The project journal is useful for students to utilize the knowledge they have acquired by working together in a group to prepare a project.I chose this strategy because so often students ask if they can work with a friend or in a group for a project. I see the value in learning through communicating with others.Students can develop a deeper understanding of material by verbalizing their ideas and hearing other perspectives from their peers.Also, I see the project journal as a way for students to practice cooperative learning.Teachers are responsible for preparing our students for “the real world”.In reality, very few careers exist where one can work independently.Students need to learn how to work with a group to accomplish a goal and produce a quality product. For this reason, I feel like this is a good strategy for instructional grouping because the teacher can put students in either homogeneous groups based on ability level, or heterogeneous groups based on knowledge, ability, and/or personailty.
Courses in which it could be implemented:
I think this strategy would be most useful in science or social studies because it involves gathering information about a topic and presenting it.I do, however, see how it could be used in math, possibly as an end of the year exploration project.Our math program is very prescriptive and doesn’t leave much room for extended projects outside of the daily lessons.
Diverse learners:
This strategy is excellent for all students.Below I included a chart for “typical” students and how they can benefit from doing a project journal.
Student
Why they would benefit from project journal
The Know-it-all
Can take the opportunity to become a leader and work with others cooperatively.
The Shy student
Can practice communication skills with a smaller group than the whole group setting.
The reluctant reader
Can learn from the model provided by stronger readers in the group.
The reluctant writer
Can take the role of Assistant or group leader and observe the others who are the stronger writers of the group.
The social butterfly
Can use communication skills to bring the group together.
Procedure:
1. Teacher introduces the format for the journal, or creates a different format with his/her students.
2. Groups are decided upon.Here are some ways to select groups: ·Teacher selects heterogeneous groups in order to provide good models for struggling readers or writers. ·Teacher has students sign up for topics, ranking top three choices.Teacher selects groups based on personalities, abilities, etc.
*Teachers may also select groups knowing the reading level of students, and the books/materials available for each group. ·Students select own groups. ·Groups are randomly assigned by drawing names.
3. In small groups, roles are selected and assigned.The roles should be documented on their Project Journal forms.
4. One person in the group serves as the group scribe to record progress towards tasks to accomplish and records participation by group members. This job can be rotated throughout the group or can remain one person’s job .
5. Each person in the group is responsible for reflecting each day at the bottom of the Project Journal form.
Potential Issues:
Problem:
Possible Solutions:
One student may dominate all the others.
·Have discussions about sharing responsibility. ·Do cooperative learning activities unrelated to content area topic prior to project journals. ·Have students switch roles throughout project so everyone gets the chance to be group leader.
Students may want to work alone.
·This is a great opportunity to learn to cooperate, so teachers should stick to the group format.Make sure for other projects that there is an option for independent work.
References
Stephens, E. C., & Brown, J. E. (2005). A Handbook of Content Literacy Strategies. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
Rationale:
The project journal is useful for students to utilize the knowledge they have acquired by working together in a group to prepare a project. I chose this strategy because so often students ask if they can work with a friend or in a group for a project. I see the value in learning through communicating with others. Students can develop a deeper understanding of material by verbalizing their ideas and hearing other perspectives from their peers. Also, I see the project journal as a way for students to practice cooperative learning. Teachers are responsible for preparing our students for “the real world”. In reality, very few careers exist where one can work independently. Students need to learn how to work with a group to accomplish a goal and produce a quality product. For this reason, I feel like this is a good strategy for instructional grouping because the teacher can put students in either homogeneous groups based on ability level, or heterogeneous groups based on knowledge, ability, and/or personailty.Courses in which it could be implemented:
I think this strategy would be most useful in science or social studies because it involves gathering information about a topic and presenting it. I do, however, see how it could be used in math, possibly as an end of the year exploration project. Our math program is very prescriptive and doesn’t leave much room for extended projects outside of the daily lessons.Diverse learners:
This strategy is excellent for all students. Below I included a chart for “typical” students and how they can benefit from doing a project journal.Procedure:
1. Teacher introduces the format for the journal, or creates a different format with his/her students.2. Groups are decided upon. Here are some ways to select groups:
· Teacher selects heterogeneous groups in order to provide good models for struggling readers or writers.
· Teacher has students sign up for topics, ranking top three choices. Teacher selects groups based on personalities, abilities, etc.
*Teachers may also select groups knowing the reading level of students, and the books/materials available for each group.
· Students select own groups.
· Groups are randomly assigned by drawing names.
3. In small groups, roles are selected and assigned. The roles should be documented on their Project Journal forms.
4. One person in the group serves as the group scribe to record progress towards tasks to accomplish and records participation by group members. This job can be rotated throughout the group or can remain one person’s job .
5. Each person in the group is responsible for reflecting each day at the bottom of the Project Journal form.
Potential Issues:
· Do cooperative learning activities unrelated to content area topic prior to project journals.
· Have students switch roles throughout project so everyone gets the chance to be group leader.
References
Stephens, E. C., & Brown, J. E. (2005). A Handbook of Content Literacy Strategies. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.