Read chapter. Answer questions. Take test. Repeat. Sound fun? We don't think so either. That's why we choose hands on and minds on project based learning opportunities. What does that mean? We formulate our questions together, research, read, write, interview experts, go into the field, and explore!
Our suburban school is 20 years old with almost 1,000 kids speaking 14 different languages.
The student population is diverse: 12% African American, 27% Latino, 11% Asian, 36% white, and the remainder a mixture of different ethnicities. We're a California Distinguished School and National Blue Ribbon School. But labels don't erase the fact that 38% of our students are socioeconomically disadvantaged. An "achievement gap" has emerged over the years within subgroups of students. To counter this, I've turned to project based learning (PBL). We're beginning a study of water in California, looking at the impact of drought, water usage, and what the future might hold, and yet we still manage to craft other instructional films, public service announcements, and documentary programs for film festivals. All of these project foster and develop my students' 21st century skills. But to use PBL and to complete these projects, students need access to technology. That's where the Chromebook comes in.
My Project
Project based learning requires kids to research topics to better understand them. Today that does not mean simply relying on a hardbound encyclopedia. Kids go to the internet, search websites, evaluate veracity, read, and synthesize what's been read. Chromebooks help with this. Second, PBL requires kids to collaborate to produce a product to present their learning to an audience outside their classroom. Chromebooks allow students to research, read, and collaborate via Google's suite of cloud tools. For our study of water, students have formulated "essential questions." They will spend several weeks researching, writing, adapting their work into voiceover for a documentary film. To do this, they need access to the Internet. Currently our school has 150 Chromebooks for 950 students to share. Having Chromebooks in class will help advance my students' learning on this and other projects. And these tools play another vital role: platforms for reading news and nonfiction text with Newsela.
An online site for kids, Newsela lets students pick from 5 different Lexiles, so they can choose a reading level right for them!
Imagine quality, non-fiction text that broadens a student's understanding of the world in which they live; Newsela provides this, yet their motto--"Read Closely. Think Critically. Be Worldly."--hints at something more. Promoting literacy isn't just about educating kids, it is an essential step in preparing them to be the citizen leaders of tomorrow. Readers are leaders.
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