Exploring Talents through PBL

How can we use Project-Based Learning to explore talents within our class while still teaching our standards-based content? I think one of the main ways that you can do this with any PBL is to give choices and see what students what they choose! Outlined below is a fifth grade math PBL taken from the BIE Project Based Learning Website. Following a brief description are the standards and then my alterations to the PBL.

So Just How Strong Are You?

Students will estimate and measure their body mass as well as mass of objects in their everyday lives. They will then use those measurements to compute the number of everyday objects they would need to lift to equal the strength of an ant.

Common Core Standards:

Primary
5.NBT.3	Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths
5.NBT.4	Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place
5.MD.1	Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g, convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems

Assuming technology is unlimited, students will have access to laptops for research, editing, and presentation capabilities. Students will also have access to either cameras or ipads for filming, as well as a green screen. Students will be given the following options to present their findings:

• A short play/film
• Photographs
• Slideshow or powerpoint
• Prezi or Powtoon
• A song
• A story

Allowing students to choose the way that they present their findings will bring out the type of creative side that they possess. This will show the teacher what talents they possess and can use that information to help students learn and flourish while maintaining their creativity. Something Ken Robinson says in his TED talk is “if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” It is important to show students that failure is apart of the learning process. I recently had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Robert Dillon speak, he is the author of The Space: A Guide For Educators, and he said something similar about failure and the messiness of learning. So often times, only the final product is displayed but not the process it took to get there. By praising this messy process that sometimes includes failures, we are allowing students to tap into their creativity and use it to become better learners, better future community members. After finding out what your students talents are, a presentation showing off their talents could be made for back-to-school night. It would be a great way to show parents the many talents thriving together in one classroom.