Project-Based Learning
Shannon Waite, Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine
Click on the link above for the website I created for my project - is has more details on it.
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Click on the link above for examples of other PBL units I have done (cross curricularly and smaller scale projects).
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Neil Postman wrote, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”
Definition: Project Based Learning is designed so that the material in a unit is driven towards a project at the end. The project should be authentic and have an audience.
Session's Project: Unit plan
Objectives:
Objectives:
- Participants/viewers will be able to understand PBL
- Participants/viewers will be able to create their own essential question, project, and PBL unit
I knew that I wanted to teach the novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers, and I knew that it was going to be structured using backwards design and PBL.
Below, you'll see the steps that I followed and the steps that you can too follow in order to create a unit with the backwards design method and a driving project.
First Step:
Essential Question
What is it?
Essential Questions help keep a unit glued together. It's job is to connect standards to content and knowledge that make the subject relevant to students' lives. It helps drive the instruction so that the materials all relate to each other.
When working on my own PBL unit, I needed to come up with an Essential Question. Because I planned to teach Monster, I needed a project and a question that drove and connected my instruction.
For my unit, my EQ would be "What is freedom?"
Essential Questions help keep a unit glued together. It's job is to connect standards to content and knowledge that make the subject relevant to students' lives. It helps drive the instruction so that the materials all relate to each other.
When working on my own PBL unit, I needed to come up with an Essential Question. Because I planned to teach Monster, I needed a project and a question that drove and connected my instruction.
For my unit, my EQ would be "What is freedom?"
The novel is about a teenage boy who is accused of being a part of murder. The main character, the narrator, who is being accused, claims that he was not a part of the crime.
When trying to come up with my question, I thought about:
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Now Come up with your own Essential Question...
Consider the book that you're using in this unit -
Consider the themes in this book -
How do these two things relate to your students' lives?
What is a question that can't be answered simply - even if your students think they know the answer - a question that's answer could change after their delving into their texts and writings?
Base your question off of these things.
In my unit, "what is freedom?" was a question that I was certain my students would have a response for. I also knew that exploring others' experiences could help develop or change my students' understanding of a very important topic. Also, being from Detroit and understanding others' perceptions of Detroit, I knew that my students' unique perspectives would be very important and have a strong impact on others.
Consider the themes in this book -
How do these two things relate to your students' lives?
What is a question that can't be answered simply - even if your students think they know the answer - a question that's answer could change after their delving into their texts and writings?
Base your question off of these things.
In my unit, "what is freedom?" was a question that I was certain my students would have a response for. I also knew that exploring others' experiences could help develop or change my students' understanding of a very important topic. Also, being from Detroit and understanding others' perceptions of Detroit, I knew that my students' unique perspectives would be very important and have a strong impact on others.
Download a list of possible essential questions here
Also, here is a Power Point found on Google with good information on what essential questions are.
Also, here is a Power Point found on Google with good information on what essential questions are.
Second Step:
Plan the Project
Now you've gotta decide what project your students will complete at the end of the unit - your students will use everything they learned in this unit to help answer the question with this product as a result.
It should also help students learn and practice the standards
You've got to think about what students will do/learn to make this project/product.
It should also help students learn and practice the standards
You've got to think about what students will do/learn to make this project/product.
In my unit, I had to design a project that worked with my essential question.
I knew the main text my students would read (along with supplementary texts) and the big idea they were going to consider; I also knew that I needed to add writing.
I decided that the project the students would create for this unit would be a series of writings exploring freedom. Expanding on it. Creating it. Their own definitions of the word.
The strongest of these writings would then be chosen for publication.
Project Ideas:
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Think about your essential question, what you're reading, what you're writing, and what standards you need to cover.
This will help you determine a project.
This will help you determine a project.
The next thing that you'll want to do is make the project authentic.
It's easy for kids to make something and turn it in for a grade, but project-based learning is effective because it gives students an authentic audience.
It's easy for kids to make something and turn it in for a grade, but project-based learning is effective because it gives students an authentic audience.
Depending on what your students are creating, you'll want to work with community members to help give their projects an audience.
Examples of Authentic Audiences:
For Public Service Announcements - find a local news station to play the students' PSAs
For publications - work with a local bookstore to sell the students' writings
For posters, brochures, etc. - work with a local community center to help get the students' products out there
You can also use the school population as an authentic audience. I've had my creative writing class work on poetry installations that they then created on the bulletin boards in the hallway.
For publications - work with a local bookstore to sell the students' writings
For posters, brochures, etc. - work with a local community center to help get the students' products out there
You can also use the school population as an authentic audience. I've had my creative writing class work on poetry installations that they then created on the bulletin boards in the hallway.
Since I needed an authentic audience, my next step was finding a client in the community (a bookshop) willing to sell it. I ended up connecting with Pages Bookshop who enthusiastically agreed to work with us and sell my students' final product.
My students were no longer writing just to turn assignments in to me - they were writing because the public would be reading what they had to say. Their words mattered.
My students were no longer writing just to turn assignments in to me - they were writing because the public would be reading what they had to say. Their words mattered.
The students spent the semester:
Reading, writing, analyzing, and all of the other things they should be doing in a 10th grade English class - I followed the Common Core State Standards for ELA.
I then gave them choice - PBL units should also give students a range of choice.
The students wrote journals, essays, poems, and short stories during the semester and then picked the piece that they were proudest of (from the essays, poems, and short stories) to spend a week revising and editing. They learned that writers are not done after their first draft.
They submitted the pieces and then a team of teachers and I went through them and choice the ones that worked best today and demonstrated a range of perceptions of freedom.
I ended up using Lulu.com to self publish the pieces, order them, and then sell them in the bookstore.
Reading, writing, analyzing, and all of the other things they should be doing in a 10th grade English class - I followed the Common Core State Standards for ELA.
I then gave them choice - PBL units should also give students a range of choice.
The students wrote journals, essays, poems, and short stories during the semester and then picked the piece that they were proudest of (from the essays, poems, and short stories) to spend a week revising and editing. They learned that writers are not done after their first draft.
They submitted the pieces and then a team of teachers and I went through them and choice the ones that worked best today and demonstrated a range of perceptions of freedom.
I ended up using Lulu.com to self publish the pieces, order them, and then sell them in the bookstore.
Third Step:
Backwards Design
What is it?
Backward Design is a method of designing educational curriculum by setting your end goals before you figure out the activities and assessments you're going to use.
Backward Design is a method of designing educational curriculum by setting your end goals before you figure out the activities and assessments you're going to use.
You've got the end goal - your project
Now you need to piece it all together to create your unit -
Now you need to piece it all together to create your unit -
- What are the students going to need to do to complete the project
- What are the things they will need to learn to be able to complete those tasks
- What standards do you need to teach and how will those play a role
The easiest way that I've found to do this is print out a calendar and start marking the deadlines for the big things like the project and the other bigger assessments. I then fill in what else I'm going to need to teach to get to those points.
Here's an example of one month in the calendar that I made out for my "What is Freedom?" unit:
Click on the image to view a Word Document of my complete calendar...
**The reason only Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays are filled in are because my school has block scheduling and M, W, F are the same schedule whereas Tuesday and Thursdays have a different schedule. This is my calendar for my M, W, F students.
You'll notice that this unit takes place over an entire semester (not just a few weeks).
As I mentioned, I used a mentor text along with supplementary texts and various writing assignments.
As I mentioned, I used a mentor text along with supplementary texts and various writing assignments.
Below, you can access a copy of my unit plan that I created for my semester to see the various components of my unit.
In the end, you should have a well developed plan that is true and authentic to real life product developments, that teaches standards, that gives students choice, and makes a great experience.
My unit was a blast for me to plan and implement, and it even garnered media attention (from three news stations and a radio station). I raised money using GoFundMe to pay for students who got published to also purchase another book from the bookstore at our launch party.
Below is a video for my students' launch party and a link to my unit's website with more details on the project.