Dinosaur.
Anna Frank School
chapter 12
Curriculum Development in Reggio
Emilia: A Long-Term Curriculum
Project About Dinosaurs
Baji Rankin
/>ado (5;8): Dinosaun are enom,ous....
Ftdmto (6;0):
It'• almo,t a., if we W<>Uld cru,h an anL
Paolt,: And dinosaurs would crush us!
This exchang,, between Paolo and Federico is one fragment of many conversations that took place during a project about dinosaurs in a Reggio Emilia
preschool. This chapter describes the unfolding of this project, which took
place over 4 months (44 separate sessions) from mid·February through June,
1990. A group of 5- and 6-year-old children in the Anna Frank School for 3to 6-year-olds took part in the project, guided by their au/ims/Jl, Roberta
Badodi. My own role evolved gradually from observer 10 panicipant, as l documented the experience for Roberta and myself on audio-tape, slides, and
videotape. Roberta would use the documentation in her work with children,
teachers, parents, and the community. I would use it for better understanding
the Reggio approach and then communicating to United States audiences
(Rankin, 1992, 1996).
! lived in Reggio Emilia for most of one school year, a 9-month period from
October, 1989, throughJune, 1990. Living in Reggio for such an extended peri·
od of time allowed me to observe and participate in the project as well a.s in the
215
THE DINOSAUR PROJECT 217
to better com e to their own conclusions regarding 1hese important questions.
The dinosaur project, like any other in Reggio, had its own unique momen·
tum and sequence of e,•ents. It could never be exaclly duplicated in Reggio
Emilia o r any other place. Roberta made numerous decisions based on the par·
ticular group of children with whom she was working, their preferences and
capabilities, and the daily features of the situation. Therefore, this repon should
not be thought of as providing a model to copy, but rather a description of
process that illustrates principles that can be applied in othe.r situations, espe·
cially the principle of r«iprocity, which involves mutual guidance of the educa·
tional process by teacher and learner and responsiveness in circular paths of
communication, caring, and control (see Malagu12i, Chapter 3). A metaphor
used by educators in Reggio Emilia lo describe this sense of reciprocity is that of
a ball being «>ssed (sec Edwards, C hapter IO). As Tizjana f"tlippini said in her
1990 speech to the National Association for the Education of Young Children:
Our expecllllions or the child must be very flexible and varied. \\'e must be able
to be amozed and lo enjoy-like the children often do. \\'e must be able to catch
the ball Iha, the children throw us, and toss it back 10 them in a way thaJ makes
the children w-.rnt to continue the ga,ne with us, developing, perhaps, other gdlllcs
as we go along.
The adults involved in the d inosaur project sought to toss the ball in just such
a way.
THE UNFOIDING OF THE PROIECT
The Initialing Context
In Italy, just as in the United States, images of dinosaurs abound. Children par·
ticipate in a culture of dinosaurs through books, movies, television, and toys.
Often they are fascinated and excited, as well as worried o r frightened, by th.e
images they see of those dinosaun most immense, powerful, and aggressive.
Children in Reggio Emilia, jus1 as in other places, like 10 bring things from
home to school. At the Anna frank School, beginning in fall of 1989, teachen
of the 5- to 6-year-olds noticed that many children were bringing dinosaur toys
10 school. 11,e children's play sometimes spontaneously turned to dinosaurs.
The teachers took note, valuing the inierest in dinosaurs as an opportunity to
understand more about the children. In keeping with tl1e principle of reciprocity, teacben decided to begin a journey together with the children and study
dinosaurs in depth.
As is the customary practice in Reggio Emilia, a group of children, rather
than the whole classroom, conducted this project. Educaton in Reggio (sec
Malaguzzi, Chapter 3, and Rinaldi, Chapter 5) believe that small group work
ZIS lv\Nl(J~
, hall""
.,. of ideas; when coupled
h w,th.
.
l~am,og an d <XC
the
most
mtcnsc
h·Jd
·'""cipates
in
at
least
one
sue
ar
ti t •,e,vc I p~u
h l I e xper,
. M,nauc rorauon so. iab·t< , en
·' th e proic,
. -t group and the w o e. c ass at kev
S)'~
'
•nee a )ear, interacl!on < v.e
•hared' and collaborat,on between
,
.
·led ' and in<tghts are •
', .
. h
.
l>O that kno" gc .
d ptdogo,~oi<la (to deal \\1th t c complex,.
adults parents, teachers, atd,~ta. antl benefit from all that is learned). In the
ucs and problems that arise an JOdruln Ydecided to work ,.;th the children who
o ect the a ts
case of the .di nosaur
pr
'
These children represented the spectrum of
ed · ~d·nosaurs
1
were most mterest Ill
:
• .
turity and they we re about equal
the class in tenns of cognitve a~d lingwsuc ma
'
tl "atcs
Po'""
Iv divided between boys and gi~lsRe . Em 'lia is that before the children actu. Another custor_nary practic: ~e afui: inv~lved m eet to discuss various posallr gather to begin the proJCC • 'al d . lion s that the proj ect might take. This is
sibilities, hypotheses, _and potentied ,r:Cn a meeting with Roberta and myself on
important. Carlina Rinaldi point ou 1
April 20, 1990:
If adults have thought of I,000 hypotheses' then it ,s .easy ·to accept the fact
dadthat
J
tht,e can be l,OOI or 2,ooo hypotheses. The unknowned
is easier to acc~fa1' an th u IS
many potenu
ate more open to new. t·deas w hen they have general
. th mes
dr em•
all
seh·es. The problem comes from ha-,ng only one hypothesis which en aws
the auenbon of the aduJL
Accordingly, before opening the project with _the _children,. Roberta and
Carlina brainstormed many possibilities and potential directions. They, also for·
mulated some "provocatory" questions for Roberta to use in a first d1scu.ss10n
with children, to open the project and assess their initial level of knowledge
about dinosaurs' evolution, physical characteristics, behavior, and living habits.
The adults had caught the idea of dinosaur study from the children. and now
they wanted to return it to them in a way that would generate observations, ques·
tions, suggestions, hypotheses, and set the initial direction of the project work.
Continual collaboration among adults throughout this project is critical to its
progress. In this case the primary adults involved were the alelierista, Roberta,
who works exclusively in the Anna Frank School; the pedagogista, Carlina, who
works with adults in several preprimary schools and infant- toddler centers, and
myself. (In many other projects, classroom teachers take leading roles as well;
e.g., see The Longjump Project, described by Fonnan & Fyfe in Chapter 13, this
volume). Accordingly, we three met to tal.k and plan together through a variety
of m eans. \Ve held fonnal scheduled meetings together, we made frequent
phone ~ls to Carlina during many phases of the project, and we held infonnal
conversa11ons whenever Carlina came to the school for other purposes. Roberta
and I conferred continually- before, during and after activity times. Roberta held
frequent discussions with the two lead teachers of the 5- to 6-year-old classroom
to mfonn and mvolve them in events.
HIL Dll'<OSAUR l'ROII er 21?
The
Beginning
lht· intthll phase 1s ;.ii'!. ~ential pan of any project: The aim is to open up and
lO a.uc·.,i the ch1ldren ~ knowledge and intert.~ts concerning lhe s,abject The
aduhs want to hP1£_ children to set up a context m which the _dlildren cat1 find
~ o••>P q,u:stions and pro~_f~'xplOre.
goal ls to help each indlvid ·
ual and the group as a whole :~.mctqhe construction and co-construcuon of
1ne·
snowledge. Thu,, ,nstead of only re,pondmg to those quesbons that adults think
they w,11 find m1cresbng, the children are involved nght from the siart in defin·
mg questions to be explon'CI.
The imual phase also involves !'Stabb.sh mg the communiiy of the small group.
Emphasis is placed on learning as a group and developing a serise of "we."
Reggio Emilia educators use tJ_>e phrase, "lo ch, s,amo" ("I am wh2._~rD to
express rhe idea rhat it is w1thm th,s shared space of · w ~each child can
offer his or her best thinking, leading to a rich and fertile group exchange and
stirnulabng sornethmg new and unexpected, impossible for any one person to
create alone. The teacher's role in !his process is 10 galvaruze each child to par·
ticipate and to grow, as much as he or she can, wirhin the context of rhe group
investigation. This is done "ithin a framework of seeing that rhe project belongs
to rhe group: each child is a part, an essential part, but only a part. The realitv
of "we," which rhe Reggio educators believe is inside each child from birth, is
valued and encouraged in all of the activities of school life. In !his sense rhe actu·
al theme or content of the project is nota as important as the process of children
rhinking, feeling, working, and progressing together with others.
At rhe beginning of the dinosaur project. then, about half rhe 5- to 6 year-old
class gathered in the au/itrofthe Anna Frank School for rhe fust time. Roberta,
establishing the sense of "lo chi siamo, "explained to the children that they would
be working on dinosaurs for awhile. She encouraged all of them to do their best
and pointed out lhat they had a special opportunity to work together. She first
lllitiatcd a graphic (pictorial) and then a verbal investigation. The children began
to draw dinosaurs, any way they liked, around a large square table. They talked
together as they drew and asked each other questions about their drawings and
other things. Good ideas spread contagiously around the table. Several times a
child changed his or her drawing because of comments or questions from a
friend. "Oh, that's not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs have four legs'"
After the children finished their drawings, Roberta spoke individually with
each child about his or her drawings. Then she gathered the children togeth·
er for a group discussion and asked a series of open-ended quesuons, encou_r·
aging discussion among the children. \Vhere did dinosaurs live? \\'hat d,d
they eae How did they take care of their babies? How were the babies born?
~re dinosaurs living now? Vlhat are the differences between m~e and. female'
ainOSaurs? These questions, growing in part out of the cluldren s earlier play
nd comments, and in part out of the questions cornp1\ed by the adults,
110 AA-,.iN
.
d response.
,
·
~ the catalvsLs
k dag,cal dt ,aJ of inte1est an
h·ldrenbecam,
. I ,or 1ater.acuv,tics
Th
r•o] 1•·e ,de.is d.isc,issed by the c ' back to the children on ater occasions.
. I. n. e
'
. tions that ad,~lS ga,·e
'as facilitated (ru; is typ,ca in '"'ggio
and con, e::pandmg. This critical proe<:'ss •;onversations related to the project.
~ame '.'""'. · e recording all of the ma.,or
and typed up by parent volun,
fnulra b) "~~e transcribed b)' Roberta a~ho;:~ what the children had said and
The iape~at we adults could study and.re ec how children interacted, and so
cccrs,
greatest ,nteres~
.
h
.
ftr
not s:u·d• what issues
. arous,..,
chools and on d'"
merent occcasions, t e p1ocess o an,
on. !But note, in different s
b . various people).
. ·ption and typing "ill be done Y ' . p·""'cular-started with a great deal
sen
'
,,_
group-three ,n w u
h ,, .
. .
The
boys
in
che
uu,osaur
H
.
an
excerpt
from
t
e
W>C\ISS1on.
of knowledge that infonned the others. ere ,s
.
'°
'
.,
.
•
wre dino.sa
urs. . . because among all the hanimals
din that
F,dmco: There aren t anyrnn the dutosaurs
already existed; therefore t e
osaurs
.
'"-tre already bo •
were already of two specides. d.Th y killed and buried them.
Fra,uaeo: Bui all the dmos.aurs are ea .lf,dul,
e
didn't b rv them• They died themselves.
u(
were killed] because who could have killed the
Fahio: No! The~
In fact,
not ~e I.he: le were lhere after the dinosaurs, not at aU when
dinosaurs. d~m1 JVe ~~oons show that when there were dinosaurs there
there were u1osaurs.
·
•
·ti rv.,ople when
were rimitive people, but rea11)' there wercn t prun1 ve r:
th ere were
p d.mosa"u.o~.
- The primitive people existed after the dinosaurs.
~,'-- -.· ~1en came when dinosaurs were dead.
all
raunco
•
all
th
"ttl
·
aJs
that
were
Fa/no: \\.'hen I.here were dinosaurs. there were
e u e arum
.
it!
small msects when the dinosaws disappeared. They became b,g and they
became the monkeys and all the other animals... but not at all the ele-
phants. that there are now.
Francesca's statement that "they buried dinosaurs" was resoundly defeated by
the three boys, who had more infonnation and confidence than she did on this
topic. They also had agreement among themselves. This is an example of cog·
nitive conflict where one position dominates.
The pictorial investigation revealed intriguing differences in ways of thinking
between boys and girls. The educators in Reggio have noticed that boys and
girls often approach situations differen~y. They are interested to learn more
about lhose differences. Here the boys' knowledge was more accurate. Several
boys indicated which dinosaurs "·ere female by drawing baby dinosaurs inside
the mother's belly. The girls, on the other hand, represented female dinosaurs
decorations such as long hair, and by dra"ing baby dinosaurs close to
by using
the
mother.
The next day, a Thursday, the second day of the investigation, neither the discussions nor the drawings were as rich or extended as the first day. Afterward,
the adults decided to wait a few dars before continuing, to assess whether the
I
THE DINOWa PIIOIECT 221
d
"-rtt genwnel, mlerested enough to IO llwwl wldi a
lelm ...,.,_
proiet t reqwres II dC'rp sense of 111n1,;- OIi the .1.,u__~
pro;ea.
a•
--~,
~•~to•-n
ch
di<' effort
!{<I" -er, anotl1er possible
c-
of the second day's lowaed mer
could
ha'" 1,eeu tin• approach of lhe aduha. Racttvating a group, ~ the
,nqun)' l,et,,ttn one day and the next, 11 a -r llllpi*1all md delir11ie ffllllet
\le had chosen to introduce the topic the aecood day in much the . _ way u
,..., had on the first. But perhaps it would have been fflCft ell°ecth,e to ilcua on
O'l• or 1wo of the themes that had been of pr... loler• 1o c:IMen
1111 the fint
~. for example, the time period in whldi dioOl&un lived, their me, their on
~n and disappearance, or the cliffe1e11c11 . _ ...,... md
ht any
~ . "hen "'e met with the children the fo11owmg Montlay, their i111111st hi~h once morC', when we offered them day to 1119 m CCllllliidb,g d b . . 11,ese minal inveslJgBliOns rew.led the <Nlilien'a wy - . - m lbe
dinosaur topic. In put lbae rellected the qi,Hlitllll lmt IW>erla bid niled with
them; however, the attmliOn children lhowlld to tel I qi 111b11 and lbe
exchanges that ensued, den-.., II d dleir I w+e _.._, • wel • their
nwea
cap,ioties 10 conSIIUd knowledp c:oD-bocllll.11):
-·=•m
The adults used the c:hildna't 11( lftCtwM
dw..igt-,.. lbe
p!OJ('ct in many ways. 'lbt!y I f ,eil ID .. I Mi.: C,!114\ .... a l • Ibey ipclce wilh
children They used quc,«mlons In . . . . . . .~ - . . , . , e.agc.d writ
ten quotes as per11ofdlaplllylbdlii•iFd.••wlill1 'n.dw: paflbedlildren were bigbly YMwcl, ml lliia,...hn II 5811 I r. 11 ea.n, llld pueoll.
As Robertapu1it(inafo.lllll drltplon10aSW'e If ~ig M•mMay9, 1991 .
It was clear lhlt ... pLQ
Robel1a ioiti Pl ii • dila11-.~
tioo about ctuw.ma.
bered pomilm qac•
from )pm and llllw,w
father bows . .
•..•.•,.,....
..... 'Die fallowing day,
CPPM aet 1DOn inbn•·
... ktil nway boob.
armybldt ID lmllOL These
....... fartbe pn.Jed). eoebling
......... Hie: illfonnalion. Onldrm
111
RANKI
enjoyed books individually and in small s,rroups. They compared their own
drawings to the drawings in the books. When they formulated a question, they
often retrieved a book to help them clarify what they were asking about
The children invited friends and relatives to school to share mformation. The
task of ,\lrlting a letter of invitation to friends and relatives generated much
enthusiasm. The letter was con1poscd by the whole dinosaur group, each child
offering ideas while Roberta acted as scribe reiterating, every once in a while,
the purpose of the letter. Then, taking turns, two children at a tin1e wrote out the
final draft; copying Roberta's model, while others addr,essed envelopes, drew
acc.-0n1panying drawings, and made posters about the coming events. The visitors, arriving over the next few weeks, were enthusiasticaJly received. They
mduded two older siblings, graduates of the Anna Frank School, bearing
impressive notebooks and full of zeal from their third-grade study of dinosaurs;
a father a grandmother; and an expert from a local nature society. The children
prepared questions ahead of each visitor, so that each child had specific ques·
tions to ask. These discussions were very rich for all participants, especially for
the particular children whose relatives came.
During this period1 children were also constructing dinosaurs out of day,
painting them with tempera and water color, and dra,ving with chalk.
Differences re-emerged in how girls and boys used clay.Just as in the earlier case
with the drawings, the girls ttsed more decorations, mbcllishments, and tiny
details, d1an did the boys, A group of four boys built a large day dinosaur, and
this coUective activity produced talk about making a really big dinosaur.
Ch_jldren then engaged in shadow play before images of dinosaurs projected
onto the wall In this way they had the opportunity to directly experience the
large dimensions of dinosaurs.
How to Make a Big Dinosaur
At this point, many topics were of interest to the group, including the size and
physical dimensions of dinosaurs, their origin and disappearance their daily
habits differences between male and fetnale dinosaurs and how baby dinosaurs
were rais,ed. However, one theme kept recurring- that of size and dimension.
To follow up on thls theme, Roberta asked the children what they could do
to build a really big dinosaur. The discussion was lively: there were many ideas
and many different suggestions about materials and techniques to use. In the
midst of this discussion, an important point emerged: the necessity or deciding
what kind of dinosaur to build.
Fra,utJ(X): 'Nell, th thing lo think about is ,, hal dinosaur to make ... '"·hich dinosaur!
Ro/Jtrta: It's tru . \•Ve know many dinosaurs and maybe the first lhing to do is to
understand which one we wanl to make. \\l'hy b that important lo you,
Francesco?
THE DINOSAUR PROJECT 225
chose a different book and it took them a much longer time than the girls to
choose which image to use as a model. Then diey chose wire and mellll as their
construction material. Perhaps the hardness of the wire suggested to them the
roughness and sharpness of 1jTannwuTUS Ra. In any case, it was a very difficult
material to use. They had to ask for Roberta's help during moot of the st.,ges of
construction, and their work went quite slowly. Whereas the girls had seemed
oblivious to other people in the room, the boys were highly distracted and at
times discouraged by seeing the girls' dinosaur taking rapid form. The boys had
to return over the next several days to finish their work. However, in the end,
their dinosaur was also very satisfying to them.
Measuring and Drawing A Llfe·Size Dinosaur
As the adults read and re-read the texts of the child ren's conversations and
searched for a next direction in which to move, they noticed how lhe lheme of
size and dimension kept recurring. They decided to challenge the ch.i ldren to
draw a dinosaur life-size and find some way to hang it, so it could be seen actu·
ally standing upright on its feel I must admit, as a paiticipant in these discus·
sions, that I found this proposal prep0S1erous. How could the children do such
a difficult thing? But then I gradually became more and more excited. Vvould
lhe children want to do it? Could they do it? I knew that !hey would have to be
highly motivated to get lhrough the difficulties.
Roberta and I marked lhe transcribed texts so !hat she would be able to
remind the children of what they had said in previous sessions about die size of
dinosaurs. Roberta galhered six ch.ildren, those who remained the most curious
and active in lheir participation up to !his point. We decided !hat six childrenlhree girls and lhree boys-would make a good group to confront the challenge
of making a life-size dinosaur. Although educators in Reggio Emilia have found
lhat five or fewer is ideal in order to maximize the cognitive learning processes
in the group, we wanted a fairly large group and a balance of girls and boys.
Roberta's suggestion was met with great enlhusiasm; it stimulated a produc·
tive and multi-faceted discussion and led naturally to the proposal to make a life·
size drawing. Notice her active role in guiding and shaping, but nOI controlling,
the discussion:
Robtrta: Rereading all the things that you said, there's one thing that came to our
minds that you could understand beuer. It has to do witJ1 the real mea·
surments of dinosaurs, the real measurements. \Ve've talked many tirncs
and you've said many things. but, in fact, no o ne has talked exactly about
lhe real meawrments of dinosaurs. no one', talked aboul that really.
FultriCIJ: In fac~ we have ii in 1here, the "thing-a-ma-jig" of dinosaura. (Federico is
rcrerring to a poster of dinos:iurs in the: classroom that a. child brought to
school. It shows the height of a dinosaur in relation lo the height of a man.)
"Only that if there is a dinosaur as high as 1hat, then, yeah, he cou.ld be
II IL lll).OWJR PIUJI LT ll7
flGl/RE 12.J. After finding the tbre<, meter lllcka In the sdiool l-'llc:ient to
me....,., the length of 'r7 meters. the chlldn,n return to lhe a&, to &nd ocher
ol,jtaJ they could use. They discover aeveral pludc rocb which Roberta mea·
surt1: they are one meter long!
ed going back ,nao the altlirr to look for other Dl<'asunng matmal. '!here on the
,liel,es !he children found a bunch of long plastic rods for hanging posarrs1 The
children and Roberta verifiro that they were each I meter long. The childrer,
counaecl !he rods and found more than enough. 11ie invesogauon could contin·
at! By sugi,'eSllng that ahc childn,n return to search for other ma1enals, Rolx-na
enabled !he investigation to go on. Her interv<'ntion- nOI the onl) possible one
could have made-supported the childml in their quest for a solution but did
oot un~ upon them an adult one.
Trymg to lay out 27 of these rods in the courtyard made 1t evident that the
COtut}ard was too ,mall An idea. suggested earlier by one child, came up now
~ : L'se the spons field in front of the school. There was clearly enough space
there The next problem became that of laying the rods in straight lines and
fomimg the huge rectangle.
After trials, errors, and corrections, three sides of the rectangle were mea
>11red out: 27 rods bv 9 rods by 9 rods. On the fourth side, howe,-er, anOlher
JllOblem aro.e: There were not, after all, enough plulic rods to complete the rec•
~gle Two of the children wt"nt back to the school in search of other obJeclS and
:;ved several minutes later, victoriously, with a roll of toilet paper' The rec
me
gle could now be completed.
.
l HE OINOYIUR PROJ!Cl 22?
van
...., r_.,..r. fhev
'_, expenmented
th 2"1 smalI wnh
ousbloc
maten.,i.·'\fter S<·wral a11empts,
rectangular
"':'.'•of h<" pap<•r !1wn she mad,• the oth th ks that she placed alon• one
Mt
I
er ree sid
th th
?
"-e ()l)>cr t"o g,r s came 10 watch and end d
., w,
e
same
blocks.
,"
th
C up collabo ·
b
di< 'ti ,quarcs on e gr-..ph paper, then 9, 9, and i1
ranng y counting out
fh• ~rls. then.,became mterested
m the h on,.onl
._
alto
make
the rectangle.
.
\m,..
>ee · th
1,.,-.nk
to in 1cated.:1 meter uruts of height . ,vsmg
•.. the square
nhm e reference
~
d
'" on< case,
- theotherthe·
son t e1t graph
•·
. an the small
d rectangular bloc'"
~m
edpaper
tr·'
;ind then 6-measures an were able 10 draw
th
.
•
)
count
o 3·
k d th h · h
on cir papers the two h · ·-•
1,nes that m>r e
e eig t. Th.s was a tremendous
.
onion=
cuiar mommg for these three girls.
accomplishment this par·
h ,uc«·cm,, ."1
!.-, girl
0
'f1le Boys. \\'hen the bovs had their tum th .
""" dramatic. Federico m,;.,edia<ely chose ~hunportanc: ;:'., choice of paper
'ti squares. He ob-,ously had some kind of u n : : : ' gan to count off
.. ould be mos1 suitable. Tommi, on the other hand ch,ng
paper
beg>" making dolS, 27 of them in a rough row He th:n m°"'ad ,,- papedr and
- --1] I
th' r,
·
'
e •' more ot>, m
a ,ow .,...- e lO • ,s mst row but higher up on his paper, and when he finished
he was very
. surpnsed
· 'fc
•lo see that the bottom line was longer than the <op one.
t. ,s.:..ht
poml om1TU was curious, e•-r
....,- • and a hule upset Something ,.,... not
A th
workmg '&u .
The role of the teacher in this kind of moment is important. Roberta could
ha"e made some comment or asked a question, but instead she chose 10 pause.
:i::.rh
l
Federico stepped in:
Frtlmto: h's because, I think. here you made them closer w,gether. Try and count
them ....
Tommi re-counts his dots.
Ftdtr,CQ:
Yeah, here you made them too close bec...se look her•. they are all
messed up here. and look how they ue here. (H• compares the top and
bottom lines). Maybe you were in too much ol a hurry.
Although this incident has simiJari1ies to a u,,ditional Piagelian conservation of
length task, it arose spont,neOUSly out of the children's on-going work. As a result.
the two children were very motivaied to solve this problem. Tommi was clearly a
boy in the process of establishing ~ of length. While he was counting
the 'lJ dots, he demonsaared that he Jcnew counting to be a way to establish equiv·
alence of length. However, on compledllg the counting. the obvious discrepancy
between the length of the two lines toOfused him. He did not yd. undenland how
the counted number of uni1S only applies when the units are of equal length.
Federico, whose concept of conservaliOO of length was clearly established. was
able to articulate the relalionship of di,lance between dots and overall length. He
was easily able to coordinate two rdaliof1ShiPs and explain it to Tommi.
•
men•• Tomnu a1,peared indcc1s1ve and stuck Ro~.
Fedenco < com
..,,
d
'~•
\ '" l bl' could d,an.~e paper ,f he want,•d 10, an he Jumped at the •han,•
m was e\ldent as he stood up to get a new piece of po per He <elect
""aenpiece o Wl 1me<! pa•"'r
td
r~ · \\bile Fed,•rico and Roberta
.
. went back
. to .,,
lJhlf
.
.
k
Tco,nmi
pondcre<l
He
looked
at
tcdenco
working
on
hlS
rope<lJ\e \\Or s.
_
.
.
. h pa~,
i=r· he looked at the three ch01ce, of paper
grap
db m front of. him; slo.,lv. he
put the blank papu back, cho,c graph paper, an. eg-•n c~un~ng the '<juare,;.
Roberta's intervention, a qt11et suggestion,\\ as JUSt enough to get Jomm 1start.
eel again on his exploration. In th<.' words of Loris ;\falaguzzi 'founding director
of the Reggio Emilia municip;J preschool system), ma taped interview wnh me
on June 21
t
.ugge':;;'
"""'r
Ille teacher Jnu~ mtervene as liulc a.1; pu~s1ble but in a way that's sufficit·nt to s.tan
tht" e-xchouige agam or to r(•a.ssun: the children. 11wr<'fore. imcrvemions must be,
01cil!.lired. 1101 overbearu1g, nol subverting \vhat the children a,e doing. Rather it
1'i a kind of taktog the child by the hand, always l.etting the children st.Uld on lheir
m,n two feet. Malaguzz,, 1990, p. 5).
11 was not ,o much Federico's intellectual capacity that made the difference
inthis situation, but rather the r<.'Ciprocity between Tommi and Federico, in grappling together o,·er what they knew and dtd not know. Tommi came to apprc-
FIGURE 12.S. This d
.
lit. .
.
rawtng was ch
b
e-s12e dinosaur. By creating a .d osen y the children to use in drawing the
figure the length of Various bod gn °0 graph paper, the children were able
y P"11$.
10
H
D
WI
RO ll
nh spa ed marks prov,dPCl 1" th graph paptr and
' to pr
If abou th 1d
then lucd 111 a cut out shape of th~ c1, 1
·•7 9
th
,M"
...-ur. •
c~nlimce retl.:lnglt, on th graph paper They "ere
hm, long the boclv parts of 1he chnos.iur
were, an d uv
,. counting
·
,
,qu
could 6gun, 1 ou "I.ct s pretend that one square stands I r one
_.,,.,.• ,,...d h·dc 11co l'he) <<>ulll, d squ.ires lo find out how long eat!, bod)
1'3'1 " , and then mad 'erllc c lim,s on their dra"mg. marking 001 ho" long
d,t
"
the bod,, th,· m·rk and the h,•ad.
lit C,np of Six Ba~ 'lbgethn- !be next day, the bo) and girl present
ed I ach other md to l·abm, who had bt·<'n <>Ill of school for a f<·w da\ , \'ihat
the) had done. IbC) asked questions about "hat th<' others had done It was
no:. at llll a smooth discussion~ thrre was cxcitt•mcnt., di.sbd1cf, and incomplclt'
undenwidm;:; For more information see Rankin, 1996. Gnilia summed u up
quit<• ""II with h,•r comment, "l thmk the dr,1wmgs of both th.. girls tmd the
l
sq
t,o, are nttded 1•
Each child made h" or he, own plan, usmg photocopies of27, 9 cenume«r
dinosaurs ·11ie dra"ings "Ne theu uken ouL<ide to use while redr•wing the rec
Wlgle 111 the sport, field much eas"'r th,s time .,!though sull difficult-and begin
mn, to thmk about ho" to draw the dinosaur mS1de of it lommi and Federico
ruggcsted laymg out tht• vert1cle Imes, so the)· could mark out th<' length of the
bod, part> as the, had done on thcrr papers.
FIGURE 12.6. The grid previously done o n paper Is now reconstructed in the
field. The outline of the bade of the dinosaur appean.
'
,w,;A'
.L.
honzonial lines that the girls had d,a.,
11 on
cd 1,uwng m1 u,e
.L d
C, , ,ugg
h h·-' said earlier thal we ra"1ngs of both th
f ming " I1at s t> .iu
e
,r P"I""' c n 11
\\",th thi, gr ,d of honzontal and , erticle l,nd th bo)S ,_,re ne<tls'>M'
ba k f•L -1,
·~•
gn an la < it""' po,;;,'ble 10 mark rhe outline of the cf o u,e
wnosaur• con
_,,
no,, m P ce,
. ,L gn'd ,.;,ha rope The back o the wnosaur ""-' \is
necMi.; cruo:iJ pomh on uJl"
che din<"aur was taking shape
.
, .
f h
.
_
.
. -L-ut this morning 1s the urning o t e act1v1t1es. 'fh•
An ,nteresting poinr """
•
d , · o·
'
.Les, children had started at aroun ~:3 m the mom,n.
discussion among m '-'
. · ,L
.
,.
·ed
a, noon che children were sfl 11 m me m1ds1 of
am\
h
and v.: hen Iunc ume
•
·
.
•orkmg in che field. Roberta told the.children to go in fo'r l~nch and s~d 1hai
cht'>' could come back nshi anerward if they wan led to. E, Cl) one d,d. \\orking
aft;, lunch repre,enied a departure from the usual sch~dule, but it is done from
ume 10 wne It was seen as acceptable b("('ause the ch1Jdren were 1.11 the midst
of a problem. In fa,;<, several times during the project, children even worked
chrouh,b nap ume
1ble.
Completion of the Life-Size Dinosaur
The group of SLX children went through several other transitions before the actu·
aJ dr•"ing of the lif.,.size Diploda=. including having to change the dinosaur's
dim•nsions wh•n it was discovered that they could no longer use the sports field.
Instead, the children had to draw a 13 x 6 meter Diplodacus to fit into the court-
FIGURE 12.7.
How many dtildre
n do you think
can
fit
In the tall or the d;noaaur?
THE DINOSAUR PROIECT
zn
yard behind the school. The problem changed from one of defining the space
based on the dimensions of the dinosaur 10 tha1 of fitting 1he dinosaur in10 1he
defined space.
A few days later, the children wen1 ou1 in the courtyard with new drawings.
The group was now able lo construct a 13 " 6 meier rectangle, the grid of horizontal and verticle lines, the top line of the dinosaur's body, and finally the rest
of the body. (For more details, see Rankin, 1992, 1996.)
The hardest work was now done. Over the next few days painting the
dinosaur on a huge piece of plastic drew the participation of most of the children
in the 5-year old class. It attracted the attention of all the children and teachers
in the school who came to watch the progress of this dinosaur in their backyard.
CONCLUDING PHASE
The children in the dinosaur group were interested in sharing whal they had
learned and done with the rest of the children in the school. Roberta, like other
educators in Reggio, values this kind of exchange and bad, indeed, talked about
ii with children right from the beginning. As she explained later (in her May
1991, lecture): "The re-reading of the experience was important: children iden·
tified the steps 1ha1 they decided we.re most meaningful. 111ey were able to lrans·
fer knowledge thai they ju.st acquired."
Organizing the information to present to classmates darifies and consolidaies
the knowledge the children gain from their work. Moreover, it al.lows adulls lo
evaluate that work and the children's progress.
The children in the dinosaur group prepared an exhibit for the rest of the
school, laying out the activities they had done and the steps they had gone
through. The preparation of the exhibit was significant. They chose drawings
and sculptures; they made invitations and posters, they thought of ways lo pre·
senl their experience 10 their classmaies. The other children were excited lo
come lo the exhibit and seemed lo enjoy it; however, I judged the children of
the dinosaur group to enjoy it the most, as they explained with animation the
course of their adventures.
An inaugural festival was also planned for one Friday afternoon al pick-up
time. The adults had arranged for the dinosaur to be raised to its feel by a set of
pulleys attached 10 the high fence around one part of the sports field. This gen·
erated much exciten1ent and represented a culminating moment for the projectespecially for the children among the dinosaur group- as they beheld their
creation rising to its feet.
A final meeting of the dinosaur group came as a result of a letter they had written to the city mayor, asking for a permanent place lo hang the dinosaur (ii was loo
big lo stay in the school). The children met with the mayor, who commended them
on their work and said he would do his best to find a place to hang the dinosaur.
FIGURE ll.8. At dte inauguration of lhe painting.
the dinoun.r m.nds 011 its own feet!
SUMMARY
\\'e hav,• s!'Cn one example of a prOJ«t unfolding in a preschool in Reggio
f.miha.. l.ikr ony och<T t'Xpnlffl<e, ,ts de- elopment "as unpredictable and
,m-.gen1. It unfolded as a particul.r l(roUp of adult, and dtildttn interacted. set
1mg III mollOII a uruque d)11;11mc
E,·rn though there is noc. and can ll(JI be, one nght way a prOJ('Ct should go.
ne-enhdess, !here art some general guidelines and pnnoples that are worth·
,.tuJe IO m,e,,. first. <"'l>bbsh and mam1.>u1 rtoproary as a central operating
pnnc,ple. ",ch empha.sts on dcvclop,ng a sense of"" e • Second. start the pro
JfC1 with a graphic and'~ ocplorauon. Thud. base the d(,.elopment of the
proJect on th,• que1oon,, comments, and , m = of the children m, oh ed.
-1c,