A child's portfolio is a look back on their school
year in your classroom. The portfolio is
designed to document the child's educational journey that displays key pieces
of work and the child's progress to show parents and others to be informative
and educational. Portfolios help you
begin to construct a well-rounded and authentic picture of each child so you
are better able to plan your program to build on individualized strengths and
support each child's growth in all developmental areas, so you'll need examples
other than concrete products.
As you review your learning
environment select a space that will be used to store the portfolios. An
individual notebook can be used with children’s work in clear sheet protectors
and table of content (other storage items for collection that can be used are
individual oversize file folders, pocket folders, accordion files). The
children’s work is placed in chronological order with date and dictation from
child if required. Clear sheet protectors can be used so children and parents
can flip through their book to look at photos and work. The notebooks have clear
covers with a photo of the child in the front sleeve. While thinking about what
to collect try “Work Sampling” that has four types of samples collected for
each child: notes, matrices, samples (photos of the children’s work), and
photos (photos of the children in action).
Include
anecdotal notes, photographs, art, stories, and other samples of children’s
work in the portfolio. You can take photos of children building with blocks,
participating in science explorations, dramatic play, pretend-reading a story, and
so forth with an attached page describing what the child was doing, direction quotations
of things done while engaging in the activities. Photos of artwork or other
projects that are too large or bulky can be included in the portfolio. For the work that is placed in the portfolio
write the “objective” so parents and others viewing will know the purpose of
the activity. Helpful hint: Print labels with the objectives on them and
stick them to the back of the paper. The objective labels can be used as a list
of product samples need to be added to the portfolio and which children were
absent when a sample was completed.
Remember to develop a plan on when and how you will record information
from observations. As part of your
weekly planning time, decide on what will be focused on to record. For example, decide to observe two or three
children (same group for the week) or a specific developmental area (e.g., fine
motor, math). An
option to assist in recording documentation you may want to color-code index
cards. Through designating a color for each developmental area you're assessing
it will assist when you go back to write recordings for portfolio.
Keep in mind that the portfolio
should include products collected from the domain areas (e.g., fine motor,
large motor, literacy, math, science, art).
Assessments used by the program (e.g., checklist, rating scales) and
anecdotal recordings related back to objectives.
The portfolios can be used during
parent conferences to show what children have accomplished. In addition, use them to fill out progress
reports, if required.
If you have a question to ask Dr.
BKW post in the COMMENT section and a reply will be in upcoming blog articles.
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