Documentation

Documentation

Key features of Documentation:

  • Documents a child's experience in creating something or learning about a specific topic
  • Captures progress along the way, not just the finished product
  • Includes specific quotes from the child explaining what they're doing and/or thinking
  • Usually makes use of photos to capture specific moments
  • Can be shared in a portfolio or on a bulletin board
  • Can be focused on an individual child or the whole class

When Documentation is useful:

  • When you want to show development across a variety of domains
  • When you want to create something tangible to share with parents and visitors
  • To check in on student learning and think about ways to deepen learning (ie: ask yourself "what have they learned? what can I introduce to deepen the learning?")
  • For longer term projects that are evolving and changing (ex: kids are fascinated with wheels and you're exploring all different types of transportation with wheels)

Documentation Examples:

Peter Pan Exploration

In Peter Pan in order to fly you need to think of things that make you happy, as well as a sprinkle of pixie dust from Tinker Bell. We drew pictures of things that make us happy and then sprinkled them with a little fairy dust. It looks like we are all ready to fly away!

Getting Ready to Explore Tea

We are getting ready to learn about tea and asked the children what they know about tea and what they want to know about tea. We have some interesting questions to explore!

Trying New Foods

We have been trying out new foods to see what flavors our taste buds like.