Our 4th grade students have typically studied the role and history of missions as part of their larger examination of California State History.
The culminating project for the curricular unit on Missions used to be a PBL (problem based learning) type lesson. Students would learn about a specific California mission, as well as learn about the general mission system in California. Last year, the teaching team decided to try a project form another school that was entitled "The 22nd Mission Project". After students learned about the 21 California missions that had existed, they made a 22nd mission based on meeting a need that might have surfaced in the historical era of missions. This meant that the problem and solution were both set in the past. It was a creative group project and students built a physical model, however, the net result was not very different from what they had learned about and creativity was ultimately fairly limited.
With the introduction of design thinking into the School, the 4th grade teachers realized that there was a chance to try something new. In consultancy with Parker Thomas, the project took a turn to the modern era. Rather than creating a mission for "back in the day," students would create a mission for modern day San Diego - one that would meet a community need and serve the community as it is today. As such, the project question (design challenge) became: "How might we create a mission program in the modern day to improve our community or world?"
Here is a brief outline of how the project played out in our 4th grade classrooms this year:
Notice and Focus: Students had post its and they began writing ideas of what organization they'd create to help others. The teachers started by having students put ideas on post its at their tables... and they ended up with a slew of post-its and lots of great ideas. After individuals brainstormed, groups of four kids began to sort and organize the ideas. Based on the student-group organized stickies, the teacher created some over-arching categories. Kids then took the stickies and grouped the stickies into the over-arching categories as a full class. Once all ideas were grouped off, the class narrowed down all of the options to 7 different ideas. These "big ideas" with associated sticky notes were then posted up in stations around the room.
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| During the presentation, a group shares the origin of their idea on their display: the post it note where a student indicated their interest in creating a wildlife preserve for all species. |
Brainstorm, Design Create: The teacher then asked kids what they were passionate about and what they wanted to focus on in the design and create phases. Students were instructed to go sit under the poster that named the over-arching topic that was most interesting to them. Students began to talk with others who had migrated to the same area of the classroom and who wanted to focus on the same topic. The teachers noted that a very positive side effect was that kids didn't just follow their friends - they went where they were genuinely interested. The teachers encouraged kids to explore other groups if they weren't sure where they would fit or if they weren't quite sure which idea was the most interesting. Some students moved around a lot, while others stayed in their first choice. A second positive side effect was that kids began generating ideas collectively on their own without prompting. In one notable example, where students were going to create a free access high tech gym, the kids discovered that they were of very different backgrounds and yet somehow they found a way to really make it work. One kid stepped up to be the trainer, one the nutritionist, and the student who was very tech-focused ended up as the designer of the equipment. The kids self made those roles and group placements on their own. It was incredible to watch unfold!
The teachers gave students several questions to consider in the design and create phases, including: What does org look like? What is it's purpose or vision? Who will do what in your group? Who do you need to make it run? Students were to identify roles needed, not specific people who they thought should do work in their organization. General outlines and ideas were given to students, and in return students began fleshing out those ideas in detail. Teachers monitored student progress by having students hand in work daily - this was done in traditional written logs/journals as well as using iPads in the "documentation" process.
Test: The test phase was for groups to first present their work informally to the class and all groups got feedback in this presentation. The class also asked questions of the group which further refined and fleshed out each group's thinking. It also led to a list of tasks for each group to complete in the refinement of their thinking process. The teacher had to train the class that it is absolutely a-ok to not have all the answers at this phase. :) Then, after students revamped their presentations and information, 5th graders, the principal, assistant principal, and assistant head of school came in to view the presentations and provide feedback. The groups took questions about their concepts and provided clarifications as needed. While it would have been nice for kids to once again go through a refinement process, the honest truth is that after the more formal second test presentation, students didn't make substantive changes to their program or mission idea. This might be because they didn't know how or what to do. It might be because the questions asked didn't point enough to specific areas of improvement. Budget type items are very complex and 4th grade knowledge is limited - they don't even understand the concept that taxes fund many different things. The teaching team has determined that it might be helpful to first teach where money comes from, or at least provide some basic economics understandings first. Another thought the team had was to put another unit of study, the business unit, earlier in the year and then have this new missions project come later in the year.
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| Students present their ideas to an audience and obtain feedback. |
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| Another student group presents their modern day mission. |
Reflection component: The teacher wrote questions for students to answer to reflect on their work, including: What did you learn, what was your favorite part of the project, what was your least favorite? Should 4th grade use this project again? Kids were very enthusiastic in their responses, with a vast majority stating that the project should definitely be done again for future 4th graders. Also as part of the reflection component, students were asked to reflect on their contribution to the group - what did they do, what could they do better, what did they like about what they did. This was all done in writing. This feedback set up some good conversation about each student's role and contribution.
Share: There was no formalized "share" step and there was not an exhibition night, but there were artifacts produced by the kids that were photographed and captured via video, and those artifacts were posted up for parents to see, review and discuss with their students.
All in all, the teaching team felt very enthusiastic about the redesign of this project, and students were highly engaged at all steps of the process. Next year will see continued refinement and hopefully additional design oriented projects for students to tackle!