Project Based Learning Lesson Plans

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Edutopia and Project-Based Learning

PBL - project-based learning - is a current buzz phrase in education and the focus of a lot of discussion among classroom teachers and educators.  But parents, families, and many a teacher are asking what is PBL and what does it mean to my children?

Simply put, PBL is learning in which the student produces something useful to himself and others.  You child's science fair project is a familiar example of project-based learning (PBL).  In the process of creating the project, your child learns the scientific method, how to conducts experiments, gather and analyze data (applying math skills), write a report and present his work (language arts skills).  Unlike traditional classroom lessons, which often emphasize rote memorization, PBL emphasizes innovation & creativity, critical thinking skills, cooperation, collaboration and communication.

It's also the way the real world works. When you think about it, your work life and your home life largely consist of a series of projects.  In the process of repairing or renovating your home, setting up a retirement fund, or starting a small business, you practice these skills and learn all kinds of new facts and skills that are likely to stay with you for the rest of your life. 

But the PBL teaching and learning approach is slow to take off in our K-12 schools.  It takes more time to plan.  It takes extensive collaboration with other teachers.  And it's challenging to incorporate state standards and standardized testing deadlines in PBL projects.

However, there are many online resources to help teachers and school administrators kick-start this effort.  Edutopia is a great launching point for project-based learning.  Their website has videos, examples of lessons and a forum of educators who are working to put PBL into practice in public school classrooms. 



West Viriginia PBL lessons, template, rubrics

 Another helpful resource is the West Virginia Dept. of Education PBL website.  This site has a searchable database of PBL lesson plans starting at 2nd grade.  Equally helpful are their PBL Tools.  These include rubrics and a PBL project planning template that takes state standards into consideration. 

So why go to all this effort to change our approach to teaching and learning?  Because standardized test scores demonstrate that PBL is more effective than the traditional lesson plan model.  Japan thought this approach was so superior that during the past eight years, they adjusted the daily class schedule of schools nationwide to accommodate large segments of project-based learning.  Finland, Sweden and Denmark, whose students score among the highest on international math and science tests, cite PBL as a key reason for their success.

PBL lesson plans and templates are some of the hardest-to-find resources right now.  Because of that, I've compiled a directory of more than 30 free websites for teachers with project-based learning lesson plans, templates, rubrics, professional development and advice.  Please take a look at:
LearningReviews.com Project-Based Learning Websites.

If you know of a helpful PBL website not listing there, please drop me a line, and I'll add it to the LearningReviews directory.

Update
 In these posts, I've listed links to project-based learning lesson ideas by subject area:

Math Project ideas
PBL Science lesson ideas
Social Studies project ideas
Language Arts project ideas





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