For Parents, Guardians, and Caretakers

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Caretakers,

We will be introducing our students to PASSION PROJECTS!

What is a Passion Project?

Passion projects are time set aside in class for a set amount of time for students to study a new idea or skill that they choose and are passionate about.

Why is a Passion Project important?

Students take ownership in their own learning. They learn about something they want to learn about. Passion Projects spark curiosity, and students have an opportunity to become their own Mastermind. Passion Projects encourage life-long learning, imagination, perseverance, self-awareness, adaptability, as well as other life-lessons.

How will Passion Projects work in the classroom?

Students will participate in Passion Project during their Religion block on Wednesdays for approximately 50 minutes. The fall projects will begin in November 2020 and final submissions in February 2021. After mini-lessons on what is appropriate and expected, students will choose their "passion" to study and develop. Students will select a topic that they love and want to share, they want to learn how to do or to teach someone else how to do. They will be given time in class to work on the project, to research, write, and create, to reflect and change their process and build their end product. As the facilitator, I will help provide research materials for students to explore and resources to support their goals. As an end project, students must post a video on the class Flipgrid to express their passion, their journey, what they learned, a reflection, and an artifact of what they "built" or experienced.

How does this fit with the Curriculum?

The great thing about Passion Projects is, not only do students get to pick something they are passionate about to work on, the work they do on the project and the presentation of their work also naturally ties in with a number of curriculum objectives and expectations in all core and extracurricular activities!

Goals of this project:

• to promote, support, and model creative, innovative thinking, and inventiveness

• to allow students an opportunity to discover/investigate one of their passions and reflect on/share their learning with others

• provide students and teachers an opportunity to develop skill sets that are valuable in any learning situation (research, experimentation, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking)

• to provide an opportunity for students to share their Passion Projects with others

Assessment

The Passion Project will ask for the completion of a check list of items. Abilities will be explored and stretched. The expectation is that the end result is exemplary for each student as he/she attends to their chosen passion. This is how the our students will work on and find her/his own awesomeness.

Daily class expectations will be held and grades will be earned based on those milestones. The final "grade" for the Passion Project will be entered as completion; pass/fail for Religion.

Brainstorming

At the beginning of the Passion Project, students will begin brainstorming ideas for a project proposal. While brainstorming, students are encouraged to make the project―Product Focused. At the end of the course we want them to have made something that is a completed product. It could be an activity that they can showcase, e.g., a dance routine, a design, a baked good(s), a piece of art, a cookbook, a song, writing a book, a 3D model, a coding app, etc. It could also be a digital project like a web page, short film, video game, giving a TedTalk, a poster, an infographic, etc.

Proposal

Once the student has an idea of what project they want to pursue, they begin writing the proposal and following the process.

In this proposal, students will answer the following questions.

• What is your passion?

• Why is this project worthwhile?

• What do you expect to learn from this project?

• What PRODUCT will you have to show at the end of the timeline?

• What sort of equipment will you need and where will you get it?

• What is your timeline for completing (or launching) your project?

As a parent, how can I help?

There are many ways to help. As students decide what they want to do, they will need help expanding their ideas and finding resources. Discussing your child’s ideas and helping with where to find some great resources, materials, and supplies will be extremely important. As well, while we will provide some wonderful resources and technology, students may need more specific items that we may not be able to provide. Within reason, helping your child bring together the materials they need will guide your child’s project success. Please keep in mind that the Fall Passion Projects will be going on for the next 12 weeks, culminating with everyone sharing their passions the week of February 17, 2021.

St. Elizabeth School is excited to share this opportunity with your child and we will most likely need to tweak things along the way as we embark on this new adventure of learning.

PS: By the way, our Spring Passion Project will have a service learning component. We are very excited about this project as we work to promote community service, serving the marginalized, developing an awareness of social justice, and preparing our students for their place in our global community.