planning your pbl21 unit
New article by Anne Shaw - "Serendipity in Curriculum Design - Frog Jumping Day"
| serendipity_in_curriculum_design.pdf |
Brainstorm
The image above is a product of a brainstorming session for solving global warming.
Put your main idea or theme in the center of a very large sheet of bulletin board paper, then simply brainstorm everything you can think of that connects to that theme. DO NOT judge any of your ideas; if you think of one, then discard it before you are done, you may miss out on another idea that would have been generated from that link!
(Use paper larger than that shown here. I recommend a piece of Fadeless Bulletin Board Paper about six to eight feet in length. It is wider and stronger, it comes in great colors and is inexpensive. Use a set of Crayola broad-tipped markers.)
The image above is a product of a brainstorming session for solving global warming.
Put your main idea or theme in the center of a very large sheet of bulletin board paper, then simply brainstorm everything you can think of that connects to that theme. DO NOT judge any of your ideas; if you think of one, then discard it before you are done, you may miss out on another idea that would have been generated from that link!
(Use paper larger than that shown here. I recommend a piece of Fadeless Bulletin Board Paper about six to eight feet in length. It is wider and stronger, it comes in great colors and is inexpensive. Use a set of Crayola broad-tipped markers.)
Possible Internet Search Terms
See this page for possible searches! You can also organize these and provide them to your students to help keep their search more focused until they become more proficient with Internet searching. This is a good time to teach Cyberliteracy!
It's one of the Eight Multiple Literacies we recommend! (See our Compasses).
See this page for possible searches! You can also organize these and provide them to your students to help keep their search more focused until they become more proficient with Internet searching. This is a good time to teach Cyberliteracy!
It's one of the Eight Multiple Literacies we recommend! (See our Compasses).
Think About - as you brainstorm ideas . . .
- Connections to the disciplines - math, science, language arts, music, art, history, . . .
- List any activities you think of.
- Begin a list of Resources you want to consider - books (nonfiction and fiction), web sites, organizations, museums, government agencies,
- Write down possible culminating events - how will students demonstrate their learning in the end, and who will the audience be?
- What are some ways you can integrate technology?
- How will students develop 21st century skills?
- How can students develop multiple literacies as a result of this project?
- What are some possible Big Questions that students may research and which will guide the project?
Possible Big Questions
These questions will help guide student inquiry . . .
1. Why are frogs important to humans?
2. What can we learn about people and cultures by studying frogs in foklore, mythology, fairy tales, short stories, poetry, music and other cultural texts - both now and in the past?
3. What role do frogs fulfill in scientific and medical research?
4. Are frogs an endangered species, and if so, what can we do about it?
5. What is the life cycle of a frog?
6. Where do frogs "fit in" as members of the Animal Kingdom?
7. Why should we study frogs?
8. How have humans impacted nature on this planet, especially in regard to frogs and other amphibians? THEN, how do these impacts affect humans?
9. What are some issues related to frogs in our community (local, regional, state, national and/or global) and how can we take action to help solve the problem?
10. Explore the representation of frogs in the arts.
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What are some of your ideas for Big Questions related to this project?
Possible Projects and Culminating Events
This theme is excellent for a Service Learning Project, for a unit on Environmental Studies and is an excellent vehicle for a Global Collaborative Classrooms Project! After all, frogs live on every continent except Antarctica!
Build a Frog Pond
Conduct a Save the Frogs Campaign
Connect your project to Earth Day and/or Earth Hour
This theme is excellent for a Service Learning Project, for a unit on Environmental Studies and is an excellent vehicle for a Global Collaborative Classrooms Project! After all, frogs live on every continent except Antarctica!
Build a Frog Pond
Conduct a Save the Frogs Campaign
Connect your project to Earth Day and/or Earth Hour
Service Learning Project - Create an Audio Library - students can create individual audio books which can be uploaded to a class web site. They may choose any story or poem as long as it is connected to the unit theme. It can be a published piece by another author, or they can write their own short story, poem, fairy tale, folk tale or myth. Here's an example using "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Now share these gems with others - make them available to everyone online; give them to a nursing home; give them to a PreK or Kindergarten class.
Publish Their Own Stories - Professionally! - students may work independently or in pairs to write and illustrate a story, poem, fairy tale, myth, folk tale or a nonfiction book related to the theme of the project. These can be professionally published and sold. Here are some examples of books created and published by students: A is for Ancient Egypt (6th grade class project), and Absolute Zero (graduating class of 2010). The books are digital and you can click on them to view contents - which are very impressive!
Student Film Festival for the Environment - students may work independently or in a team to create a variety of videos related to the subject or theme. These may range from children's stories to nonfiction, educational videos such as those seen on the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Biography Channel, National Geographic, etc. Then, set a date for the community to come to your Read Carpet Event - the Student Film Festival. This could also double as a fundraiser for an environmental project selected by the students, i.e., Save the Frogs Campaign. Or, students can create and run their own campaign. The community is their audience.
Taking it another step - I know of schools/classes that have organized a Dinner Theater for the community. A fifth grade class I worked with in Texas did a Charles Dickens Dinner Theater for their town. A class I worked with in Alabama planned a Shakespeare Dinner Theater.
Taking it another step - I know of schools/classes that have organized a Dinner Theater for the community. A fifth grade class I worked with in Texas did a Charles Dickens Dinner Theater for their town. A class I worked with in Alabama planned a Shakespeare Dinner Theater.
Presentation and Proposal to the City Council - If the project involved having students explore and identify issues in their community related to this theme, they can then create a plan/solution, then present it to the City Council.
Final Culminating Events - Demonstrating and Celebrating Learning
Here is a PPT I use in my curriculum design workshops which illustrates some creative as well as rigorous Authentic Assessments. Notice that all of these products have an audience other than the students and the teacher in the classroom. Motivation and effort are significantly higher when students know that others will be viewing, and evaluating, their work.
Their work should not only be shared, viewed and evaluated - it should be celebrated!
Here is a PPT I use in my curriculum design workshops which illustrates some creative as well as rigorous Authentic Assessments. Notice that all of these products have an audience other than the students and the teacher in the classroom. Motivation and effort are significantly higher when students know that others will be viewing, and evaluating, their work.
Their work should not only be shared, viewed and evaluated - it should be celebrated!
