March is Reading Month
By:  Kim Alston

Project at a Glance :

Students were given the task to plan the “March is Reading Month” theme and activities for our school. They wanted to make it unforgettable and different from last year’s reading month.       
 
Driving Question:

How can we make this year's March is Reading Month unforgettable?       

Standards:

• Writing standards:  W4, W5, & W6 
  
• Speaking & Listening standards SL1, 2, 4, 5, & 6

Team / Culture Building:

• Hopes, Fears, & Norms activity

Entry Event:

• Students had a 'rock, paper, scissors' bracket challenge to get kids excited and thinking about the project. Then, the students had a group challenge to sort mini books on the bookshelf by their genres. They had to guess what our PBL might be about.

• Making Connections - students individually wrote 5-7 things they like about March is Reading Month. As they shared, other students stood up if they also liked that thing.

Stakeholders:

• Students
• Teachers
• Librarian

Empathy Building:

• Empathy Map​
• ​Stakeholder Map
  

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• ​Students created a Bug List, they had  5 minutes to write down anything that bugs them or has bothered them about past March Reading month events at Lakeshore Elementary.​

• Chalk Talk - students wrote answers to 3 questions around the room without talking.
• Google Form for Feedback - the class created a Google form to send out to all of the teachers to ask their classes what things they would enjoy for March Reading month.

Incubation:

• Crazy 8's - Students had eight minutes to develop eight possible solutions, one idea per minute. They drew quick sketches.

• Yes, and Can It? - As students shared their ideas from Crazy Eights, we said, "Yes, and can it..." to build on the ideas or add more thoughts to them.

• Blob Tree - After reviewing the Padlet and seeing how far we have come in our PBL, students chose which "blob" represented them today. 

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Solution Building:

• Dot Voting - each student got 3 dot stickers to vote on their favorite ideas from the Crazy 8's activity.

• Students created a Flow Chart to show all their ideas and how they fit together.
• Students looked through books with the four themes they chose for the book bracket. The themes are bravery, friendship, sportsmanship, and teamwork.
  

Critique and Revision: 

• I Like, I wish, What if... To stretch our thinking, we discussed what we liked and wished each idea had.

Authentic Audience:

• Librarian
• Principal
• Educators from the March is Reading Month committee

Final Presentation:

• Student presentation 

Click here for teacher's full plan.
Reflection and Feedback:

• NUF Test​

 Student feedback:

​    "I liked doing Chalk Talk and Crazy Eights." ~ Maya M.

     "I liked working together as a team." ~ Beckett D.

     "I liked that we got to make March is Reading Month more fun!"  ~ Ryne W.

     "My favorite part about the PBL was that it made us work hard and stay motivated!" ~ Aza B.

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

Kim Alston teaches SAIL (Students Accelerating in Reading) at Lakeshore Elementary in Holland, MI. SAIL is a program for students performing above grade-level in reading and writing. She teaches grades 3-5.

     "I like PBL because it brings real-life experiences and critical thinking skills into the classroom."