Project Based Learning Made Simple

100 Classroom-Ready Activities that Inspire Curiosity, Problem Solving and Self-Guided Discovery

April Smith

• Publisher: Ulysses Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781612437965
• eBook ISBN: 9781612438191
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Theory & Practice

100 ready-to-use projects to challenge and inspire your third-, fourth- and fifth-graders!
Project Based Learning Made Simple is the fun and engaging way to teach twenty-first-century competencies including problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. This straightforward book makes it easier than ever to bring this innovative technique into your classroom with 100 ready-to-use projects in a range of topics, including:
Science and STEM • Save the Bees! • Class Aquarium • Mars Colony
Math Literacy • Personal Budgeting • Bake Sale • Family Cookbook
Language Arts • Candy Bar Marketing • Modernize a Fairy Tale • Movie Adaptation
Social Studies • Build a Statue • Establish a Colony • Documenting Immigration

CHAPTER 1

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING BASICS

Project-based learning is a teaching method where students gain and apply skills by working on a long-term project that involves an in-depth inquiry into a topic or question. It can be used to teach students completely new skills and practice skills they already have a basic understanding of.

Knowing the basic elements of project-based learning is an important part of using PBL in your classroom. Teachers that struggle to find success with PBL are often missing one of these key elements. If you find yourself having difficulty, return to these elements, or check Common Issues on page 156.

ELEMENTS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

Significant content. The project should be focused on curriculum-based knowledge and skills that relate to grade-level standards. This is why choosing a topic is so important.

21st-century competencies. Project-based learning includes skills that are valuable for today’s world, such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. Most students do not naturally know how to collaborate and communicate effectively, so these skills often need to be explicitly taught within the structure of a project.

In-depth inquiry. The biggest piece of your project will be inquiry into a topic. The process of in-depth inquiry includes asking questions, researching, and discussion.

Driving question (DQ). This guiding question focuses the entire project. It should be open-ended and pique student interest.

Need to know. In order to show students why they need to learn about certain concepts and skills, you need to frame your project within a realistic scenario. I have my students keep a record of what they need to learn using a “Need to Know List” during each of my projects.

Voice and choice. The key to engagement in project-based learning is allowing students to make their own choices. This doesn’t mean that students should do whatever they want, but with teacher guidance and scaffolding, they should choose their end products and decide how they work.

Critique and revision. Critique is meant to help students get feedback in order to improve upon their products. Always build several critique opportunities into your PBL, and have your students get into the habit of writing down specific questions they want answered about their work. After they receive feedback, they will need to make revisions based on the feedback.

Public audience. In most cases, a public audience should be people outside the classroom or school that students can present their end products to. When you choose an audience for your PBL, remember that the best audience is always one that’s meaningful and appropriate for the project. Sometimes this is an outside audience, and other times it’s an audience inside your building. Each project idea included in this book suggests an audience that fits with that topic.

This might seem like a lot to plan for just “one” lesson, but it’s important to remember that a project-based learning activity can last for several weeks and hit many skills and standards that span multiple subject areas. Compared to other types of teaching, I’ve found that I do far less tedious planning when implementing PBL.

CHAPTER 2

CUSTOMIZATION AND PLANNING

When I train teachers and administrators on the project-based learning planning process, I provide them with two simple forms: a brainstorming page with the elements of PBL, and a pacing calendar that includes a general plan of daily goals. I’ve found that the daily lesson plan really varies from teacher to teacher, so I don’t include a form for that. My advice to you is to do your daily lesson planning in whatever format works best for you. The brainstorming page and pacing calendar will make it easy to write your daily lesson plans.

CUSTOMIZING PROJECT IDEAS

It’s impossible to write one lesson plan that works for every single classroom. Additionally, standards vary greatly from state to state, and country to country. This is why I’ve left the project ideas in this book pretty general, overall. I want you to mold the project-based learning activities within to fit your students and your own personal style.

The project ideas in this book can be easily modified to cover different topics or standards. Let’s look at an example of how you can customize one of the projects to make it more relevant for your classroom.

ORIGINAL PROJECT IDEA

ANIMAL HABITATS

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Spotlight on: Habitats

Driving question: How can we plan a suitable habitat for the zoo’s newest animal addition?

Audience: Zookeeper or biologist

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PROCESS:

1. Begin this project by visiting your local zoo, or taking a virtual field trip to one. During the field trip, have students take notes on the different habitats they see.

2. After the field trip, lead a discussion on some of the elements of the habitats for a few key animals. Compare and contrast what they observed about these different animal habitats.

3. Discuss why it’s so important to have a habitat suitable for each of the specific animals. This would be a great time to have your students read more about the habitat of one of the animals they saw during their field trip. You can check out books from the library about a variety of animals and their habitats for the class to share, as well as assign students to research individually.

4. Bring in guest speakers that are experts on this topic, like a biologist or zookeeper. Contact your local zoo or conservation area ahead of time. If you can’t find someone locally, try to connect your class with an expert via video chat.

5. When your students have a good grasp on what a habitat is and why it’s important, introduce your driving question. Have students work in small groups to choose an animal they would like to see the zoo add to their animal exhibits.

6. Have students conduct in-depth inquiry into what will be necessary in order to build a suitable habitat for their chosen animals.

7. Student end products should include a written plan, habitat design, and any other media that will convince the zoo to choose their idea. Their end products should show that they have a good understanding of the climate, food, and sensory needs of the animal.

Other Connections: Include STEM concepts by having students build working models of their animal habitat.

Let’s say that your community does not have a zoo, but your school is located just a few minutes from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. You still want to teach your students about animal habitats, but you know that talking about the zoo won’t have the same relevance as working with the local aquarium where you and your students can visit and interact with habitats up close.

MODIFIED PROJECT IDEA

AQUARIUM HABITATS

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Spotlight on: Habitats

Driving question: How can we plan a suitable habitat for the aquarium’s newest addition?

Audience: Marine biologists and other aquarium employees

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PROCESS:

1. Start off this project by visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

2. After the field trip, lead a discussion on some of the different habitats that the students observed. Which marine organisms shared a habitat? Do they think this was done on purpose?

3. Discuss the planning process behind each aquarium habitat. Bring in a presenter from the aquarium to explain why it’s so important to have a habitat suitable for a specific organism. This would be a great time to have your students read more about the different animals they observed on their field trip.

4. When your students have a good grasp on the different habitats inside of the specific tanks and exhibits in the aquarium, introduce your driving question. Have students work in small groups to choose an animal they would like to see the aquarium add to its animal exhibits.

5. Have students conduct in-depth inquiry into what will be necessary to build a suitable habitat for their chosen animals. Have students research the other marine organisms that can share the habitat with this animal.

6. Student end products should include a written plan, habitat design, and any other media that will convince the aquarium to choose their idea. Their end produ...

Table of contents

• COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING BASICS
• CHAPTER 2: CUSTOMIZATION AND PLANNING
• CHAPTER 3: SCIENCE AND STEM
• CHAPTER 4: MATH AND FINANCIAL LITERACY
• CHAPTER 5: ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
• CHAPTER 6: SOCIAL STUDIES
• CHAPTER 7: PROJECT WRAP-UP
• APPENDIX
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR