Project Based Learning

Summer Literacy Insititute

What is Project Based Learning?

Teacher = FacilitatorStudent = Active participant in learning •  Learning experiences that involve students in real-

world problem solving projects through which they can develop and apply skills and knowledge.

• Taps into the middle school students need to be taken seriously as a learner and puts them in a more "relevant" and engaging learning environment

• Requires the student to draw from many different sources and disciplines in order to reach a solution

• Builds 21st century skills:  creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication

Why use Project Based Learning?

 

 

A classic project-based learning activity usually involves 4 basic elements:  (1) an extended time frame; (2) collaboration; (3) inquiry, investigation, and research; and finally, (4) the construction of an artifact or performance of a consequential task.

The Process

• Topic(s) are chosen from curriculum, are relevant to the students' everyday experiences, and uses basic literacy and numeracy skills that can be applied across curriculum areas.

•  The process allows students to practice previously acquired skills.

Students:• explore• collect data• record findings• analyze•  draw conclusions•  construct models•  predict• discuss•  survey• interview• SHARE

Essentials

• Students have responsibility for their learning.•  The structure of the simulations should allow for

free inquiry.•  Incorporate a range of disciplines•  COLLABORATION•  The structure of the simulation should allow for

students to take what is learned during independent inquiry and apply it to the overall solution of the problem

•  Closing analysis• Peer and self evaluation•  The activities carried out in problem-based

learning must be those valued in the real world.  RELEVANCE!

Example~

Cool Lessons Wiki Page

Tools

And more tools

 

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."  Alvin Toffler

PBL Investigation Down the Drain: (science)  http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/drainproj/  Forensics:  Get a Clue!:  (math + science) The Outsiders:  Teens & Life Choices:  (LA)   http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/lewis/outsiders/index.html We Remember Anne Frank:  (LA) http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/tguide.htm The Shell Island Dilmma: (SS) http://www.ncsu.edu/coast/shell/index.html Space Invaders, Copycats, or Independent Inventors?  (SS http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/ancientworld/index.html