Project Based Learning
What is Project Based Learning (PBL)?
In Project Based Learning, students are pulled through the curriculum by a meaningful question to explore, an engaging real world problem to solve, or a challenge to design or create something. Students learn 21st century skills through this process.
Why are we using Project Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom?
A project motivates students to gain knowledge, and they remember it longer. Projects give students the chance to apply the skills they learn in school to personally relevant and real-world situations. Your child also learns skills in PBL such as how to think critically, solve problems, work in teams and make presentations. These skills will help students succeed in the future, both in school and today's work world.
What are the 21st Century skills my student will be learning throughout the PBL process?
Collaboration
Students will:
•Take responsibility for the quality and timeliness of their own work.
•Stay on task during group work
•Accept shared responsibility for the work of the group
•Respect the ideas, opinions, abilities, values and feeling of other group members
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
Students will:
•Recognize and define problems accurately
•Raise relevant questions
•Organize and Analyze information gathered
Communication (When making a presentation)
Students Will:
•Organize ideas and develop content appropriate to audience
•Use effective oral presentation skills
•Create media/visual aides that enhance content delivery
•Gauge audience reaction
•Respond to questions appropriately
(Above information gathered from PBL in the Elementary Grades by the BIE)
PBL allows for learning our curriculum throughout the course of the project, rather than a project at the end. Units may incorporate reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and our Leader in Me habits. Each PBL unit is designed with specific standards in mind and assessments are taken throughout the project. For instance, there will be a Language Arts rubric to grade writing portions of the project or a Math rubric to grade math activities done during the course of the unit.
The shift taking place in our world (as shown by this YouTube video) Did You Know makes it imperative to teach students how to find relevant information for themselves and use ingenuity to solve problems. The video states that by their third year of college, half of what they have learned will already be outdated. We cannot teach them what they might need to know years from now, but we can teach them how to think critically, work together, be creative, and problem solve through the use of PBL. This is teaching in, and for, the 21st century. Dripping Springs ISD is moving toward this approach. Superintendent Dr. Gearing was asked to bring innovative teaching examples from his district when he met with the Secretary of Education in Washington. A PBL unit successfully completed by my second grade students was one of the examples he brought with him.
I'm proud to be part of the the 2nd grade team who wrote a successful grant to have the Buck Institute for Education come to Rooster Springs for Project Based Learning (PBL) training. Here is their explanation of the Project Based Learning:
In Project Based Learning, students are pulled through the curriculum by a meaningful question to explore, an engaging real world problem to solve, or a challenge to design or create something. Students learn 21st century skills through this process.
Why are we using Project Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom?
A project motivates students to gain knowledge, and they remember it longer. Projects give students the chance to apply the skills they learn in school to personally relevant and real-world situations. Your child also learns skills in PBL such as how to think critically, solve problems, work in teams and make presentations. These skills will help students succeed in the future, both in school and today's work world.
What are the 21st Century skills my student will be learning throughout the PBL process?
Collaboration
Students will:
•Take responsibility for the quality and timeliness of their own work.
•Stay on task during group work
•Accept shared responsibility for the work of the group
•Respect the ideas, opinions, abilities, values and feeling of other group members
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
Students will:
•Recognize and define problems accurately
•Raise relevant questions
•Organize and Analyze information gathered
Communication (When making a presentation)
Students Will:
•Organize ideas and develop content appropriate to audience
•Use effective oral presentation skills
•Create media/visual aides that enhance content delivery
•Gauge audience reaction
•Respond to questions appropriately
(Above information gathered from PBL in the Elementary Grades by the BIE)
PBL allows for learning our curriculum throughout the course of the project, rather than a project at the end. Units may incorporate reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and our Leader in Me habits. Each PBL unit is designed with specific standards in mind and assessments are taken throughout the project. For instance, there will be a Language Arts rubric to grade writing portions of the project or a Math rubric to grade math activities done during the course of the unit.
The shift taking place in our world (as shown by this YouTube video) Did You Know makes it imperative to teach students how to find relevant information for themselves and use ingenuity to solve problems. The video states that by their third year of college, half of what they have learned will already be outdated. We cannot teach them what they might need to know years from now, but we can teach them how to think critically, work together, be creative, and problem solve through the use of PBL. This is teaching in, and for, the 21st century. Dripping Springs ISD is moving toward this approach. Superintendent Dr. Gearing was asked to bring innovative teaching examples from his district when he met with the Secretary of Education in Washington. A PBL unit successfully completed by my second grade students was one of the examples he brought with him.
I'm proud to be part of the the 2nd grade team who wrote a successful grant to have the Buck Institute for Education come to Rooster Springs for Project Based Learning (PBL) training. Here is their explanation of the Project Based Learning:
Thanks to the Dripping Springs Education Foundation and Rooster Springs PTA, 35 teachers participated in this professional development in July '15. It has spread throughout the school and district!