This presentation was given at the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools conference in November of 2016.

1. AMERICAN DREAMING:
A PROJECT-BASED ASSESSMENT
Denise Croker
The Harpeth Hall School
Nashville, TN

4. 5 KEYS TO RIGOROUS
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
Edutopia.org

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF PROJECT-BASED
LEARNING
• - Challenging Problem or Question
• - Sustained Inquiry
• - Authenticity
• - Student Voice and Choice
• - Reflection
• - Critique and Revision
• - Public Product
What Is Project Based Learning?
http://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl

6. SUSTAINED INQUIRY
• AP English Language and Composition
• Skills-based
• Rhetoric
• Audience
• Writing to Persuade

7. WORD WEB
BRAINSTORM
• What does the American
Dream mean to you?
• What does the American
Dream look like?

8. THINK – PAIR – SHARE

10. AP ESSAY PROMPTS
• Argument: Consider the implications of a “Buy Nothing Day”
• Argument: What does it mean to own something?
• Rhetorical Analysis: Analyze the strategies Richard Louv uses to
characterize the relationship between people and nature (Last Child in the
Woods)
• Synthesis: Is college worth the cost?

11. TRADITIONAL APPROACH
• What would you have done to address this
topic 10-20 years ago?

12. MOVING FORWARD
• Where were the students?
• What did they think of the
American Dream?
• Their view vs. my view
• Primarily interested in
success – college &
beyond
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/portraits-of-the-american-
dream/2013/09/28/d13eb892-289c-11e3-bae5-
e0807a60a6aa_graphic.html

13. CONTENT
• TED Talks on Success, Grit
• Working with Your Hands vs. College
Education
• Economic mobility (“bootstraps”)
• Consumer Culture
• Race, Gender
• Literature

14. WHY A FILM AS A PRODUCT?
• Visual learners
• Documentaries
• Pair writing with image
• Could they still incorporate solid argument?
• = more than the sum of the parts?

15. THE PROJECT
• Groups sorted by interest
• All involved
• Classical oration
• Variety of reliable sources
• Rubric
• Voice & Agency
• Self and group evaluation

16. SAMPLE VIDEOS

17. THEIR RESPONSES*
• In general, I like to work on my own for a grade – 75%
• In general, I like to work in groups for a grade – 25%
• When all is said and done, I would have preferred to write a
synthesis essay on this topic instead of making a video – 50%
• I was happy to work in a group on this video – 50%
*caveat

18. THEIR RESPONSES, CONT.
• “This was so fun. I loved getting to hear
everyone’s ideas about the American Dream
and their creative ideas about what to do for
the movie.”
• “It was hard to find time to get together, and
some people ended up doing the majority of
the work.”

19. YOUR RESPONSES?
• What could you apply this to in your own
classes?
• What are the challenges?
• What are the ideal outcomes?

20. YOUR REFLECTION
• 1. If I had all the time in the world, what and how
would I want to teach in order to make my class
experience memorable and student-centered?
• 2. Which skills do I want my students to have by the
time they leave my class?
• 3. Which units/works,/concepts do I currently teach
that could be made more project-based and student-
centered?
• 4. What do I want to find out more about?

21. THANK YOU!