among rhe lusr 10 wide range of needs. My research
ro explore and ro11ow their inreresrs. suggesr rhar an ,deal way for children also suggested rhos approach
Bur how could this be done w11hln my ro learn is by ptan,-ng rhei" own would produce a wel,orgarued
schoots currenr approach? I found actMtiesand implementrng rhose curriculum rher was srraighrforward
my answer when I doscovered the plans, rhereby providing opporrunlr,es to implement The project approach
project approach. for muhilevel insrrucrion, cooperarive involves chidren·s in-depth
The hrerarure I read presenred a leam,ng. peer suppor~ and invesligarion of a worthwhile ropjc
pedagogy rhar would mo11vare and lnd,VtdU3lized learning (Harns & Gle,m developed through aurheniic
quesr,ons (Mdchell er al. 2009: Karz &
engage children wirh a diverse 2008). Today. many reachers find rhar
Cha,d 2013). The reacher's role is to
range or abillhes. allowing rhem p<ojecr-based learning meers Dewey's
rhe freedom ro explore rhelr own goals (Beneke & Osrrosky 2009; support children 1hrough rheir inquiry.
inreresrs, yer stil provide enough Yuen 2009: &ewer 2010). Overall Teachers help children beoome
srructure 10 fir into my school's the prOfect approach os viewed as
responsible for 11leir work, guide 1hem
10 document and report their findings,
current cuhure (Harris & Gleim 2008; empowering ro children because they
and provide opponuniries for choice
Beneke & Osrrosky 2009; Karz. are achve panic,panrs in shaping their
(Katz & Chard 2013; Katz. Chard, &
Chard, & Kogen 2014~ My research own learning (Harns & Gle,m 2008;
quesr,on for rhissrudywas, How can Harre 2010; Helm & Karz 2011) Kogen 2014).
I 1mplemen1 rhe pro,ecr approach in I was encouraged rhar rhe prOfecl
my inclusive classroom ., a preschool The project approach: approach uses a spec,ric thtee-
rhar has a hisrory or srrucrured, A brief overview phase design, because rhis srrucrura
reacher-driven curriculum? seemed compatible wilh my school's
The project approach seemed
cutrure. Dunng phase one. se/ecNng
robe a good ru wlrh my goal of
& topic, teachers lluild common
finding a new way 10 er.gage and
experiences by ralking wdh children
about lhelr persooal experiences
ro derermine ,nteresrs and helping
ThoughtaAbout the Article / Barbara A. Henderson, children 8fbculare specific quesrions
Voices ExecUJive Ed11or as a topic emerges (Mirchell er al
Stacey AKon!>O was reach.,g in an inclusion preschool., New York C,rv. 2009; Yuen 2010; Helm & Kan 2011;
serving children with a range of special learning and developrnertal Katz & Chard 2013~
differences w~en she conducred th.i research. As she srrove 10 embrace Phase iwo, dara oollecrion,
the child-centered inquiry rhar is ar the hearr of rhe pro,ecr approach, empheslzes meaningrul hands•
she struggled with general expecta110ns wdh., her school culture thar on experiences. Children are
curriculum ard insrruction be retreher d~ected instead of cocreoted wilh
researchers, gaining new 1nforma110n
the chldren. Her reacher research makes a valuable conrrlbur10n 10 rhe
as rhey col leer data ro answer the,r
literature because she provides clear ard believable examples of how rhe
prOfecl approach worked for the children wdh special needs and examples quesrions. This phase is Iha bulk of
of rhe choller-ges she faced due 10 rhe newness of her approach, her lack 1he prqecr invesriganon and rakes
of mentors, and the varoed learning strengths of rhe children. Stacey ,s place rhrough direct and aulhenric
especially effeerive in communicoting rhe voices and work products of rhe expenences such as field rrips,
ch~dren, show.,g how rhey are fully capable and eager ro underl3ke inQu1ry evenrs, and interviews With vas,ung
and dlrec1 their own learn,ng. Her trust ,n the children and her jo) ar their expens (Harre 2010: Karz & Chard
discoveroes proVtded a ruming po,nr in her career that informs he· current 2013). Children can also gar her
reaching in a roresr school. data rhrough secondary sources,

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.,eluding books. phoros. videos. and par1icipa1e Independently, used videos. aud,o record,ngs.
and websaes. ah hough some require one-on,one and photographs 10 documenr
supporr w11h a 1herapis1. children ,n rhe proce-ss o f wort,ng.
Phase rhree. the culmlna1rA9
evenr, is a rime to conclude rhe Al leasr weekly. I read and
expenence, usually rhrough a bata collection and analysis reflecred on my field nores 10
summariz.1ng eve,nr or acti\lity Throughour rhe srudy, I colecred 1den11fy emerging rhemes. Ar
(Mirchell er al 2009). The and analyzed dara rlvough least rwice a week during prep
chcldren's rote oonMues ro be fieldn01es, a reflective journal, rime, I reflecred on my Evernore
cenrral and rhe class oflen holds children's work. and anecdolal journal 10 help wirh planning.
discussions on whar rhey 1118w recotds 1ha1 Included phoros. Addir,onally, I conrmually reviewed
learned 10 creare a plan ro share videos. and 8Udi0 recordings. My and organized children's work
rhecr .,sighls (Harre 2010). pnmary source ol daia was field using Teacher Nores and lisrened
nores, which I used ro provide a 10 and warched audio and video
Methodology and day-10,day recollec!ion ol how rhe recordings as rhey accrued,
pro,ecr-based curroeulum affected no,.,g I hemes such as children
research design using re-search rermsor worl<ing
Iha children. The Teacher Nores
app on rhe tPad and tPhone helped ,ndependenrly 10 fond answers 10
Aller reading exrensively abour rhe
me col leer and analyze rhe field rheir queshons.
projecr approach, I fell ready 10
nores. I kepr project planning Organizing and m,.n,ain,ng
mplemenr d ,n my classroom.
,ournals using a n01eboolc and rhis ongoing analysis helped
lhe Evemore appon my iPad rremendously wllh my summarive
Setting and participants
The sofrware provided me wirh dara analysis. us,ng Teacher
I conducred my srudy., a -small Hex,b,iry because II was acce-ss,ble Nores. I pulled up applicable field
pnvare preschool on the Upper via ,Pad. ,Phone. and compurer; nore-s and dara sources, n many
We-st Side in New York Cdy. The lherefore. I was able 10 rake ample dolferenr arrangemenrs. I lhen
school has a decades-lo~ h,srory nores and conr.,ually reAecr upon prinred and soned rhe oores by
., the neighborhood, and families mt plans and ,mplemenrar,on. hand. whoch provided me wdh a
have come 101rus1 and loll'& the means of d,scoverinQ rhe rhemes
educatOfs r here. The school's
1ha1 best caprured rhe scope of
rradirional curricular model of Helping children my findings.
teacher-driven, 1hema1ic-based
learning is well esrablished and,
understand that they
as far as I know, had nor been could find answers to Findings
previously challenged Of adapred.
their questions made As I had hoped, I saw rhe ch•dren
Study panic,panrn included 13 happily engaged and enrhusiasric
pre-I( children. my rwo coreachers, a difference. abour learning as we dewloped
and myself. The children had a our pro,ecr-a srudy of rhe
diverse range of ab1ld1e-s. Seven I collecred work samples from rhe
neighborhood. However, rhe
children had signlf,eanr senSOfy children-rheir writing, drawing,
1oumey also came wilh challenges
proce-ssing issues. rwo had severe and anworl<. The samples helped
and surprises nor recorded ,n
cognoiw and language delays. me assess choldren·s progress.
rhe firerarure I had reviewed. My
and four had m,ld language delays and rhey became an addiltonat
findings are organized ,nro rhree
and/or mild sensory process,ng source for documenllng rhe
rhemes: (I) children as researchers,
issues. Mosr children who growth in choldren·s parriciparion
(2) learning and growing rhrough
enroll ar r he school can anend rlvoughour rhe pro,ecr. Finaly, I

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re 998 rch. and (3) challenges wrth For example. we read a book and and doin g so 1ndop,,nd.,n1ly.
rhe culrrtnaring _n, rhan dacuased the 1im1lar~1.. Indeed. beg,n ning in Sept embe r,
and differences betw een our research had already become an
Chil dren as rese arch ers neighborhood and rhe one ,mponanr parr o( our classroom.
1n rhe srory. On• girl 11a1ed. and rhe ch11dren·11k1b and range
To adow rhe children 10 ger 10
"We don I have a laundromat, of approaches grew rhroughour
know rhe,r new school and 10
1 rh,nk. we don·, have 11 here 1helall.
pfOVide some prac11ce w•h
because my mommy does •1 81
research skill>. we began rhe
home.· Anorher gul d11agreed. Learning and growing
school year w•h a monl reacher-
Then a thud child Slld, -We thro ugh rese arch
1nn,ared proiee1 about the school
can rake a walk and look." I was
befo<e Slarting our child-ln11,a1ed An 1mpor1an1 aspeet ol the
elated 10 hnd the children·•
P"otecL Myco teach ersa nd I pf0J8C1 approach ,s providing
independent corwersahont
1n1roduced rhe words ,_.ar ch oppo nuni h• lo< children
,nck.Jded a foundanon of 1nQu1ry.
and .,11'8.,,gallt. Soon. rhe cluldren 10 par1,cipa1e ,n hands-on,
The emphasis we had placed
edop1ed rhis new vocab<Aary meaningful eJ<P9nences (Ham s
on help,ng children unde nran d
For example, • qu..1100 aboUI & Gleim 2008 : Hane 2010:
rhar rhey rhemselves could f,nd
our scho d lurchen led a child 10 Helm & Katz 2011). I found
answ en 10 1he1r que111ons had
excnedly reporr. ·11nvesr,ga1ed rhe rhat children had conr,nuous
alr•d Y made a difference.
kfche n, snd I found ice c,eam,. oppo rtur.1 1• 10 leam and grow
In add•1on ,o l1nd1ng answers In all developmental domains as
Th• children 1esponded well 10
from f1r11hand experience. the they mear.nghAly engaged 1n lhe
my inrenroonal efforrs 10 honor
children learned 1ha1 they could pro1ecr rhey had helped shape.
rhe,r questions. 1nclud1ng rhose
find answufs from books. They Child1en rives1,ga1ed by rak,ng
rhat were nor dwecrly rel•e d
ir1111aUy needed guidance and reacher-organ,zed ne,ghborhood
10 ,he pr09ec1 con1en1 For
le.ding quesr,ons 10 help them walks 10 answer quesnons
example. shorrly airer s1an1ng our
locale secondary sources. bu1 rhai arose 1n conversa110ns
neighborhood P"OJ8CI. • group
ihe,r abtl h• developed over and grou p d1scu1!ion1. We
was working on a craft usmg gk.Je
r,me. For example, rhe children avoided answanng I he children's
shcks, One gul asked "Why are
wondered whar vehicles were 1n ques110ns; 1ns1aad, we used our
rhere ines on 1h,s glue 111ck? I
rook her qJes11on wnouoly and
rhe neighborhood So in rrud fraqoenr walks 10 allow children
September, a grou p of children 10 find answert and 10 build rhe,r
responded. · 1don I know. left find
sar in a patk and ialhed ..,.h1 cl•. inQU•IY skills.
ouL· Sha was complelely en~g ed
1nck.Jd1ng c••· taxis. buses,
from 1ha1 momenL and we made a One instance in wh,ch rh1s inquiry
bicycles trucks. and amt>Jances.
plan 10 rese •ch her ques11on. We was ev,denr occurred when rwo
Upon retorn,ng from rh• research
decided 10 open her glue s11ck and girls independently axtendl!d
endeavor. a child wanred 10
loolt ,ns1de She hadn I expecled an aetiv •y 10 creare a large
bu•d 8 bus from clay. w,rho ur
me 10 embrace her quesrion, drawing of our ne,ghborhood.
reacher prompring, a fnend
much 1 - 1uggell a f1111hand
experience of d,scovery ., which I
wenr 10 the bookshelf 10 get a The ch~dren·s 1Mial goal we•
book 1h11 depocled a bu~. They 10 determine whether the
allowed the des1ruc11on of Iha glue ne,ghborhood con1auied 1hings
looked III rhe book roger her 10
111ck 10 honor her cuno sily l b ttgns. fire hydr anll. tpeeif,c
under1!8rd rhe pans of a bus and
Airer 8 couple weeks, I found businesses, and rrees. and we
rhen recreared rhem wirh clay.
were able 10 venly those quesrions
that children Slarted 10 use rhe
re-r ch vocabulaty and 1nqu1ry
ThiS shift w111mponan1. as"
becoming clear 1ha1 ch~dren were
was on one o( our walks. After the
appr oach • more 1ndependen1ly walk. rhe clan colec nvely
conducting a torm of research

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summarized what we had found by choldren ro rouch and explore ,r
compleJing our prev,ously creared closely. The nexr day, rhe same
checklist When I made rhe ~sr child who had drawn rhe worker
ava,lable so rhe children could add buildong created buildings woth
drawings ol rhings rhey had seen scaffolding all around rhem in
on OIM' walk rh81 were nor included rhe block area. He 1alked wuh a
on rheir hsr. rhe rwo girls rook rhos peer as rhey builr collaboranvely,
activiry ro rhe nexr level. They and rhey borh incorporated rhe
began malcing linle drawings on new word scaffolding correcrly.
rhe cha11, and rhen, reahzlng rhey They balanced rhe blocks and
were going for something bigger, talked about symmetry as they
rhey rumed rhe paper over ro complered rhe.- srrucrure.
"draw our neighborhood." Weeks larer, when we discussed
how 10 make a modal of our
This child-inu1ared rask led ro
opporrunor,es for many aspecrs neighborhood for our culminaring
evenr ro showcase whar we
of developmenr and learning ro
had learned, rhe children nored
rake place. As Ihe girls discussed
which s rorQS were ,n our
neighborhood. Ihey collaborared
and de\leloped Ihetr language
rhar we would need scaffolding
because ·we have a lor of 11.·
I found IhaI rhe acr,ve, hands•
0 y
skills. Fine•runlng rheir social slcills, on experiences common ro Ihe
1hey ne,gohaled who would draw pro,ecr approach also helped
each pan of rhe neighborhood. sorne children sray on raslc.
As rhey remembered derails ol One child had a great deal of
rhe neighborhood rhey had seen, enr husiasm and eagerness
Ihey reinforced and added ro each 10 ,oani cloare. bur ,, was
other's knowledge. They used challenging for him 10 conrri>ure
fone moror skills as rhey drew w•h successfully and sray focused
derail and prec,sion. When rhey tn rhe classroom. Th,s boy loved
were finished. rhey proudly shared our research walks rhrough Ihe
lheot d rawing wirh everyone, neighborhood; he was able 10
which was a wonderflA social and sray on ropic as we discussed
emoroonal opporrunily. Jhe buildings whole he was 1nVQSIigaIed rhe building in which
Iouch1ng and looking ar rhem. For our school is local ed.
Anorher example came from
example. he made many on-Iopic
1he children·s growing tnleresr
conrnbur,oos ro conversaloons as Challenges with the
., rhe meral scaffold,n9 rhey
observed around buidings. Airer
we peered ,nI0 srore windows. c ulminating event
laler, he was even able ro produce
an earGer walk dunng whcch we
a drawing of rhe school, say,ng, ThroughouI our srudy, rhe cMdren
saw a buoldong surrounded wlrh showed exc iIemenI as we wenr on
"Th,s ,sour school. There ,s a rop
scaffolding, one boy rerurned ro
and a door and a window." The our research walks, and rhey were
rhe classroom and enrhusiasrically
drawing was ooe of 1he mos, consisrervly focused and serious
drew a p,crure of rhe "worker
derailed he had ever crea,ed, and when working on rhe classroom.
building.' On our nexr walk.
he complered ir righr airer we had II became clear, however, rhar
we paod dose anenroon ro rhe
we should beg,n ro wrap up Ihe
scaffolding and encouraged rhe
neighborhood srudy whel\ in lare

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Ocrober. rhe children's Inre,es1s know: When I menhoned rhat 10 make lhem. A g,rt noted we
shifted roward leaves and a nearby parenrs would love ro learn whar needed 10 make bicycles. which
field where rhey could run 1hrough we had boon do,ng, anorher child we had seen and 1all<ed abour
rhe aoeumularong pies. They were responded by ralk,ng abour hos during discussions abou1 whicles
less exciled abour invesrlgaring family. Finally, aher much reacher lrn rhe neighborhood. When I
our neighborhood, and I knew prompring, we decided ro build a asked her how we should make
rhar ro keep rrue ro 1he pro,ec1 model of our ne,ghborhood and 1hem, she said rhar we should
approach, we needed ro concl ude have rhe cMdren·s fammes come draw 1hem. and 1his rhen became
our srudy and share whar rhe class in ro see il her defau~ response for how we
had collecrively learned (phase The nexl day I held a shon should represeni all aspec1s of
rhree). However, rhe curnina11ng 1he ne.ghborhood. Ir was also
planning meeting w11h the
even! presenred some major children 10 figure our how we h.ard for 1he children 10 focus on
d1ff1oulries I had nor anrocIpare d. 1he Idea of 1he culminaring plan.
could build our neighborhood. I
For example. one boy spoke only
When I suggesred 10 rhe children broughr our maier lats for rhem ro
rhal we conclude our pro1ect, consider, 1nclud1ng pope cleaners, abour 1he dinosaur bones we had
seen a1 Iha American Museum of
rhey showed 1111le ro no interesr. paper plares, s1raws, srreamer$.
r-i&1ural Hisrory.
Forging onward. I began a class boxes, and drawing materials.
discussion by saying, ·we leamed I hoped lhal 1he variely would Lerer in 1he week, I began working
so much abour our neighborhood. g,ve I hem somerhing concrere o ne•on•one and ,n smaU groups
It would be wonderful ro share ro work worh ro ignire 1heor ideas, wl1h 1he children 10 expand on and
rhis with the orher class, 1he bur rhe lesson felr forced, and rhe execura some of 1heir adminedly
admonosrrarion. and even your children were nor authentically slce1chy plans for our neig,borhood
parenrs.· When I asked for ideas, engaged. One chid said, ·we d lsplay. One boy rold us we needed
I received a carpet full ol blank need a 101 of buildings," yer could 1rees in lhe ne,ghborhood. A her
s1ares. One girl responded, "I don·, no, genera1e wggeshons for how 1alking one-on-one abour trees,

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we made a plan 10 creare rrees by
using paper rowel rolls for rhe rrunks
and ,issue paper for rhe leaves. Wirh
suppon, he was able ro sucoesslully
and proudly parr,c1pare on consrrucring
rhe rrees.
Working mosrly 1n small groups Singing, Dancing, and Playing
1hroughou1 rhe week, we ended Their Way to Learning
up wirh a complere and arrraclive
neighborhood model bu,lt inside
one ol rhe sensory mbles. Our end
product was ntce, but rhe process was
nor aurhentic because it reqwed so At Music Together. we've
much reacher direcrion. been teaching children.
According 10 project approach parents. and educators
lirerature. rhe culminarion is a tome through music for more
f°' the children 10 be creative and than twenty-five years.
involved 1n rhe planning process
(Harre 2010; Karz & Chard 2013).
I had read about many successful When our program is
culmonarong events, so why was the part of your curriculum,
conclusion of the project so difficuh music isn't just fun-it's a
f°' us? Perhaps I had waited 100 long. powerful learning tool. too!
By I he tome I roollzed we should plan
our culmrnating activity, the children·s
interest on the neighborhood prqecr
had already faded. Maybe the idea of
a culminaring event was 100 abstract
Music Together
'°' this group. particularly since I was
the first in the school to try the project
In School
approach. We were without examples-
either as displays°' as events that V
the chldren m19h1 have experienced.
Ahhough my Uflderlying assurrp110n is
that these child-en are competent and Bring the Music Together
capab'e, 1wondered how !he mix or experience into your early
children's abtlitoes on this ir,clusion class teaming community!
might have made rhe s1uden1-ini1,ared
planror,g of a ooordinarod final event
harder than I expected.
Uhimarely, I realized that they had
Do.-,..... ..........
aocomphshed many complex 1asks musictogether.com/school ,o.,...o,w . .ie
dunno the pr01ecL Between the (800)728· 2692 x353 I;..; il&ti
group of children I taught rhat year,

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myself ua nov,oe with the 2009: Yuen 2009: Harre 2010), I wllhon an onclus,on classroom.
proiecr approach, andwharever saw 1he children ge1 excited about I need 10 fond a better balance
other factors played into our learnmg, based on quesoions beoween srrue1 ured and child•
difficulty ar rhe end or rhe projecr. rhey were asking and 1opics 1ha1 lniriaoed ideas.
rhe planning and execution of interested them. Also in line with
the pro,ecr's culmina110n was 1he l11era1ure, 1he children showed Conclusion
challenging and a b11 frusrrahng. strong morivaoion 10 conduct
their own invesrigarions 10 fond Th,s srudy led me 10 bel18\/8 there
Discussion and answers. Fun her. I fell rhe project are remarkable benelils to having
was an empowering experience
reconunendations lor 1he children. When we used
children learn I hrough inquiry,
ln11estiga1ion, and reuarch.
the ch11dren'sques11ons 10 ignite a Since conducoi ng 1his research,
Th,s reacher research study
srudy, or when we smply followed I have moved 10 anooher city and
provides en example of a reacher
1hrough on 1heir quesoions and work in a wry dofferen1 learning
a11emp1ing 1he Pfoie<;t approach
helped 1hem l,nd answers, they environment. I reach ar a foresr
Independently in a small pre-I(
fell respected and proud. The school, an en11lronmen1 1ha1 Is
inclusion selling. without formal
children now know they ha11e immensely hands-on and lull of
training or supporl. I faced some
the power 10 l,nd answers and inquiry. I oons1an1ly find moments
res,srance from the adm,nistrar,on
oonducr research. They know rhat of pooenolal ,n11es1tgat10n for 1he
and doubt from colleagues
no1 just 1eachers and 01her aduhs children. and because of my
because they were unsure
can answer real quesolons; 1hey
whether this approach would reacher research w~h the project
can, too. approach, I capdallze on these
be appropriare for some of the
children wnh special needs on our Whal did nor fd With whal I had momenrs and turn them w'llo
care. The experience revealed ro learned from 1he lo1era1ure was my inquiry-based learning. The mos1
me rhar mo11m9 from a completely experience wioh 1he culm1na11ng powerful learnl ng I haw g leaned
reacher-derived curriculum roan even1. This 1ask was far more from my work wioh 1he project
emerge.'1.1c1J11ic.i.wm 3/JCllas .o.t:e challel)llonJ,I for l'l]YJ,1ro4pof approach IS 1ha1 when chtldren
pr01ec1 approach is a big sholr. d111erse learners, ahhough I had learn ro inquire, 1hey are learning
The project approach can be been under 1he impression 1ha1 how 10 learn. They are empowered
11ery engaging for children, but ii 1he project approach pr011lded 1oask ques110ns and seek answers.
would have been helpful IO have grea1 opporouniries for a diverse II is my hope rha1. 1hrough ohos
a mentor guide me tlvough the range of learners. Overall, I empowe1men1, children are
diff1c:ul1ies and Questions I faced. think rhe children on rhls class becomln9 lovers of learning-a
would haw benefited from l011e rhar w~I stay wilh 1hem
Mosrof my experiences mirrored
more Slructure, parlicularly as 1hroughOU1 1heir lows.
wha1 I hed come 10 undersrand
we a.ri11ed al 1he culminating
abou1 1he topic. As 1he l11era1ure
8\/eno. Therefore, I behe11e
suggesos (Beneke & Osrrosky
when oonclud,ng a pro;ec1

Voioesof Praccirioners: Teacher Research in EarlyChildl>OOd Educavon, NAEYC's online journal, is a vehicle for
ptblishing teach« n,scarch. Visit NAEYCorg/publications/.op 10 learn mote about teacher research and 10 peruse
an archive ol \otceol Practitioners articles.
Also at NAEYC.org/publications/110p. diclc on Toocher Researel>-Past Articles to mad the Fall 2016 issue of Voices d
l'rllClitiooers (volume 11, number 1), which honors Gail Perry, tho lato I/OP ecitor.

March 2017