Do you remember the first project you did at school? Maybe you conducted a survey, interviewed someone in your family, or created something to share with your class. There were activities you did throughout the project that required you to listen, read, write, and present to others. The natural integration of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills is the reason why curriculum leaders are eager to see more project-based learning in English Language Arts classes. Every student has a seat at the table to share their ideas and show what they know.
In 2005, when I started working with curriculum leaders to design their frameworks, we spent countless hours unpacking the standards to align them to objectives. Then, we matched lessons from the publisher’s content to their standards to create a curriculum framework. It was a treat to see how well students understood the lesson objectives. Each student’s project presentation effectively expressed the key ideas linked to student learning outcomes.
In the last three years, there have been more requests from curriculum leaders for more project-based learning plans in the instructional materials.
This guide will offer clear steps to apply in any classroom that’s looking to evaluate its students more authentically.
Project-Based Learning Activities and Ideas
Let’s look at some project ideas from ThinkCERCA, an online reading program designed to teach, model, and practice reading skills and strategies. One exciting way to introduce a project is through current events, like news articles. Their site offers three activities you can use in your classrooms to help students find meaning from the news.
As you preview these ideas, each offers creative ways to group students so they can effectively share their viewpoints. As a former teacher of gifted education, I’m familiar with Activity 1: Chalk Talk. However, using leveled articles for differentiated groups to comment is an excellent tip. The examples posted from a middle school class are a great discussion starter for curriculum leaders when meeting with their teams. Asking students to consider viewpoints from differentiated articles about real stories integrates reading in the content area. They can embed skills, such as comparing and contrasting ideas, synthesizing information from sources, and supporting their claims with evidence.
Another project activity for current events references a CERCA framework and template to highlight best practices in teaching persuasive writing. The template serves as a resource for curriculum leaders to model with their team to support middle school argumentative writing tasks. Within the template, there are structured questions for students to consider when citing evidence and counterarguments. The power of using a news topic for a persuasive writing project is the connection to high–interest themes that motivate students to write.
As educators, we want to see students analyze their writing, actively participate in conversations about any given topic, and use strategies and skills to comprehend complex ideas. Topics related to project-based learning show the benefits for all students in the classroom. When working with your teams, here are some tips for project-based learning in the English Language Arts classrooms:
Conclusion
The joy of hearing a student share what they know highlights why project-based learning is embraced by many curriculum leaders. It’s a creative way to evaluate how well students understood a topic. Strategies for differentiation are built in either through the activity or how the groups are arranged. Options to check for understanding throughout the project give educators time to prepare each group for success in their learning of the key objectives. Finding more opportunities in the curriculum to include projects can benefit the ELA classroom and support mastering reading initiatives.
References
Busch, Mallory, “Project Ideas for Teaching Current Events and Critical Thinking,” ThinkCERCA
Miller, Andrew, “6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning,” Edutopia
Imbaquingo, A., & Cárdenas, J. “Project-Based Learning as a Methodology to Improve Reading and Comprehension Skills in the English Language,” Education Sciences, https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060587
Mohamed Zin, Zuhana, and Wan Nur Asyura Wan Adnan, “Bridging Academic Literacy and Real-World Problem-Solving Skills: Project-Based Learning in a Malaysian University ESL Classroom,” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.8110175
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