Chapter 3 Reading Response

The "Big Idea" is the core of the project and determining what the "Big Idea" is the first step in a successful project. When making a project, it is important to look at the curriculum standards for the grade you teach and then asking yourself, "What do these add up to?" If you can figure out a common theme or a way to intertwine each of the curriculum objectives, you will be able to come up with a cumulative project, as opposed to projects for each subject on its own. 

A successful project will allow the students to begin to develop 21st-century skills. The projects are there to get them thinking critically, collaborate, and share ideas with their peers. One of the best ways to ensure rigor in a project is to incorporate actions associated with the higher-order categories of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.The higher-order actions are analyze, evaluate, and create. Analyzing would be when the child starts asking questions they personally want to find out, evaluating would be when the child begins to assess their own and each other's work, and create would be when they collaborate to create their final product. 

21st-century literacies go beyond the ability to read and write. Instructional standards, such as the NETS-S, are starting to focus on the behaviors that need to be developed in order to be an accomplished person in 21st-century society. Some 21st-century literacies include Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication, and High Productivity. The most basic definition is the ability to understand. Meaning, a successful person in the 21st-century is able to understand all aspects that come with living in the 21st-century. 

This chapter explains much on how to find the key concepts in order to formulate a project. It also focuses on how to make sure that the project you're doing with your students help them develop the 21st-century skills. Since our students will be looking up facts on the Internet, they will already need to be somewhat literate with the technology, the final project will need to be creative so they need to think inventively, not to mention the aspects of the project need to be communicated effectively with one another. Finally, since this is a large project, students won't be able to just sit around. They will actually need to maximize their time in order to create the best final outcome for the project.