THE CAFETERIA PROJECT 

This project involved the study of the cafeteria in a university campus building. It was undertaken in the fall of 1995 by children aged 3-5 years in the University of Alberta Child Study Center, a pre-k and kindergarten lab school setting.

Preliminary planning

The teacher selected the topic of study based on the children's interests and the availability of a cafeteria in the same building as the Center.

The teachers and student teacher brainstormed their own experience, knowledge and ideas in a cafeteria topic web. This web was added to and used as the basis for planning and recording the progress of the project.

Phase 1

The teacher told simple stories from her own experience of eating out in a restaurant or cafeteria and the children shared their experiences in a variety of ways, through talking, drawing, writing, construction, dramatic play, etc. A letter was sent home to the parents to let them know what was being studied and to ask if they would like to help with the project in suggested ways. The teacher found out where the children had eaten out, what they had eaten. She found out how much they knew about eating out and also learned about some of the things they did not know. The teacher helped the children to formulate questions about what they would be interested in investigating. A list of these questions was compiled for investigation.

The children are playing in the block area in the classroom which has been set up in a simple representation of a cafeteria.

Teachers' concerns

• What prior experiences of restaurants or cafes could the children share?
• What did the children know about different kinds of food and how it was bought and prepared?
• What did the children know about chefs, waitresses or cashiers?
• How well could they explain processes, sequences, cause and effect?
• How could the parents best be informed about the project on restaurants and cafes?
• Who might be able to help the children with their study of the cafeteria? etc.

Phase 2

The teacher arranged for the children to do field work in the cafeteria in the building where their classroom was housed. They were able to follow a customer and speak to the cashier and the man refilling the drinks machine with ice. The teacher provided for the children to follow up their observations by looking in books and doing research in food preparation, making different kinds of muffins. They also represented what they had seen and learned in a variety of ways. They drew pictures, made models and constructions with the large and small blocks and became involved in increasingly elaborate dramatic play. Some children were involved in very complex work, opening a bank so that money could be used in the role play, devising a cash register, making a drinks machine, etc. Other children drew pictures, wrote labels and looked at books. One of the teachers made "stone soup" with the children after they had read the book. The teachers helped the children to be aware of all the different work being done through class and small group discussion and bulletin board displays. Here are some examples of the children at work:

The children did field work in a real cafeteria. Here the children are interviewing the checkout clerk. While the children were visiting the cafeteria a man came to fill up the drinks machine with ice. The children guessed how many buckets of ice would be needed to refill the machine. One child became especially interested in this method of selling drinks. He worked with this interest back in the classroom.

Sally and Toby are making food to sell in the cafeteria.

These children are paying for their food and drinks at the checkout counter.

The cafeteria table play has become more complex now.

The children digressed from the cafeteria study to make stone soup following a reading of the story.

The teachers were concerned about the following:

• Where could the children go to see a restaurant or cafeteria in operation?
• Whom could they talk to about preparing and serving food for people to eat out?
• What could they do to represent what they were learning in the classroom and how?
• What resources would help children in the classroom to study the way a cafeteria works?
• What kinds of assessment strategies could be used to monitor the children's learning?

Phase 3

The teacher arranged a culminating event for the children to share what they had learned. The children had the opportunity together with the Student Teacher to tell the story of their project to their parents. The teacher helped the children to select material to share and involved them in reviewing the experiences they had had. The children prepared to offer their parents fruit juices and the muffins they had cooked. They designed a beautiful table cloth which was covered in clear plastic so it would not be damaged by spills. The parents were able to see photographs of the work which had been done on the cafeteria as well as drawings and constructions and of course they were able to speak to the teachers and the children about their work. At the end of the project some children wanted to make a book about the muffins they had cooked. This became the springboard into the next project which was on the topic of books and libraries.

To conclude the study of the cafeteria, the children invited the parents to come and hear about their work and see the teacher's slides. Here these children are making muffins for their guests.

The children also made a decorative table covering for this sharing event.

Here are the parents and other visitors who have come to learn about the cafeteria project and see the work the children have done.

Teachers' concerns

• How could the cafeteria project be most suitably be brought to a close?
• Could a sharing activity/event could be organized which would enable the children to make and serve food for the parents as well as show them their work on the cafeteria project?
• Could the children's growing interest in making books offer a transition to a new project?
• How could the children's drawings, paintings and writing be used to document their learning about the cafeteria through field work and representation in the classroom?

This is a brief introduction to the Project Approach. Further development of this document will show other examples of projects in other locations. The cafeteria project was undertaken in the Child Study Center of the University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada. Involved were the staff of the Center: Grant McEwan College student, Kris Chung, and teachers Margaret Brooks, Shanthu Manorahan, Cristina Milne and Jim Odell.

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Last revised: February 18, 1997