Project-Based Learning
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"I think it would be fantastic to know my ideas actually got out there and to know I was able to express myself and people can see it now."
- Shai'Quan a former student |
Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach designed to give students the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills through real-world problems and projects. Learning through doing is really effective, so I give students real-world projects that allow them to develop skills based on standards.
Many of my units of study use Project Based Learning. This page gives examples of PBL units I have done in my own classroom, as well as cross-curricularly at grade-level. 10th Grade - What is Freedom? Unit
I partnered with Pages Bookshop for the students' published book and launch party, as well as Jackson County Jail nurse Jeanette Friedrich and attorney Deb LaBelle who spoke to the class about topics that related to the students' studies (during the first year. Additional guests joined my classes to speak to students over the next three years). I also partnered with 826Michigan who had generous volunteers come in to work with students in a small group format while they edited their writing. Ms. Tamara Ishak's class from L'Anse Creuse High School also offered support and became peer editors for the students. After the students' hard work, we held a launch party for the book at the book store. The students did readings, questions and answers, and book signings. You can watch a selection of clips from year one's (A Wider Space) launch party here: The students' books can be bought at Pages Bookshop, here, or on Amazon or Barnes and Noble's website.
During this unit, the students practiced: Reading comprehension, cause and effect, point of view, theme, characterization, vocabulary, claims and evidence, annotations, close reading, analysis, persuasive essays, poetry, short stories, editing, revision, and so much more. The students interacted with: Articles, short stories, memoir excerpts, a novel, poetry, photographs, artwork, documentaries, films, and more. I designed this unit, including most of the worksheets and assignments (which were aligned with Common Core). Here is an example of a graphic organizer that I used to help the students master the themes in the novel Monster: The results included powerful pieces of writing and great learning, sometimes students not even realizing it because the work was so real and engaging! The students blew me out of the water with the pieces they wrote about freedom.
Students journaled throughout the unit and the first question they were asked, before starting any learning, was "What is freedom?" The last question they were asked was also "What is freedom?" To see how their ideas developed through our readings and discussions, and to see how they applied this and the writing process to their own pieces of writing was a powerful experience for me. As one final reflection, I asked them if/how their definition of freedom changed throughout the semester. Some of their responses are included below. Click on the images below to view them bigger.
Smaller Scale Class Project
Sometimes it may be difficult to plan a unit around a large class project with a large client, however, one can still make an authentic project.
For my creative writing class, while we were studying our poetry unit, the students learned about poetry installations. The students did a poetry Exquisite Corpse exercise in a group. They then, together, revised the piece that they came up with and designed it so that it would appear in a public space. Students then filled up bulletin boards and mirrors around the school with their poetry. While this project did not utilize an outside partner, it still provided a larger audience than just me, their teacher. Cross Curricular Project
I have additionally collaborated with the tenth grade teaching team to design a cross curricular PBL unit.
Students spent the semester exploring the question: As health and wellness advocates, how can we empower Detroit youth to modify common health-risk behaviors? As the 10th grade English teacher, I supported the project by teaching students how to research, annotate, analyze, and write summaries as they found more information on their chosen topic. This project included student choice -
We partnered with Healthy Teens Care Community Center who the students created their products for. Once the products were done, the center chose the one that they wanted to use to empower the youth of Detroit to modify a common health risk behavior in their center and around Detroit. Some of the projects students made: posters, brochures, websites, PSAs, and music videos The product that was selected as the winning project by the center was a music video (with original lyrics written to the music of a hit song) that is no longer online. Each core class added to the project In addition to what we worked on in English, students also: Social studies - created and administered surveys on health risk behaviors. Math - Reviewed the survey data. Anatomy and Physiology - studied health risk behaviors and created products that empowered Detroit youth to modify their health risk behaviors. Teachers worked closely throughout the year to create and manage the curriculum, ensure student success, celebrate student achievements, and evaluate student progress. An example of the summary and reaction (with citations) that a student wrote on one of the articles he researched in my class: |