Genius Hour | Project-Based Learning

Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning (PBL) are two educational approaches that empower students to explore their interests, foster creativity, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Here's an overview of each concept:

1. Genius Hour:

Genius Hour, also known as 20% Time or Passion Projects, is a student-centered learning approach that allows students to dedicate a portion of their school time to pursuing projects based on their own interests and passions. It originated from Google's practice of allowing their employees to spend 20% of their work time on personal projects. In the educational context, Genius Hour encourages students to take ownership of their learning by engaging in self-directed inquiry and pursuing topics they are genuinely curious about.

Key Features of Genius Hour:

- Student Choice: Students have the freedom to choose their own project topics, often based on their personal interests, hobbies, or curiosities.

- Inquiry-Based Learning: Students engage in open-ended inquiry and investigation to explore their chosen topics and seek answers to their questions. - Time Allocation: A designated portion of classroom time is dedicated to Genius Hour, typically on a regular basis, allowing students to work on their projects over an extended period.

- Creativity and Innovation: Genius Hour encourages students to think creatively, generate new ideas, and explore unconventional approaches to problem-solving.

- Self-Directed Learning: Students take responsibility for their learning, setting goals, planning their projects, and making decisions about the resources and tools they need.

- Authentic Audience: Students often have the opportunity to showcase and present their projects to their peers, teachers, parents, or even a wider audience, fostering a sense of purpose and engagement.

Benefits of Genius Hour:

- Encourages a Growth Mindset: Genius Hour promotes a belief in students' abilities to learn and achieve through self-directed exploration and perseverance.

- Fosters Intrinsic Motivation: Allowing students to pursue their passions and interests naturally leads to increased motivation and engagement.

- Develops 21st Century Skills: Genius Hour nurtures critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and research skills that are essential for success in the modern world.

- Personalizes Learning: By choosing their own topics, students have a greater sense of ownership and can tailor their learning experience to align with their individual strengths and interests.

2. Project-Based Learning (PBL):

Project-Based Learning is an instructional approach that immerses students in real-world projects or tasks that are designed to address complex problems or challenges. PBL emphasizes the application of knowledge and skills to authentic, meaningful contexts, fostering deep understanding and promoting active learning.

Key Features of Project-Based Learning:

- Authentic Projects: Students engage in projects that mirror real-world challenges, often involving interdisciplinary knowledge and skills.

- Inquiry and Investigation: PBL encourages students to ask questions, conduct research, and explore multiple perspectives to solve problems.

- Collaboration and Communication: Students work in teams, collaborating, and communicating with their peers to plan, execute, and present their projects.

- Reflection and Assessment: PBL incorporates regular opportunities for students to reflect on their learning, assess their progress, and receive feedback.

Benefits of Project-Based Learning:

- Promotes Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: PBL requires students to analyze complex problems, think critically, and develop innovative solutions.

- Enhances Collaboration and Communication Skills: Students collaborate, share ideas, and communicate effectively to accomplish project goals.

- Develops Self-Direction and Responsibility: PBL empowers students to take ownership of their learning and develop skills in project management and time management.

- Increases Engagement and Motivation: Authentic projects that have real-world relevance naturally spark students' curiosity and motivation to learn.

In summary, both Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning provide opportunities for students to take an active role in their learning, pursue their interests, and develop essential skills for success in the 21st century. While Genius Hour focuses on individual student passions and interests, Project-Based Learning incorporates collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to solve real-world problems. Both approaches foster critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and self-directed learning, empowering students to become active and engaged learners.

Implementing Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning in the classroom can transform the learning experience by shifting the focus from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered exploration and discovery. Here are some practical strategies to integrate these approaches:

1. Provide Dedicated Time: Designate specific periods or days for Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning. This dedicated time allows students to focus on their projects without distractions.

2. Facilitate Student Choice: Encourage students to identify their interests and passions and select project topics that align with their preferences. Offer guidance and support in refining their ideas.

3. Scaffold the Process: Break down the project development process into manageable steps. Provide resources, tools, and examples to help students plan, research, and execute their projects effectively.

4. Foster Collaboration: Incorporate opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers. Encourage teamwork, peer feedback, and sharing of ideas to enhance the learning experience.

5. Connect with the Community: Seek opportunities to connect students' projects with the local community or experts in relevant fields. This can provide authentic contexts and real-world feedback for their work.

6. Integrate Reflection and Assessment: Incorporate regular reflection activities for students to assess their progress, identify challenges, and celebrate achievements. Use rubrics or other assessment tools to evaluate their work.

7. Showcase and Celebrate: Provide platforms for students to present and showcase their projects to their peers, teachers, parents, and even the wider community. This can boost their confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment.

8. Align with Curriculum: Find connections between the project topics and the curriculum to ensure students are still meeting learning objectives while pursuing their interests.

9. Emphasize Skills Development: Help students identify and develop the skills they are acquiring throughout the project, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and research skills.

10. Seek Continuous Improvement: Reflect on the implementation of Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning. Collect feedback from students, teachers, and parents to make adjustments and improvements for future projects.

By incorporating Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning into the classroom, educators can create a dynamic and engaging learning environment that nurtures students' curiosity, passion, and essential skills. These approaches not only deepen students' understanding of the subject matter but also cultivate their lifelong love for learning and their ability to tackle complex real-world challenges.

MONDAY  TUESDAY  WEDNESDAY  THURSDAY  FRIDAY

Times are Flexible!	Daily Schedule of Activities
7am - 8am	Early Breakfast! YES, YES, YES! Get UP and GET ready for LEARNING!  BIG HUGS AND GREETINGS FROM MR. TAYLOR!  GOOOOOD MORNING!!!!!!!!!
8am - 9:30am Genius Hour or  SOCIAL STUDIES  and WORLD GEOGRAPHY  LANGUAGE ARTS    LISTENING AND SPEAKING	Genius Hour Choice: What is Genius Hour?  Here are some ideas for creating a Genius Hour at home: Build a Lunar city out of trash. Design a Tiny House. Build a candy vending machine.  Learn how to maintain your vehicles, change a car tire, check the fluid levels, check the tire pressure, inspect the belts and hoses.  Build a mini-engineering project like a Heron's Fountain. Heron's fountain - Wikipedia Explore the world by planing a vacation in a far away land.  Find the answers to life's biggest questions. WHAT IS AN IDEAL DAD OR MOM? WHAT is A "PHILOSOPHER" LIFELONG LEARNING ? WHAT does it Mean BEING HAPPY WITH LESS?  Learn a to play the recorder. Write a story, play, compose a song, create a new dance, learn a new language, start a journal, etc. Second Choice:  WATCH Two of the You Can't Turn That Into A House! AND PAUSE THE VIDEO WHEN SOMETHING CATCHES YOUR ATTENTION, WRITE DOWN INTERESTING FACTS, CLARIFYING QUESTIONS, and WOW MOMENTS. AFTER VIEWING the Video and reviewing your FACTS  HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT what you learned, Talk WITH SOMEONE WHO ALSO WATCHED THE VIDEO! USE THE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS to help guild the discussion. HAVE an opinion based Compare and Contrast CONVERSATION about your opinions on one, two or all three of the construction solutions. What is a contractor? What is an architect?  How is Architecture (Math + Physics + Engineering + Human Habitat Design) and Culture combined?  You Can't Turn That Into a House!: Semi Trailer (S1, E10) | Full Episode | FYI You Can't Turn That Into A House!: Industrial Storage Tank (S1, E1) | Full Episode | FYI You Can't Turn That Into A House!: Dairy Trucks (S1, E4) | Full Episode | FYI SOME WRITING ASSIGNMENT IDEAS: CREATE A TEST FOR YOUR CLASSMATES ABOUT THE VIDEOs! CREATE A LIST OF QUESTIONS YOU WOULD ASK THE Builders, Construction Workers, and/or Architects. Write an compare and contrast OREO opinion paper on what house you would select from You Can't Turn That Into a House! Video Series.
9:30am - 10am	RECESS AND BRAIN BREAK:GO OUTSIDE! Have a HEALTHY snack! Go for hike/walk/run. Youtube JUST DANCE!
10am - 11:30 am READING BLOCK  PICK ONE OR TWO FROM THE READING CHOICES!	TEACHERS CHOICE: IF you have a good internet connection please get on Mobymax Informational Reading this morning for 45 minutes.  FIRST CHOICE:  READ A CHAPTER OR TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTER BOOK! Curl up with a favorite chapter book and listen along to the audio book. Audio book ideas! Five Famous Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen |Learn English Through Stories with English Subtitle Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AudioBook  Intro 0:00 Chapter I: 0:15 Chapter II: 12:15 Chapter III: 23:21 Chapter IV: 32:47 Chapter V: 45:55 Chapter VI: 58:04 Chapter VII: 1:13:30 Chapter VIII: 1:27:42 Chapter IX: 1:40:48 Chapter X: 1:54:33 Chapter XI: 2:09:13 Chapter XII: 2:19:19 ♡ Audiobook ♡ Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie ♡ Timeless Classic Literature for Children Black Beauty By Anna Sewell ♡ A Timeless Spiritual Horse Lovers Classic The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett ♡ Brilliant Reading by Karen Savage Harry Potter 1 Chapter 14 Harry Potter 1 Chapter 15 Harry Potter 1 Chapter 16 Harry Potter 1 Chapter 17 SECOND CHOICE:  Reading comprehension practice on Khan Academy. It is grouped by grade level: 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade 6th grade 7th grade 8th grade We recommend starting at your grade level and doing 1-2 practice sets per day (or 10 practice sets per week). This should take about 10-20 minutes per day. If you find it difficult, completely okay to start at an earlier grade level. Likewise, if you find the passages and questions to be easy, feel free to move to higher grade levels THIRD CHOICE: MOBYMAX READING INFORMATIONAL Reading Skills Informational | MobyMax www.mobymax.com › curriculum › reading-skills-informational Informational Skills. Reading Skills Informational is aligned with the Common Core standards for informational texts whose goal is to help students critically analyze complex informational texts. Progress Monitoring.  FOURTH CHOICE:  PRACTICE FOR THE LITERARY ELEMENTS TEST LITERARY ELEMENTS TEST for the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Free Online Literary elements study words:  allegory, alliteration, allusion, antagonist, assonance, character,comedy, conflict, fable, imagery, irony, metaphor, myth, onomatopoeia, paradox, parody,personification, plot, protagonist, satire, setting, simile, theme, tragedy Online LITERARY ELEMENTS Test
11:30 am - 1:00 am	LOOOONG LUNCH Break and Recess. HELP MAKING LUNCH AND TRY OUT A NEW RECIPE!  Try listyening to an educational podcast while making lunch Brains On! If you like science, Forever Ago if you like history, or Story Pirates to hear funny stories written by kids. Older students may like RadioLab If you like science, Forever Ago if you like history, or Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls if you like biographies
1:00 am - 2:20 pm MATH LAB	FIRST CHOICE:  DMS is being sent home via US Mail Yesterday!  PREVIEW NEXT WEEKS DMS Early!  OR  MAKE YOUR OWN DMS AND PRACTICE MATH TOPICS YOU ARE STILL LEARNING TO MASTER!  SECOND CHOICE: KHAN ACADEMY MATH Khan Academy math practice has got your back. Depending on your confidence and grade level, one of the following courses are likely good for you: 2nd grade math 3rd grade math 4th grade math 5th grade math One practice that we’ve seen teachers and students use to great effect is to start, regardless of age, on Kindergarten and then move to 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc. Course challenges and unit tests can be used to accelerate through material. If you don’t have too many gaps, you should be able to get through a previous year’s content in 1-3 hours. If you do have gaps, it may take a bit longer, but that is good!  This is your chance to fill in those gaps that might otherwise hold you back in the future. You’ll see that if you are able to put in at least a solid 30 minutes a day of math practice and keep leveling up skills, you’ll see big gains and, most importantly, really see the world in new and exciting ways! One you are at your grade level, try to set a goal of leveling up at least 3 skills a week THIRD CHOICE: MobyMax | Fix learning gaps www.mobymax.com Award-winning MobyMax helps struggling learners quickly catch up to grade level and closeslearning gaps for all your students. Find and fix missing skills with personalized learning, pinpoint assessments, and motivating rewards. ... Administrator. School ... Create yourMobyMax login: School ... Moby for Middle School. Search Results FOURTH CHOICE: ONLINE MATH SOFTWARE1  Hour of Code Activities - Learn | Code.org code.org › learn Try a one-hour tutorial designed for all ages in over 45 languages. Join millions of students and teachers in over 180 countries starting with an Hour of Code. Sheppard Software: Fun free online learning games and ... www.sheppardsoftware.com Hundreds of fun educational games and activities for kids to play online. Topics include math, geography, animals, and more. Geography World geography quizzes galore - over 250 fun online map ... Brain Games Give your brain a workout by playing fun games that sharpen ... Math Games Free math games that make learning fun! Topics: addition ... Science Free science games and activities for kids. Learn about chemistry ... USA Geography US geography games - over 38 fun map games teach capitals, state ... Language Arts Grammar Tutorial - Magical Capitals - Easily Confused Words Math Games | Math Playground | Fun for Kids www.mathplayground.com Free, online math games and more at MathPlayground.com! Problem solving, logic games and number puzzles kids love to play. Logic Games Skill Games - The Parking Lot - Connect the Roads - Andy's Golf Math Games Hundreds of free, online math games that teach multiplication ... Grade 2 Games 2nd grade math games for free. Addition, subtraction, place ... Grade 4 Games 4th grade math games for free. Multiplication, division, fractions ... 3rd Grade Math Games 3rd grade math games for free. Multiplication, division, fractions ... Grade 1 Games 1st grade math games for free. Addition, subtraction, place ... Math.com - World of Math Online www.math.com Free math lessons and math homework help from basic math to algebra, geometry and beyond. Students, teachers, parents, and everyone can find solutions to ... ‎Math Practice · ‎Basic Math · ‎Everyday Math · ‎Algebra Ixl.com | IXL Learning | Try It For Free TodayLearn 2000+ K-12 skills online. Master tough topics. Win awards. Sign up now! Standards-basedLearning. K-12 Math & English. Adaptive & Individualized. Immediate Feedback. Courses: Math, English, Science, Social Studies. K-12 Math Practice IXL is the Web's Most Comprehensive Adaptive Math Program. Try It Now! At-Home Learning with IXL Free Webinars, Lesson Plans, & More to Keep Students Learning. Math Games | Hooda Math | Games www.hoodamath.com Play Math Games at Hooda Math. Games for School. Best Math Site for Kindergarten to College and everything in between. Math Games for learning addition, ... Escape Games Our unblocked addicting Escape games are fun and free. Also try ... Papa's Scooperia Play Papa's Scooperia Now! @ Hooda Math. Practice math ... All Games Play All Games on Hooda Math. Our unblocked addicting All ... Papa's Games Our unblocked addicting Papa's games are fun and free. Also try ... Math Games Play Math Games Now! Free Online Math Games for All, Only ... Hooda Stacker Play Hooda Stacker Now! @ Hooda Math. Practice math ... FINAL CHOICE: Mr. Taylor's DMS or 3 Minutes of Minute Math WE WILL BE SENDING OUT PACKS FOR STUDENTS WITH NO OR LIMITED INTERNET.
2:20 pm - 3:00 pm WRITING LAB	Write an OREO opinion paper on what house would you select from You Can't Turn That Into a House! Video Series.
3:00 pm-4:00 pm	Relax, go outside and take a walk, ride your bike, play a game,c

Here are some ideas for creating a Genius Hour at home:

• Build a Lunar city out of trash
• Build a mini-engineering project like a Heron's Fountain.

• Heron's fountain - Wikipedia

• Explore the world by planing a vacation in a far away land. 
• Find the answers to life's biggest questions. BEING AN IDEAL DAD OR MOM? BECOMING A LIFELONG LEARNING "PHILOSOPHER"? BEING HAPPY WITH LESS? HELPING OTHERS? 
• Learn a to play the recorder.
• Write a story, play, compose a song, create a new dance, learn a new language, start a journal, etc.