Rock It
- Noa Daniel
- May 9, 2018
- 6 min read
Whether you called it Rock and Roll or We Will Rock You, Rock On or Rock It, it’s a great way to begin a unit on Rocks and Minerals. I had first created it for a former colleague who wanted to explore BOB but was adamant that the project had to be from a content area and within the curriculum. I accepted the challenge and joyfully crafted an assignment where students could explore rocks and minerals and share what they learned BOB-style. This year, I got to actually use and rename this project and deliver it as I love to do, using the Building Outside the Blocks Approach.
In January, I took on a half time LTO "Prep Coverage" role teaching a Grade ¾ split, a straight 4 and a Grade ½ Gym. I have already facilitated a BOB for my split class, where I spend most of my half day, called Healthy Start, and there is another one on the way. When I realized that the Science and Social Studies curriculum that I would be teaching to two Grade 4 classes were not the same, having to essentially cover the entire year’s curriculum of planning and teaching in half the time because the classes didn’t coordinate their units, I was really overwhelmed. As always, I was grounded in a BOB and began to ready the one I had previously created for another teacher. I also created my first-ever BOB for Grade ½ Phys. Ed. called Game On, but that will be another post entirely.
I first introduced the Rock It project as part of an integrated unit of inquiry that I had developed titled Oh Canada, You Rock. Like with all my BOB Projects, I reviewed the assignment and outline with the class. I sang “check it off” to Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off to show students how to use the graphic organizer and check each box on the numbered list of steps to help with planning and set everyone up for success. Immediately, kids were ready to choose the Rock and Mineral to investigate and on which to present. This would seem like a regular project, but the aspects of the BOB Approach made it a particularly powerful experience for my students.
After I introduced the project, the students signed up for the rock or mineral of their choice and the date they would present on over the month of April. I wanted them to create all the schema for the unit through their presentations to enable the required subsequent differentiation and categorization of rocks and minerals in a more personalized way. A few students signed up to present on each of the 3 days I am in their classroom. As always, some students who were more inclined to risk taking chose to go first, most aimed for the middle and a few procrastinators wanted to go even after the last date outlined- you know the ones to whom I am referring. Because the work for most BOB Projects happens at home, the students had the 15 minutes remaining in that period to investigate the rock or mineral of their choice and consider how they would prefer to present. The excitement that ensured came from viewing the very first Rock It, and that students set the bar for everyone else.
The very first presenters are often a self-motivated and self-directed learner, but this one student went home the very first day and spent hours doing research. By the time the next day ended, he has invested another few hours creating an iMovie to share his learning. It was an unexpected product, but a welcomed one. It had so many different aspects: stills, music, transitions. Some of it was silly because he got carried away with the freedom to choose when and how he would share his learning, but that was an essential point of his reflection based on my feedback. After he presented, a slew of students wanted to move their dates up. I’ve seen it happen before, but this was an extreme version of the enthusiasm that comes from students learning from each other and becoming exemplars to each other. It was also reflective of their deepening engagement in the task and the unit.
As each day came and went, new Rock It’s were being shared with different manifestations of choice. Most students made Google Slides with text and images that reflected the media literacy learning that was included in the success criteria outlined in the task and reflecting a true collaboration between myself and their homeroom teacher. They showed improvement on their communication skills based on feedback from the project based learned the we first engaged in when I began. Some students brought in the rocks and minerals to share. Some curated videos that best explained how their selected rocks or minerals were mined, and everyone of the students found applications of their subjects in the real world. After the day's presentations, I would lead a lesson, so this great learning took very little class time.
At the end of all of my projects, BOBs included, student reflections are essential. First, after reviewing the rubric with my comments, students must complete a Statement of Ownership (what I call a SO...). This allows them to take some ownership of their next steps in learning from my feedback as they restate the feedback in their own words. It is only when they complete that section that I accept the signed rubrics from their parents. After everyone has presented, I do a whole class reflection. For this class, I gave the option of typing, handwriting or a video recording of their thoughts and next steps for this project. There was a lot of positive feedback, especially reflecting growth mindsets and enjoyment about learning from their classmates. Here are a few:
I really liked the Rock It project but I felt a bit nervous.I liked the project because we got to choose what mineral or rock we want and how we want to present it.I think I did well because everyone made me feel like I did good. Next time I will try to do better than before
- Aiden
I love this product. I so so like this presentation- Cindy
I felt confident and excited when I was gonna present my ROCK IT. What I had to work on is to use my planner and checklist to get a better mark on my ROCK IT. Another thing is that I felt a little bit nervous when I was presenting. -David
When I was presenting I felt a bit nervous but at the same time special and excited. I learned a lot about other rocks and minerals and even learned about rocks that I never ever heard of- Nikole
It was exciting to prepare it for the class because I love learning about rocks and minerals that are very unique and I love sharing what I Iove with people! It was amazing presenting with the class because I love when I have a opportunity to teach people things they don’t know! It was fun learning from others because I learned something new when people were presenting something different! -Marlee
It was exciting learning about the schist rock.. it was good to present about the rock. Maybe i should take more time to finish my work instead of rushing it.- Max
I loved the Rock It project. I really enjoyed it because we had a choice to choose whatever we wanted to do. Like we got to choose what rock we wanted to do. I had fun preparing my presentation because I like researching information about new things. I learned a lot of new facts and information about rocks and minerals. I felt nervous but also happy and excited when I was presenting. I wish I can do this project again!!! I also loved the Rock It project because we had choice to choose Rock or Mineral, and presentation date. And I felt happy and nervous. I felt happy when I’m making the slides and listening to others. Also I felt nervous when I’m presenting. I had fun! I liked my and other’s presentation because I saw many kinds of presentation like highlighted sentences, and bolded word or sentences. And I liked that I can choose my mineral and presenting date I enjoyed learning from others because I learned many new things from others
Thank you for doing this project- Eejae
These are student hands up to give feedback in the form of questions, comments and critiques to the presenter, showing how the class community helps to re-articulate the success criteria, give formative feedback and celebrate the presenter.
There's not much more to say after that except that all BOBs allow for this. The Rock It project is unique, , however, in that it allows me to use what the students learned about rocks and minerals from each other as schema upon which to build an integrated unit within the curriculum where Canada’s physical geography reflects and affects the rocks and minerals we find there. Instead of a summative research project , it is an engaging foray into meeting the Ontario Curriculum expectations expectations and beginning an inquiry that gives students their own personalized entry point and also allows students to build the learning skills that take them far beyond the curriculum while building autonomy and a sense of community.
Use the blocks as a starting point and a framework, but leave room for the class to construct meaning beyond the scaffold while build skill, autonomy and community in minimal class time. For more ideas, check out Building Outside the Blocks Project Ideas.
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