Project-Based Learning
PreK Social Media
In PreK, many students are learning how to socialize with their peers for the first time. We had to find a new way to make that happen during quarantine. Unable to find a social media platform that would meet the privacy and accessibility needs of PreK students, I decided to build one using Google Sites. I also wrote and illustrated a book to help children understand what the internet is.
Process
Process
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With support from teachers, students built profile pages to showcase their unique identities, personal preferences, and families.
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Students created artwork and other work samples to display on their profiles.
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Students explored each others' profiles, discovering common interests and differences with their peers and leaving video comments to build connections with each other.
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Aligned with GELDS standards for social emotional development, complex spoken language, and emerging awareness their families' cultural identity.
Outcomes
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We built a fully-functioning social media site that students can interact with independently.
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Students built important 21st century skills in digital literacy and internet safety at a very young age.
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Despite the physical limitations of quarantine, students engaged in meaningful and developmentally appropriate social interactions with their peers.
How To Be
A Penguin
Short Film
In our K/1 mixed classroom, students were learning how to write multi-step directions using the Lucy Calkins' Writing Workshop curriculum. To supplement the curriculum, we decided to make an instructional video that showed all the daily processes we use in our classroom (The Penguin Class).
Process
Process
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Using the workshop model, students with a wide range of abilities practiced writing how-to guides over the course of the unit.
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Each student chose a daily procedure in the classroom and deconstructed it into at least three steps.
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Each student wrote the steps in the form of a "How-To Guide" and presented it on camera.
Outcomes
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Each student had a portfolio full of writing samples.
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The resulting movie is completely written and performed by students.
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We held a movie premiere in a theater at Agnes Scott College, inviting parents and friends.
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The movie was show to rising kindergarten students to help prepare them for the following year.
Pick Up Trash
Original Song and Music Video
To celebrate Earth Day and promote environmental awareness, our K/1 class wrote and recorded an original song. Then they wrote a skit and shot a music video!
Process
Process
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Students chose a theme and collaboratively wrote a song using Mr. SH's original teacher-led songwriting workshop model.
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Students with musical experience recorded instruments for the song (notably, the ukulele and synth). All students recorded vocals, both individually and as a group.
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Students modeled the behavior they were promoting in the music video.
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Unprompted by the teacher, students wrote a script for the puppet skit in the intro.
Outcomes
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Students raised awareness of littering at school and began cleaning up after themselves more frequently.
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The song was stuck in the head of every student and staff member at the school. It will be stuck in yours too. It's a hit.
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Students as young as 5 saw themselves as YouTube stars.
Exercise and Count
Original Song and Music Video
Most classes at the First Grade Marketplace were selling goods, so Mr. SH's class decided to provide a service. We created an educational exercise video set to an original song, and we hosted a guided exercise session in our classroom.
Process
Process
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Students learned about goods and services and chose to provide a service.
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Students collaborated with partners to design number cards, record audio, and create a unique dance move.
Outcomes
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During the marketplace, students hosted participants and taught them the dance moves.
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We had an original video to use for movement breaks during class.
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Students mastered the grade-level standard of counting 1-120.
Design Process
Posters
Illustration and Poster Design
As part of the STEAM recertification process, my school wanted to standardize our design process language for all grade levels. Our STEAM coordinator provided posters to hang in classrooms and around the school, but the single page wall-of-text poster was not accessible for PreK and Kindergarten students.
I designed and illustrated a series of posters to tell a story that would help non-readers understand the steps of the design process.