Tag Archives: PBL

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imageChristmas seemed the perfect time to show appreciation to some senior citizens at a local assisted care home.  This group searched online for some quick, fun crafts to make as gifts.  Their top choices were pipecleaner and bead ornaments and ice cream cone Christmas trees.  They invited other fifth grade classrooms to join us.  One wrote personalized Christmas cards, and another class made and bagged a special trail mix.  What an exciting visit students had with gifts and iPads in hand.image

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imageAfter brainstorming, this group decided to ask fifth graders to bring in needed clothing items for our school nurse and to bring in nonperishable items for a local food pantry.  They made a catchy poster encouraging peers to bring in specific items.  After sharing a quick skit and their poster with each fifth grade class, they spent mornings collecting and organizing collections.  Great turnout!

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This group used google earth to make a screen shot of our school grounds.  After dividing the map into five sections, they invited the other fifth imagegrades to join us in trash pickup.  A list was made of necessary equipment and emailed to our Building and Grounds Department. After making a short skit and assembling supplies, the team visited each participating class to give a pep talk!

imageThe second unit in our Pearson literature book was themed "Doing the Right Thing."  As students read about people who had made significant choices, they wrote essays on what "Doing the Right Thing" meant to them. What would it look like at home, in our classroom, in Bremen, in the US, in our world?  Based on these responses, students formed  teams of peers with similar interests:  fighting bullying, helping senior citizens, cleaning up the environment, and helping those in need.

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As promised, our final world changer projects are here for you to enjoy.  Just click on "World Changer Projects" on the page bar at the top of our blog.  Then it will take one more click, and you will be able to view students' projects that were made on taxedo.com.  Symbols were chosen that had a special meaning or represented a specific passion, and then they were filled with necessary character traits to fulfill these personal dreams.  These were framed and taken home to be a reminder of our World Changer project.

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It all began with a social studies unit on early explorers.  Students began by asking, "What made Columbus tick?"  Collaborative and inquiry groups began to study a variety of explorers and to chart and compare, "What qualities made the difference in his and other early explorers' successes?"  After compiling an extensive list of early explorer qualities, the question arose, "Would modern day 'World Changers' possess the same or different qualities?"  Collaborative groups brainstormed a variety of influences that could be considered "World Changing" :  artists, politicians, educators, scientists, ministers, musicians, performers, etc.  Individuals researched people of interest and shared their findings with their collaborative groups.  Students were  surprised to find out how much Columbus had in common with Taylor Swift!  To bring it even closer home, students decided to use some of their interview skills on some of our local role models (our principal, our county prosecuting attorney, a successful local businessman).  The interview questions were formed when the collaborative/inquiry groups studied their previous findings:  Did you have a passion for your life work as a young child?  Did you have a role model that helped to shape you?  Did you have to overcome life changing obstacles?  Did you ever feel like quitting, if so, what kept you going?, etc.  After the holidays, students will culminate the World Changer project.  Final projects will be shared with you!