The Kindergarten Project Based Learning Movie
The Kindergarten Project Based Learning Movie - Capstone Project
By Kathy Moorehead for Dr. Pam Redmond and Professor Martha McCoy
Touro University, 2014
Abstract: Teachers in California are in the midst of transforming their practices to meet the newly adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) that goes along with it. The old California Content Standards multiple choice tests are gone and students will now be asked to answer questions, even math questions, in essay form and explain how they got their answers.
Driving Question: How do we teach Project Based Learning at the kindergarten level? How do we begin to teach research skills to learners who are pre-literate? How do kindergarten children present or share out what they have learned?
Background:
The CCSS looks for greater depth of knowledge rather than breadth. The goal of the SBA is to measure students’ abilities to think critically, problem solve and communicate their thinking and ideas. Teachers will no longer be engaged in a foot race that begins from day one of school and lasts until testing starts in May in an attempt to fill the “empty vessels” with as much content knowledge as is humanly possible. You would think teachers would be thrilled, but many are scared. This is a new game and the road ahead is not clear. They have many questions and some even feel that it is better to stick with the “devil you know”.
Project-Based-Learning (PBL) is a method of teaching that proceeds from the fundamental belief that children learn best by following their interests and curiosities. In As Plutarch said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” In PBL, teachers still create a structure to the learning environment by creating a driving question and backward planning to meet the CCSS that all children need to know. The difference is that both content and process learning are given at least equal weight under PBL. Core content areas are identified and students are brought to proficiency in those skills as well as being given a time and a space to develop 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration. These are exactly the types of skills that will be necessary for our students to perform well on the Smarter Balanced Assessments, as well as in their future lives.
Project-Based-Learning is not a new idea. Learning by doing was first promoted by John Dewey in My Pedagogical Creed in 1897, but it is experiencing a resurgence of interest with the rapid growth of the technological age and the fundamental understanding that the “facts” children learn today may be obsolete at faster and faster rates. In the information age, knowing “how to be a critical navigators and consumers of information” is more important than simply memorizing information.
Although it is not a new idea, the past 50 years in education have been devoted to a very different paradigm about teaching and learning, and teachers who are just beginning their journey in PBL may benefit from this project and from watching the methods of a teacher who is a few years ahead of them in implementing PBL and eager to share her continuing discoveries. It is also extremely important to the health of our country that we recognize that fostering a love for creativity and innovation is not just good for our souls, it is tied to our survival in a global economy.
References:
1. Medina, J. (2010) Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving at Work, Home and School. Pear Press.
2. Wagner, T. (2010) The Global Achievement Gap: Why Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It.
3. Ripley, A. (2013). The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. Simon & Schuster.
4. Chen, M. & Lucas, G. (2010) Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools. San Francisco
5. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teachers College Press.
6. Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
7. Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). ˜A New Culture of Learning cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. S.l.: Createspace.
8. Baggio, B. (2011). The Visual connection: You listen with your eyes. New York, NY.: Proteus Press.
By Kathy Moorehead for Dr. Pam Redmond and Professor Martha McCoy
Touro University, 2014
Abstract: Teachers in California are in the midst of transforming their practices to meet the newly adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) that goes along with it. The old California Content Standards multiple choice tests are gone and students will now be asked to answer questions, even math questions, in essay form and explain how they got their answers.
Driving Question: How do we teach Project Based Learning at the kindergarten level? How do we begin to teach research skills to learners who are pre-literate? How do kindergarten children present or share out what they have learned?
Background:
The CCSS looks for greater depth of knowledge rather than breadth. The goal of the SBA is to measure students’ abilities to think critically, problem solve and communicate their thinking and ideas. Teachers will no longer be engaged in a foot race that begins from day one of school and lasts until testing starts in May in an attempt to fill the “empty vessels” with as much content knowledge as is humanly possible. You would think teachers would be thrilled, but many are scared. This is a new game and the road ahead is not clear. They have many questions and some even feel that it is better to stick with the “devil you know”.
Project-Based-Learning (PBL) is a method of teaching that proceeds from the fundamental belief that children learn best by following their interests and curiosities. In As Plutarch said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” In PBL, teachers still create a structure to the learning environment by creating a driving question and backward planning to meet the CCSS that all children need to know. The difference is that both content and process learning are given at least equal weight under PBL. Core content areas are identified and students are brought to proficiency in those skills as well as being given a time and a space to develop 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration. These are exactly the types of skills that will be necessary for our students to perform well on the Smarter Balanced Assessments, as well as in their future lives.
Project-Based-Learning is not a new idea. Learning by doing was first promoted by John Dewey in My Pedagogical Creed in 1897, but it is experiencing a resurgence of interest with the rapid growth of the technological age and the fundamental understanding that the “facts” children learn today may be obsolete at faster and faster rates. In the information age, knowing “how to be a critical navigators and consumers of information” is more important than simply memorizing information.
Although it is not a new idea, the past 50 years in education have been devoted to a very different paradigm about teaching and learning, and teachers who are just beginning their journey in PBL may benefit from this project and from watching the methods of a teacher who is a few years ahead of them in implementing PBL and eager to share her continuing discoveries. It is also extremely important to the health of our country that we recognize that fostering a love for creativity and innovation is not just good for our souls, it is tied to our survival in a global economy.
References:
1. Medina, J. (2010) Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving at Work, Home and School. Pear Press.
2. Wagner, T. (2010) The Global Achievement Gap: Why Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It.
3. Ripley, A. (2013). The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. Simon & Schuster.
4. Chen, M. & Lucas, G. (2010) Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools. San Francisco
5. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teachers College Press.
6. Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
7. Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). ˜A New Culture of Learning cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. S.l.: Createspace.
8. Baggio, B. (2011). The Visual connection: You listen with your eyes. New York, NY.: Proteus Press.