Project Based Learning: Arctic Athletics

My class recently completed our first Project Based Learning (PBL) project.  I underwent training during the fall, and was gung-ho to jump right into the experience.  It turned out to be nothing short from perfect, minus the fact that I probably took on more than I anticipated.  We began by completing research with literature from our school's library (students were able to choose their winter sport). Then students wrote a rough draft non-fiction text book on their sport, including at least 5 text features.  I bought the barebooks from our local parent teacher store, and students copied their rough draft into the blank book.  After those were completed, students got into groups and made slides on the computer of important information about their sport. They practice presenting the memorized information, we video taped each group so they could see to make any necessary improvements.  Then, students were scheduled to travel around to at least two other classrooms around the school to present their information.  Parents were able to come into our classroom to view their child's presentaton. The process was AMAZING, incredibly LONG, but worth every minute to see how proud they were to travel around and present what they had learned.  The cutest part was during the Q&A session they held at the end of their presentaion. When presented with a question they didn't know, they responded with "that's a great research question." I wonder where they learned that from!