How can we make a delicious, healthy apple snack?
Pre-Project Planning
– Choosing the Challenge
– Gathering Resources
– (See Planning High Quality Project-Based Learning)
Choosing the Challenge
Teacher Alex Sanchez* has observed that his students enjoy their sliced apple snacks and in the dramatic play area children sometimes pretend to cook and serve food. So he’s thinking most of the children will be interested in the challenge “How can we make a delicious, healthy apple snack?” Examples of many more early childhood project challenge questions are here.
Gathering Resources
Mr. Sanchez finds recipes that will be simple for children to make. He gathers picture books about food preparation, picture books with apples, children’s books with recipes, and illustrated recipes from magazines. He notes the school cafeteria kitchen could be perfect for a field site visit and he thinks about who might come into the classroom as an expert. He looks for possible songs and videos about apples and apple desserts. In the classroom, already is the phoneme card with a picture of an apple for the short vowel sound of “a.”
Beginning
– Hook
– Challenge Question
– Letter to Family
– What We Know
– What We Need to Know
Hook
Monday, Mr. Spires, a friend of the teaching assistant, comes into the classroom with
apple muffins and apple slices for the children.
He shares why he likes to bake muffins and shows the children some of the ingredients he puts into his apple muffin recipe.
Challenge Question
The students are asked whether they would like to solve the challenge “How can we make a delicious, healthy apple snack?” Most of the children are excited about the challenge. The challenge question is put up on the wall along with the project Word Bank, which will be added to as the project progresses.
Letter to Families
Mr. Sanchez sends a letter to the families, telling them about the project, the value of project-based learning as part of the curriculum, a few of the district prek standards the project supports, a request for baking resources they might like to lend and volunteers for the project field site visit.
What We (Think) We Know
Mr. Sanchez tells the children that in the activity centers: painting, clay, blocks, drawing and coloring, language arts, and dramatic play they can show what they already know about apples, baking, and making apple desserts. In the dramatic play area there are toy apples, cooking, and baking equipment.
Over the next two days, from discussions, art work, and play Mr. Sanchez, teacher assistant Ms. Perkins, and volunteer Mrs. Conroy gather what students believe they know related to apples and making apple deserts. This helps in ongoing project planning. 
Mr. Sanchez creates a web on a chart paper with the picture of an apple and the word “apple” in the middle. Related information students already know are put on the branches of the web – sometimes with a small sketch or small photo. 
What We Need-to-Know
Wednesday Mr. Sanchez reminds the children of their challenge: How can we make a delicious, healthy apple snack?
“What questions do you have about making an apple dessert? Lucas volunteers: “Will we have our dessert today? Abigail shares: “I like apples.” No one else comes up with questions so Mr.Sanchez tries another way. He says: “What do you want to know about making an apple dessert?” Students respond with words and phrases related to apples and desserts. Mr. Sanchez forms questions to list based on what the children said they want to know. He also asks students to consider whether finding answers to a couple of additional questions will help them solve the challenge.
Questions listed include:
What desserts are made with apples?
Why do apples taste good?
Where can we get apples?
How are apples grown?
Are apples healthy?
What is baking?
Will we bake? How can we bake?
What does healthy mean?
How can we know what ingredients to put in our recipe?
What does ingredients mean?
What does recipe mean?
How can we know how much of each ingredient to put in?
Middle – Investigation
– Field Site Visit
– Continued Learning: discussion, books/writing/language arts, photos, video, arts, dramatic play, interviewing an expert
– From discussion and other continued learning students’ learning growth and needs are documented.
Field Site Visit
Field Site Visit Prep
Mr. Sanchez goes to the school cafeteria’s food services director, Dolores Hunt. He explains the project to Mrs. Hunt and asks if it would be OK for the students to observe baking and also have the opportunity to partake in some way. Mr. Sanchez and Mrs. Hunt discuss how students’ safety would be ensured. They set a day and time for the visit.
In a subsequent discussion with Mrs. Hunt, Mr. Sanchez explains the visit to the baking area and baking equipment would be an important part of the children’s investigation and as field notes, some of the students would sketch what they see. He asks whether it is OK if photos or video footage is created so students might refer to these images, back in their classroom.
Mr. Sanchez also shares that prior to the visit the cafeteria staff will receive questions that designated students will ask and, if OK with Mrs. Hunt and the other cafeteria staff, students might come up with additional questions on the spot.
Skills Can Be Introduced Prior to the Visit
Asking Questions
Since at the cafeteria adults will ask the children what questions they have and young children often don’t know what the word “questions” or the phrase “asking questions” means, their class Wonder Wall and the project “Need-to-Knows” activity familiarizes the children with the meaning of the word “questions.” A third way students learn the meaning of “questions” is throughout the school year when students ask questions about anything Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Perkins say, “that is a good question.”
In addition, realizing children might be inhibited about asking questions to someone they don’t know and in an unfamiliar environment, prior to the visit the students role-play asking a question to an adult.
Observation and Observational Drawing
The children have experience focusing their observations for a particular purpose with See, Think, Wonder.
Also, on walks around the school yard and school block students often focus on particular items. For example, the colors of fall leaves, what people they see are doing, or shapes they see in buildings and cars. On walks, sometimes children sketch their observations on a paper attached to a clipboard with a pencil tied to the clip board. Some of the children take photos. Back in the classroom the children discuss what they observed.
Another place the children experience observational drawing is the classroom art center.
Field Site Visit Day
On the day of the visit to the cafeteria’s kitchen two parents, Ms. Perkins and Mr. Sanchez accompany the children, allowing the class to be divided into small groups. A student in each of the groups is prepared with a question that cafeteria staff members knew in advance. Mrs. Hunt had said they also would like children to ask spontaneous questions.
When they arrive in the kitchen, the adults distribute to the children clipboards with pencils tied to them. Permission for photos and video had been obtained and one of the parents has a camera and another is ready to video record with his phone. With guidance children also will take photos and record video.
One of the kitchen staff, Mrs. Johnson, shows the children how applesauce cookie ingredients are mixed together. Each child takes a turn mixing the dough. Mrs. Johnson shows the children how the dough is put on the baking sheet and the cookies placed in the oven. Children are sketching. Photos are taken and video recorded. On a tally chart Ms. Perkins had prepared, some of the children check off the number of cookies being made.
Then Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Johnson, and two other cafeteria staff show the groups of children around the kitchen. Abigail points to the cooler and asks, “What is this?” So her parent group leader asks Abigail, “Would you like to ask Mrs. Johnson about it? The parent leader also asks Abigail, “Would you like to draw something that is on the outside of the cooler? Maybe the cooler’s handle?” Abigail says she wants to draw the entire cooler, and the parent helps Abigail focus on her drawing by asking “What shape is the cooler?”
Lukas is staring at a whisk so his group’s adult asks Lukas, “Would you like to ask Mrs. Hunt a question about the whisk?” The parent group leader asks Lukas if he would like to draw the whisk and the parent leader helps Lukas gain focus for drawing by asking, “Which part is smaller? Which part is bigger?”
In each group a prepared question is asked: Jackson asks, “What apple dessert do you like?” Sophia asks, “What is a recipe?” Maddie’s question is “What are ingredients?”and Noah’s group’s question is: “How can we bake a dessert?”
As the children leave, Mrs. Johnson hands each child (and adult!) a freshly baked applesauce cookie.
Continued Learning/Documentation of Learning and Learning Needs
Discussing the Cafeteria Kitchen Visit
Back in the classroom, during whole group, small group and child/adult one-to-one discussions, the children share what they liked about their visit to the cafeteria kitchen, what they “found out,” and questions they now have. Field observation drawings are shared. In whole class and small groups, Ms. Perkins and Mr. Sanchez encourage children to respond to one another’s comments so conversation between and among children occurs.
Children explain their opinions on whether the apple sauce cookies are delicious and whether they are healthy. What is meant by “healthy” comes up in conversation and Mr. Sanchez notes to himself a future challenge-solving project could be “How can we keep healthy?“
For documentation of students’ learning progress and learning needs, Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Perkins record and take notes of what students say.
When the photos and video footage are ready, these are discussed as well. The photos are put on tag board and into an activity area so that children can try to sequence them. Using children’s sketches, the photos and video, children dictate to Ms. Perkins and Ms. Sanchez stories about the site visit. Some children choose to color-in their sketch. Some children label parts or the entire sketch, referring to words on the project word wall.
The next day’s learning centers have recipe books, children’s books about cooking, magazine pages with bright photos of apple and other recipes. Another activity area has baking equipment loaned to the class by the kitchen staff and parents. 
The visuals, books, and equipment are used for further sketching, dramatic play, dictating stories, finding letters, copying words and sentences related to apples and apple recipes or simply to look at and enjoy. Children see whether they can find answers to their questions.
Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Perkins take notes and record students’ comments. They take photos of students engaged in activities. These notes and photos are part of the formative assessment that help in planning future activities, interventions, and enrichments based on students’ needs. The photos also will be part of a display, depicting the project.
Interviewing an Expert
Mr. Spires (the volunteer who provided the project’s Hook with apple muffin and apple slices) returns and sits at the baking equipment center. Children take turns in asking him prepared and extemporaneous questions about baking, and healthy, delicious snacks.
Apple Crisp
At entire class story time, Mr. Sanchez shows the children a photo of apple crisp. “Do you think apple crisp could be a delicious, healthy snack? To solve our challenge of making a delicious, healthy snack, would you like to make apple crisp?” Response is “Yes!”
Mr. Sanchez and the children discuss what equipment and ingredients they saw at the cafeteria kitchen that might be used in making their apple snack. Mr. Sanchez reads a list of apple crisp ingredients and recipe instructions to the children.
For those children who are interested, an activity area is set up with apple crisp ingredients, mixing bowls and mixing spoons. Mr. Spires and Ms. Perkins demonstrate each step and let children take a turn in rinsing off apples, with slicing them, mixing ingredients, and placing the apple mixture and topping into a pan. A group of children and Ms. Perkins, bring the apple crisp mixture to the school cafeteria, where Mrs. Hunt again shows them the oven, the temperature control and how they can know how long to leave the apple crisp in the oven.
“Would you also like to make apple sauce?” Mr. Sanchez asks. Some of the children would like to do that and with adult supervision children slice apples and measure water and cinnamon, which all go into a big pot borrowed from the cafeteria kitchen.
Closing
– What We Learned Chart
– Presentation
– Reflection
What We Learned Chart
Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Perkins note children’s new learning, put it on a chart, and go over it with the children. The new learning (“what we found out”) chart will continue to develop.
Presentation
The class is asked whether they would like to share with special guests all they have done and learned. The children are interested. They learn an apples song they will sing and they prepare other parts of their presentation.
Children create invitations, for school kitchen staff, Mr. Spires, classroom volunteer Mrs. Conroy, the parents who accompanied the children to the kitchen, the school custodian, and the school principal, to a presentation of what the investigators have done and learned.
The presentation begins with children, Mr. Sanchez, Ms. Perkins singing the apple song with the audience invited to join in.
Then, other children explain sketches, tally charts, writing, and other visuals, which are displayed. Children say what they liked best in the kitchen, something about how they made apple crisp and apple sauce, and what they liked best about making the desserts. Mr. Sanchez points out the chart with initial inquiry questions and the chart with what the children learned.
Some children present a play that dramatizes gathering healthy ingredients, measuring ingredients into a bowl, stirring, baking, and serving a snack to others.
Finally, some of the children help serve apple slices, apple crisp, apple sauce, and apple muffins to the guests and to their classmates.
Creating the invitations, explaining visuals to the guests, the song, the play, and serving the snacks allow a role for each child in the class.
After the presentation Mr. Sanchez congratulates the children on all they have accomplished! He asks what they liked about their presentation.
Reflection
The next day while pointing to project photos, sketches, and writing Mr. Sanchez tells the children to think about their project. “What parts of our project did you like best?”
Showing the photos to remind them of parts of their project, the children do “thumbs up” for parts of the project where they did their best work. At the cafeteria kitchen? In our morning circle? At learning centers? With Mr. Spires? At our presentation?
“What did you do to work well with classmates? With adults? On your own?
In whole class and small groups Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Perkins ask “What did you learn/what did you find out about apples/ apple snacks/ baking /cafeteria kitchen?
“What question do you have now? How can you find the answer?”
Resources
Chard S., Rogan Y., & Castillo, C. (2017). Picturing the project approach: Creative explorations in early childhood. Gryphon House.
Helm H.H. & Katz, L.G. (2016). Young investigators: The project approach in
the early years (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
*This project is based on a composite of various prek best practices projects. Actual educators, students, parents, and cafeteria personnel are not named.
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