Project Based Learning - Adapting the
Modules for the 21st Century Learner
Black River Elementary
Carthage Central School District
• Grant Awarded
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DoDea Elementary
STEM Grant: July 2013June 30, 2018
• Teachers Trained in PBL
• Submitted Proposal
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Driving Question
How can educators begin applying
attributes of Project Based Learning
to ELA module instruction in a way
that enhances the 21st Century
Learning Skills and scaffolds for
struggling learners in ELA?
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What do you need to know?
With a partner, discuss the following for three (3)
minutes. Be prepared to share one (1) of your
questions.
What information do you need to know or know
how to do to answer the Driving Question (DQ)?
DQ: How can educators begin applying attributes of Project
Based Learning to ELA module instruction in a way that
enhances the 21st Century Learning Skills and scaffolds for
struggling learners in ELA?
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Why is the driving question
important?
A good Driving Question helps the educator
drive learners to ask the kinds of questions that
will lead into the planned instruction.
It also helps the educator to anticipate the
questions that learners will ask.
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Need to Know:
• What is Project Based Learning (PBL), exactly?
• How can I use aspects of PBL with the modules?
• How does this work for struggling learners?
• What are some of the benefits (and challenges)
associated with PBL?
• How do I start? What resources are available?
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What is Project Based Learning?
The 8 Essentials of PBL:
1.Significant Content
2.Need to Know
3.Driving Question
4.Student Voice and Choice
5.21st Century Skills
6.In-Depth Inquiry
7.Critique and Revision
8.Public Audience
Article Source: The 8 Essentials of Project Based Learning
http://bie.org/object/document/8_essentials_for_project_based_learning
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8 Essentials of PBL
1. Significant Content: “plan a project to
focus on knowledge and concepts
derived from the standards…students
should find the content significant in
terms of their own lives and interests.”
2. Need to Know: “teachers can powerfully
activate students’ need to know content
by launching a project with an “entry
event” that engages student interest and
initiates questioning.”
Significant
content
combined
with a need
to know can
take a hohum project
to the next
level.
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8 Essentials of PBL
3. Driving Question: “a good driving question
captures the heart of the project in clear,
compelling language, which gives students a
sense of purpose and challenge.”
4. Student Voice and Choice: “In terms of
making a project feel meaningful to students,
the more voice and choice, the better.
However, teachers should design projects with
the extent of student choice that fits their own
style and students.”
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8 Essentials of PBL
5. 21st Century Skills: “a project should give
students the opportunities to build such 21st
century skills as collaboration, communication,
critical thinking, and the use of technology”
6. In-Depth Inquiry: “In real inquiry, students
follow a trail that begins with their own
questions, leads to a search for resources and
the discovery of answers, which ultimately
leads to generating new questions, testing
ideas, and drawing their own conclusions.”
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8 Essentials of PBL
7. Critique and Revision: “formalizing a
process for feedback and revision during a
project makes learning meaningful because it
emphasizes that creating high-quality products
and performances is an important purpose of
the endeavor.”
8. Public Audience: “When students present
their work to a real audience, they care more
about its quality.”
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Public Audience
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How can I use aspects of PBL with
the modules?
What do we think about when
planning a PBL curriculum around
the modules?
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What are you trying to integrate to
make the most of your curriculum?
How much do you want/need to
change in the modules?
Where can you look in the module
for ideas?
What are your driving and guiding
questions?
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Extension Activities from Grade 4
Module 2B, Unit 3
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Driving Question & Entry Event for the
“Zoologist Mission”, an integration of Grade 4,
ELA Module 2B and Science Curriculum
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Implementing the Modules with PBL
What do we look at when planning a PBL
curriculum around the modules?
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Standards
Protocols
Texts /text complexity
Assessments and Rigor
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How does this work for struggling
learners?
Significant content
Giving them the drive and desire to
answer the driving question.
Work together within a small group
(instructional grouping)
Grouping students for each project
Accordingly
Social skills are developed
Having small groups and using their
social skills
Work independently on projects
There are chances for students to
show what they know independently.
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How does this work for struggling
learners?
Work that the students were not
accustomed to in the beginning.
This requires frontloading and
flexibility on the part of the teacher to
anticipate student needs and IEP
goals.
Higher level of thinking
Guiding students to think beyond their
understanding.
More emphasis on student
contribution than teacher contribution.
Allowing students to problem solve
and become less dependent on the
teacher.
Students take ownership of their
learning.
Allowing students to work on their
PBL’s without extra assistance
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How does this work for struggling
learners?
• Scaffolds and Modifications

Builds stronger reading and writing skills
• Reading groups support the skills being used in the projects
so that instruction and skill building mirrors the learning
targets of the project.
• Writing supports mimic the final project task without making
students feel like they are repeating the task or themselves.
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Scaffolds are based on student needs in the
moment. Scaffolds are tailored to individual student
needs, including student IEP goals.
This requires frontloading and flexibility on the part of
the teacher to anticipate student needs.
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SDI Lesson Plan
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Guiding Question
What are the benefits and challenges
of implementing
Project Based Learning?
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Benefit - Focus on Final Project
Mod.
Module Assessment
PBL Assessment
1A
Class Quilt /Paragraph
Position Paper for a Debate
Online Haudensaunee Museum
1B
Poetry Rdg. / Biographical Essay
Author a Book of Poems
2A
Historical Narrative
Documentary on Colonial Culture
2B
Animal Defense Narrative
Trifold Presentation/ Zoo Fund Raiser
3A
Simple Machine Editorial
Build Wind Turbine / Essay
3B
Broadside by Loyalist
Write Newspaper on American Revolution
4A
PSA on Voting
Letter to Senator on Columbus Day
Create Crayfish Habitat
Local Field Guide
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Benefits of PBL
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Benefits of PBL
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Benefits of PBL
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Benefits of PBL
• Students more ENGAGED
• More student centered
• Relevant to real world experiences
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Benefits of PBL
• Develops 21st Century skills
Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking
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Benefits of PBL
• Students learn
the scientific
method (STEM)
• Plants the seed
for future
college and
career options
http://www.ed.gov/stem
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Challenges of PBL
• Takes extra work to adapt modules
• A challenge to monitor independent group work
with only one teacher
• It takes time and patience while students are
learning the procedures
• Most students are not used to working
independently or cooperatively
• Product and/or Demonstration style of assessment
• Shift in control
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Why PBL?
“We are currently preparing students for jobs
that don’t yet exist . . . using technologies that
haven’t been invented . . . in order to solve
problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”
Shift Happens
by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod
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Before deciding to begin doing PBL,
ask yourself these questions:
• Do I have administrative support?
• How can I cover all the necessary standards
and content for the integrated subjects?
• Do I have funding for additional materials and
supplies?
• Can my schedule accommodate this?
• Am I prepared to do the front-loading
necessary to create projects?
• Will I work on this with a team or individually?
• How big of a change do I want to make?
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How do I get started?
• Get training!
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Check with your local BOCES
PBL NY Conference
• Information on Conference and PBL overview
• http://www.ocmboces.org/teacherpage.cfm?teacher=1536
• Get more information!
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The Buck Institute for Education: PBL
• http://bie.org/
• See examples for project ideas!
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Expeditionary Learning: Center for Student Work
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http://centerforstudentwork.elschools.org/
Project Look Sharp
• www.projectlooksharp.org
• See our student impressions of PBL and project summary!
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http://www.carthagecsd.org/blackRiver.cfm?subpage=14220
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How do I get started?
Once you’ve been trained…
Start brainstorming!
1. Decide what standards you want to cover.
2. Decide what you want your final product to be.
3. Come up with a driving question.
4. Determine what assessments you will use.
5. Plan your lessons and activities.
6. Determine how you will scaffold for struggling
students.
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