# data[].attributes.body
-PBL allows students to learn by group based projects.

-Within these groups, students brainstorm and strategize on how to complete the goal or the task at hand

-Projects should attempt to connect to real life experiences that the students have had, or will have in the future.

-PBL not only teaches students how to use critical thinking skills, but requires them to use it in real time. This is a broad benefit to any and every area of education.

# data[].attributes.headline
BENEFITS IN LITERACY (CONTENT AREA - PHYSICAL EDUCATION)

# data[].attributes.subject
BENEFITS IN LITERACY (CONTENT AREA - PHYSICAL EDUCATION)

# data[].attributes.body
There is not a lot of material that the students are expected to read in P.E., but what they do get is extremely important.  Things like our "Eat Fresh" unit in the very beginning of the school year.  That unit is pretty heavy in reading and I imagine, if our PE department implemented PBL, the students would be able to better understand.    In PBL, students learn how to identify problems and collaborate with other students on how to solve them.  These problem solving skills, whether it is by themselves or in groups, is crucial for their development and future success within literacy.  A good example of learning language in PBL within PE would be having the students group up after learning about healthy eating solve the given problem.  Something like, "you have gained 20 pounds and you want to lose it; in the next few weeks you will come up with a meal plan for 30 days that reduces enough calories to but the weight."  Through this project, students will learn nutrition and exercise based language.

# data[].attributes.body
The students are put into groups, and given a common goal.  They are in charge of collaborating to find the best way to solve problems as well as strategizing how to organize and display learned information.  Not only do the students collaborate, they learn to collaborate and communicate effectively and productively

Connecting projects to real life experiences can be an extremely powerful and profound strategy for teachers.  We see in this in Rahil's video; he explains that in he chose to link an assignment in his AP Government class to immigration; as he himself, and his family, were immigrants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student Voice: Experiencing Deeper Learning Through PBL

# data[].attributes.headline
BENEFITS IN LANGUAGE (CONTENT AREA - PHYSCIAL EDUCATION) 

# data[].attributes.subject
BENEFITS IN LANGUAGE (CONTENT AREA - PHYSCIAL EDUCATION) 

# data[].attributes.body
Language is a massive part of Physical Education and PBL is evident in most P.E. classes today.  I love creating competitions amongst groups of students.  It is fun to do individual competitions but things really heat up when it is group vs group.  The students must use content specific language in order to strategize and problem solve, in hopes of winning the competition.  "Not only will academic language be used, it will be taught and modeled amongst the group

For example: Volleyball, I hear my students tell their friends all the time, "dude, you gotta spike the ball."  With an inquisitive look from the others, the student will explain, "like, hit it really hard with your palm."  They will then most likely model the action for their friends.  This happens  in every sport/activity that we do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Developing critical thinking using project-based learning

# data[].attributes.body
It is blatantly evident that Technology is playing a major part in project based learning.  The use of technology also fits perfectly with in the Universal Design of Learning framework as it allows students to manipulate visual and auditory material in ways that couldn't be done on paper.  With technology,  students can achieve such things as making words bigger, or having the ability to define something in the matter of seconds.  Technology, and all other types of UDL, greatly benefits all types of learners.  It has completely changed how students are accessing information as well as representing their learned knowledge.  Engagement is also very easy to achieve within technology.  Using programs like Kahoot and quizziz, assessments have never been more fun.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Project Based Learning and Universal Design for Learning

# data[].attributes.body
Another facet that is present in both UDL and PBL is flexibility.  UDL promotes flexibility in many different forms.  An example is a flexible classroom/environment where students can access necessary fundamental information from visual sources placed around the class, or just having a place where a student can work in quiet if they choose.  Or being flexible and letting the students decide what topic they want to focus on.

We can see in PBL that students teachers are encouraged to not only let their student's choose what they would like to focus on, but to let them choose how they want  to organize and present that information

# data[].attributes.body
The large portion of projects that I have found in my research are group based, even though there are individual/solo projects.  Whether that was by design with UDL in mind or not, the benefits are numerous and profound.  Group work is always in the mix when exploring strategies to help ELL, SELL and special needs students, but that is not the full reach of the benefits of group work.  Every student in the class whether they are struggling, typical, or exceptional, will benefit from working and communicating with their peers.  PBL just takes this a step further and makes the entire project dependent on their ability to work in a group

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Educators undergoing this transformation don't expect their schools to emerge from it looking exactly like High Tech High. Every school has its own unique teachers, students, culture, history, and setting, and its path to change must uniquely match those. Yet the core design principles that shaped High Tech High -- such as personalization, adult-world connections, a common intellectual mission, and teachers as designers -- apply anywhere, and these are what guide the schools' replication efforts.

How It's Done

Key lessons from Whitfield County

Deliberately build trust among colleagues

Any process of change -- not to mention project-based learning itself -- requires teamwork and learning from one another. "One of our biggest mistakes was assuming that teachers could jump in and collaborate and have those critical conversations," says Andrea Bradley, principal of North Whitfield Middle School. "It's very, very hard not to make it personal." After some initial friction, North Whitfield Middle School started using High Tech High's procedure for constructive criticism to help teachers learn to go "hard on the content, soft on the people," as High Tech High describes it.

Grant the freedom to fail

It requires courage and a willingness to take risks and experiment to try anything new. Teachers in Whitfield County say a crucial part of their success results from knowing that administrators will support them even if they try something that bombs. "Teachers need to feel that if I walk into their classroom and they're trying something and it doesn't work, it's OK," explains Bradley. "Otherwise, they're not going to try to grow."

Allow for flexible scheduling

Engaging, hands-on projects often don't fit neatly into a 50-minute class period. A teacher might need just 20 minutes for an introduction one day, then 90 minutes for students to work in groups the next day. So Bradley and Tim Fleming, principal at Whitfield Career Academy, the high school, did away with bells at their schools. Instead, each group of teachers shares the same set of students, and each group has the freedom to adjust its schedule depending on the demands of the day.

Build in time to plan and collaborate

An essential part of the High Tech High model is integrating multiple subjects into each project, which requires teachers from different disciplines to plan together. Plus, teachers need one another's support and coaching as they undergo this change. So principals at each of the schools shifting to PBL changed the schedules to allow for daily common planning time. At Whitfield Career Academy, teachers literally share an office; Fleming moved their desks from separate classrooms into a big, shared workroom.

Don't forget the standards

Teachers at Whitfield Career Academy and North Whitfield Middle School say that last year, they were so intent on designing meaningful projects and personalizing the work for their students that they didn't always build in enough academic rigor. This year, they're working to correct that."One of my biggest mistakes was thinking that a project has to be a grand display, the more butcher paper and scissors and glitter the better," says North Whitfield Middle School seventh-grade teacher Samantha Bacchus. "Now, I feel like a project really works when I start with the standards and incorporate aspects that I know the students will be able to use to learn the standards."

Remember, not everything is a project

"When you jump into something and teachers are excited about it, they may want to force, say, this math into this science, but it doesn't always fit," notes Bradley. "I keep having to say to teachers, 'It's OK if I come into your classroom and it looks very traditional,' because a project for everything is not appropriate, but engaging work is always appropriate."

Cultivate an evangelist

Whitfield Career Academy teacher Eric White went on the first of the district's several visits to High Tech High, and he took to the school's rigorous project-based learning right away. Given his passion for the practice and his skills as a presenter, he became a key evangelist who explained project-based learning to his colleagues and led training sessions across the district. As usual, it helps for teachers to hear this message from a fellow teacher -- someone who understands the daily challenges of a classroom.

Pilot with a small group of enthusiasts

Rather than trying to convert their entire schools to project-based learning all at once, principals in Whitfield County started with a single grade and tried to place the teachers who were most eager to make the transformation in that group. That way, the enthusiasts could work out some of the bugs and demonstrate the benefits of PBL for their colleagues to see. The principals chose the earliest grades in their schools, sixth and ninth, because students in those grades would more likely be open-minded about a new kind of learning.

Use the available free resources

The nonprofit High Tech High aims to share its best practices openly, not make money off them, so it posts a host of materials on its website for free. The Projects page details projects created by High Tech High teachers, with timelines, assignment descriptions, and examples of student work. The Videos page contains dozens of videos on teaching and learning at the school, some produced by students. More resources and videos on project-based learning are available from the Buck Institute for Education and Edutopia's own PBL page.

Educate parents and the community

Helping parents and community members understand and buy into project-based learning is one thing educators across Whitfield County agree they haven't done enough of. "The word project can mean so many different things," Bradley points out. "Parents thought it meant we were going to cut out cute stuff and stick it on a poster. For us, project-based learning doesn't mean you have to use paint or glitter or build something. Really, it's about designing an experience that children want to be a part of."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Getting Started with Project-Based Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Educators undergoing this transformation don't expect their schools to emerge from it looking exactly like High Tech High. Every school has its own unique teachers, students, culture, history, and setting, and its path to change must uniquely match those.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teaching literacy is an ongoing task. It isn't a wham-bam-and-you're-done one-shot lesson where kids can show their learning and you move on. Teaching literacy is as much about creating a culture of reading as it is about using targeted strategies to ensure that students are interacting with texts, sometimes really challenging ones that make them stretch far beyond their reach.

That productive struggle is also a part of a PBL mindset. It's vital to stretch and push these students so they don't fear brain sweat in the future. But we must, all of us, use scaffolds to teach literacy behind every door.

How Does Literacy Come Into Play in a PBL Unit?

PBL is entrenched in the concept of the elements being "ongoing." Building a PBL culture in the classroom isn't just about doing a project every quarter. It's about using the Design Elements as often as possible. It's about offering Choice in different assignments, rubrics, deadlines, or partnerships on an everyday basis. It's about training students to ask great questions not just when creating a Need to Know list, but when using Google, when asking for feedback, or to even develop their own peer-to-peer assessments. The need to teach literacy is also ongoing.

Teaching literacy begins on day one of any classroom. For instance, take the ongoing literacy of text structures:

On the first day of class, many of us send out a letter home to parents asking for a signature of some kind. As teachers, we often instinctively use different text structures to chunk these letters. We use subheadings, a bulleted list, or numbering to help explain the rules and policies of our classroom. These are literacy strategies we use to help break down informational text. Bring them to your students' attention on day one.

When next we see text structures, it could be on a cover letter (like this example) or check list that we hand out to students when we launch our first PBL unit of the school year. This list gives the big picture overview of what's to come and makes our methodology transparent. These checklists can also be broken down into chunks like Driving Question, Major Products, Standards, etc.

Throughout the unit, students will also encounter text structures as they read articles in newspapers, magazines, and online. Pull in the parallels they saw in your own documentation, and have them begin to recognize that authors and journalists use text structures to help readers find and comprehend information.

When students write, also have them mimic text structures in their own writing. I, for instance, never use the term "Five-paragraph essay" in my middle school class. I also never answer questions about the quantity of paragraphs to achieve "done"-instead, I say "sections." When my students have to write an executive summary to pitch their solution to a committee of funders, it isn't about a magic number of paragraphs to write persuasively. It's about these three sections: Background Information, Evidence, Recommendations.

All of these are offset by subheadings. All of these might use paragraphs, but they also might use bulleted lists or links to videos with student-written captions underneath in a different font. By first recognizing text structures used in the research they are reading, students can then mimic those formats in their own work. That brings more authenticity to their project, another goal of PBL.

So, What Strategies Can Be Used to Teach Literacy in Every PBL Classroom?

As I said, teaching literacy can begin on Day One. In fact, I would make the argument that along with your content area, the one concept you are ALWAYS teaching, on a daily basis, is literacy. Here are some ways to teach literacy and where they might appear in a PBL unit:

1. Leveled texts. Students are constantly looking for research on their topics. But don't wait for the project to begin. Start to seed the way you want them to read texts from the get-go. Teach math? Find a great post from Newsela related to the math in the world around us and assign it based on a student's reading level. This program can be adjusted to meet the levels of the learners, giving all students access to the same content.
Use in a PBL unit: Prior to the research stage to build content knowledge and during the research stage to help students learn independently.

2. Graphic Organizers. Graphic organizers aren't just to organize thoughts before writing. They can be used to help analyze text being read. There are different graphic organizers for argument, narrative, and informative writing. Having said that, remember to give students choice; not all graphic organizers work for all students.
Use in a PBL unit: Graphic organizers can be used as students take notes, draft, and give critique.

3. Transition Words. Another part of understanding text structures is in learning about which words mark a shift in the author's message. Words like however, consequently, first, in conclusion, etc. create a shift in the meaning of the writing.
Use in a PBL unit: During direct instruction time (yes, PBL allows for that!), read whole-class articles with students to help them recognize those words or phrases that mark a shift in an author's thought process. Gradually release them to read articles they've found themselves and have them make note of the transition words.

4. Text annotation. While students are reading, have them mark up the text. For younger kids, have them use simple symbols like question marks to denote confusion or stars to denote facts or phrases that they like. For older students, have them use the symbols as well as key words and comments.
Use in a PBL unit: Encourage students to get down and dirty with literacy by annotating all of their research during small group collaboration time. Use a program like Scrible so students can share their research and pass their annotations between them, circling, highlighting, and commentating on shared articles and pdfs.

5. Just let 'em read. Want to really help teach literacy? Give students time to read. Let them read anything that interests them and then discuss what they are reading. Be a part of that conversation so that your enthusiasm trickles down to them and vice versa.
Use in a PBL unit: PBL is all about student choice and student-propelled inquiry. What better way to have them be a part of their own literacy than to allow students the chance to choose their own topics or points of view and read about issues that interest them?

Teaching literacy comes down to being the voice in their head as they read. Give students the chance to read and be a part of that inner discussion going on in their heads. Make the writing process transparent in your content area, and their literacy will improve. PBL is a journey and giving students access to strategies in literacy keeps them jogging along their learning path.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PBL & Literacy: Teaching Reading While on a Learning Journey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A secondary teacher provides 5 strategies for PBL units, such as leveled texts, graphic organizers, transition words, and text annotation, and more.

# data[].attributes.body
After learning about PBL, and with my prior knowledge of UDL, I feel like PBL was designed with UDL in mind.  Seeing as there are so many UDL aspects that are built in the foundations of PBL, it makes me believe that the two weren't to go hand in hand.

The problem for me is how to do I implement PBL into a Physical Education class?  When it comes to groups problem solving things in PE, I immediately think of team competitions.  But PBL is based on a continuation, in other words, long term projects.  The only thing that I can thing of in regards to long term projects in PE is ongoing tournaments.  We group up students and have them choose their team name based on a catagory (animals: the cheetahs, the monkeys / chips: the doritos, the lays) and they play a bracketed tournament over the course of a week or two.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL)?

The NFLRC defines PBLL as a transformative learning experience designed to engage language learners with real-world issues and meaningful target language use through the construction of products that have an authentic purpose and that are shared with an audience that extends beyond the instructional setting. PBLL can be conceived as a series of language learning tasks that are articulated toward a common goal: the construction of a public product.

NFLRC work on project design is informed by PBL Works guidelines and materials, such as Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements and High-Quality Project-Based Learning (HQPBL). The NFLRC made a conscious decision to base its work on these guidelines and materials because they are widely used across schools in the U.S. and provide a common referent for project design for teachers in all content areas. The use of a common pedagogical model also helps to create opportunities for language instructors to collaborate with instructors in other disciplines. The integration of world language pedagogy, standards, and research into project design and teaching practices is central to all NFLRC work on PBLL.

Short Courses

The NFLRC will offer four short courses on special topics interconnected with PBLL.

More about Short Courses on Special Topics

The Short Courses on Special Topics are envisioned as pedagogical support for the implementation of PBLL in the form of microlearning. The core content of these courses will be aligned with the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) Framework and will have broad appeal to language professionals, addressing topics such as high leverage teaching practices, intercultural communication, pragmatics, content-based instruction, etc. The instructional design process for these short courses is as follows: 1) after selection of a topic, a podcast series or 5 to 10 short episodes is developed on the topic, with interviews with experts in the field; 2) a TED Ed lesson is then constructed around the content of each video by adding self-assessment items, a hyperlinked text that expands the topic further, and one or two discussion prompts; 3) two 90-minute live webinars with guests presenters are offered to discuss connections between the special topic and PBLL; and 4) TED Ed lessons are compiled from these to create an online short course further exploring intersections between the topic in question and PBLL.

2019: High-Leverage Teaching Practices (HLTPs) & PBLL

PBLL MOOC

The main goal of the first MOOC (massive open online courses), titled Envisioning PBLL, is for participants to become familiar with the main concepts of high-quality PBLL, and its outcome is an instructional design document called a Product Square. This document was conceptualized and adopted by NFLRC institute leaders with participants in several previous institutes and has proven useful in aiding conceptualization of a project using backward design. The Project Square prompts the project designer to consider how essential project elements are addressed and to identify what challenges may need to be overcome.

The main goal of the second MOOC, titled Designing PBLL, is to apply the main concepts of high-quality PBLL to the design of a specific project, and its outcome is an instructional design document called a Project Blueprint. The Project Blueprint outlines the main design aspects of a high-quality project intended to activate second language acquisition processes.

The two PBLL MOOCs will be offered in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Summer Institutes on the Road

The NFLRC Summer Institutes (SI) are designed as blended professional learning experiences. The first three SIs proposed for this cycle have been scheduled in response to requests from school districts and universities. The selection of the SI locations was made taking into account the sites' geographical distribution. The cost of travel to Hawai'i makes it difficult for participants to take advantage of NFLRC in-person experiences, so this new distribution plan provides an opportunity for interested participants in states in three geographic regions: Minnesota in Summer 2019, Utah in Summer 2020, and Virginia in Summer 2021. All three SIs focus on the design of high-quality projects and are preceded by an online professional learning experience offered in the Spring of the same year in the form of a MOOC. The participant product expected from these SIs is a project design to be included in the existing NFLRC repository.

2019: Exploring Project-Based Language Learning (in collaboration with CARLA)

The fourth SI event takes place in Hawai'i in early Spring 2022 and is conceived as an unconference with a focus on re-envisioning language learning centers as primary support to enable collaborations that foster innovation in the teaching and learning of LCTLs. Organizing themes will include community college collaborations, mentoring programs, and blended and project-based language learning experiences. NFLRC faculty have actively participated in conversations about the future of language centers with peer professionals. Recent scholarly examination of the status of language centers indicates that their value is not always understood and that their potential to drive innovation in language education is not always realized to its fullest. This event is meant to energize language center leadership to activate networks of support that take advantage of the enormous transformative power that language centers can have when they position themselves as centers for pedagogical innovation. The outcome of this event will be a collective plan for the design, implementation, and sharing of blended and project-based learning experiences and a number of ideas for projects that drive innovation in the learning and teaching of LCTLs which can be proposed for the next funding cycle.

Mentoring PBLL Teachers

The purpose of the Mentoring PBLL Teachers program is to leverage the experience and expertise of the skilled cadre of veteran PBLL practitioners who have participated in extended professional learning as resources supporting the professional learning of the rising generation of new PBLL practitioners. The mentors will be world language teachers who have completed the NFLRC PBLL Summer Institute or professional development offered by the Buck Institute for Education and implemented PBLL in their classes. The mentees are world language teachers who are interested in learning about PBLL and how to implement PBLL in their classrooms. One mentor will be paired with one mentee through a semester to provide support and consultation about PBLL. Mentors will also share their personal experiences and knowledge in adopting PBLL. Mentors and mentees will use open educational resources (OERs) on PBLL developed by NFLRC as supporting materials. The mentoring will be conducted virtually via email, phone, or videoconferences. After completing the mentoring program and submitting an evaluation survey, the mentor will be awarded with a digital badge as a PBLL Mentor. The official launch will take place in Fall 2020.

Project Samples

Project Repository

The PBLL Repository is a collection of standards-based instructional blueprints for instructors with instructions to guide the implementation of a project. Sample projects in this collection contain descriptions of the core elements of the projects, including a) a project summary, b) expected outcomes, c) task descriptions, sequences, and timelines; d) necessary scaffolding for content and technology; e) detailed assessment information and rubrics; and f) materials needed for implementation (e.g., student handouts, audiovisual or print materials).

Featured Video - PBLL: Promoting Child Literacy in Brazil

In this video, you'll meet Rachel Mamiya Hernandez (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa) who has applied principles of project-based learning (PBL) in a Portuguese language class. Key characteristics of her exciting project promoting child literacy in Brazil include real-world impact, student voice and choice, flexibility, and design thinking.

Vietnamese through Project-Based Language Learning

Here you will find activities and resources for real-world projects designed for first and second year Vietnamese.

NFLRC Conference Presentations on PBLL

Major PBLL Events & Resources Developed during the 2014-2018 Grant Cycle

Despite the natural match between project-based learning (PBL) and the needs of language learners, the application of PBL in world language curricula has lagged behind other subjects, leaving language instructors without working models that take advantage of the potential of PBL to significantly improve language teaching and learning. One reason is that the complexity of language learning contexts require complex designs to orchestrate successful projects. Such design considerations define Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) as a distinct area of instructional design and inquiry, which constituted an integral part of several NFLRC projects during the recent 2014-2018 grant cycle, such as the development and delivery of an intensive online institute on PBLL, and the development and delivery of intensive summer institutes that address PBLL from various perspectives, the creation of a project repository to create, modify, and share foreign language projects, and the development of PBLL curriculum in Vietnamese.

Online Symposium on Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL)

This symposia brought together experts, educational leaders, and world language teachers to foster the conversation on the potential for PBLL to transform and enhance language education, exploring PBLL's intersections with content-based instruction, task-based language learning, and performance assessment. The Symposium sites contain webinar recordings of all presentations, and they served as a good introduction to PBLL.

Fundamentals of Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL)

These online institutes took place annually. Their purpose was twofold: a) to ensure that participants in the Intensive Summer Institutes (ISI) acquire a basic understanding of PBLL in order to optimize the use of time during the ISIs; and b) to provide language professionals nationwide an opportunity to learn about PBLL. The content of these online institutes was developed by NFLRC staff in consultation with ISI facilitators and varied from year to year. These online institutes were required as part of the application for all PBLL ISIs in Hawai'i (2015-18). A self-paced version and associated badges were developed based on the facilitated version and were made available to independent learners as an Open Educational Resource. Both online institute module materials and opportunities for digital badging were offered to facilitate implementation by other institutions.

2015: Project-Based Language Learning in Action

2016: Project-Based Language Learning & Interculturality

2017: Project-Based Language Learning: Pathways to PBLL

2018: Pragmatics in Project-Based Language Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The NFLRC defines PBLL as a transformative learning experience designed to engage language learners with real-world issues and meaningful target language use through the construction of products that have an authentic purpose and that are shared with an audience that extends beyond the instructional setting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PBLL: Promoting Child Literacy in Brazil