Submitted by Claire Lane (not verified) on August 23, 2007 - 08:15.
I was trained in PBL ten years ago through IMSA and am an English teacher in the Hamilton County school system, Chattanooga, TN. PBL works great in EVERY discipline including language arts. I use it to introduce or end a study. If I am using the human condition as a major theme for the literature I am studying, I might start the unit with a PBL on character traits and how they are or are not used today. Usually I have our character education director work with me by asking my students to address the need for character education in the high schools - specific training/classes on this or ways to make students more aware of human behavior. As the PBL concludes, I am able to focus my essential question on human condition transitioning from their prior knowledge gained in the PBL. I use a PBL (mini or major) at least four times throughout a semester. It is a wonderful tool, makes the students aware of many perspectives and allows them to be in charge of their learning. It feeds beautifully into my essential questions. Using the UBD model of backwards planning, I figure out what I want them to know at the end of the unit, and then I plan my PBL and EQ around what the learning outcome should be. I am happy to share some of my PBL's with you. My class has become student driven rather than teacher driven thanks to strategies like PBL, and my students love them.
PBL and Language Arts
Submitted by Claire Lane (not verified) on August 23, 2007 - 08:15.
I was trained in PBL ten years ago through IMSA and am an English teacher in the Hamilton County school system, Chattanooga, TN. PBL works great in EVERY discipline including language arts. I use it to introduce or end a study. If I am using the human condition as a major theme for the literature I am studying, I might start the unit with a PBL on character traits and how they are or are not used today. Usually I have our character education director work with me by asking my students to address the need for character education in the high schools - specific training/classes on this or ways to make students more aware of human behavior. As the PBL concludes, I am able to focus my essential question on human condition transitioning from their prior knowledge gained in the PBL. I use a PBL (mini or major) at least four times throughout a semester. It is a wonderful tool, makes the students aware of many perspectives and allows them to be in charge of their learning. It feeds beautifully into my essential questions. Using the UBD model of backwards planning, I figure out what I want them to know at the end of the unit, and then I plan my PBL and EQ around what the learning outcome should be. I am happy to share some of my PBL's with you. My class has become student driven rather than teacher driven thanks to strategies like PBL, and my students love them.