By Matt Callahan, Middle School English Teacher
A few Saturdays ago, I presented alongside two middle school students at the 2018 PAN-PBL International Conference. The event, held at Santa Clara University, draws educators, researchers, school administrators, and professionals from all over the world to learn about project-based and problem-based learning for the next generation of students. I brought along our current generation of students, represented by Brianna (‘20) and Thomas (‘20), to talk about the real-life effects of project-based learning in the language arts classroom. The talk, entitled, PBL as Model for Differentiation in the Language Arts, centered on my claim that properly designed project-based learning provides access to language arts concepts for all learners, not just students who find themselves often left behind, but also those who want more of a challenge. I walked the attendees through our 5th grade curriculum, as it was done in 2016-2017, and talked about the problems facing students in accessing and excelling in language arts. The real stars, however, were the two students who had a chance to speak about their experiences in the classroom.
Brianna started by talking about how this type of learning allows her to seek out challenges that deepen her understanding, and how it makes room for creative expression. She said, “this year and last year the learning has been more personalized as we could meet with the teachers, we could get any extra help we wanted to, and the goals for each student were very different depending on their interests. Because of this each student could learn in their own way.”
Thomas talked, also, about how this type of project-based learning demands personalization. “I feel safe and happy in a class where I can write a poem in any way that I want.” He went on to make an apt analogy to clothing, “if you wear one shirt every day for two years, it’s going to reflect you more than anything. It’s not going to be your teacher’s shirt.” For at least one school leader, who reached out to me via email, this analogy, “wear your own shirt” has become a sort of mantra for her as she coaches her teachers to incorporate more project-based learning at the school. Both Thomas and Brianna identified that choice, autonomy and relevance were at the core of their experience. While this is outcome of well-designed units of study, there is so much that goes into the process of creating a successful experience for students.
I outlined six features of successful project-based learning opportunities: Large-scale, conceptual grounding, genuine curiosity, sustained inquiry, student choice and voice, reflection and revision, and a public product. A great example of this framework in action is the Poetry is… project. I began by tying the project in to our larger conceptual framework for the year.
All year, we have paid attention to what truly understanding something looks, sounds, and feels like. So what, I asked, is poetry? What would it mean to fully understand it? These questions provide us both a tie into the long-term study of the year, and a set of open-ended questions that ignite student inquiry. We quickly discovered that not only would we be able to describe, read and analyze poetry, but we would also be able to manipulate poetic language itself. Thus, the unit came together with two goals, which are often set in opposition to each other: to appreciate, admire, and understand poetry through analysis; and to create and manipulate language through creative practice. As students created metaphors, they were better able to identify metaphors in poetry. As they practiced poetic expression in variety of styles and settings, they were better able to connect to poets and poems across space and time. By reading their poems aloud, and asking for feedback, students were able to appreciate each other’s poetic ability. And, poetry is unique in the language arts: concision is desired, plain language often underlies profound meaning, odd syntax is appreciated and noticed. Lastly, as we narrowed in on our public product, I found that creating a physical artifact in the form of a book, was all the incentive I needed to get students to turn in a polished, perfectly formatted piece of work. Tip: if you tell your students it will live in the library, the office, and our classroom for the foreseeable future, you will suddenly find yourself teaching impromptu grammar, vocabulary and spelling lessons.
So how does this all lead to genuine differentiation for all learners? First, every student in the class produced at least one poem. Additionally, every student performed a close reading of a poem. For some, that was what they produced. Others, including some students who, previously were not “writers”, wrote entire chapbooks. Some students wrote a poem a day. Others polished one poem for a month.
This level of engagement allows for personalization: one group of students keen on nature poetry might have a 10 minutes lesson, then head out to the campus to write; meanwhile another small group works in the corner finishing up their submissions as I work with 2-3 students struggling to finish up their poems. Ultimately, each student ended up with a poem. As the project wrapped up, students submitted art for the book. Others helped with the layout and design. Some helped proofread and edit. Everyone had a hand in the process. Lastly, everyone reflected on the question, “What is poetry?” The answers, this time, came in poetic response:
Poetry is a seed buried deep down in the ground, sprouting new ideas every day. Poetry is a door to your heart, a door to the unknown. Poetry is a building, each word is a piece and each part is capped off with poetic dialogue. Poetry is a war in the inner mind. It is the sound of nature. A book with infinite pages. It is writing latched to your heart. It is word art. It is a true understanding of something, transformed into art. Poetry is an old, old tree. It is a long walk, without a destination, not knowing what you might see. It is a train roaming freely with a mind of its own without any tracks. Poetry is a forest of words, a garden of growing plants. It is an ocean, deep and full of words. It is a spider web. Poetry is a new life. Poetry is a gem hidden in rock. It is a highway. Poetry is a dog barking. It is a flower, blossoming with ideas. Poetry is a stained book.
Poetry is the tranquil waters of the ocean; to be content and to create, you must persevere to the deep waters.
Poetry is a tiny sapling of a mighty cedar; it has no boundaries and endless possibilities.
And these poems, like Thomas’s shirt, reflected them.