Project-based Learning



Project-based Learning

Project-based learning is receiving an increasing amount of attention from researchers as “the best way” to provide differentiated instruction and collaborative learning alongside increased opportunities for the use of both critical thinking and integrative technology.

Certainly, this all appears to be true, but there are concerns regarding project-based learning. Many teachers worry that project-based learning is not as efficient as traditional direct instruction in the face of today’s rigorous and demanding curriculum content standards. Additionally, the time involved in creating project-based lessons can seem daunting.

I think the answer lies in utilizing a mixture of direct instruction and project-based learning. Another way to accomplish something similar is to create lesson plans around thematic units of instruction. Thematic units organize learning around larger, essential questions. This is an excellent way for an English teacher to promote continued connections between assigned texts. This facilitates deeper reading comprehension and encourages analytical thinking.

The following is a sample of a thematic unit I have created for my ELA Intervention classes. Not all of the lesson materials are included here, but the overall objectives and flow of the planning are enough to illustrate how direct instruction can be incorporated into a larger, thematic body of learning.

Thematic Unit Lesson Plan

I. Global Unit Objective

This unit provides reading comprehension and literary analysis instruction around 3 selected novels: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and Adventures of Huck Finn. Although the reading choices explore different genres and socio-cultural contexts, there are similarities in that these stories all explore the theme of “coming of age.”

The “coming of age,” or “bildungsroman” theme is rather dominant in literature, and certainly this theme is relevant to teenagers in high school. This unit provides students with an opportunity to read classic books that are not part of their core curriculum while building connections from these stories to their own lives – and to other classic works that they will read in their core English classes.

The central questions this unit will address are:

A. Is childhood a happy, safe time, or an insecure and scary time in a person’s life? Can childhood and adolescence be both of these things all at once?

B. Why might childhood be viewed as scary by some people – or perhaps by all people, but just at certain times?

C. Do you think your perception about your life right now may change as you get older?

D. Do you believe that adults are “older and wiser,” or do you feel that adults get too caught up with how things were when they were young?

II. Students will:

A. Read the three novels and maintain reader response journals that encourage students to continually make connections from the reading. Students will be asked to start each entry with one of the following prompts: this(these) chapter(s) remind me of,,,; this part surprised me because…; this part bothered me a little because…; or I think that this will happen next.

B. Complete daily comprehension checks in the form of oral question and answer or small quizzes.

C. Learn the literary term “bildungsroman” and be able to identify the key characteristics regarding this novel form.

D. Utilize other key literary terminology in order to critically discuss and analyze the readings: theme, setting, plot, characterization, and irony.

E. Learn about the authors Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain in order to apply this knowledge to their analysis of the novels.

F. Evaluate all 3 novels by comparing and contrasting each novel (in terms of the global/thematic questions) to the others and then comparing these classic readings to contemporary feelings about childhood.

III. Assessment

A. Reader Response Journals

B. Daily Participation and/or Quiz Scores

C. 1 3-paragraph essay critically discussing and/or comparing the selected novels.

D. 1 collaborative assignment asking students to create a podcast discussing the novels in terms of theme.

IV. Daily/Weekly Lesson Plan Flow

A. Begin with direct instruction/lecture on unit theme, the novels themselves, and instruction on key literary terminology: bildungsroman, theme, plot, characterization, setting and irony.

B. Post global thematic ideas for the unit in a visible place and leave them up throughout the entire unit. Discuss the global thematic ideas individually as a whole group. Ask students to pick one of the global ideas and respond to it in their reader response journals.

C. Watch the documentary, “Inside the Teenage Brain,” available at . Discuss whole group. Have students respond in their reader response journals.

D. Read biography on Lewis Carroll available at . Watch United Streaming video on Carroll and the cultural effects of Carroll’s stories. Have students identify all the ways life would have been different in Victorian England as compared to now. Lead the discussion toward the stricter cultural mores and norms of the time – especially regarding children. Highlight Carroll’s own likely-unhappy childhood. Ask every student to respond (orally or on a scrap of paper) as to whether they have sent eh Johnny Depp movie version of Alice, whether they liked it, and if they have any questions or comments regarding Lewis Carroll and his stories. Divide students into groups by the questions they come up with and take them to the lab in order to research their question. Conclude with a discussion on their findings.

E. Read both novels and respond daily in reader response journals.

F. Conclude by discussing the novels in terms of the global thematic ideas for the unit.

G. As an optional activity, watch the recent movie adaptation for these stories and evaluate the screenplay in terms of creativity and accuracy.

H. Read a biography for Mark Twain available at . Discuss irony as a rhetorical/literary device in further detail and comment on Twain’s perfection of this technique.

I. Read Huck Finn and respond daily in reader response journals.

J. Evaluate Huck Finn in terms of our global thematic ideas, and then attempt to compare Huck’s conflict with Alice’s.

K. Take students through the entire writing process with the creation of a critical essay. Assign students a choice of the following thematic statements to build their essay around: “How do we see Lewis Carroll’s own childhood reflected in his writings?,” “What are some of the things Huck Finn learns about people and life during his adventure with Jim?,” How is the character of Jim crucial to the story of Huck Finn?”

L. Working in groups, have students create a podcast discussion on 1 or all of the novels. Attach the podcasts to the class web page.

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