Planning a PBL Project - CTE Online Institutes Key Components of Project-Based Learning: Defining Project-Based Learning PBL, at its most basic, is the act of learning through identifying a real-world problem and developing its solution in the format of a project. The project is focused on student learning goals, including standards-based content and college & career preparation skills such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and selfmanagement. Students explore an authentic or open-ended problem. Students produce a product and share with others through some kind of presentation. Examples of PBL Projects Yes! I wrote a 10 Page Script! - Media Design 3 PBL Project Students will create a 10-page script in a program such as Celtx using techniques of character development, the foundations of story structure, and collaborative techniques for creating character dialogue. Students will prepare a professional script for publication and/or film festival submission. Students will also complete the process to copyright their finished work. Smoke It! Manufacturing PBL Project In these four PBL lessons, students will work together to construct a 55 gallon smoker. In the culminating lesson, each student will evaluate each team s smoker and then will team up with the Culinary class to cook some dishes on their Smoker. Each team will do a self assessment based on a performance rubric. The teams will then have a cook-off in collaboration with the culinary classes. Sound and Story - Advanced Animation PBL Project In this unit, students will learn about the importance and development of sound design for animation. Students will explore the historical aspects and elements of sound design and discover how sound is applied and created for various types of animated films. Students will develop their own soundtrack for an animatic/story reel which will be viewed and critiqued by their peers.
Brainstorming your Project Idea: Key Steps Brainstorming Time It s time for you to determine your project! Arm yourselves with adhesive notes, pens or pencils, and (most importantly) an open mind. Use the space on the next page for recording ideas. Step 1. What course/content do you wish to focus on in the Project? Use Post-it Notes to write down the main topics you teach in your class throughout the year. For example, a Biology teacher might have a list that includes Cells, DNA, and Genetics. Step 2. Is there an authentic or open-ended problem that students could be asked to solve? Problems could include statements that begin with, How can we... ; Why does... ; What if... ; Is it true that...? Consider real-world problems, national concerns, local issues, and items in the news as possible sources of a problem. Step 3. What could be the final product students are going to create? (It should tie back to the original problem students are trying to solve.) What skills will students to obtain? (Consider academic/cte as well as Common Core) Are there links to careers or the real world? How will students share their product with the class or (even better) with the community? Step 4. Ask your Team Lead to review and provide feedback ideas. Common Elements found in PBL Projects: Role-playing Real-world scenarios Authentic assessments & authentic audiences Real-world expertise brought into the classroom Units that assess multiple skills Units that require research and comprehension of multiple subjects Student choice Collaboration Multiple methods of communication (writing, oral speaking, visual presentations, publishing, etc.)
Project Work Space Use this space for Post-it Notes! Step 1. Content Focus: Step 2. Problems to consider: Step 3. Possible Products:
Brainstorming Your Individual Lesson Plans The core of every project is made up of the individual lesson plans written by each teacher. Here you will brainstorm the four lessons you will write as part of your PBL project. Take out your trusty pack of adhesive notes and start to come up with ideas. Use the next page as a work space for your ideas. Step 1. What specific content / skills will your students need to obtain over the course of all your lessons, given your Problem and final student Product? Keep in mind your own content standards for your subject area, as well as Common Core / 21st Century skills. Step 2. How could you prepare students to obtain these skills over the course of four 1-2 day lessons? Each lesson only covers 1-2 days, so don t try to cover too much per lesson. (You can provide guidelines for what might be covered in the days or week that follows.) Write down the content/skills for each lesson on Post-it Notes and place them on the Lesson Work Space on the next page. The final lesson (Lesson #4) should be the completion and sharing of the student s final product. Step 3. Ask your Team Lead to review and provide feedback on your four lesson ideas. Show Me: How do you sequence your lessons? As an example, here are the four lessons written by Dawn Guest-Johnson for the project, Yes! I wrote a 10 Page Script!, in which students are tasked with writing a professional script to submit to a film festival. Lesson #1: Writing a Script? Let s Get Started In the opening lesson of this project, students will begin the screenwriting process by defining their character and creating a specific action. In this lesson, students are introduced to the three acts of story structure including Act 1 (Exposition and Inciting Incident), Act 2 (Rising Actions and Turning Point), and Act 3 (Falling Action and Resolution). Students will complete this lesson writing a treatment for their script. Lesson #2: Creating a Developed Character Students are introduced to character development. Students will create dynamic characters through questioning strategies, research, interview, and acting techniques. Students will understand the process of a character and how creating a character is a building block for writing a successful script. Lesson #3: Character Dialogue - Creating Voice In this lesson, students are introduced to creating dialogue that will align with their created characters creating a rich script. Students will collaborate with their peers to create dialogue-rich scene. Lesson #4: Script Production and Post Production In this final lesson, students will complete a 10 page script, synopsis, and apply for copyright protection. Students will then submit their work to at least one film festival.
Lesson Work Space Course/Subject: Teacher: As you start to sketch out your four lesson plan ideas, keep in mind they should naturally build on each other while still tying in to your PBL project theme or problem. Tip: Use adhesive notes to brainstorm your lesson ideas! Lesson #1 Lesson #2 Lesson #3 Lesson #4 (Final Product Completed / Shared)