A Project Based Learning Journey - Part 1

Increasingly, teachers with whom I work are becoming interested in incorporating Project Based Learning (PBL) into their classrooms. If you are not familiar with the difference between PBL and traditional "projects", this short video is a great place to start.

I am just completing a lengthy PBL with a Grade 4 class at Thamesford Public School. It turned out well - mainly because both the students and the classroom teacher were persistent & committed to the experience. It took about 6 weeks and I was present for at least eight 1-hour classes and a few indoor recesses. 

Student projects included...

• A Talk Show
• Song performances including "The Compass Rose Song" featuring the music of Shawn Mendes
• Lego Stop Motion
• Google Slide Stop Motion
• A Podcast interview with a resident of Iqaluit, Nunavut
• A Scratch Coded Interactive Canada Map
• Interactive Google Slides - on the Boreal Forest & Canadian Provinces
• Minecraft EDU presentations
• Kahoot & Blind Kahoot Quizzes 

The biggest lesson I learned was to shape my approach like a triangle and not a rectangle.  I used this multi-media tech set (MMTS) which includes this Google Form to help students define the question they wanted to answer. My approach offered multiple topics and multiple project options - the rectangle design. This was unwieldy.  

I should have employed The Triangle Approach - either a few questions with lots of presentation options or many question options with one project goal.

Word of mouth has spread and another member of staff has asked me to try something in Grade 4 Science. 

This time, we are curating 8 questions from The Ontario Science Curriculum and having students demonstrate their learning with either a Tri-Fold Brochure or Infographic (possibly with a QR code to a Google Site.)

More on this next time!