COBB Chapter 3 R.R

How do you prepare for a project? The first question you should ask is what is the big idea of the project? This can be a good work out. You should think about the curriculum standards for your subjects and also ask your colleagues: what do these add up to?

After identifying the overarching concepts and processes you want your students to understand, you can reflect on why the concepts are important and how it relates to real-life. This will help you understand the interdisciplinary nature of a project. When students know that a project is important in society they become even more interested in learning.

It is ok if your project ideas veer into unfamiliar territory or require you to learn new skills or master unfamiliar content. This will open the door for you to collaborate with your colleagues.  

Once the big idea is determined you can know determine how the project will help the child to develop 21^st century skills. How can your project help students to stretch their intellectual muscles? The following higher-order thinking skills can be used to evolve your project:

·         Analyze-Examine, explain, investigate, characterize, classify, compare, deduce, differentiate, discriminate, illustrate, prioritize

·         Evaluate-Judge, select, decide, justify, verify, improve, defend, debate , convince, recommend, assess

·         Create- adapt, anticipate, combine, compose, invent, design, imagine, propose, theorize, formulate

Regardless of the subject matter, students should possess basic literacy skills. There are many different definitions of literacy that give into the fact that literacy boils down to learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens.  “A true-to-life project naturally involves opportunities for the learners to become literate in the 21^st century sense of the word-  and for teachers to accomplish their own 21^st century instructional goals.”

The students should also be given time to reflect on their own learning disposition to improve their intake of information. They become more sophisticated learners. The following are essential learning functions:

1.       Ubiquity: Learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time.

2.       Deep learning

3.       Making things visible and discussable

4.       Expressing Ourselves, Sharing Ideas, Building Community

5.       Collaboration-Teaching and Learning with Others

6.       Research

7.       Project Management: Planning and Organization

8.       Reflection and Iteration

Keep your students in mind! Will they like the project? Will it keep their attention? When you tap their enthusiasm they will dive deeper into the subject.