21st Century Learning Statement:
- In order to prepare my students for 21st century learning, I will incorporate critical thinking skills and activities into my lessons that help students figure out life in the real-world around them. Implementing the 4 C's into every lesson can help educators make education more intentional and purposeful. This focus on creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking in the classrom is essential to prepare our learners for the future.
Try this in the classroom!
Transmedia Storytelling:
Interactive Poster using QR Codes
Interactive Poster using QR Codes
- This Interactive Poster featured a storyboard about the Cleveland Indians and their 2016 Postseason ride to the World Series. My poster included QR Codes to the official Cleveland Indians Snapchat account, the Twitter hashtag to find the latest updates, a local clothing shop located in Cleveland, OH that supports Cleveland sports, Cleveland Indians radio with Tom Hamilton, and finally a video from YouTube that shows the Indians clinching the AL East and their spot in the 2016 World Series. To the right are some more examples from my classmates!
Multigenre Project:
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
- This is based off of a novel I used in ELA for our Multigenre Project. The objective was to identify a theme in the book, in this case it was "Basketball as Empowerment and Hope" relating to Arnold's story in the book, and represent it using multiple genre's (at least 5). Arnold and I were very similar so I chose different genres to represent the theme of "basketball as empowerment and hope" in both his life in the book and my real-life. I included a self-portrait of myself as I envisioned myself drawn in the book with Arnold and the rest of the characters. I also feature a figurative language drawing with a quote from the book, a meme about Arnold and his best friend Rowdy, a word cloud in the shape of a basketball, a found poem using a page from the book, and finally pictures of me playing basketball throughout my life showing the impact it has made on me and my life similar to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Replica Earthen Dams
- Using only impervious and natural materials from right outside your school building door you can implement a project that allows students to make earthen dams. Have the students draw a plan for their earthen dam, and then let them go outside and find their natural materials for a few minutes. Give students time in class to build their dams, and then test them by using increments of 500m of water to test how well their dam holds up!
Mealworm Investigation Notebook
Conclusion of findings | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Mealworm Investigation Bar Graph | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Rubric for Mealworm Investigation Notebook | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
File Type: | docx |
- This is a great assignment to use in a Science class. Students used a notebook to collect data on their mealworm tanks. Students were given 3 cups of dry oatmeal, 10 mealworms to start the assignment, and half an apple (replaced once each week). The mealworm tank was observed each week by the students and they collected observations, qualitative data, quantative data, predictions, drawings, and measurments to assess the metamorphisis of the mealworms in their Investigation Notebooks. We did this over a course of 6 weeks, but you may use whatever length you would like. At the end of the investigation students were directed to summarize their finding and present the data via chart or graph. I have attached a sample conclusion, bar graph, and rubric so that you may tailor this to use PBL in your classroom.