Project-Based Learning

Strategies
 PBL Strategies

How does PBL work in the classroom? How

does a teacher design a PBL curriculum?
How much is too much standards-based
support when designing an authentic
challenge?
How many standards does a teacher has to
include in his /her design?

 PBL Strategies
PBLis student-centered, student-driven,
and gives space for teachers to meet the
needs of students in a variety of ways
PBL can allow for effective differentiation
in assessment as well as daily
management and instruction
 PBL Strategies
Teachers ask for real examples, specifics
to help them contextualize what it looks
like in the classroom. They all need to try
out specific ideas and strategies to get
their brains working in a different context.
Here are some specific strategies to use
PBL project.
 Strategy One
Map Standards to the Project Challenge

Strategy one is all about ensuring

students use the standards as a way to
exhibit their thinking from the lowest to the
highest levels of thinking as they find their
own answers to authentic challenges.
 Strategy One
Map Standards to the Project Challenge

High quality authentic project design is

about helping our students learn by
experiencing real challenges and seeing
their creative, relevant solutions come to
life in the products they construct.
 Strategy One
Map Standards to the Project Challenge

This allows teachers to scaffold the

content from the very beginning of the
project using their ideas, because
students need to have support and
scaffolding through the process.
 Strategy One
Map Standards to the Project Challenge

As teachers, our role is to make sure these

building blocks of learning and content are
there for students when they need it.
 Strategy Two
Balance Teamwork and Individual Work
Strategy Two embraces the establishment
of routines and schedules to build a
classroom community. Make sure to
balance teamwork and individual work so
that you are supporting a collaborative
environment while allowing time to meet
students on an individual basis.
 Strategy Two
Balance Teamwork and Individual Work

Teachers have command of the learning

process. We mentor our learners through this
process to ensure certain skills are mastered
along the way.

These supports might occur during whole

group or small group instruction and
throughout various times of the day.
 Strategy Two
Balance Teamwork and Individual Work

A good teacher creates a community

ecosystem that allows for both
independent work and teamwork. These
components vary based upon grade level,
but two core items run through every
classroom community: routines and
schedules.
 Strategy Three
Make Reading & Writing Authentic
Strategy three is for our learners to build
their ability to explore, uncover, and solve
challenges while, at the same time,
developing their reading and writing ability.
 Strategy Three
Make Reading & Writing Authentic

How does project work make students

better readers and writers?
.
 Strategy Three
Make Reading & Writing Authentic
The connection between projects and
literacy runs deep and one cannot occur
without the other.
 Strategy Three
Make Reading & Writing Authentic

It is truly important for teachers to choose

authentic literacy. The greater the
foundations for reading and writing, the
more prepared our learners are for the
world ahead. Real world challenges
provide the purposeful and authentic
reasons for kids to represent how they
think and feel.
 Strategy Four
Maximize Formative Assessment
Strategy four is to maximize use of
formative assessments throughout the
project to monitor learners as they master
the standards.
 Strategy Four
Maximize Formative Assessment

An authentic challenge is derived from our

standards and their connection to the real
world. This strategy gives us the
opportunity to connect our learners prior
knowledge to their impact on their present
world.
 Strategy Four
Maximize Formative Assessment
The formative assessments we choose to
use throughout the project need to be
authentic to the challenge.
 Strategy Five
Activate Intrinsic Motivation

Strategy five promotes the social and

emotional development of children who
are eager and willing to learn, as they
contribute to their own success. This is in
lieu of a teacher who tells them they are
successful.
 Strategy Five
Activate Intrinsic Motivation
The key to authentic project design is to
understand that our learners are not
unmotivated.
They are just motivated by different things.
An authentic challenge, grounded in what
is relevant for learners, helps to activate
their intrinsic motivation.