'Miss! I'm done!' Finishing craft assignments as a situated activity system in preschool

Abstract

We describe the Situated Activity System of finishing craft assignments in preschool: the specific, routinized way that child and teacher jointly close the child's craft assignment, employing a specific discourse pattern. We analyzed the interactions of 14 Dutch children between 2.1 and 3.10 years old while they were finishing their craft assignments. The finishing of craft assignments takes a routine format: the child indicates 'being done', the teacher acknowledges this, and the child enters a new activity. By participating in the situated activity of finishing craft assignments, children learn to assess when they are done, to indicate this to their teacher, and to participate in the ritual sequence of the closing activity. The Situated Activity System of closing craft assignments is a context in which children are beginning to be socialized into the academic discourse practice of task fulfillment. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.