Chapter 16: Integrating curriculum by Using Themes and Projects

Before reading chapter 16, I really did not understand the difference between themes and projects, nor did I give it much thought.  After reading this chapter, I understand that theme teaching means creating many different activities that all revolve around the same idea.  A project, on the other hand, is “an in depth investigation about a topic,” (D.A.C. 410) while also taking into consideration children’s questions, interests and thoughts about the topic at hand.  Incorporating themes and projects within the classroom is important because they help build connections through the information that is known, and most importantly, play a major role in a child’s concept development.

            One thing that I really enjoyed while reading this chapter is all of the wonderful ideas and instructions on how to create an appropriate theme within the classroom.  I really enjoyed the example in the book about an apple theme within the classroom and how the teacher went about taking all of her ideas and narrowing them down to subsections.  With every subsection the teacher came up with, she thought of appropriate activities that would go along with that section.  This is such a great way to come up with themes within the classroom, and this is something that I will definitely take with me when I am in my own classroom someday.

            Another bit of information that I was unaware of until reading this chapter, (and it may sound silly), is that I had no idea how long a theme or project should last.  I guess I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a few days, but according to this chapter, most projects or themes last 3-4 weeks and some can even last for several months!  By allowing a considerable amount of time, it gives the children a chance to absorb information and make their own connections about the topic of discussion.  After reading this, it really got me thinking about what kind of themes/projects I will come up with for my classroom, and I can’t wait to see the children making their own connections and watch them learn.

            One thing that completely shocked me after reading it was that planning and implementing a theme or project is virtually the same process regardless of the ages of children, the only thing that needs to be taken into consideration is if the project/theme is appropriate for the ages of the children.  I thought that the process would change when planning projects or themes as the children aged.  According to this chapter, a good way to make age appropriate TFP’s is by dividing them into two categories; simple and advanced.  I had no idea that the concept of planning themes and projects would stay the same, even as the children got older, I assumed that as the children grew, the ways of planning would change.  It amazes me to think that you could follow the same procedure when dealing with 3 year olds as when dealing with 10 year olds!

Question:  Where is a good source to find age appropriate themes and projects? Do you have to get permission from the principal when doing long themes like this?