This week, I was able to meet with Dawn to discuss a future
PBL unit. Our 1920s unit was such a success, and we want to do something
similar with a new unit next year. My team decided to focus on WWII. It is one
of our favorite units to teach, and it will work better with the timeline of
our program. When I met with Dawn, I didn’t have any set plans yet. I wanted to
focus on determining a driving question that would give our project purpose.
Together, Dawn and I talked about how we could focus on the heroes of WWII,
both hidden and historical. I have drafted a driving question and problem
statement that are sure to change as the planning for this unit continues.
Driving
Question: What
are the qualities of a hero? How did your chosen hero exemplify those qualities
during the time of World War II?
Problem
Statement:
The Smithsonian is adding a WWII Heroes exhibit to the WWII
wing of their museum. You will act as museum curators as you research and
showcase the hidden and historical heroes who made a difference during
WWII. Your job is to define what makes a
hero and report on a WWII hero that exemplifies those qualities. Your research
and artifacts will be added to the new Hero Exhibit of the WWII wing.
As I mentioned, this is a rough draft. I am hoping to
develop the unit framework and present it to the next PBL cohort to get some
feedback!
I loved your Roaring 20s PBL! I hope that I can get my team to implement something similar. I can't wait to see the WWII PBL. I would love to plan with you more PBL units that I can use in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed our pbl WWII planning session so very much and I love how you and your fifth grade team work together to provide this opportunity for all of the students at FES. Your launch event where they are able to go to different classrooms to be immersed in the time frame not only engages them in the era of history but also provides them with enough background knowledge to make an effective choice for their inquiry. Please keep me posted on the development of your unit. I would be glad to support you and your students with this in any way possible.
Sincerely,
Dawn