Spotlight on Project Based Learning At Boze Elementary

November 2015

Kayla Murray, 2nd grade Boze Elementary

What project-based learning unit are your students doing for fall/winter?

The students in the 2nd grade are creating their own monopoly boards with idea of wants and needs shaping what their boards look like. The students will use measurement, addition, and subtraction through the creation process. The students will work in groups to develop a theme for their board and then the will construct their boards based on that theme. Once the boards are done the students will be able to use them to practice their addition and subtraction facts.

I have started to see how most subjects are intertwined in so many ways. It has been fun to see how much the kids can learn from just one project. I really look at my day and see how I can integrate subjects so that the students are learning as much as possible. As we start out projects, I will start using more of my math and afternoon time working on the projects.

How has project based learning influenced your every day teaching?

How have your students responded to this project idea? Can you give a few examples?

The students in my classroom are so excited. We started our process by discussing needs and wants around the world. This helped them establish the understanding that not everyone has the same idea of needs and wants. We started by looking at bedrooms around the world; seeing how the students reacted and talked about the difference was very cool.

The students are so excited to work together to create a game based on their own theme. In fact we started the brainstorming process today! Some groups have some pretty cool theme ideas like a Vacation theme, streets theme, and one group was even considering transformers.

What suggestions or advice do you have for teachers who are interested in incorporating project based learning into their everyday classroom experience?

I have a few suggestions, one build up to it. Work towards the project, you don’t have to start right away. I spent the first weeks of school teaching my kids about wants and needs; building their background knowledge. I also had them do a few team building exercises to help them develop those skills, and it also helped me see who works well together. Second, do the research and look at what others have done. As TAF has told us from the beginning, don’t reinvent the wheel. If you see that someone has done something similar to your project, build from there. Work that idea so that you can make a project work in your classroom. I am so excited to take a project Shoshanna (TAF Instructional Coach) did and work it into my classroom.