A Project-Based Approach: One Unit, One Week, One Class

Offer students the essence of project-based learning, within a condensed timeline. 

KELSEY HAMMOND
Lead Professional Development Coach
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“I’d love to do project-based learning, but there just isn’t enough time.” 

I hear teachers say this all the time and it's understandable. Between the pressure to “cover all of the content,” days of instruction lost for testing, unexpected snow days and power outages, the uncertainty of student attendance, and uncertain access to computers and other technology — project-based learning (PBL) can feel like a logistically impossible feat. 

With that said, the concept of project-based learning appeals to many teachers, especially those who have used it with success in the past. The Buck Institute describes project-based learning as “[a] teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working together for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem or challenge.” 

When students respond to authentic challenges, we often see an increase in student agency and engagement. Students embrace the process to respond to a problem or challenge that affects them directly or indirectly, striving to acquire skills not out of a desire to pass a test, but rather to achieve a self-determined solution to a problem that will have a greater audience and impact outside of the classroom. 

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Condensing your timeline

​In the Buck Institute’s description of project-based learning, they describe it as an approach that requires “an extended period of time to investigate and respond.” For teachers who are confident and able, project-based learning might take shape as a complete redesign of their units, allowing for 4-6 weeks of extended time to research as part of an ongoing investigation.

For teachers who feel like an entire unit of project-based learning might be impossible right now, the models I share below show what a project-based approach might look like in a more condensed timeline. These are not prescriptive, but rather imaginative, illustrating how just one 40-minute class period that follows a workshop model (with a mini-lesson) could be approached with the spirit of inquiry. 

At its core, I suggest that a project-based learning approach asks students to take on the roles of problem-solver, investigator, collaborator, and innovator. Let's imagine a project in which students are asked to develop a school policy around the use of artificial intelligence — what can that look like in one unit, one week, or even one class period? 

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One unit

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 1

​Students start with a real-world problem or issue that is far away or close to home with a real-world audience.

• Example: What should be our school’s policy about using artificial intelligence? 
• Students begin with brainstorming and read a series of 2-3 teacher-provided articles to develop background information

Week 2

Students research potential solutions and/or gather relevant information. 

• Students conduct guided research into  the capabilities of artificial intelligence, developing their research skills

Week 3

​Students research potential solutions and/or gather relevant information, collaborating with others. 

• Students receive direct and indirect instruction about how to determine credible sources, use search terms and databases, and pull out & summarize key information from articles

Week 4

Students synthesize their findings and create some demonstrations of their solutions, written and/or multimodal. 

• Students learn how to synthesize opposing or complimentary viewpoints on an issue and develop writing skills: for instance, how to utilize textual evidence and data to support or challenge claims

Week 5

​Students present or share their findings with others, gathering feedback and revising. 

• Students develop speaking/listening & multimodal skills as they share their findings with others
• Their “solution” will be shared with its real-world audience

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One week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Monday

Students start with a real-world problem or issue that is far away or close to home. 

• Example: What should be our school’s policy about using artificial intelligence? 
• Students brainstorm responses to this question collaboratively in small groups, writing their initial ideas on large chart paper that can be displayed in the classroom during the week-long PBL investigation

Tuesday

Students research potential solutions and/or gather relevant information. 

• Teacher provides 1-2 articles for students to read
• Students develop a baseline of prior knowledge about AI

Wednesday

Students research potential solutions and/or gather relevant information, collaborating with others.

• Students research to find one additional article that adds to or challenges the prior sources about AI

Thursday

Students synthesize their findings and create some demonstrations of their solutions. 

• Students use the articles from previous days to write or create a short written policy (4-6 sentences)

Friday

Students present or share their findings with others, gathering feedback and revising. 

• Students share their “solution” in small groups
• Their solution is then shared with the wider school audience

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One lesson

Do Now

Mini-Lesson

Guided Practice

Independent Practice

Exit Ticket

Do Now

(5 minutes)
Students start with a real-world problem or issue that is far away or close to home. 

• Example: What should be our class’s policy about using artificial intelligence?  (Make sure to articulate to students that their contributions will influence the class policy.)
• Students write a brainstormed list of what thoughts come to mind right away
• Students turn and talk with someone nearby

Mini-Lesson

(5 minutes)
Students acquire background information on the issue. 

• Teacher provides a mini-lesson on some of the advantages and disadvantages of using AI in schools communicated in simple language as bullet points

Guided Practice

(10 minutes)
Students deepen their understanding of the issue by reading a credible source. 

• Students read one short article about AI that articulates some of its advantages and disadvantages for learning in schools
• Teacher provides overlapping information from the mini-lesson with slightly more depth

Independent Practice

(15 minutes)
Students collaboratively write a short solution. 

• In small groups, students create a 2-4 sentence policy about how AI should or should not be used in the classroom

Exit Ticket

​(5 minutes)
Students present or share their findings with others, gathering feedback and revising. 

• Make sure to articulate that student contributions will influence the class policy
• Students post their policies on a shared space: Google Classroom, Google Slides, Jamboard, or a literal bulletin board in the classroom, if students worked on paper

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Takeaways

​As an approach, project-based learning empowers students to be agents of change, capable of gathering and synthesizing information, creating solutions, and sharing their findings with others. The more time that students function in our classrooms as these agents of change, the better. Why? Because the real-world is full of problems and, as teachers, we are empowering young people to be confident that they can envision impactful solutions. 

Whether you embrace the spirit of PBL in a comprehensive unit, a week, or even just a single lesson, you are contributing to the growth of a new generation of change-makers — and there’s always enough time to get started.  

DESIGN STUDENT-DRIVEN PROJECTS

CORE CONSIDERATIONS FOR PBL

PBL IN ELEMENTARY CLASSES