Project Based Learning

We have started something new in 3Y for our morning work!  Over the last few weeks we have started our mornings with Project Based Learning.  What is Project Based Learning? It is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge.   The students are working through a six step process:

1. Questions (What questions do you have about this?)
2. Topics (Creating a concept map of the different topics.)
3. Research (Using both book and Internet sources to find information.)
4. Check In (Checking in with Mrs. Young to get the OK to start creating.)
5. Creating (Students are given the freedom to select how they want to share the information they learned.
6. Ready to Present (Students share their findings with the class and give the class a short quiz on what they presented on!)

Students were given a survey to find out what they would learn about if they ran the school!  After deciding what topic they were going to investigate they then had to work on developing questions about this topic to guide their research.  Students are able to work on these projects as soon as they arrive at school until 8:30.  I have been amazed at what the students are researching and creating.  

So if the kids are independently working what is that teacher doing? :)  Having the students working on their projects in the morning allows me to have time to work with individual students or with small groups of students on skills that the students are needing additional help with.  So on any day it might be a different group of students working with me to have extra practice with reading or mathematics skills!

Here are a few links to some of the projects the students have created:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZoCPfoxjj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzfOPLfXtV4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXfMA-0vpfE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d54pc9-7-WM