Dirt Road Teacher

It's a great time to stock up on some freebies for next school year! We are sharing freebies for a wide variety of needs. Here is what you need to know about my freebie and and project based learning.

Project based learning is one of the most meaningful and engaging teaching methods that I have ever used. Students generate and answer their own questions. They create a product and evaluate it for improvements. In the end, they present their product with pride and knowledge. I cannot think of a better way to foster a love of learning, teach independence in research, and develop 21st century skills in the elementary classroom.

Here is an outline of one of my students favorite PBL projects from this school year.

1. Project based learning starts with questions. I will usually present a small piece of information and then let students generate questions that they might have about the topic. In this "Let's Go Fly a Kite" unit, students ask questions like "what makes a kite fly?" and "how can I make a kite?"

2. The QR codes that I created (seen in pic below) lead students to websites where they can find that information. Research is the second component of project based learning and they love when they can access it on their own using technology.

Informational texts can be used to provide more information.

3. Planning is the third component of project based learning. Here, a student is planning her kite. She has researched and found out what materials she needs and what makes a kite fly.

4. Creating... the best part of project based learning! Here a student is taking what she has learned and using it with the materials she chose to make her kite.

5. Improvements are made if necessary after the creating portion of the project. Students will test their product to see if they need to make any changes. 

6. Finally, the presentations are made.  Here is one way that I have incorporated technology for students to create presentations. They love using Tellagami to create avatars then record their voices. With the app Do Ink, we can import the Tellegami video and layer it over photos that were taken during the creating, testing, and improving phases.

If I want to share the projects with parents I use the seesaw app to share videos and pictures of students engaged in the projects.

If you would like to give this Project Based Learning unit a try,  head over to my facebook page to grab my freebie sample of this unit and find many, many more!

Click the image below to find many more freebies in the Summer Stock Up! 

Or you can get the full unit with lots more QR codes, writing activities, a flip book and more ways to present if you don't have technology.