Embedded Files
Project Overview
Project Overview
Brief Overview: Students will explore SDGs and take meaningful actions towards the solution of those goals. Additionally, students will collaborate with students in a different country to reflect on the SDGs, alternative perspectives, and their progress with their own SDG projects resulting in a cumulation of a showcase of projects from both local and students abroad through the use of Flipgrid.
Students are given option of a service project OR a literature review with an interview with an expert in the field. Students create their own service projects, however, they can get some ideas here: https://spinndle.com/pbl-project-ideas/sdg-project-ideas
Students will respond to prompts through videos and comment and respond to their international friends throughout the project process to get ideas and feedback from them and provide the same for them.
Project Goals: 1.) To increase student's intercultural and global competencies 2.) To form an understanding of the SDGs in general as well as to increase research skills on a specific self-chosen SDG 3.) To increase student's collaborative and communication skills 4.) To increases students' empathy and perspectives of other cultures and to form connections
Age Considerations: This is a plan for a high school English class, although social studies could easily be incorporated as well (may want to think about collaborating with those teachers if interested). High school students have more autonomy and can more easily travel independently for service projects without the need for parent transportation. However, this project could also be adapted for middle school and elementary by adjusting the amount and depth of writing.
Time Considerations: This unit is designed as a 10 week unit. I would suggest at least 1 week of familiarizing with SDG goals and some light research for students to decide what is important to them and select their specific goals.
Rationale
Rationale
Improves student's intercultural competencies and intercultural communicative competencies by working in groups and collaborating with students from different countries
Improves students problem solving skills and research abilities by researching problems and solutions for their chosen SDG
Increases students confidence to enact change
Common Core Standards Alignment
Common Core Standards Alignment
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
EMPATICO OVERVIEW: Seeded by The KIND Foundation, Empatico connects children from different backgrounds at a formative age so they can discover their similarities before society conditions them to focus only on their differences. “Virtual pen-pal” interactions elevate learning, as students practice the interpersonal skills that are key to their future success building cross-cultural relationships. The platform is flexible and can be used synchronously and asynchronously to best suit an educator’s needs. Specially designed empathy-building curricula guide partner classrooms through fun, impactful activities that inspire and engage students. By creating infinite points of connection, Empatico is preparing students to navigate the complexities, challenges, and opportunities of life in our highly connected world, building a better future one classroom at a time.
EMPATICO DIRECTIONS: After completing an account, fill out a desired availability schedule to match with other classrooms around the world. When there is a match, contact the teacher to see if they would be interested in collaborating on a project with you that involves creating videos (and possibly Zoom). I highly recommend finding someone with a similar time zone, as this makes communicating much easier and more realistic.
SDG Overview
SDG Overview
Project Schedule Prompts
Project Schedule Prompts
Overview of Discussion Prompts on FlipGrid:
Week 1: Introductions
Week 2: SDG Selection & Student "Why"
Week 3: SDG Problem Statement: Research Learned
Week 4: Possible Solutions
Week 5: Project Proposals
Week 6: Project Drafts/ Progress
Week 7: Project Progress
Week 8: Project Implementation
Week 9: Conference/Presentations
Week 10: Reflection
Rubrics for Final Presentation
Rubrics for Final Presentation
Rubric for Literature Review Presentation (Interviews with expert)
Writing Outlines & Instruction
Writing Outlines & Instruction
CREE OVERVIEW:
CREE OVERVIEW:
CREE is a writing format for the creation of body paragraphs
C= Claim
R=Reason
E=Evidence
E=Explaining the evidence and how it supports the claim
Student Presentation Outline for Literature Review
Student Presentation Outline for Service Project
Reflection
Reflection
Although my Empatico co-teachers were wonderful, some issues arose regarding time zones (unable to "meet" live) and school schedules (we started in March-May, but they weren't really able to being until April and they go through the summer) so it's important to find co-teachers that can work within time and time of year for your students.
My students loved interacting through the videos and watching the other students, but my expectation was for students to post weekly, while the other teachers wanted to only post bi-monthly decreasing my students engagement.
In the future, I might think about assigning a specific student to be their "accountability partner" to form a stronger bond and connection with that person and greater depth of intercultural interaction with one person rather than more superficial interactions with many students.
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