Project Based Learning
"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn." -Ignacio Estrada
What is Project Based Learning?
Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. Learning must be purposeful and make a true difference in the community we live in. For this reason, an authentic audience with community partnerships are paramount for all Project Based Learning Units at Northwest Expedition Academy.
What will that look like in Kindergarten?
Kindergartners are sponges that absorb so much new information each day! PBL in kindergarten will involve questioning, investigating, experimenting, and predicting within authentic projects that do more than just provide an art project at the end of a unit. Students will guide their own learning by sharing what they already know (schema), and then talking about what they would like to find out. Those questions will guide our investigations and be the basis for the development of our learning. For example, if students really want to know what happens to an apple as it rots, then we will cut open an apple and let it rot! PBL provides students with choice, and with this choice comes greater student engagement! Students are involved in their learning and the direction it goes, and in turn feel more motivated to participate.
PBL also includes learning outside of the classroom. We will often be outside in our school yard learning in and through nature. We also will go on learning expeditions. Expeditions are opportunities to leave NExA and experience our community in a way that adds to our current PBL research and learning. During expeditions, students are a representation of our school and must be behaviorally ready to participate in these outings. Parents are encouraged to attend expeditions as well and be a part of our classroom's learning community!
Exhibition Nights
The final step of PBL is an authentic audience. NExA will regularly hold school-wide Exhibition Nights where families, community members, and friends are invited and encouraged to come and view the learning taking place in our school. Each student will present his or her work from that quarter and their classroom's culminating project. Each classroom/grade level will have exciting research, projects, community service, and more to share with our NExA community and your are encouraged to tour each room and see the exciting work each student is doing!
What will some of our PBLs look like?
PBL units are guided by students, however some ideas that we will explore this year will include:
+apples (learning about the scientific method, observations, predictions, and experiments)
+trees (Students will learn about trees in each season and explore trees on our campus. We will also create tree information signs that will be available to the community to learn more about trees on our campus.)
+animals (students will become an expert on an animal of their choice, publish a nonfiction book, and open a zoo!)
+book reviews (students will learn about literature through writing and video recording book reviews that will be available at our local library!)
+plants (students will become botanists as they grow their own plants and learn about their anatomy, needs, and stages of life.)
Project Board/Project Wall
This is where it all begins! Students record their schema, or prior knowledge about a topic. Then they generate inquiry questions, or things they "wonder". Then students record new learning and answers to their inquiry questions. This is a living board that is always changing throughout the unit, but some staples that will remain will be their Essential Question, Vocabulary, Schema Map, Questions and Answers, and Research.
Expeditions and Experts
Throughout the research process, students at NExA get the unique opportunity to not just learn in their classroom but also learn out in the community through Expeditions and Experts. Many times a year students will head out of the school building for learning expeditions. These are different from field trips because the students are continuing their research for their current PBL unit. They are journaling, questioning, seeking answers to previous questions, and learning through hands on, real world experiences. In addition to expeditions, we also invite local experts into our classrooms to further our research and answer questions. Students get to learn more about different professions they could pursue on the trips as they research for their PBL unit.
Student Work and Exhibition Night
Through Project Based Learning students produce a product that is presented to the community at our Exhibition Nights. Work has been revised, edited, and polished through multiple drafts and their best work is presented to students, teachers, parents, and prominent community members. Exhibition night is a celebration of learning!
