PBL Camp Clinic: Ask a PBL Expert (Week 2)

My situation this year will have me meeting once every two weeks with each class in the school for thirty minutes. I hope to get some collaborative support from the teachers but can't bank on it. I want to handle the classes with PBL projects all tied to the question - How can we become a "green" school? I will have 4 classes of each grade K-5. My underlying curriculum is Information Literacy and Research. I feel that those skills can best we taught in the context of some larger project such as a PBL environmental project. Can you tell me some pitfalls I may need to avoid to make this successful?

First, let me say hello Donna and welcome to PBL camp. As stated above my specialty is high school (math and some other core content) and technology. I have worked with some in the elementary level so I do have some experience. Jane Krauss may have some other suggestions that she will post that will help you further.

Your biggest pitfall that I can see coming is loss of momentum since you will only see them once every two weeks. Partnering with even 1 or 2 teachers will help miss this pitfall. If you don't have partners, I would suggest having posters to remind them and things they can complete outside of your assigned time.

Another pitfall would be to make the project time frame be too long. If you have partners, this will not be a potential pitfall. However, if you are alone, I would recommend a project that would not last more than four sessions. They would have to do things outside of your time to keep it to four sessions. However, completing something would get students excited enough to do another that may take a longer time frame.

Your time constraints and having to work solo are such a bummer! Is there is any flexibility to come at this differently? One idea, meet with fewer kids and the same kids more often, have them be the champions of the school-wide project and the conduit back to their classrooms. I'd love to brainstorm this with you.

Michelle Harrison (in the grades 6-8, Week 1 discussion), asks how to do science inquiry if class time is limited. Experts, have some advice for her?
Here's her question:

My kids spend a good deal of time at the beaches since they can go to Chincoteague and Ocean City. The problem I run into is presenting the information they need and then having enough class time for the activities, video, papers, etc. I have a mix of learning styles so need to present the key concepts in various formats. My class period ends up being 40 minutes or less. I end up doing a quick discussion and having the lab so they can do the hands on seeing that in effect there is nothing they can do that will totally remove the oil damage. I can then show them that the damage done starts a domino effect down the chains.

Is there anyone with similar problems, good ideas, suggestions????

Hi, Michelle. I can definitely identify with time constraints. During my tenure in teaching, I have gone from 55 to 90 to 45 minutes. It is difficult to manage the time you are given. Although I teach math, I work closely with science and hear all the time their ways to balance lab and lecture. One of the things that helped me to resolve the content/activity conflict was to combine them. What I mean by that is my students will get a lot more out of it if they get the content themselves rather than me tell them about the content. Activities/Investigations are a great way to get in the content, appeal to all learners and "cover" what is going to be on the test. This can be really hard especially when it is a lot of facts. However, we have to realize facts are better remembered when embedded with its purpose. Now if the fact is simple and can be best told, then absolutely do it instead of an activity.

Now let me give you a concrete way to tackle your issue. I suggest telling your students the overall topic. Give them questions they will have to ponder during the activity/experiment. Follow up with a discussion of the discovery, clarify misconceptions and inform of any information missed.

What I recommend would take a week. Do you have time for that? Here's how I'd go about it:
Day 1: Introduce the topic in some evocative way and give students an opportunity to discuss what they know and care about. Send kids home with a key question to ponder.
Day 2: Next day tap into their thinking and have them form groups based on shared interest in an investigation. After talk time have them share their team ideas among the larger class. Have each team plan investigations together -in writing. Some of these investigations will be lab experiments, some will be internet research.
Day 3 or 4: Turn back their writing with your notes, which would ask clarifying questions or offer tips for designing their own labs or further study. Give them a solid work day, or two, with the expectation that they arrive at summary knowledge they can share with the rest of the class. Homework might include multimedia or simple presentation planning (do collaboratively on google presos or something).
Day 4 or 5. Teams share 1) the concern that got them going, 2) what they learned 3) how they learned it.
I like this approach better than everyone doing a single lab in a day because you are likely to cover more topics (certainly including the persistent oil damage), kids will drive their own learning based on what they truly care about, and they will teach each other.

quote(Another pitfall would be to make the project time frame be too long. If you have partners, this will not be a potential pitfall. However, if you are alone, I would recommend a project that would not last more than four sessions. They would have to do things outside of your time to keep it to four sessions. However, completing something would get students excited enough to do another that may take a longer time frame.
Tellania, I agree with breaking up the project. After looking at my standards I have already decided that for most of the students I will need to focus their work on a particular phase of the topic and set a end time for that part of the project. I will try to coincide the phase we are working on with what they are doing in their classes. I do expect some teachers to be willing to collaborate just not all.

Jane, I have no flexibility with this class arrangement this year. I am still clinging to the hope that some of the teachers will get on board with us. I do like your idea of project experts so I will probably start an afterschool club for students who want to go deeper with this project. I will probably use them to create short videos on the topics, ads for our closed circuit TV system and posters to keep the excitement up. I uploaded a file to the Project Folder in the wiki called Eagle Problem Solvers Class that gives a brief outline of what I am thinking about with this class. This is the first year for the class and we have only done minimal 3-4 day PBL projects in any of our classes before.

Would you like any of the experts to give you more advice on your project form?

I'm reposting this question from Patti Lewis-Ward (originally asked in Grades 3-5 thread). Experts, what do you think?

I am working with a group of 4th grade ELA teachers writing lessons from the new Common Core Standards. We would like to create a PBL having to do with tutoring younger students utilizing the Foundational Skills from the ELA standards. I am wondering if I am heading in the right direction or 'off base' with the intent of PBL?