DIY Project Based Learning for ELA and History

Heather Wolpert-Gawron

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781317486374
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Are you interested in using Project Based Learning to revamp your lessons, but aren't sure how to get started? In DIY Project Based Learning in ELA and History, award-winning teacher and Edutopia blogger Heather Wolpert-Gawron makes it fun and easy! Project Based Learning encourages students and teachers alike to abandon their dusty textbooks, and instead embrace a form of curriculum design focused on student engagement, innovation, and creative problem-solving. A leading name in this field, Heather Wolpert-Gawron shares some of her most popular units for ELA and Social Studies in this exciting new collection. This book is an essential resource for teachers looking to:

• Create their own Project Based Learning units.
• Engage student in their education by grounding lessons in real-world problems and encouraging them to develop creative solutions.
• Incorporate role-playing into everyday learning.
• Develop real-world lessons to get students to understand the life-long relevance of what they are learning.
• Assess multiple skills and subject areas in an integrated way.
• Collaborate with teachers across subject areas.
• Test authentic skills and set authentic goals for their students to grow as individuals.

Part I of the book features six full units, complete with student samples, targeted rubrics, a checklist to keep students on track, and even "Homework Hints." Part II is a mix-and-match section of tools you can use to create your own PBL-aligned lessons. The tools are available as eResources on our website, http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138891623, so you can print and use them in your classroom immediately.

Part I
PBL Units

1
The Superhero Unit

A unit based on superhero science, science-fiction narratives, and advocacy writing, culminating in an issues-based presentation to the “United Nations.”

Table 1.1 Superhero Unit Facts

Subjects Integrated	Writing: narrative, advocacy, executive summary
	Science: student choice
	Reading: informational
	Technology: website design, Twitter, word processing, Internet literacy for research, presentations, infographics, online ethics, hyperlinking
	Art: student choice
	Oral presentation
Skills Used	Collaboration
	Problem solving
	Creativity
	Communication
	Critical thinking
	Questioning
Duration	One quarter–one semester
Driving Question	What makes a hero?

Overview

This totally immersive unit can span up to a full semester or be accomplished in less time, depending on the lessons utilized.

The Superhero Unit is an extensive PBL unit that focuses on student role-play. The first quarter focuses on fact-based narrative writing and internet research. Students will develop a new superhero character and write a science fiction-based origin story about that persona. They will also develop an informational newspaper article that reports on the How, What, Where, When, and Why of an event signaling the first sighting of that superhero in action.

The second quarter focuses on advocacy writing and oral speaking. The superhero characters developed earlier in the semester are then tasked to find an issue that relates to his or her superpowers or origin story. (For instance, because of Aquaman’s relationship to water, he might support the fight against ocean pollution.) The student must research that problem (local, state, national, or international) and research or devise a possible solution. They then must pitch their solution (in costume, of course) to an audience made up of ambassadors to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the students in the audience will be roleplaying as the ambassadors themselves. Prior to the presentation, the students will all have previously researched different countries, so that they might, as a UN body, then vote on which superhero’s problem/solution they should fund. Therefore, both the student presenter is role-playing during their pitch to the UN, while the audience members are also role-playing as ambassadors from a country randomly assigned to them.

The elements of PBL this unit supports are as follows:

• blended writing genres
• experts in the classroom
• oral presentation
• role-play
• subject integration
• advocacy/problem-solution
• collaboration
• real world connections.

It is a long-lasting and deep-thinking unit that submerges the students in engaging role-play, fueled by the buy-in of student choice, and propelled through the academic rigor of research and communication skills.

Step-by-Step Lessons

As with many PBL units, you want to start each with a bang. I start this narrative-focused unit with a short iMovie, set to music, which introduces the students immediately to the character and heart of the unit. This sets the tone of the overarching project.

The short presentation will show images of superheroes, photographs and animated images, set to an excerpt from John Williams’ Superman main title sequence. It’s a great score. The text in the iMovie will say the following:

This school year, you are embarking on an adventure. Are you up for the challenge of a lifetime?

• If you were a superhero, who would you be?
• If you were a superhero, what would you stand for?
• If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower?
• If you were a superhero, what would be your Achilles heel, your weakness?
• If you were a superhero, for whom would you fight?

Welcome to 8th grade, and the Semester of the Superheroes . . .

In time for the second quarter and advocacy, I then join them in the role-play, producing another short video, this time with me as the chairman of the United Nations calling on their superhero to help fix the problems of the planet. I like roleplaying too, after all. Why should the students get to have all the fun?

Back to first quarter. Once the motivational iMovie has been viewed, it’s time to get down to business. I pass out a checklist of assignments that give the students an overview of what will be expected of them this quarter. The checklist is intended to both help students with time management and communicate to parents and families about the rationale of the unit. This will give the students an overview of the work they will need to accomplish and the deadline for different tasks. I’ll be giving them time in class to work through it all, with homework being reserved for assignments not finished in the 45 minutes we have together daily. I’m not a big homework fan otherwise.

ELA First Quarter Checklist: Narrative

All superheroes came from somewhere. Where they came from and how they became heroes are called origin stories. A great origin story isn’t just about writing a fun story. Believable origin stories are seeded with facts. In this case, you will be given the choice of writing a science fiction story or a historical fiction story. This will take research as well as a thorough knowledge of your character and his or her abilities, foibles, and background.

Table 1.2 First Quarter Checklist

Assigned	Assignment	Due	How to Submit
	Inquiry chart Science fiction (Classwork)	N/A
	Select book (bring it in daily)
	Finish book
	Character analysis
	Research check #1 Bibliography uses MLA or APA format http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ http://www.easybib.com/
	Research check #2 Bibliography uses MLA or APA format
	Pixar’s rules of storytelling analysis http://i.imgur.com/DH1lF.jpg
	16 fancy literary techniques explained by Disney
	Google advanced search screen shot due
	Linking text
	TED speeches notes check
	Hooks and The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/)
	Grammar lessons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry-NYbMEbgc&sns=fb) – Google Matrix Assignment
	Rough draft narrative due
	Final draft narrative due
	Finding different text structures in a real-world text
	Newspaper article due

Throughout the course of this first quarter, we will be working towards the goal of refining our skills as narrative and informational writers. To do so, we are using this checklist as a means to remain organized and on task. This checklist should be at school every day, as sometimes things will be deleted, dates might adjust, or assignments may be added. I ask that you be flexible. Note: being flexible is far easier if you don’t leave assignments to the last minute.

This unit honors the 4Cs: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication. It also expects that you submit some assignments online and some in class. You have access to me daily, so make sure that you have questions answered and issues resolved, so you can hit deadlines on time.

I have included links as resources to help in your own independent learning. The expectation is that you are learning with others and on your own. You are also expected to be your own advocate. Have questions? Freaking out? Talk to me. I’m your guide, and I’m here to help you achieve these goals to the best of your ability. I’m also here to push you to challenge what you think of as your best.

Good luck, and reach out to me anytime.

Mrs. Wolpert-Gawron

This letter and the checklist in Table 1.2 give students and families an overview, but the real teaching starts when you dive in and get your hands dirty with the lessons and deadlines.

1 Pick a book: within five days, a student needs to select a science-fiction novel to read in conjunction with the unit as it unfolds. The goal is to be reading a science-fiction book while writing a science-fiction origin story. The students can be inspired by the elements in their book, and the reading reinforces the writing.

Somewhere within the unit, periodically ask to see summaries or the like proving their progress through the book. Their final assignment should be a dual-entry journal in which they identify 10 real science facts and 10 science-fiction “facts” from their book described using quotes from the text. Read the students to see how long they will need in order to accomplish this task.

2 Brush up on narrative writing: the superhero unit begins with students writing an origin story. An origin story is a kind of narrative that tells the tale of how the superhero came ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Meet the Author
• Foreword by Suzie Boss
• Introduction
• Part I: PBL Units
• Part II: Mix And Match Lessons
• References