Summary: This is a lesson plan designed for 4th grade gifted learners and based on the 5Es format that encourages inquiry based thinking, which is what gifted learners require. It is also designed using Project-based learning approach that is specifically addresses one example of the social crisis’s the world is facing today, poverty.
This lesson plan is to be applied in a social studies class for how to effectively integrate the use of PBL into instructions. Although the lesson plan is designed for gifted learners, it can be modified so it can server different age groups and levels.
According to Albert Einstein, “The aim (of education) must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, can see in the service to the community their highest life achievement.” Hence, using PBL approach helps in meeting this aim. In addition, this lesson plan helps to get teachers use and understand how PBL can be applied, which help learners achieve enhanced interactivity. Moreover, using PBL in instructions helps learners develop their communication skills, technology skills, as well as their problem solving skills.
Objective:
Learners are able to:
Materials:
Prior to Instruction
At least one month in advance, give the choice to learners to read the book “They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan” at least three weeks prior to the lesson plan presentation. The book will help learners understand how people in need feel, what they need, and it is ultimately about hope, family, education and faith in God to get the three boys through their difficulties.
The lesson plan is entitled “Take Action and Support: PBL and Gifted Learners.” The structure of the lesson is as follows:
Initiate the class by showing Niger- Make a Prayer video, which is about a group of youth from different backgrounds who, went to Niger. Their aim is to volunteer in relief work, and to morally and financially support those living in poverty. The video shows an example of one of the social crisis that’s the world is facing today, poverty.
After the video is shown, ask learners some questions to provoke thinking and discussion. Guiding questions:
Ask learners, whether individually or in groups, to define poverty in their own words, and then share; allow for discussion. Ask learners if they can connect what they have seen in the video to their own lives, their feelings, and their experiences of what is happening at school or in the community. In addition, they can also connect the video to stories in the news, similar events at other times and places, to other people or problems that they are reminded of. Furthermore, engage learners in collecting information from variety of recourses that can be printed, electronic, and/or human (expert, teacher, peer…etc).
Based on the learners‘ connections and findings, learners come up with inquiry questions. These questions should seek new ideas and solutions of how those living in poverty and society can deal with this social illness. Learner may use the Post-it Easel Pads to brainstorm. In addition, learners brainstorm what procedure they will use to answer their question and identify the materials they will need. You can divide the class into two groups both come up with two different inquiry questions, then ideas (based on their questions) that they will apply and put them in action.
For example:
Group A: learners come up with a list of ideas that help in meeting the basic needs of poor people. Based on Maslow’s pyramids, the basic needs for any person are:
 |
For example: Gift Cards idea (Wal-Mart, CVS, Sears …etc)
Group B: learners list a variety of activities and workshops that might be taught to needy people to help them and encourage them to work and deal with the problem. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Chinese proverb
Learners decide on how they are going to present their project.
| Curious 1 | Critical thinker2 | Problem solver3 | |
| Authenticity | Make sure the central message of the project is compelling, precisely stated, appropriately repeated, memorable, and strongly supported by evidence | Identify a creative, focused and manageable question that addresses potentially significant aspects of the problem | The project is guided by an inquiry question that develops critical thinking, which helps in solving the problem |
| Uses imagination and seeks creative solutions to the problem | Evaluation of solution is deep and elegant. For example, it contains thorough and insightful explanation and includes: history of problem, reviews logic/ reasoning, feasibility of solution, and impact of solution | Think outside the box to develop a logical, consistent plan to solve the problem. Experiment with creating a unique idea, format or product for solving the problem | The project demonstrates requires unique solutions that are beyond the obvious, and explain the benefits of solutions |
| Planning and organization as a team | Demonstrate ability and commitment to work collaboratively within your team. Offer new suggestion to advance the work of the group | Encourage your team members in ways that facilitate their contributions | The project parts (question, objective, solution, procedure…etc) are distributed equally to the group members that all know their roles. It is clear and understood |
| Presentation Content Connection | Organize and synthesize evidence to reveal insightful patterns, differences, or similarities that state a conclusion from the inquiry findings | Make sure the presentation has a specific introduction, conclusion and sequenced material in the body to convey the central message of the inquiry findings | Presentation help achieve the purpose of the project.The outcome shows understanding of the topic, deeper learning, higher-level reading, and increased motivation to learn |
Project-based learning (PBL) is an idea of a project that is guided by a problem or an inquiry question, which develops critical thinking and derives activities that help in solving the problem. In this process, learners not only learn how to come up with and then engage in solutions to open-ended problems, but also they learn how to formulate inquiry questions, design plans or proposals, collect, analyze, and integrate information, construct explanations, as well as create final products of their understanding (Blumenfeld, Soloway, Marz, Krajcik, Guzdial, & palincsar, 1991). In addition, PBL gives learners the opportunity to enhance not only their academic achievements but also their personal growth. With PBL, learners develop skills of the 21st century. For example, Cho (2000), Laffey, Tupper, Musser, and Wedman (1998) agreed that PBL is an effective instructional method that helps learners identify a team goal, come up with a problem solving strategy, and execute effective plans to solve the given problem. In addition, Moon (1998) believes that by using PBL, learners develop general project management as well as metacognitive skills. Lee (1999) and Shin (2003) add Moon by saying that PBL enhances learners’ sense of satisfaction and achievement. Moreover, Jung (2003) discusses that PBL improves learners’ critical reasoning, communication and collaboration skills, and creativity since they are dealing with each other as well as with their community members. Learning responsibility, independence, and discipline are three other outcome of PBL (Bell, 2010). Therefore, PBL effectively facilitate not only learner-to-learner and learner-to-facilitator interactions, but also learner-to-community interactions. As a result, learners develop important life skills so that they become more productive members in their society.
After the invention of television, video was developed to be one of the most popular and yet controversial media. Recently, the educational research about video has shifted from an instructional approach to a “learning with video technology” approach. Various video projects are then designed as classroom or community activities for subject-based or learning beyond the classroom (Buckingham, Grahame, & Sefton-Green, 1995; Buckingham, Harvey, & Sefton-Green, 1999; Green, 2003; Gauntlett, 2003; Davidson, 2004; Theodosakis, 2005). In fact, learners are interested to and fascinated by videos that increase their motivation about learning. Therefore, it is encouraged that teachers use videos as instructional tools, which are easy to access and useful in the classroom. Hence, in this lesson plan that I designed for this project, I created a video and posted on YouTube to be used in the first section of the lesson plan, Engage, which presents the problem of poverty. Niger- Make a Prayer video is used to build on learner’s prior knowledge, prompt discussion, provoke critical thinking, help in creating an inquiry question(s), and provide some authentic solutions to the problem.
According to Larry Sanger, executive director of WatchKnow, a site that collects education-related videos "A lot of students these days expect information to be presented in a flashy, entertaining way, so videos can help draw them in." When choosing clips for the classroom, keep them short. This gives you time to discuss what you've just shown and its significance to the larger lesson. Patrick Greaney, who just finished tenth grade, still remembers a photosynthesis video he watched in class at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, that featured a catchy tune. "The song stuck in my head and made me remember the process better," he recalls. Once you've identified a video, there are several ways to bring it to the classroom.
Hillner, J. (2009). Use Online Video in Your Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/youtube-educational-videos-classroom
Hung, V. (2005). Video as a learning tool: An off-campus experience in learning with media technology. Vincent H. K. Hung. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/33_Hung.pdf
Kim, P., Hong, J.S., Bonk, C., & Lim, G. (2009). Effects of Group Reflection Variations in Project-Based Learning Integrated in a Web 2.0 Learning Space. Interactive Learning Environments.
Papanikolaou, K. (2010). Promoting Collaboration in a Project-Based E-Learning Context. JRTE, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp.135-155. ISTE
More about this module: Metadata | Downloads | Version History
This work is licensed by AMANI ABUDAWOOD under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 3.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.
Last edited by AMANI ABUDAWOOD on May 9, 2011 1:30 am -0500.
