PBL Units Launched
9/21/2018
As a parent, you have probably heard of PBL or project-based learning from your child, from a teacher, at the curriculum night; or you've probably seen PNA's PBL wall featuring the essential project design elements. But do you really understand what project based learning is? Buck Institute for Education defines PBL as "a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge." Jennifer Gonzales from Cult of Pedagogy also explains that "with project based learning, the content is baked inside a real-world problem students need to solve in a creative and authentic way. In the process of solving the problem, students also meet required standards, but this work is integrated into the project, not separate from it." At PNA, it is our goal to equip students with 21st century skills they need in order to be globally and competitively prepared to make a difference in our ever-changing world. Third, fourth and fifth grades invite you to follow us on our PBL journey in order for you to understand what PBL truly is. See it all in action! ENTRY EVENT: In a traditional classroom, students just open up a textbook and teacher announces "our new unit is..." With project based learning, we capture student interest by creating entry events that takes the class out of a routine and activate their excitement by letting them something special is going to happen. Entry events engage students right away and provoke them to want to know and learn more. Entry Event for Third Grade Third graders watched a video called "Caine's Arcade" as an entry event to our first PBL unit. It's about a boy who started with his own cardboard arcade place and became a global viral phenomenon inspiring about a million participants around the world for a global cardboard challenge. Entry Event for Fourth/Fifth Grade Fourth and fifth graders walked to the playground and discovered an authentic real world problem at PNA.
The entry event has definitely sparked curiosity as they asked questions and the need to know more.
Third Grade's Need to Knows:
After a discussion of how some kids can't afford to buy Xbox or Playstation or other expensive toys, the class came up with an idea of helping others. In Anchorage, there's a place where free meals are provided to kids who don't have dinner. This non-profit organization is called Kid's Kitchen. For this unit, the class decided to help out Kid's Kitchen through our project. To find out more about how this is going to be done, please wait until the the third graders' public presentation.
Fourth and Fifth Grades' Need to Knows:
The class learned about how the school has a playground committee that consists of adults (teachers and staff) who are in charge of developing the playground. Our class is given an area where the playground committee plans on utilizing the space for science. Since this is a science class, who else has great ideas but the kids learning science! The class decided to build something that tie in with our first science unit concept that revolve around senses particularly sounds, sight, smell, smell, and touch.
DRIVING QUESTION:
A driving question is another essential element of a project-based learning unit. It is like the thesis of an essay. For students, the driving question gives them a sense of direction in a clear language. For teachers, it serves as a guide that provides focus and consistency on planning. After the entry event and identifying need to knows, our driving question was born. Third Grade's Driving Question: Fourth and Fifth's Driving Question:
This is just the beginning of a project based learning. Follow our blog to join us on our journey of learning about the real world. If you want to learn more on how to support project based learning, please contact your child's teacher.
Resources:
Buck Institute for Education. What is PBL? Retrieved from http://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl Gonzales, J. (2016). Project based learning start here. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/project-based-learning/ Caine's Arcade. A boy's cardboard arcade that inspired the world. Retrieved from http://cainesarcade.com Comments are closed.
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Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
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