UnitProjectPlanningWorkbook

Projecttitle:MyCommunityNeeds
Teacher(s):KathleenBrinson
School:PalmettoChristianAcademy
Gradelevel(s):812th
Subjects:ESOL

A.BeginwiththeEndinMind

Summarizethethemeforthisproject.Whydothisproject?
THEME:CommunityOutreach
Studentswillresearchproblemstosolve/needstomeetintheirlocalcommunity.Ingroups
theywillchooseaproblemtosolveandpresentaplanofactiontotheclass.Then,theywill
designpromotionalvideostopresenttotheschoolandaskothers(parentsandstudents)for
support.

Identifythecontentstandardthatstudentswilllearninthisproject(twotothreeper
subject).
StandardR1.Thestudentwilldemonstratepre/earlyEnglishreadingskills.
StandardR4.ThestudentwilldeterminethemajorelementsofatextwritteninEnglish.
StandardR6.Thestudentwillunderstandthecontentandthemethodologyusedintexts
writteninEnglish.
StandardW1.Thestudentwilldemonstratepre/earlyEnglishwritingskills.

StandardW2.Thestudentwillusegraphicorganizersoroutlinestoplan,organize,and
develophisorherwritinginEnglish.
StandardW3.ThestudentwillwriteEnglishcompositionsinavarietyofforms.
StandardW4.Thestudentwillrevisehisorherwritingaswellasthatofothersforlogic,
consistency,andclarity.
StandardS4.Thestudentwillcorrectlyandeffectivelyconveyhisorherattitudeand/or
perspectiveinEnglishinconversationsandotherformsoforalcommunication.

Identifykeyskillsstudentswilllearninthisproject.
Listonlythoseskillsyouplantoassess(twotofourperperson).
read/interpret/evaluateandsynthesizeinformationinEnglishonlineresearch
collaboratewithpeerstoorganizeandpresentanproblemsolvingidea
organizeandcollectinformationinanonlineportfolio
communicateinformationinEnglish:designaplanofactionletterandpresentationto
solveacommunityproblem
reflectontheprogressandeffectivenessoftheplanofactionthroughjournalling
createapromotionalvideoadvertisingtheplanandinspiringotherstogetinvolved

Identifythehabitsofmindthatstudentswillpracticeinthisproject(onetotwoper
project).
Iwantstudentstobecreative,empathetic,problemsolverscapableofusingmanydifferent
resourcestoimpacttheircommunity.

REFLECT:Haveyoufocusedonstudentinterestswhilescaffoldingcontentareastandardsand
studentlearningdispositions?
Thisprojectallowsstudentschoiceanddecisionmakingtodriveeverything.Studentschoose
theneighborhoodtheywanttoimpact,theproblemorconcerntheywanttoaddress,andthe
natureofhowtheywillgoabouthelping.Thestandardsarethesameforallstudentsasthey
mustlearnreading,writing,andspeakingproficiencyinEnglish.However,allstudentswill
decidebasedontheirinterestorbackgroundwhattheyread,whattheywanttowrite,andwhatto
saytothepublic.

B.CrafttheDrivingQuestion

Brainstormpossibledrivingquestions.Thestatementshouldencompassallproject
contentandoutcomes,andprovideacentralfocusforstudentinquiry.Forguidanceon
writingdrivingquestionsreviewthispageorthiswebinar.

Besuretofollowthefollowingguidelines:
Recordasmanyoptionsasyoucan,tryingdifferentformatsandstyles.
Donotstoptodiscuss,judge,oranswerquestions.
Writedowneveryquestionexactlyasitisstatedthefirsttime.

Drivingquestion:Howcanweserveourcommunity?Howcanweworktogethertosolve
problemsinourcommunity?Whatproblemsdopeoplefaceinourcommunity?

Statetheessentialquestionorproblemstatementfortheproject.
Howcanweserveourcommunity?
REFLECT:Haveyouposedanauthenticproblemorsignificantquestionthatengagesstudents
andrequirescoresubjectknowledgetosolveoranswer?
ThesignificantquestionIhavechosennotonlyengagesstudentsinoutreach,butalsobuildsa
senseofcommunityandempowerment.ESOLstudentscanoftenfeelontheoutsideofthe
communityinwhichtheyfindthemselvesduetoculturalandlanguagebarriers.Thechanceto
becomeaninvolvedmemberandparticipantintheirlocalcommunityisextremelyvaluable.
Theywillworktogetherandfeelthesupportoftheirclassmates,whilegainingasenseofhow
oneindividualcanreallyimpactsociety.

C.PlantheAssessment

Definetheproductsfortheproject.Whatwillyouassess? Howwilltheybesuretheyare
ontherighttrack?
EarlyintheProject:
Blogupdatesofideas
Peerfeedbackandcheckinsfor
Goalsheet,studentssetgoalsfortheproject

DuringtheProject:
Processjournaling(reflections),bloggingupdates,checkins,peerreviews/critiques,
Studentscompletefrequentselfevaluations
ResearchnotesusinganongoingonGoogleDrive
Planofactiondocument/statement

PresentationofPlanofAction

EndoftheProject:
PSAvideo
PortfolioSubmissiontofactoringrowth

D.CriteriafortheAssessment

Statethecriteriaforexemplaryperformanceforeachproduct:
Product:Journalsandresearchblogs
Criteria:Useofresearchlogsorblogs(usingPadlet)
WeeklyEdmodopostswithupdates

Product:PlanofActionStatement/Presentation
Criteria:Rubric,PeerReview.

Product:PSAvideo/commercial
Criteria:Rubric,PublicPanelrating(teachersandparents)

Product:PortfolioonPadlet
Criteria:WhyIchosemytopicstatement
PlanofActionStatement
CommunityInterviews
Proposal
WhatIlearnedselfreflectionstatement
Journalsandblogs
ResearchNotes
ThreePeerEvaluations
GoalsSheet
Effectivenessofoursolutionstatement

REFLECT:Dotheproductsandcriteriaalignwiththestandardsandoutcomesfortheproject?
Althoughtheproductsrequiredifferentskillsfromvideoeditingtowritingaproposal,Ithink
thatstudentswillbenefitfromthenumerousopportunitiestodemonstratemasteryofEnglish.No
mattertheproficiencylevelofthestudent,therewillbeatleastoneassignmentbuiltintothe
projectwherethatstudentcanexcel.Forexample,studentswhofeelmorecomfortablespeaking
inEnglishwillbesuccessfulinpresentingandfilmingthevideo.Thosewhoexcelinwritingwill
succeedinwritingtheplanofaction,proposalandreflectionstatements.

E.MaptheProject

Whatdostudentsneedtoknowandbeabletodotocompletethetaskssuccessfully?

Howandwhenwilltheylearnthenecessaryknowledgeandskills?
Lookatonemajorproductfortheprojectandanalyzethetasksnecessarytoproducea
highqualityproduct.

MajorProduct:CommercialVideo/portfolio

Knowledge&SkillsNeeded

Already
have
learned

Taught
Taught
beforethe duringthe
project
project

1.ProficiencywithPadlet,GoogleDocs,andDrive

2.VideoEditingskills

3.Researchingskills(keywordsearches,search
engineworkings,typesofsources)

4.Understandingoffundraisingbasics

5.Understandingofcommunityneed

6.Howtowriteaproposalorplanofaction
statement

7.Howtoconductinterviewswith
professionals/adults

8.Nonprofitsintheirlocalareaandwhattheydo

9.Readingforcomprehensionandsummarizing
articles/information

10.Presentinginformationwithclarityandina
winsomeway

Whatprojecttoolswillyouuse?

Portfoliochecklist

Know/needtoknowlists
Goalsheet
Journals
PeerevaluationsonGoogleforms

ResearchLog
Padlet.com
Videoeditingsoftware
Edmodo.comforweeklyupdates

REFLECT:Dotheproductsandtasksgiveallstudentstheopportunitytodemonstratewhat
theyhavelearned?
Theproductsandtasksinthisprojectgivestudentsvariousmeansofdemonstratingtheir
learning.Forexample,theregularjournalreflectionswillshowtheirthinkingprocessand
learningshiftsovertime.Theplanofactionwillshowtheirintentiontoactbasedonwhatthey
havelearned.Thecommercialwillrequirestudentstosynthesizeandpresenttheirlearning.All
oftheseproductsandtasksareauthentictasksthatonemightdoiftheyworkedforanonprofit.

PlantheProjectTimeline

Listthekeydatesandimportantmilestonesforthisproject.Youcanincludeamapor
flowchartoftheprojecttimeline.

Q1
ProjectIntroduction
Researchprocesslesson
Researchprocesspracticephase
InitialResearchWeek1
InitialResearchWeek2

Groupingbycommunities
Duedate#1projectideacheckin(3Journalentriesdueand1peerreview)
CreationofGoalssheet
Q2
WhyIchosemytopicstatementDue
Researchinthecommunityweek1
Researchinthecommunityweek2
Due:planofactiondraft
Peerreview
Teacherconferencewithgroups
Due:5journalentries,2peerreview
Q3
Due:FinaldraftPlanofActionstatement

Fundraising,grantwritinglessons
ProposalDue(forfunding)
Videoeditinglessons
Planningforvideos
Q4
Film/editvideos
WhatIlearnedselfreflectionstatementDue
Wholeschoolassembly/Panelevaluation
EffectivenessStatementDue
PortfolioDue
Studentfacilitatedformaldebrief
Groupevaluations

UsetheTuningProtocolwithotherteachersoragroupofstudentstorefinethe
projectdesignorguideyoufurtherinyourplanning.Whatotherthoughtsdoyounow
haveontheproject?
ThefeedbackIreceivedfrommyfellowclassmatesprovedtobeveryhelpful.Igottheidea
togroupstudentsaccordingtotheircommunityasmanyofmystudentswillbefrom
variouspartsofCharleston.AnothergreatideaisthatIcouldconnectstudentshome
countrytotheprojectbyenablingthemtochooseacommunityfromthatcountrytoserve.
MyclassmatesalsosuggestedIallowstudentstousetheirnativelanguageintheearly
stagesoftheprocess.

REFLECT:Whatchallengesorproblemsmightariseinthisproject?
Ithinkissuesmightariseintheresearchphaseoftheproject.Myfearisthatstudentswillbe
overwhelmedwiththenumerouspossibilities.Theywillneedtobeguidedandtotakethingsone
stepatatime.AnotherchallengecouldarrivewithstudentswhohaveverylittleEnglish
proficiencyplaceinmyclass.Readingandwritingwillbethemostchallengingaspectsofthe
projectforthesetypesofstudents.ToscaffoldforstudentswithlowproficiencyIwillcarefully
assigngroupsandwilladaptassignmentstoreflecttheirlevelofability.

ManagetheProcess
ListpreparationsnecessarytoaddressneedsfordifferentiatedinstructionforESL
students,specialneedsstudents,orstudentswithdiverselearningstyles.

Toaccountfordiverselearningstylesanddifferentiatedinstruction,Iwillusethestudent
interestandlearningstylesurveystoappropriatelygroupstudents.Inaddition,Iwill
provideoptionsintermsofassessmentsforstudentswithspecialneeds.Thedirectionofthe
projectiscompletelyopenandoptionalforstudents,thus,enablingtopursuewhatinterests

them.ThroughouttheprocessESOLstudentswillbeallowedtousetheirnativelanguage
innotetaking,drafts,andinformalconversations.However,allmajorproductswillbe
completedinEnglish.
Howwillyouandyourstudentsreflectonandevaluatetheproject?
PresentationsofWhatIlearnedstatements
Studentfacilitatedformaldebrief
Groupevaluations

Panelevaluationofcommercials
Portfolioevaluation

REFLECT:Whatdoyouexpecttolearnfromthisproject?
Ithinkthisprojectwillteachmehowtofosterstudentcreativity.AlthoughIwillcertainlygaina
lotofknowledgeaboutcommunityoutreach,IthinkthemostimpactfulskillIwilllearnishow
tofacilitatestudentinquiry.Asteachersweoftengetstuckinourways.Iwouldliketolearnhow
toletstudentsinterestsandquestionsguidemyteaching.