Each year, our classes engage in project based learning. In our classrooms, this means that students choose a project which is important to them and we work together to learn, share and accomplish our project goals. Students from my Grade 1 classroom work with Mrs. Caldwell’s Kindergarten classroom via technology so that we have a big team to tackle our projects.
Using Skype in the Classroom, we held a big brainstorming session with the Kindergartens a couple of weeks ago. We thought of projects we’d like to do, then we narrowed down our ideas by voting. The two most popular ideas when we voted were helping farmers and helping cats. Students thought that farmers deserved something special since they work so hard to grow food and look after animals, so we are starting with a “farmer appreciation” project. Some previous projects focused on animals, so students also thought it would be a good idea to carry on in that area and help cats this year. You can read more about our brainstorming process by reading my post on the Partners in Learning Network.
Although we talked a bit about ways to help cats, students were a bit “stumped” on that topic, so we’ve decided that we need to find some more information about helping cats. Mrs. Caldwell is working on a field trip to the vet clinic for her class and our class is in charge of doing some research about cats and what kinds of help they need.
I am really looking forward to helping the Grade 1s and Kindergartens with their projects this year. Our previous projects have led to some amazing adventures and my students have learned SO MUCH while working on their projects! As a teacher, it’s a great way to bring together different subject areas and give students the chance to learn about something they are interested in! Stay tuned for updates as we embark upon another year of exciting learning adventures!
