Project Based Learning

1.Project Plan

(1.1)The Define Phase : Mensuration

(1.11)Introduction:

· Write a statement describing the overall purpose of the project.

· What is the key challenge or problem the project is aiming to address?

· What are students intended to learn from the project?

This project is intended to allow class VIII students to explore the following topics:

1. The link between Geometrical Shapes and Arithmetic.

2. Geometrical Figures.

3. Perimeter and Area.

4. Shapes.

5. Surface Area and Volume

The students will work in small groups building knowledge in these curriculum areas, the project gives students the opportunity to develop specific 21^st Century skills.

(1.12)Project Scope:

Describe the scope of your project. This may include class and section, subjects it covers, self shills to be used etc. as well as other factors affecting scope.

Students from class VIII.

Subjects involved: Mathematics and English

Student research will be monitored and managed to avoid students going off track and out of scope.

(1.13) Curriculum and Standards:

Class VIII Mathematics Curriculum topics and standards related to this project:

· Basic Geometrical Figures.

· Formulae to calculate the Perimeter and Area of the Figures.

· Formulae to calculate the surface are and volume of shapes.

Project Based Learning

Lesson 2

2.1 Essential Question:

Put in writing the question that will engage the students

Draw the Geometrical Figures: Square, Rectangle, Parallelogram, Triangle, Trapezium.

Prepare nets of Cube, Cuboid, and Cylinder.

2.2 Grouping Strategy:

Describe the criteria that will be used to form student’s team and how this maps to the goals of the project.

Team will comprise groups of 5 students of mixed gender, and mixed ability and skills. One of the goals is to promote teamwork in mixed ability groups so that higher ability students get opportunities for peer instruction, and lower ability students benefit from the more advanced collaboration that will arise from this.

2.3 Learning Environment:

Describe the learning environment for the project including any classroom adaptation that will be required.

A group working area in the classroom will be set aside with tables and chairs to allow more effective interaction among team members. A classroom wall near the project area will be set aside to post paper materials collected during research. Computer labs will be used for the majority of the online work. Research notes will be recorded in computers/blogs. Some collaboration between students will take place through email/blog/whats’app.

2.4Assessment Approach:

Describe the approach for:

2.41 Authentic Assessment:

Authentic tasks such as

1. Drawing correct Geometrical Figures.

2. Preparing correct Nets.

3. Deducing the Surface Area and Volume formulae for Cube,Cuboid,Cylinder during the project.

2.42 Formative Assessment:

Regular feedback will be provided as the students work on internet and library research, surveys, and presentation designs.

2.43 Summative Assessment:

Assessment will be conducted on

· Team portfolios in blogs/emails

· PowerPoint presentation on Geometrical Figures and Shapes/web design

2.44 Rubrics:

Rubrics will be used to assess:

Drawings of Geometrical Figures and Shapes.

Correct Formulae,Nets.

Final presentations

Blog

2.45 Grading’s

Project grades will be based on a combination of scores from assessments made during the project. A rubric will be used to compile grades.

Sample – Lesson 3

Plan Phase

3.1 Work Breakdown, Products and Milestones:

List the project task and, if possible at this stage include the sub-tasks. For each task add the product that will be created and indicate it will be a milestone.

Note: Products are shown in( )’s. Milestones are in bold font.

Classroom instruction: 1.Perimeter and Area . 2. SA and Volume.

Select student groups (student groups)

Research: online and library (research report)

Class activity: Deducing formula for area of Trapezium,Surface Area and Volume of solids

Activity:Drawing Trapezium ,splitting it into rectangle and triangles

Activity: With the help of model finding SA of Cuboid,Cube and Cylinder

Activity: With the help of model finding Volume of Cuboid,Cube and Cylinder

Activity: Solving problem sums using the formulae

Presentation: Finding SA and Volume of Solids (presentation)

Celebration: a “mini exhibition” of the models (exhibition)

3.2 Role definition:

List the roles team members will fulfill in the project.

Project leader: teacher will fulfill this role

Researcher

Survey writer (all students will contribute to this)

Surveyor

Presentation author

Presenter (all students will take some part in the presentation)

3.3 Task schedule:

Note start and end dates for the project.

Include expected dates to start specific tasks

Project start date 5^th December 2016

Project end date 5^th December 2016

3.4Special Activities Plan:

List any special activities (e.g. Field trips or guest speakers) including dates.

Visit to the Planetorium

Mini exhibition

3.5Resource Plan:

List resource that will be required during the project and any other date constraints associated with them.

Computer lab: Date and period in the Time Table.

3.6 Direct Instruction:

List any planned direct instruction sessions and link them to specific tasks if appropriate.

Area of a Quadrilateral

3.7 Reviews and checkpoints:

Describe how you will incorporate review meetings and checkpoints in the project

At the end of every week there will be a 20 minutes class conference to discuss progress, successes and challenges.

A checkpoint meeting for each team will be held for 10 minutes twice per week.

3.8 Assessment plan:

Describe the balanced assessment plan for the project. List products that will be assessed during the project. List rubrics that need to be created before project launch.

Opportunities for authentic assessment will include: the activities done

Formative assessment will primarily focus on the artifacts created by the students during the project. Special attention will be paid to survey prototypes, learning journals and presentation outlines.

Summative assessments will be performed on the survey results, presentations .

Rubrics prepared: Survey questions and results.

Project Plan – Lesson 5

The Do Phase

(5.1) Project Launch:

Describe how the project will be launched, including how goals, expectation, rules, procedures, assessment, and grading will be presented to the students.

The project will be launched as a group meeting with the whole class. There will be a presentation covering goals, expectations, rules, procedures, assessment and grading. Students will be invited to discuss any of the above and we may make change as a result. The final presentation will be printed and displayed in the classroom as well as being posted in PBL Blog

Define, plan, do, and review cycles will be discussed.

(5.2) Artifacts:

List artifacts that will be created during the project

Research notes

Survey designs

Message boards (may be thro’ email/blog/what’s app) (as demonstration of team collaboration)

Presentation outlines

(5.3) Culminating product:

Describe what culminating product or products are expected to be created during the project and how they will be presented.

Diet sheets will be informally presented by each team to the whole class and posted in the classroom.

Mensuration presentations will be made by each team to the whole class. Posting in Blog will be presented by each team to the teacher.

(5.4) Celebrating completion:

Describe how the students will celebrate when the project is completed.

A “mini exhibition” of the project will be held in the school with students’ parents invited as special guests. Certificates of completion will be awarded to each student.

Project Plan - Lesson 6

The Review Phase

(6.1)Student Reflection and Evaluation:

Describe how student reflection and evaluation will be conducted.

One lesson after the end of the project will be dedicated to student reflection and evaluation. Their reflection will cover: what topics I learned about, what new skills I learned, what I liked about the project, what I didn’t like about the project and what I would do differently on the next project. An evaluation form will be completed by each student as a homework assignment.

A subsequent lesson will be used to discuss the observations made by the students.

(6.2) Teacher Reflection and Evaluation:

Describe how teacher reflection and evaluation will be conducted.

I have prepared a teacher reflection and evaluation form to complete that covers:

Successes
Challenges
Achievement of project goals
What I learned
What I would do differently next time

(6.3) Assessment of 21^st Century skills:

List of 21^st century skills in this project and its assessment

Artifact	21^st Century skill(s)
Research notes	Problem solving, initiative, ICT
Survey designs	Creativity, problem solving, communication
Message boards	ICT, communication, teamwork
Presentation outlines	Initiative, creativity, ICT, communication

(6.4) Summative Assessment and Grading:

List products and the corresponding rubrics that will be used for SA and Grading

Product	Rubric	Grading
Survey results	Suryvey questions and results rubric
Activity	Activity rubric
Activity presentation	Presentation rubric
Blog portfolio	Blog rubric

Project Plan – Lesson 7

The Manage Phase

(7.1) Process Management:

List tasks that will be used to manage the process of conducting the learning

Planning , Project leadership , Progress monitoring , Conflict management

(7.2) Student Preparation:

Describe how students will be prepared for the project prior to launch. List any specific instruction or tasks that will be needed

The students will be told about the idea for the project 2 weeks before it starts. New ICT tools to be used during the project (i.e. using a spreadsheet for survey results) will be practiced before the project launch.

(7.3) Facilitation:

Describe how facilitation of resources will be used to enable the students to be successful.

Use of the library and computer equipment will be scheduled and booked in advance.

(7.4) Progress Monitoring:

Describe how program will be monitored throughout the project.

Whole class conference once per week

Group Progress

Team checkpoint meetings as well informally daily checking with teams and individuals on their work.

Individual Progress

(7.5) Re-planning:

Describe how ‘re-planning’ will be used if the project goes off track

Since student autonomy is low there is low risk of the project going off track. 10% additional time allowance has been included for overrun but the end date cannot be exceeded. There is an option for homework to be used to catch up if necessary.

(7.6) Conflict Management:

Describe how to address problems related to participation, offer approaches to manage other conflicts that may arise.

Teamwork rules will be included in project launch presentation. Students are asked to initially try to work out conflicts on their own. In the case of a deadlock, issues are to be raised with the teacher. Lack of participation will be dealt with by culprits being removed from the project work and set to work on alternative individual tasks for the duration of the project.