Collaboration Coaches

Description: "Join us for our journey through the project-based learning experience using the proven strategies in the Cemetery Scene Investigators (CSI) module -- one of the many successful journeys students, teachers, and community members collaboratively take in their lifelong pursuit of authentic learning. " Pitfalls: Cultural and religious beliefs about death and burial grounds.

Not sure of age appropriateness. There's so much there, you need to browse Students who may struggle with inference in literature selections in class, may learn inference instead from watching and journaling about the behavior of falcons on a web cam and later analyzing those recorded observations. As the same students compare their personal observations and inferences with those made by professional biologists, they will naturally begin to develop new skills and abilities for interpreting written materials. Website also has a large abundance of other opportunities for projects and language arts lesson ideas.

Lots of possibilities for PBL lessons. There is a place you can sign up to connect with a Peace Corps volunteer in another country so they would have an authentic audience.

Math Projects K-8 Math PBL ideas

The topics are standards-based and of global interest. Each project is designed to be used as is or customized to your classroom's needs. An easy way to find a classroom with which to partner is to check the "Connect with Classrooms" forum on the project index page for posts by interested classrooms. Topics include holidays and festivals, digital storytelling, spanish, global warming, habitats, weather, and natural disasters.

List of projects that make use of global connections to study various topics for late elementary to middle school aged students. I love how the project calendar lays out a specific timeline for when to introduce concepts and exchange emails. The website provides a forum to find cooperating classrooms. The possible pitfall could be not finding a class to exchange ideas.

Description: "The resources in Xpeditions provide an opportunity to cross the curriculums of science, social studies, math, and language arts using National Geography Standards. At the same time students are engaged in unique and well planned inquiry, project, and problem based activities." Benefits: Just about all the work is done for you. Lesson plans, video links, everything right at your fingertips. Pitfalls: Deciding what you want to do and where to start.

This project leads 5th through high school students through an investigation into the impact of junk mail. Students use math to calculate the amount of unwanted mail received and science to determine the amount of environmental impact on the environment caused by this mail. A benefit of this project is that a basic outline of activities is included. A pitfall is that quite a bit of class time would be required to complete this project.

Students will research, write, edit, revise, support, and publish their news stories and editorial opinion pieces-while learning, practicing, and mastering 21st century content standards, learning objectives, learning skills, and technology tools.Students will be publishing them in a 21st century, globally-themed newspaper format. This newspaper can be shared with not only the school but the community. This is a lesson for 4th grade, but I think it could be adapted for 3rd grade up.

The International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) is a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. iEARN has hundreds of projects to join (some with a nominal joining fee). Some have been ongoing for years, and many have received national/international recognition. An example of a new project is "Proverbs and Idioms." Facilitated by students and teachers in Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria, and India, it is a worldwide exchange exploring the commonalities and differences in proverbs throughout history and culture worldwide.

Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century learning and improve academic performance through content driven collaboration. We engage teachers and K-12 students in meaningful project learning exchanges worldwide to develop science, math, literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork, civic responsibility and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multi-cultural understanding. We prepare youth for full participation as productive and effective citizens in an increasing global economy.

Global SchoolNet partners with schools, communities, and businesses to provide collaborative learning activities that prepare students for the workforce and help them become literate and responsible global citizens. The Project Registry has more than 800 online projects providing teachers a chance to collaborate and share learning experiences. The most recent partner programs include "Mosaics of Life" (a global art project culminating in the creation of eight collaborative glass tile murals made up of original art and expressing understanding, concerns, and insights in themes that affect and shape lives both locally and globally) and the U.S. State Department-sponsored "Doors to Diplomacy Competition" (an educational challenge for middle and high school students about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy, with prizes including scholarships, cash, and a trip to Washington, D.C.).

Driving question: How do we describe motion and change in our world scientifically? In the Rube Goldberg Project, students will build a Rube Goldberg Machine (by definition, "of, relating to, or being a contrivance that brings about by complicated means what apparently could have been accomplished simply....") and explain the phyics of motion in that machine. Some examples of rube goldberg devices in the past, in both movies and pop culture, are the device that Pee Wee Herman uses to make breakfast in the movie "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," or the game "Mousetrap." Students will be able to explain and demonstrate the physics of motion (specifically Newtons Three Laws, Velocity, Acceleration, Kinetic and Potential Energy, and Momentum) through running their machine and will be able to calculate the velocity, acceleration, and energy generated by their machines as they run to complete simple tasks. They will have a working knowledge of simple motion equations and how to calculate in real life situations. This project has activities, assessments and resources included Requires a considerable amount of time and materials, but very engaging and student centered

An Index of US Military Support Web Sites Good for all grade levels Real World activities that will benefit soldiers Great project for requiring the students to organize, plan, execute a real world project Pitfall- teacher would have to okay the project to make sure that it is something that is grade level appropriate or that the project doesn't require a fee.

CIESE sponsors and designs interdisciplinary projects that teachers throughout the world can use to enhance their curriculum through compelling use of the Internet. We focus on projects that utilize real time data available from the Internet, and collaborative projects that utilize the Internet's potential to reach peers and experts around the world. Below is a catalog of projects that are currently being or have been sponsored by CIESE . The mission of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) is to help teachers use the Internet, math software, CD-ROMs, computer-based laboratory systems (CBLS), and other tools to create dynamic, inquiry-oriented classrooms that promote achievement of content standards in science and math. To this end, they offer a number of interdisciplinary projects grouped into four categories: collaborative projects, partner projects, real-time data projects, and projects using primary sources and archived collections.

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, schools, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. This project gives an authentic reason to learn how to record data using graphs and charts, research, and writing. All of this can be done using technology. Since areas all around North America are involved, it ties into the global community. Teachers within a school or district could work together to promote collaboration. The biggest pitfall would be finding a location that would be appropriate to place the feeder.

This site offers a plethora of ideas and examples of PBL. It goes across the curriculum and is also K-12. This site will either provide you with what you need or jumpstart your brain. There are a lot of resources at your fingertip. Possible pitfall? The projects are already structured for you.

Project Densho The Densho Educational Web site gives students access to a wealth of primary source material relating to the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Project Densho's partnership with historians at Stanford University produced curriculum to help students and teachers use these valuable resources in classroom activities. This is a powerful tool to bring inquiry-based learning into middle and high school social studies classrooms. This is a powerful site for inquiry-based learning for upper grades; however, there isn't anything already created that we can enroll our classes in... unless it's there and I'm missing it.

This is a multiple unit lesson plan that is intended to cover many of the strands of 7th grade mathematics including all operations of integers, order of operations, rational numbers, scientific notation, properties, and equations. Students explore how to make money through small businesses and use real data to learn that business can be profitable or can cause debt. One of the pitfalls may be the time needed to complete all of the units.

Degree Confluence Project The goal of this volunteer-run project is to post a photograph on this Web site of each of the 13,584 latitude and longitude degree intersections in the world (whole-number values only!). Confluences in the oceans and some near the poles have been excluded. There is a confluence point within 49 miles of wherever you're standing. You can join the fun with a camera and GPS receiver. Participants must create an account or log a plan Here's my question -- is this just a 21st Century collaborative learning oportunity, or is it pbl? Did I tag it right?