Celebrate a National Day with Project-Based Learning

Did you know that almost every day of the year has a national day attached to it?  We, as a society, have created a reason to celebrate everything! There’s National Tartar Sauce Day, National Gumdrop Day, and a National Johnny Appleseed Day. There’s even a National Do A Grouch A Favor Day! 

With something to celebrate every day, you have plenty of inspiration for your next classroom project-based learning (PBL) experience. There are teachers who want to incorporate PBL into the classroom, and then there are those that may be required to incorporate it. Don’t stress, just take a look at the National Day Calendar!  

Any time of year is a great time to implement PBL. When you are feeling the need for more excitement, that’s a perfect time to incorporate PBL and re-engage your students. Engage your science class by celebrating World Habitat Day, have fun with measuring time and distance in your math class while celebrating National Walk and Bike to School Day, or set sail into learning about famous explorers while celebrating Leif Erikson Day.

Implementing PBL for a national day

Now that you have a plethora of topics to choose from, let’s walk through how to implement PBL. When thinking about which day to use as a theme, think of the skills your students could work on or content they could use to review while doing a themed project that day. Let’s use National Walk and Bike to School Day as an example. This is a great opportunity for students to utilize many of their core skills. Also, PBL is not only designed to teach the basics, but rather support deeper learning by getting students involved in activities that solve a real world issue or scenario. 

In honor of our holiday, we are going to pose an example problem to our students: what changes can students make in their daily routines to incorporate fitness? The hope with building this around National Walk and Bike to School Day will trigger students to think about exercise and daily routines. Students can focus on measuring and calculating walking/biking distances, time, muscles used, calories burned, and more. All of this work will go towards a capstone project to present their findings. 

Teacher preparation for PBL

As the teacher, your work will be on the front end, where you will need to:

1. Have a learning plan for the project outlining standards that students will be meeting and the best approaches to finding solutions.  
2. Create a timeline or schedule for the project to keep the groups on track.  Students working on a PBL solution should be given a clear structure to guide their project and when they will need to present their solution.  
3. Assess the PBL assignment. Creating a rubric that grades student learning will provide effective feedback that students will use as they continue to work on enhancing their 21st century skills.

Collaboration is key

PBL is most successful in group settings, so your next step is to group students. Students should work collaboratively and brainstorm ideas to map out a solution. Additionally, when working within a team, students will be able to hone their critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills. Teachers should become the “guide on the side” and allow for the students to do the majority of the work.

Solutions and capstone projects

Students may come up with different solutions by answering additional questions like: how far will they have to walk or ride to school? What muscles will be used to accomplish this? How many calories are burned? Additionally, students could use that information to create a capstone project such as: an advertisement or public service announcement for the local community, a fitness competition or challenge, etc. The idea is that the solution should be a project to showcase to the local school and community.

Now you’re all set and can let your students get to work! Don’t forget to facilitate meaningful learning by giving feedback and checking in throughout the process. This will make this PBL experience worthwhile for the students.  

Check your calendars for a celebration that you can tie into your curriculum. Plan ahead. and you will be able to easily incorporate PBL into your classroom too! 

For another example, check out the course, Celebrating National Johnny Appleseed Day with PBL. Check out the PBL category in the OTIS Library for more details on how to implement PBL in your class

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more content on the Teq Talk blog or our YouTube channels OTIS for educators and Tequipment.

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