Kids Can Teach Themselves
Resources & Articles for the Planning and Implementation of Project Based Lessons
Buck Institute for Education (BIE):
"At the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), our highest priority is to help teachers prepare students for successful lives. We do this by showing teachers how to use Project Based Learning in all grade levels and subject areas. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, BIE creates, gathers, and shares high-quality PBL instructional practices and products and provides highly effective services to teachers, schools, and districts."
Several of their lessons and resources are listed below
- Project Based Government and Economics Curriculum
- Outstanding resources for teachers
- Search their Projects in all Social Studies content areas. For example there are 42 Projects for high school US History.
- BIE - PBL: Recommend for Beginners: http://www.bie.org/for/beginners
- Article: PBL Brings Authenticity to International Baccalaureate (IB) (there are 15 IB schools in the CCSD).
Edutopia: Project Based Learning:
- Get a Taste of PBL Before Your Students Do
- In Search of the Driving Question
- Using PBL to Meet C3 Social Studies Standards
- Real-World Applications of Classroom Learning
- Partnership Strategies for Real-World Projects
- Project-Based Learning: A Short History: When project-based learning is infused with technology, it may look and feel like a 21st-century idea, but it's built on a venerable foundation.
- “Fitting In” PBL: Read about how four teachers fit PBL into their curriculum through scalable projects that challenged and enriched students while meeting the standards. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/fitting-in-pbl-beth-holland
- VIDEO An Introduction to Project-Based Learning In this hands-on approach to teaching, students create schoolwork that demonstrates core subject knowledge.
- VIDEO Project-Based Learning: An Overview Seymour Papert, a distinguished professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is among a growing group of scholars who support project-based learning.
- VIDEO 5 Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning Well-designed project-based learning (PBL) has been shown to result in deeper learning and engaged, self-directed learners. Learn more about the five core elements of successful PBL.
- VIDEO Building Rigorous Projects That Are Core to Learning (Keys to PBL Series Part 2) Project-based learning doesn't mean leaving standards behind. Follow these tips to plan projects that challenge your students and align with core learning goals.
- ARTICLE Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning Looking for tools and strategies for effective assessment in project-based learning? To support you, we've assembled this guide to helpful resources from Edutopia and beyond.
- ARTICLE PBL Research Summary: Studies Validate Project-Based Learning Research shows the efficacy of an authentic form of education that expects students to immerse themselves in a topic and meaningfully demonstrate acquisition of skills and knowledge
- BLOG: Evaluation Within Project-Based Learning Because PBL is about more than learning content, PBL teachers should investigate and experiment with multi-model strategies for assessing their students' learning skills.
- BLOG Project-Based Learning for Digital Citizens Blogger Andrew Marcinek shares the real payoff for his digital literacy students.
- ARTICLE Resources for Project-Based Learning
- ARTICLE The Power of Project-Based Learning
- CLASSROOM GUIDE Classroom Guide: Top Ten Tips for Assessing Project-Based Learning This guide will inspire and expand your thinking about effective assessment for project-based learning. Tips are organized to follow the arc of a project: planning, launch into active learning, and then a culminating presentation. Reflection is the final stage.
- BLOG How to Write Effective Driving Questions for Project-Based Learning Good driving questions are written to help guide the teacher and the student.
- BLOG How to Refine Driving Questions for Effective Project-Based Learning Identify the type of question you want to ask, focus for your desired outcome, then ensure it's appropriate for the students and their culture.
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning Research Review Studies have proven that when implemented well, project-based learning (PBL) can increase retention of content and improve students' attitudes towards learning, among other benefits. Edutopia's PBL research review explores the vast body of research on the topic and helps make sense of the results.
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning Research: Annotated Bibliography Dig deeper into the specific articles, studies, and reports included in our project-based learning research review.
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning Research Review: Avoiding Pitfalls The challenges many teachers face in implementing project-based learning well are not to be taken lightly, but we've compiled a list of strategies to avert the most common issues educators face.
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning Research Review: Evidence-Based Components of Success There are some critical elements to consider when applying project-based learning in the classroom -- here are some recommendations for research-proven steps.
- RESOURCE The Best Advice on Doing Project-Based Learning (Edweek) Education writer and consultant Suzie Boss breaks down some Dos and Don'ts for project-based learning. "By connecting classroom activities with real-world problem solving," she writes, "you bring relevance to the learning experience. Students will be less inclined to ask, 'When will we need to know this?' and more apt to dig in to an inquiry experience that matters to them."
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning: What Experts Say Educators and researchers share their views on why project-based learning is an important learning strategy for classrooms.
- ARTICLE Why Is Project-Based Learning Important? The many merits of using project-based learning in the classroom with our Project-Based Learning Professional Development Guide
- ARTICLE Project Learning Meets Technology By giving every middle school student a new laptop, the state of Maine strapped new wings on project learning. For both teachers and students, the learning process has soared beyond the classroom.
- Video Schools that Work: STW PRACTICE Getting Started with Project-Based Learning A public middle school and high school in Whitfield County, Georgia show how to recreate the learning strategies of a renowned charter school in a traditional setting.
- STW PRACTICE Integrated Learning: One Project, Several Disciplines For any project within a vocational major, High Tech High encourages teachers and students to include relevant content from other subject areas to enhance real-world connections.
- VIDEO WHEA Electric Car: Project-Based Learning on Wheels High school students learn a variety of academic, communication, and teamwork skills when they build and race a car for the Hawaiian Electric Electron Marathon.
- Video: STW PRACTICE Arts-Infused Project-Based Learning: Crafting Beautiful Work
- Learn how to bring cross-curricular, arts-infused project-based learning into your classroom.
- Video: STW PRACTICE STEAM + Project-Based Learning: Real Solutions From Driving Questions
- Geography: STW PRACTICE Place-Based Learning: Using Your Location as a Classroom By taking down the walls of their school and bringing learning into the community around them, Crellin makes education meaningful and magical for their students.
- STW PRACTICE
- Geography: Place-Based Learning: Connecting Kids to Their Community At Hood River Middle School, place-based learning makes student learning relevant and engaging by turning their local geography, culture, history, and economy into classroom lessons.
- ARTICLE Project-Based Learning: Real-World Issues Motivate Students Concrete, authentic project-based learning helps students illustrate core knowledge.
- BLOG 6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning Blogger Andrew Miller offers six simple, effective approaches to differentiated instruction in project-based learning.
- ARTICLE Tips for Combining Project-Based and Service Learning Help your students find a larger sense of purpose in their schoolwork even as they achieve educational goals.
- Video STW PRACTICE Real-World Problem Solving: Project-Based Solutions By using real-world problems as projects for children to solve, Crellin Elementary empowers, engages, and excites students about what they can learn and how they can use that knowledge.
- Video STW PRACTICE What Makes Project-Based Learning a Success? At this high school in Texas, where every class is project-based, there is a commitment to a consistent process, a focus on relationships, and a commitment to relevance and rigor.
- VIDEO Rigorous Project-Based Learning Transforms AP Courses Through a project called Knowledge in Action, researchers at the University of Washington have been exploring whether project-based learning can help high school students with diverse learning styles understand content more deeply in advanced placement courses.
- ARTICLE Project Learning: Model Schools with Solutions Project learning encourages students to explore real-world challenges while developing cross-curriculum skills in small collaborative groups. Edutopia has visited many schools that have implemented project-based learning programs -- here are some of the best examples across the country.
- VIDEO Project Learning: Teachers Discuss the Daily Challenges A team of eighth-grade teachers compares notes on the trials and rewards of working together on project-based "expeditionary" learning.
The Teaching Channel: The Teaching Channel has 73 Videos of Social Studies lessons in real classrooms. If you register for free, you can also access teacher resources including lesson plans.
- Video: Supporting ELLs Through Project-Based Learning: Part of the Deeper Learning Series.
- Video: The Building Blocks of Project-Based Learning: Grades 9-12 / All Subjects / Engagement
- Video: Civic Engagement in the Digital Age: Grades 9-12 / All Subjects / Civic Engagement
- Video: Reading Like a Historian: Overview Grades 9-12 / History / Curriculum
- Search the teaching Channel for PBL videos of actual lessons.
Extras: Social Studies Projects & Ideas for PBL History, Geography & Civics: An Excellent Resource: “These 350 social studies projects take your students beyond dioramas and research papers to authentic learning, through community and civic problem-solving and outreach.” http://hubpages.com/education/social-studies-projects-ideas-for-pbl
TED Talks: (These talks support the basic principles of PBL).
Sugata Mitra: Kids can teach themselves
Sugata Mitra: The Child-driven education
Sugata Mitra: The Future of Learning
Huff Post Interview and Update: Sugata Mitra.