Project Based Learning in First Grade

What is PBL? Project-based learning is an approach in which students explore real-world problems and challenges to acquire a deeper knowledge. Students learn about a subject by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, challenge, or problem. It is a style of active learning and inquiry-based learning. PBL is different from teacher-led instruction where the teacher presents facts and the students complete a worksheet.

When my school underwent training for the PBL model of teaching, I thought: “this sounds GREAT, but how the heck would a six-year-old do this?” I was trained and had only taught with a traditional style of teaching and the idea of first graders somehow magically working independently on a research project seemed laughable. HILARIOUS.

Some of the main components of PBL that frightened me as a teacher of the littles was:

-          Choice: Students were supposed to be able to choose their project that would display their learning. What would that look like for first graders who have never made a poster, pamphlet, diorama, etc. before? How could we give them choices that they could independently conduct without each PBL unit turning into a parent project?

-          Independence: students were expected to work independently on their own research & projects, how could I effectively implement this when students can only stay on task for only 15- MAYBE 20 minutes at a time? Especially when not all my students are reading independently or writing more than a few sentences yet?

Through a lot of teamwork with my coworkers, lesson planning and trial and error, I discovered some tricks to successfully implement PBL in my classroom for me and my class of wonderful 6-year olds!  Here are some of the things that worked for me:

(I am not an expert, only a teacher who worked very hard to make the PBL model work in her classroom)

1.       I still teach an itty-bitty mini lesson to introduce new and tough vocabulary and set the scene each day for our research.

•       I found that my class of younger students needed to be reminded of our end goal and progress each day to stay invested and motivated in their research/project

2.       I utilized https://www.symbaloo.com to help students independently use videos for their research.

•       The biggest struggle with PBL in first grade is: not everyone is reading! How are they supposed to do research? Well with the help of symbaloo and YouTube this is SO EASY! You can link videos from YouTube to your symbaloo page and students can view them without ads! Plus, there are so many great videos and read alouds on YouTube.

3.       Guided Research: I “guided” students research by providing them with graphic organizers that they were already familiar with to write their research on. I used the time during the mini lesson to remind them of their research goal and sometimes model how to write research. This helped students keep track of their new learning and information. During the research time, I would walk around the room and visually monitor each student’s progress, ask questions and check in with my struggling readers/writers.

4.  Projects and Choice: The very first PBL I ever tried with my firsties was about Desert Animal Adaptations. Within the PBL there were 3 choices for their project to display their learning.... and that PBL CRASHED AND BURNED! So now, in the beginning of the year in first grade during our first PBL, we all complete the SAME project but students are given a choice when it came to what content would be included. This met with the PBL guideline of giving students choice and freedom to pursue their interests but let me model and guide students in completing their projects. This helped HUGELY! Throughout the year as I modeled different types of projects, by the end of the year I am able to offer the firsties choices, letting them choose between 1-3 projects and successfully complete them independently.

·         Some of my favorite project ideas for first grade PBL’s:

o   Class book (each student writes their own page) we used this project with our national symbols PBL.

o   Poster (I had my students create one of these in our Frog PBL to display their knowledge of a frog's habitat)

o   Make a video commercial

o   Use the app ChatterPix to publish students writing in an ADORABLE video

I compiled some of my favorite class PBL’s into units below. I created these tried and true units after my class successfully completed the research/projects. I hope what worked for me helps you successfully implement the PBL model in your classroom! Click the pictures below to find the PBL unit in my TPT store!

Happy Teaching!