Scholars begin their lesson with a whole-class launch where the teacher engages the class in the day’s work through a guiding question. An engaging launch can happen in many ways, but all share a few qualities. Launches should: 

• Pique scholars’ curiosity and keep their attention.
• Leverage prior knowledge or engage their personal experiences. 
• Relate back to or foreshadow the lesson’s purpose through a guiding question.

Launches are often quick—about five to seven minutes—and build on the content from the previous day, which helps scholars situate the day’s learning. Through launches, scholars become interested in how lessons, guiding questions, and other class activities build on one another over the course of the unit. Making these connections is an essential component of mastering necessary content and skills.

For example, in the kindergarten “Farm to Table” unit, scholars spend 10 minutes exploring what can be found on a farm (or not!) by sorting images into a T-chart. In the third-grade “Iroquois and Lenape” unit, scholars are given a map and are told that the Iroquois and Lenape were the first people to inhabit the NYC region. With this new knowledge, they turn and talk to their partners to discuss what they already know. Farm to Table Unit Iroquois and Lenape Unit

Scholars gain content knowledge by engaging in independent reading time, read-alouds, and whole-class discussions around a series of shared texts—something every scholar reads at the same time.

Each PBL unit recommends texts for students to explore in order to gain the background or contextual knowledge necessary to work through the unit’s projects. Teachers decide which texts to highlight and how scholars will engage with them depending on the skills and needs of each scholar. The most common modes of engaging with shared texts are: 

• Read-Alouds: Scholars lead a read-aloud of specific portions of a shared text, pausing to answer questions, expand their thinking, and make connections.
• Independent Reading: Scholars spend time reading and annotating the shared text on their own.  
• Small Groups: Scholars are divided into groups with heterogeneous skills where they share read-aloud time and are guided by discussion questions. 
• Targeted Teaching: The teacher pushes into independent reading time to support scholars 1:1 as needed. This is often preplanned, and the teacher supports with scaffolded comprehension questions.

For example, in the second-grade ”Birds” unit, scholars engage with illustrative texts that bring learning to life. In this unit, scholars explore fiction and nonfiction texts to learn about how birds fly, their habits and skills,  birdwatching as a hobby, and more. Birds Unit

Scholars spend time practicing their writing by responding to guiding questions or journaling. In order for scholars to engage with knowledge independently, project-based learning lessons promote writing every day. This activity supports scholars to process information and synthesize understandings on their own. It can also serve as a way to evaluate scholars’ reading comprehension and reasoning skills.

Scholars often respond to creative or personal prompts that extend their thinking or encourage them to transfer knowledge across experiences. Reflecting on content personally through journaling reflections helps keep the content sticky and relevant. Responding to targeted questions helps teachers check scholars for accuracy and understanding of critical content knowledge. 

The two common writing formats that complement each project are:

• Free-form Journaling: Scholars spend time reflecting on the day’s activities. They often write about their experiences with connections, ideas, or challenges related to the content or the project.
• Written Responses: Scholars spend dedicated time responding to a content-specific question posed by the teacher (usually the day’s guiding question). This exercise acts as an individual check-for-understanding around content and writing skills. 

For example, in the third-grade ”Immigration” unit, scholars keep journals for their research and writing. Throughout this unit, scholars hone their writing and comprehension skills by creating a class glossary of the most important immigration terms. This unit culminates in each scholar researching, writing, and publishing their own “expert book” on a topic related to immigration of their choosing. Immigration Unit Expert Book Assignment Overview

Scholars complete a series of projects during a single PBL unit, often spending multiple lessons working on the tasks that move one project forward. Every project builds on previous  knowledge and skills and encourages scholars to get creative while grounded in facts and content-specific information. These projects often engage various modes of learning, including building and/or making, writing, and crafting. The goal of these is to provide learners with different ways of demonstrating their learning while honing their creativity.

Whether working in groups or independently, scholars engage in a few different activities to complete each of their projects:

• Scholars spend time planning their project work time. This can look like setting up daily to-dos, dividing up tasks among group members, or even evaluating their progress toward their final goal. Teachers can offer examples and provide daily support or check-ins. 
• Scholars work together or independently to conduct research on the project, depending on the expected outcome. Research can range from reviewing information online to looking closely at learnings within shared texts or interviewing community members.
• Scholars spend time creating and polishing their work in order to showcase them to their friends and family during the PBL Museum or Showcase. This can look like building a suspension bridge to explore what building a real bridge might entail (in grade 3) to touching different types of flour and jotting observations to learn about the ingredients that make up different breads (in kindergarten).

For example, in the first-grade ”Arctic” unit, scholars engage in projects and experiments that allow them to apply what they’ve learned. Activities include experiments to better understand why animals hibernate, building igloos to better understand adaptation and shelter in the Arctic, and working as a class to create a visual representation of their findings. Arctic Unit Hibernation Experiment Overview Building an Inuit Igloo Overview ABC Arctic Book Overview

Scholars take their learning beyond the classroom and explore local and regional places related to their projects’ content. Each PBL unit contains three to five field study learning experiences that can range in time from 45 minutes to half-day trips. 

These field study experiences bring learning to life. Field studies help scholars relate their learnings to the real world while exploring the contexts of local landmarks and important places around their neighborhoods or places nearby. 

Explore some sample field studies: Kindergarten, Unit 7: Beyond the Baking Grade 2, Unit 3 Field Studies: Brooklyn Bridge Grade 4, Unit 3 Field Studies: A Nation is Born

Scholars share their PBL experiences by hosting a joyful celebration of their learnings.

The culminating exhibition showcases scholars’ project work and all that they’ve learned about their topics. Scholars should spend time preparing to present to museum visitors. Teachers should work with students to ensure that work is accurate, neat, and detailed. 

On the day of the museum, families and community members are invited to view scholars’ academic work, guests are guided by their scholars on a tour of the projects so everyone can share their excitement and learn from their expertise about the topic.