Embedded Files
Coding with Scratch (Students in grades 5-8 have had a coding experience this year, but may not have created an account.)
Matt Miller Activities for Projects
Problem/Project Based Learning works well in all disciplines. PBL encourages formative and authentic summative assessment by doing the following:
Problem/Project Based Learning works well in all disciplines. PBL encourages formative and authentic summative assessment by doing the following:
It allows students to demonstrate their capabilities while working independently.
It lets teachers have multiple assessment opportunities.
It shows the student’s ability to apply skills such as doing research.
It develops a student’s ability to work with other students, building teamwork and group skills.
The teacher learns more about the student as a person.
It helps the teachers communicate in meaningful ways with the student or a team. Being able to give meaningful feedback is very important.
REAL WORLD Things to consider:
The problem must be real. It must involve an authentic challenge grounded in compelling societal, economic, and environmental issues that affect people’s lives and communities.
Students must be able to relate to the problem. If students don’t care about the problem, their buy-in will be limited. This needs to be a significant challenge students care about. It might be a problem in their own life or community. Alternatively, you might build a context to help them connect with an unfamiliar problem by using videos, speakers, or field trips.
Encourage students to come up with the problem. This approach typically generates the most enthusiasm and buy-in from students. Give them as much autonomy as possible to identify problems they want to solve, within the constraints dictated by the curriculum. You might start by asking students to be on the alert for problems in their home, school, or community. For example, students might notice erosion in the schoolyard, or determine that kids need a digital tool to manage their homework assignments. If students get stuck, ask them what needs to happen to make life better for the citizens in their area. Are some people in their community hungry? Is pollution a problem?
Empathy needs to be at the core, enabling students to observe and understand people better while also learning about their needs, wants, motivations, frustrations, pains, and goals.
The problem should be “doable.” For a project to be successful, students should have access to the resources, knowledge, and skills they need to solve the problem—and the scope of the problem should be manageable.
The problem must allow for multiple acceptable approaches and solutions. Don’t even consider a problem with a single, predetermined approach and “right” or “wrong” answer. Students should use design thinking—drawing on skills and concepts—to solve the problem.
The problem should align with grade-level standards. Look at your standards and then look for things that make sense at this time.
Source - Education Week - edited for space and a more general curriculum focus
PLEASE - look at this list of PBL ideas.
PLEASE - look at this list of PBL ideas.
The article is also linked above, but it is worth repeating.
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