My Grade 3s need your help: Sharing their public product
My Grade 3s need recipients for their public product. They are creating a brochure that addresses their driving question for the unit:
How can people stay healthy indoors because of the Coronavirus?
They are engaging in a collaborative Body Systems unit between PE and their homeroom. The brochure will contain information about a body system that they have chosen to investigate. Some choices are the circulatory, respiratory or digestive system. Then, they will connect this body system to 2-3 wellness areas of their choice by explaining how to keep this body system healthy by using the wellness areas. All of their information will be relevant to the driving question.
The recipient will receive 22-23 brochures that they can then distribute to whoever they think will benefit from this information - another grade 3 class? Or your school community? Totally up to you but your role in this process will really give an authentic edge to this project and help empower the kids.
How does all of this connect to this week’s Sunday Pause article? We are looking at the public product element of Project-Based Learning. Here are 5 key points:
Title: Beginning with the end in Mind: Making Project Products Clear to Students
Author: Kiffany Lychock
Source: PBLWorks
1. Before starting the project, expectations need to be clearly laid out. In Brene Brown’s words, you need to “paint it done” for the students. What does DONE look like for the project? In order to help yourself understand the end product, you can use Backwards Planning - “What should students know and be able to to do at the end of the unit?”
2. Explicitly explain the learning goals and how they should be addressed in the product. The beauty of PBL is that the students have choice. Even though choice can create an incredible variety of products, this can create issues when assessing. Therefore, having the criteria clear will give the students a framework that they can base their product on. The products may appear different, however they should all satisfy the criteria.
3. Rubrics should be used as they demonstrate what different levels of quality look like. Checklists, on the other hand, are essentially to-do lists that do not comment on quality. An effective rubric needs to address quality or proficiency levels.
4. Create your own product using your own rubric during the planning process. This will help you refine your rubric and determine what different levels of quality work will look like. Following this, ask students to evaluate your product using the rubric. Not only will this allow them to become familiar with the rubric but also give them guidance of what a potential product could look like.
5. Use the rubric throughout the project as a project milestone. This provides crucial feedback that fosters student inquiry, enhances their learning and gives them direction for their public product.
If you would like to read the full article, you can do so here:
About the first image: The grade 3 teachers made their own brochures as exemplars for the students to analyse and determine what makes an effective brochure. The students now have their driving question, they have their resources, they have their choice of body system and wellness areas, and they have their rubric. Monday, they start plans for their public product.
So, please, if you would like to be part of this project and receive these products, please let me know by contacting me on contact@21-pe.com or leave a comment on this post may it be on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Many thanks for helping empower some grade 3 kids.