MEEK

=Here are some examples of Project-Based Learning: =

This example is of Kindergarten students in the [|Auburn Early Education Center]. The students participate in self-directed projects to learn about a variety of topics. The link includes an article and a few videos.

This example is for really any grade to use. The project is called [|Down the Drain], and students have access to this website to discover about water conservation. The link includes a teacher guide, students activities, project data, references, and other projects for students to complete as well.

If you want your students to learn more about the weather, check this out: Kids "Tune In" to Weather Curriculum. Students in the elementary choose a location and prepare a forecast. In the process the students are learning how to read temperature and wind chill temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, barometric pressure, dew point, percentage of light, and rainfall (for the day, month, and year).

This video provides an example of PBL where students are creating a box containing items that pertain to an individual in history or an event. Watch the video to learn more... media type="youtube" key="omH-Pi0hZOw" height="349" width="425" align="left"

[|http://keelerthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/01/elementary-level-pbl.html] This blog post gave examples of what this lady's son did for projects in elementary school that were PBLs. My favorite project was the book report over Hatchet using a program called comic-life.

Most of the sites I found on PBLs in elementary school focused on WebQuests. This site has numerous webquests that have been specifically designed for elementary students. Also on this site you are able to sort the webquests into the grades they have been designed for.

http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/

St. Charles Visits the World
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Explain - I chose this PBL because the "problem" or "project" is one I would have never thought of. I found that having the students create a stamp representing a whole continent, not just one country, and writing a letter using the "winner" stamp design was interesting and different that what I have seem before. The way the steps are carried out makes the project much more real and relevent to the students, knowing their stamp may chosen to be made into a "real" stamp that is later put on the postcards. It is a great way for students to research and become an "expert" on a country in their continent they choose within their groups. They must work on cooperation as they collaborate with other students on their stamp, practicing real world skills that would be helpful to further develop. I also liked the different technology they used, such as the HyperStudio to create electronic pictures, which I am not really familiar with.

Cool With School Rules
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Explain - In this example, students are to solve the problem of needing a new discipline plan for an area of the school. This gives the students ownership and control to design and plan out how a school should be run, making them evaluate and criticize how the school previously functioned. The students get to decide for themselves what should be changed and what should be kept the same. By working in groups, students again, will practice real world skills needed, working on communication skills, creativity, leading skills, and how to present their conclusions. By creating a commerical selling their rules as well, they all will have opportunities to build skills using technology such as a video camera and computer editing. This also gives them more outlets to make this project unique, besides just making a poster.