Blog #4

I do not know a ton about project-based learning but I do personally love projects and think that it is a great way to teach students and assess their understanding without just giving them a lecture and then a written test. I remember specifically in elementary school doing a lot of different projects and I found them to be super fun and exciting, One project that I remember doing was we got assigned a country and our group of 3 or 4 students had to set up an area in the gym with a poster about our country and soemthing we were "selling" to people that was from our countrys pecifically. A bunch of other students as well as parents came for this day and it was one of the best assignemnets that I had througout elemenary school that everyone loved! This was a great way to teach about countrys and still keep stduents excited and engaged in what they are learning about. Project-based learning is also a great way to have students answer compelling questions using collaboration with each other. I think that project-based learning is a powerful way to plan for SS inquiry because you can present your students with a compelling question as well as supporting questions and they get the opportunity to research and learn more to answer those questions through completing a project with one another. The project-based lesson that I found is a little paper flip book type of project. For this project students make a flip book and each part of it has to do with where they live starting with their own personal home and ending with the continent that they live on. Then on each page with each area they live in they share a few things about that place. This didn't have a specific grade on the lesson but I think it would be more towards younger elementary grades. This is something I would use in my classroom because I think it's a great way to teach students about where they are located while still doing something fun and engaging.

Comments

  1. Briana HortonOctober 24, 2020 at 4:43 PM

    Celynne,
    That sounds like a great project for little ones to work on. Project based learning to me is literally anything that has a central topic that has multiple, usually multi-subject, lessons all of which contribute to a greater goal. I can't remember which class that I saw this in but there was one school where not only did they do multiple subjects but multiple teachers did it as well. I think this was because of the fact that they had multiple teachers due to middle school system of switching classes, however, it was a great idea I thought. There was a central theme of Harry Potter and everything that the teachers did for one grade level was based on mutual agreement of the concepts to be focused upon. All of which had some tie into Harry Potter. It was a great idea because students were able to learn about the concepts that they needed to while at the same time having fun learning about it. While not exactly the same because Harry Potter theme isn't exactly a compelling question, I thought that the ideas were similar.

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    1. Celynne PopeNovember 21, 2020 at 11:16 AM

      Briana,
      The Harry Potter idea sounds like a super fun unit for students, I am sure everyone was excited about doing that project. Thank you for the feedback, I tried to think of a project that was age appropriate but still fun and exciting for my students!

      Delete
  2. Joseph ScarboroughOctober 24, 2020 at 8:52 PM

    Hi Celynne,
    The project you found sounds like a great activity to goes with social studies inquiry. Since it covers both broad and specific topics it can be used in tandem with a lot of different lessons since it can be connected to them in so many ways. It can also be used for a lot of grades since it can scale well with the student’s growth. This project is a simple activity that will help to build students understanding of a topic as they work through the inquiry process. It will help them build their knowledge to being able to understand the compelling question.

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    1. Celynne PopeNovember 21, 2020 at 11:17 AM

      Hello!
      Thank you for reviewing my blog, I appreciate the feedback! I tried to make sure that my project wasn't too broad or too specific so I am glad that you could see both within there!

      Delete
  3. Ashley Cayton BlogOctober 25, 2020 at 3:04 PM

    I agree with you that projects are so fun! Doing projects in school are definitely some of the best lessons I remember. They can be so much more beneficial than tests and lectures in my opinion and I have always preferred them. I like the project you shared and it is similar to mine where the students talk about their homes. Mine specifically focused on the state or town the students lived in but had a similar idea!

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    1. Celynne PopeNovember 21, 2020 at 11:22 AM

      Ashley,
      I agree that projects were some of the best times that I had throughout school. I do also agree with you that projects can be more beneficial than lectures, many students may not pay as much attention when it is a lecture but a hands on project can be much more engaging for students!

      Delete

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