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Communities Make a Difference
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By:  Alyssa Bellers

Project at a Glance :

This project is for a 9th grade ELA class reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It explores how different communities help each other and allows the chance for the class to partner with a community program and help them address a local problem. Additionally, the project focuses on a variety of  English standards including reading, writing, and speaking standards. This unit is roughly 8 weeks. 
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Driving Question:

How can we meet a need of someone in our community?                

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Standards:
  • Reading Literature Stds: 9-10.2, &  3
  • Speaking & Listening Stds:  9-10.1 
Team / Culture Building:
  • Scenario Activity (If you were stranded...)
  • True Heroes
  •  Hopes, Fears, Norms board ​​​
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Entry Event:
  • Invite community partners to share relevant problems in our community. ​
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Stakeholders:
  • Business owners
  • Parents
  • Educators
  • Students
  • Consumers
  • Religious Leaders
Empathy Building:​​
  • Save the Last Word: Read and annotate an article that discusses an aspect of community. Each student will highlight a portion and then run this discussion to see what stuck out to each student.​ ​
Inquiry/Need to Knows:
  • Students will work in groups to write down everything that they already know about the discussion question; then, students will create a separate list with everything that they need to know in order to solve the problem. 
  •  Students will interview members of the Chamber of Commerce and various  business owners - such as:  DJs Pizza, 317 Coffee, etc.
  • AEIOU or 4 C’s protocols: Will help students break down the question in order to see where they need to investigate. ​​
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Incubation:
  •  Writing Prompts/Journals
  • Think-Pair-Share 
  • Idea Quota - Generate 100 solution ideas in 10 minutes 
  • 3-12-3: Help students come up with ideas by having them brainstorm individually, choosing three ideas as a group, and creating an elevator pitch to show their idea. Do this with either half of the group and they pitch to each other or a full group and pitch to another group.
  • Mind Mapping: Have groups create a mind map to think about possible solutions.
  • How Would _______ Solve This? (Apple, Walmart, doctors, etc.)​
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Solution Building:
  • Group and Saturate 100 ideas followed by the $100 Test. 
  •  Gallery Walk or Dot Voting to narrow ideas
  • NUF Test - students will use the NUF test to narrow their solutions while considering all stakeholders 
Critique and Revision: 
  • Pluses and Deltas OR Mini Charrette
  • Seeking a Skeptic
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Authentic Audience:
  • Authentic Audience: panel of experts (community members and Chamber of Commerce.
Final Presentation:
  • Round 1 Presentations: in front of class/feedback/grade
  • Round 2 Presentations: “winner” and feedback from panel (possibly change grades based on this final presentation?)​
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Click here to view the teacher's full plan.

Reflection and Feedback:
  • Reflection Journal: Students will reflect on the project, content, and team dynamics. This will be on their own.
  • Fishbowl discussion following presentations.​
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Click here for the  teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet.

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Meet the Educator:
Alyssa Bellers teaches English 9 at the Hudsonville Freshman Campus.  

    "I love that students can use PBL units to learn more about their community. I also love that they are able to connect content to their world and learn valuable life skills through the PBL unit!" ​
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  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • PBL Experiences
    • ELE PBL Experiences
    • MS PBL Experiences
    • HS PBL Experiences
  • Resources
  • Protocol Examples
  • Community / Industry Partners