Name: Alexandria Pratt
Email address: pratta@ghaps.org
School: White Pines Intermediate
Grade/subject/s taught: 5th Grade ELA and Social Studies
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2023 Project Planning Template
Teacher Background: I am a 5th grade teacher at White Pines Intermediate in Grand Haven. I teach ELA and social studies. I have been a part of the Home Grown program in GHAPS, and have loved being a part of Future Prep’d. I am passionate about finding ways to differentiate instruction to make all students feel successful.
Quote explaining your passion for PBL/Design Thinking: I love working through the Creative Sequence in the classroom. It is so fun to watch students grow and adapt as problem-solvers.
Please link a photo that you would like to use for your teacher profile (be sure to grant access to the photo you include).
Sample Teacher Profile below:
Project Title: Sparking Interest in Nonfiction Text Features
Project at a Glance : In this PBL, my 5th graders will be using their knowledge of nonfiction text features to design a new text feature that could be added to Energy Alley at the Holland Energy Park. The project fits into our nonfiction reading unit, and addresses reading, writing, and speaking standards. The project should take about 2-3 weeks.
Example: This project is for a 9th grade ELA class reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It explores how different communities help each other and allows the chance for the class to partner with a community program and help them address a local problem. Additionally, the project focuses a variety of English standards including reading, writing, and speaking standards. This unit is roughly 8 weeks.
Driving Question: How can we use text features to spark visitors interest in learning about energy?
Project timeline: 2-3 weeks.
When do you plan to run your classroom PBL project (ex: November)? December
Approximate length of project (ex: 2 weeks)? 2-3 weeks
Observation Stage
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
What Standards and Skills do you want your students to master during the PBL? | Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently |
What will you do to put your students into Successful Teams and Build Culture? (Include protocols you plan to use with your students.) | Creative DNA |
What will you do for an Entry Event? | Visit Holland Energy Pak |
Investigation Stage: Empathy �Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
Who are your Stakeholders? | Students will create a stakeholder map. |
How will you help build Empathy? | Then students will build empathy maps in small groups. They will also complete a Hopes/Fears/Norms chart to gain empathy for their own group members. |
Investigation Stage: Inquiry Building�Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
How will you help your students determine the Need to Knows to for the Driving Question? | While at the Holland Energy Park (HEP) we will spend 20 minutes interviewing Ms. Ashley after touring the space to see what we need to know to answer our driving question:How can we use text features to spark visitors’ interest in learning about energy? |
How will you help your students uncover information to solve the challenge? (Include protocols you plan to use with your students.) | While at the HEP students will complete a scavenger hunt that involves them observing what text features are already at the HEP so we can see what text features could be added. |
Incubation Stage
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
What do you already do to encourage your students to brainstorm or think outside the box? | One way I encourage students to think outside the box is using the Rule of Thirds Protocol. I like that it helps student think outside the box. |
What strategies will you use to help your students generate ideas? | I feel like the Idea Quota is the best way to help students generate a bunch of ideas quickly. I like that it takes individual ideas and makes them group ideas once they are on the table. |
Narrowing Investigation: Checking In
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
How will you check-in with your students? How often and when? | I will use the Crazy 8’s protocol. I like that it forces students to take their ideas and imagine what would this idea actually look like? How would it work? I think that helps them filter out some of their less feasible and under-developed ideas on their own. |
What type of Check In strategies will you use to make sure your students are ready to start coming up with ideas? | After the Crazy 8’s strategy I will have students share their ideas with their group to check in and get feedback. |
Solution Stage
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
How might you have your students begin to develop solutions from all their ideas? | After sharing their ideas they will dot vote to narrow down to their top ideas. |
What process will you move through to help your students get from an infinite amount of ideas to a handful of possible solutions? | Dot voting will give everyone a voice and help kids focus on their best ideas. They will also run their top ideas through the NUF Test. |
Solution Stage: Critique/Revision Focus
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
How might you have your students make a decision for what solution to move forward with? | Students will then give an elevator pitch of their top idea to the class for feedback. |
How could you provide critique and revision opportunities for your students? | After the elevator pitches, we will use the Critical Friends protocol to ask clarifying questions and to give feedback for future revision. |
Validation Stage: The Pitch
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
Who will your authentic audience include? | After revision, Holland Energy Park will come to our school to hear our final pitches. |
How will your students present their final solutions to the authentic audience? | Students will have 5 minutes to share their pitch with the Holland Energy Park. |
How will you give them voice and choice? | Students will get to pick how they want to design their pitch. They may do a skit, makes a poster, or do a combination of both. |
Validation Stage:
Feedback/Reflection
Project Planning Template
Please include all protocols that you will be using. Try to be specific by naming them!
What tools will your authentic audience use to give feedback to your students? What tool/rubric will you use to assess your students work? | The visitors from the Holland Energy Park and all other audience members will complete a NUF test style feedback form and will also write other feedback on the form. |
What will you do to provide reflection for your students? How will they reflect together, with the authentic audience and on their own? | After reviewing their feedback, students will complete the protocol Two Loves and a Wish, outlining two things they loved and one thing they would wish to change or do differently. |
While running your project document the journey on Padlet. Be sure to include photos, artifacts, and student work. Also, be sure all photos included can be published.
**Share completed Padlet with Annette Coval - annettecoval@gmail.com.
Project Padlet