Cycle 2 1 EDCI 397

PBL Essential Elements Checklist

The Eight Elements Project Based Learning Must Have Posted by Jeff Dunn on 2013-03-22 http://edudemic.com/2013/03/elements-project-based/
th

PROJECT NAME: Beauty of the Beast 4 Grade

SOURCE: Rowena Gerber

Does the project?

FOCUS ON SIGNIFICANT CONTENT
At its core, the project is focused on teaching students important knowledge and skills, derived from standards and key concepts at the heart of academic subjects.

Questions & Possible Modifications Modify the assignment to have the kids research endangered animals. Yes, students are focusing on endangered animals from different parts of the world and different areas. This makes them aware that resources are limited when animals start to go endangered. - We can add more critical thinking and problem solving skills to the project. - Match the animal to its country - Researching and deciding which species they want to write about. - Composing a final piece that is digital and informative (includes poem) - Students research their chosen endangered species: Why? Where? How? What is the effect? 1. Why is this animal important to me and my community? 2. How can we help raise awareness to protect the remaining animals? These questions will help drive the project because it gives the students an understanding of why they are researching this topic. - Teacher will present one endangered species by reading a book and showing an example of a final digital presentation.

(FOR 397) FOCUS ON GLOBAL AWARENESS AND DEVELOP GLOBAL COMPETENCE

DEVELOP 21 CENTURY SKILLS (FOR 397 DEVELOP RESILIENCE)

Students build skills valuable for todays world, such as creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, and communication, which are taught/practiced and assessed.

ST

ENGAGE STUDENT IN IN-DEPTH INQUIRY

Students are engaged in rigorous, extended process of asking questions, using resources, and developing answers.

ORGANIZE TASKS AROUND A DRIVING QUESTION

Project work is focused by an open-ended question that students explore or that capture the task they are completing.

ESTABLISH A NEED TO KNOW

Students see the need to gain knowledge, understand concepts, and apply skills in order to answer the Driving Question and create project products, beginning with an ENTRY EVENT that generates interest and curiosity.

Lisa A. Bot, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Lbote@umd.edu

Cycle 2 2 EDCI 397

ENCOURAGE VOICE AND CHOICE
Students are allowed to make some choices about the products to be created, how they work, and how they use their time, guided by the teacher and depending on age level and PBL experience.

INCORPORATE REVISION AND REFLECTION

The project includes processes for students to use feedback to consider additions and changes that lead to high-quality projects, and think about what and how they are learning.

INCLUDE A PUBLIC AUDIENCE

Students present their work to other people, beyond their classmates and teacher.

- Students get to research and choose an animal of their choice. - They also get to choose how they want to present the product of their research, which includes the free writing, lists, and poems the students constructed during/after their research. - Modify to include a lesson on both the writing and research process. - -Peer reviews, editing, revisions and final copy. - Finding information, compiling information, determining whats important and synthesizing the information. Students can research an organization that works to protect endangered species. Students will send them a letter about their research and how to get involved.

Aligning this project to Maryland State Curriculum Standards: 4th Grade Reading/English Language Arts Writing Standard 4.1.1 - Compose texts using the prewriting and drafting strategies of effective writers and speakers o Generate and select topics using techniques such as graphic organizers, journal writing, free writing, listing. Standard 4.2.2.c - Compose oral, written, and visual presentations that express personal ideas, informs and persuade. o Describe in prose and poetry by using purposeful imagery and sensory details with active verbs and colorful adjectives. Compose to inform using a structure with a clear beginning, middle and end and a selection of major points, examples, and facts to support main idea.

Lisa A. Bot, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Lbote@umd.edu

Cycle 2 3 EDCI 397

Speaking Standard 7.1.a-c - Use organization and delivery strategies at an appropriate level o Demonstrate appropriate volume, articulation, enunciation, intonation, pacing, timing and stress. o Demonstrate appropriate timing. Fluency, pacing, rate o Use appropriate non-verbal techniques to enhance communications Posture, eye-contact, facial expressions, gestures Standard 7.2.d. - Make oral presentations o Plan and deliver effective oral presentations Social Studies Standard 3.B.1. - Geographic Characteristics of Places and Regions o Describe similarities and differences of regions by using geographic characteristics Standard 3.D.1.c - Modifying and Adapting to the Environment o Describe how people adapt to, modify and impact the natural environment Explain how the growth of communities and suburbs have had consequences on the environment Standard 6.C.2.a-f - Ask Social Studies Questions o Identify a problem/situation that requires further study Define the problem situation Identify prior knowledge about the problem/situation Pose questions about the problem/situation from a variety of perspectives Pose questions that elicit higher order thinking responses Formulate simple research questions Develop a plan for how to answer questions about the problem/situation Mathematics Standard 4.A.1.d - Data Displays o Collect, organize and display data Organize and display data in line plots to frequency tables using a variety of categories and sets of data

Lisa A. Bot, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Lbote@umd.edu

Cycle 2 4 EDCI 397

Science Standard 1.A.1.a - Constructing Knowledge o Gather and question data from many different forms of scientific investigations which include reviewing appropriate print resources, observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere Support investigative findings with data found in books, articles, and databases Standard 1.B.1.a - Applying Evidence and Reasoning o Seek better reasons for believing something than Everybody knows that or I just know and discount such reasons when given by others. Develop explanations using knowledge possessed and evidence from reliable print sources. Standard 3.E.1.b - Flow of Matter and Energy o Recognize food as the source of materials that all living things need to grow and survive. Describe what happens when food in plants and animals is eliminated.

Lisa A. Bot, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Lbote@umd.edu