The Principia Upper School English Teacher The Battle of the PBL’s Alicia Sorensen The Principia Upper School English Teacher alicia.sorensen@principi.edu

Today’s Objectives Building the right atmosphere for both PBL experiences Break down the value of Performance Tasks Gain insight on designing a Performance Task Know how a Performance Task differs from Project Based Learning Gain insight into designing a PBL in any unit

Performance Task Learning activity that asks students to demonstrate their knowledge Yields a tangible product or performance Gives you a chance to assess where they are at in the learning process Can be simple or complex

Sample Performance task Goal – The challenge is to recreate a classic nursery rhyme to reflect the modern challenges our students face. Role – Your job is to first collect and analyze data and then to work with your team to create a product that reveals your findings. Audience – You need to write a new version of the nursery rhyme with teens as your target audience. Situation – The challenge involves working as a team to compile your data and create the final product. Product – You will create an updated version of the nursery rhyme so that this generation learns important life lessons related to the *coming of age theme. Success – Your product must be centered around an important life lesson all children need to learn and should include the elements that make a children’s nursery rhymes appealing (i.e. imagery, rhyming words, relatable characters). This acronym is from Jay McTighe’s Designing Cornerstone Performance Tasks to Promote Meaningful Learning and Assess What Matters Most

Performance Task – Step 1 Read and discuss the portions of the rhyme that still seem relatable to issues kids face today

Performance Task- Step 2 Brainstorm and list the correlation between the issues discussed in the rhyme and the issues kids face today

Performance Task- Step 3 Now think beneath the surface – what issues are not being addressed within the rhyme that should be?

Performance Task- Step 4 Review your list and decide what needs to stay in your new rhyme.

Performance Task – Step 5 Create your updated rhyme and be ready to share it with others when time is called.

Variations of Sharing You can have them stand and meet with another group You can have them split up and partner up with people they haven't worked with You can have them share out with the whole class You can have them gage audience reactions and go back to make adjustments to the piece before sharing with the class

What? So What? Now What? It is important to spend time debriefing a performance task Students need to know what the learning outcome is The key to debriefing is asking the right follow-up questions Students will give surface answers unless you push them

Project Based Learning Student-centered approach Asks students to acquire a deeper knowledge through ACTIVE exploration of applicable challenges and problems Places ownership on the student for content, product, and process Offers multiple places for the teacher to assess learning and make adjustments    

HACK #1 - Build Trust Build a space that promotes risk taking and celebrates failure. PBL cannot happen if the students do not feel comfortable and safe. Think back to the first few activities I asked you to do. What does building trust look like in your classroom? What risks have your students been asked to take? How do you ensure every student feels safe?    

HACK #2 - Teach Collaboration Define and model what collaboration looks like. Collaboration does not mean work together to complete a project. Encourage students to work together to solve problems and generate more questions. Brainstorm Question Discuss Value Provide consistent feedback so that students know how the process is going.

Collaboration is a critical thinking skill for students of all ages. Share with your partner one of the best collaboration experiences you have had or seen in your classroom. Share a collaboration experience that did not turn out the way you expected it to. What did you learn from both experiences?  

Hack #3 - Know What is Essential You can’t teach everything What content is essential for students to learn and offers opportunities for exploration and creativity? Once you know this, the PBL will unfold naturally

Hack #4 – Create YOUR Path for Learning

Project Based Writing You will have complete and total freedom for this unit! You can write about whatever you want in whatever form you want! Followed by a series of fun writing prompts and brainstorming activities to generate writing ideas.

Project Based Writing Research & Workshops -Look at books that are written in the same genre you have chosen to write in and highlight what you like best -Complete a series of workshops about character building, using imagery effectively, and prose writing based on the writer’s choices Benchmark: Students are tracking research in a document

Modeling, Discussions, and Reading Project Based Writing Modeling, Discussions, and Reading -Students begin the writing of their story and keep track of daily progress -Students meet with the teacher and peer mentor throughout the writing process -Students read other peers’ works in preparation for benchmark Benchmark: Students participate in Inquiry Week where they have a complete draft read by several peers and evaluated

The last week is all of this! Project Based Writing The last week is all of this! -Students have feedback that they use to build, write, edit, and prepare final drafts of the story. Present: Students share a presentation that discuses the story they created and the process. They also write a letter to me where they reflect on how they were challenged and how they grew as a writer.

What Drives Project Based Learning?

Key Takeaways You can’t go wrong with either PBL Take the time to build trust and relationships with your students Give student’s a choice and engagement will increase Keep it simple at first and find your moments to build on Don’t be afraid to deviate or admit you need to change a plan Take the time to stop everything and provide mini-lessons Go for it! You can’t learn where to tweak it you don’t try it

Resources I used Designing Cornerstone Performance Tasks to Promote Meaningful Learning and Assess What Matters Most by Jay McTighe Hacking Project Based Learning by Erin Murphy and Ross Cooper Project Based Writing by Liz Prather