Looking for ways to plan project based learning activities? Suzie Boss suggests borrowing ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context.

Suzie borrowed ideas from professional development and learning conferences for teachers who may need a boost to get their project-based learning off the ground.

Sixth grade students became statisticians as they collaborated with small groups of peers to spill the “t” on their fellow peers. The “t” is another term used for “the truth.” Students developed and implemented their own statistical survey questions to get the “t.” They later graphed and analyzed the data in many different formats.

I have used this project as a summative assessment at the end of the school year for many years across two grade levels (6th and 8th). It has taken multiple formats as my students choose the medium that they utilize.

This project can be used as a summative assessment in Middle and High School.

This article provides an overview of using rubrics as a method of assessment and discusses technological tools that facilitate the creation of rubrics.

North Carolina experienced major flooding in 2018 due to Hurricane Florence. As a result there has been a huge increase in the amount and size of mosquitoes in our state. Mosquitoes are known for carrying diseases like Zika, Malaria, and West Nile. We must do something to help our community. Bats can be an answer to this problem. A single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquito sized insects every hour and each bat can usually eat up to 6,000 to 8,000 insects per night. To help alleviate a massive amount of mosquitoes in our community we will build bat boxes and share them with our community.

Students work collaboratively to design a plan or device to clean up the oceans. Students will individually write 2 short essays on topics of their choice while making a mock schedule to implement their plan/device. They will research a government official to explain their plan/device. Finally, they will create a video to explain the cause, solution, and how the process will be carried out.

This activity is designed as a project-based learning activity. It allows students to collaborate, requires them to comprehend what they have read and engages them in critical thinking. This activity can be adjusted to fit the needs and grade levels of your students.

This activity is designed as a project-based learning activity. It allows students to collaborate, requires them to comprehend what they have read and engages them in critical thinking. This activity can be adjusted to fit the needs and grade levels of your students.

This activity is designed as a project-based learning activity. It allows students to collaborate, requires them to comprehend what they have read and engages them in critical thinking. This activity can be adjusted to fit the needs and grade levels of your students.

First grade students will work in small group settings to discover how to become an architectural engineer. They will research and demonstrate their knowledge of bridge designs through STEM and drawings. Finally developing a strong infrastructure that will collaboratively fit onto a created setting. Allowing them to present a model of their findings.

In the spring, 8th grade students are already choosing a track for high school. This is a big decision and it's easier to make when you have created goals for your future. Secondary education is important whether you choose to attend a community college, technical institute, or 4-year university. This unit allows students to explore their future career and evaluate which type of secondary education is the best fit for them. The products leading up the the college fair (interviews, essay, quizzes, etc.) help them make informed decisions.

In conjunction with reading and studying the novel DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE, students collaborated in a team to create a "booth" to host a Rare Disease Day Expo at the Johnston Medical Mall on Rare Disease Day. Students used tools to complete guided research on their rare disease of choice. With rubric guidelines, they included all of the necessary information to present to the public to create awareness and also encourage advocacy. They had the privilege of receiving a special guest speaker, an advocate for rare disease awareness, and hearing the story of how her own son had the same cancer as the character from the novel.

This Super Lesson utilizes Project Based Learning to assist learners with designing, building, and testing flying contraptions as an introduction to Engineering. The goal of this project is to engage students in collaborative team work and to introduce students to the Science and Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining Problems, Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, and Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions.

We have offered this Super Lesson as an 8-week elective course, developing and strengthening student interest in applied Math and Science topics. It could also be offered within upper elementary or middle school Science and Math courses. In addition, each week’s topic could be used as a stand alone mini-lesson if time is limited. We have worked to include multiple options within this unit to make it accessible to both general education and special education programs, including recommendations for modifications and extensions.

NOTE: This project was designed for an AVID course. The platform did not allow that selection, which is why it is tied to Career Development. Open the resource to see the specific AVID standards taught and assessed through the unit.

Since students were little they have been asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Too often the answers are limited to the careers of parents or the professionals with whom the student has had some kind of contact: in essence, the standard response of doctor, lawyer, police officer.

This project was designed to assist students in identifying skill sets and interests and then understanding their relationships to careers and career clusters.

Using technology, students take interest surveys and explore both broad career clusters and specific careers. From their research they create career infographics for presentation and display within the school.

This project is a science based unit that incorporates using a makerspace. Students work together to research a local bird species and design and build a birdhouse to meet the specific needs of their species.

Students explore different abilities of characters in a literature study of five different novels. Students select their own novel based on interest and readability, conduct research, and create a presentation on the disability of the character(s) in their novel. In addition, students visit an adaptive special education classroom to observe, interact and participate in learning with differently-abled peers. Students collaborate to communicate results of their research with peers, parents, and staff. They are visited by representatives from an organization such as Canine Companions for Independence to learn about how their organization works to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

The Gingerbread Market is Project-Based Learning for Social Studies Economics. Students learn what it means to be a consumer and a producer by supplying goods and services for a donation. All earnings are donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

6th grade students were introduced to hardships around the world through literature. Students selected a topic they were interested in and researched that topic. Then they collaborated with a team of peers and created a tri-fold poster board display about their topic. These were displayed in the media center and parents and other classes were invited to come in. The guests of the exposition were encouraged to ask the teams questions about their topics, allowing the students to further demonstrate the knowledge and passion they had for their topic. The guests also voted on the teams that had the best information and the most knowledge about their topic.

In this lesson, students complete a project as a group, creating videotaped news segments that give them a glimpse into the social, political, literary, and musical climate of the Roaring Twenties. Students create scripts before recording and editing their projects together using iMovie or a similar film editing software.