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Guide to Project Planning Toolkit [+ PBL Template]
Understanding the Basics of a PBL Lesson Plan
Project-Based Learning (PBL) planning and design stands apart from traditional lesson plans by focusing on “beginning with the end in mind.” A well-designed PBL plan starts with state standards and educational objectives, ensuring that the curriculum goals are met while aligning these goals and standards to a real-world problem. Implementing PBL allows students to develop problem-solving skills, work collaboratively, use critical thinking, and take ownership of their learning. In the planning stage of a project, educators should also approach design with an asset-based and culturally relevant mindset – focusing on what students can do- their strengths, talents, interests, and competencies while seeing students’ differences as sources of knowledge and strength in the classroom. To further understand the basic framework of project based learning, refer to The Comprehensive Guide to Project-Based Learning before tackling PBL design and lesson planning.
Key Components of an Effective PBL Plan
An effective project based learning lesson plan includes several essential elements and New Tech Network created the Project Design Checklist to highlight the elements necessary to create a project. These include:
Begin with the End in Mind
- Determine high-impact standards and Learning Outcomes for the foundation of your project’s design.
Design the Project Scenario
- Design an authentic scenario that will require students to master the standards and outcomes you chose, keeping in mind relevance to students, the audience, and the impact the work will have. To learn more about authentic scenarios and project ideas, read: What is Authentic Project-Based Learning?
- Write a driving question/problem statement. (See Step 2 below)
- Create an entry event that will introduce the project, generate student curiosity and interest, and elicit need-to-knows.
Create the Path
- Determine benchmarks that will serve as performance assessments and lead to the final product/s.
- Determine scaffolding (workshops, graphic organizers, templates, investigations) that will support student mastery of standards and outcomes and lead to the benchmarks and product/s. To learn more about scaffolding and benchmarks in PBL, click this resource Scaffolding in Education.
Plan the Assessment
- Create rubrics that allow you and your students to assess progress towards mastery of standards and outcomes.
Structuring a PBL Lesson Plan
Step 1: Align Learning Objectives and Standards in PBL Lessons
The first step in creating a PBL lesson plan is to consider the standards that need to be addressed in the project. Educators should identify key power standards and connect them to the real-world problem students will tackle in the project.
Step 2: Develop a Compelling Project-Based Driving Question
A Driving Question is an open-ended question that invokes the big ideas or themes addressed by the project. When students create the final product of the project, they will create one of many possible answers to the driving question.
Examples of strong driving questions include:
- “How can you use monetary and fiscal policy to deal with issues like unemployment, inflation, and economic growth?”
- “What can we do to improve air quality in our community?”
- “Why are pollinators important, and how can we create a sustainable garden to attract them?”
New Tech Network encourages educators to include a co-developed Problem Statement where the teacher and students create an action statement of the role and problem they will be solving in the project.
An example of a Problem Statement is:
We are (role)… members of the Special Task Force of Economic Advisors
who will (action)… recommend monetary and fiscal policies to deal with the crisis in a speech,
so that (relevance of learning)… the country will adopt those policies, inflation will be curbed, more people will be employed, and the economy will grow.
Step 3: Planning Milestones and Assessment Strategies
Establishing clear milestones or benchmarks are checks for understanding that allow educators to give feedback on student work and checks to ensure students are progressing as a team. After each benchmark, students should be given time to reflect on their individual goals as well as their team goals. Benchmarks are designed to build on each other to support teams toward the culminating product at the end of the project. Some suggested benchmarks include:
- Proposal Submission: Outlining project goals and initial ideas.
- Research Checkpoints: Gathering data and refining the project plan.
- Rough Drafts: Developing prototypes or draft versions of the project for feedback.
- Final Presentations: Showcasing the completed product to an audience.
Assessment methods should include both formative and summative approaches, such as:
- Rubrics: Clear criteria for evaluating student work. While rubrics are used as summative assessments, they should also be used all along the project path as formative assessments by the teacher and self-assessments by students and teams.
- Peer Reviews: Opportunities for students to provide constructive feedback.
- Journaling: Encouraging students to self-assess their progress and skill building.
Differentiation Tips for Customizing Your PBL Lesson Plan Template
Utilize Collaborative Learning Strategies
Collaboration is a key element of PBL, and incorporating collaborative practices ensures all students are actively engaged. Some effective strategies include:
Group Roles: Establish real-world roles that scaffold equitable participation in project work like documentarian and time manager.
Discussion Protocols: Establishing guidelines for productive conversations.
Peer Feedback Sessions: Encouraging students to critique and support each other’s work.
Downloadable Project Planning Toolkit
This project-based learning lesson plan template or Project Planning Toolkit sample can be used as a resource for project planning from ideation to scaffolding and beyond. Use the toolkit as a teaching tool for how to plan a project and to create a solid project plan, ready to implement in the classroom.
How to Use the Project Planning Toolkit
The Project Planning Toolkit linked above is meant to be customizable for all content areas. The downloaded PDF template is free to use and can be copied and used for multiple projects. Each section of the toolkit corresponds to the sections of the Key Components of an Effective PBL Plan in this article. The template includes an overview, a section for planning your academic standards, your project launch, assessment and a calendar.
Tips for Implementing Successful PBL
While the planning of PBL is crucial, anticipating and adapting to unexpected challenges or student interests and needs is a necessity. If a project plan is too rigid, students will lose interest. If a project plan is under scaffolded, educators lose the ability support their students’ needs as they struggle with a concept or a phase of the project. Receiving feedback and support from colleagues before a project is launched and gathering post-project student feedback helps educators refine their project ideas for future planning and implementation.
New Tech Network (NTN) is a national nonprofit dedicated to systemic change in education. We center K-12 schools as the units of change, working closely with district leaders, school principals, and classroom educators, to co-design an approach to change that is specific to their context. With more than 25 years of change-making, NTN has the ability to recognize common patterns across systems and what is unique about each school and district community.
