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You don't have to reinvent the wheel to bring project-based learning to your school. Educators from Maine have shared details about their administration, school culture, professional development, and curriculum -- materials you may adapt for your class, school, or school district.

Be sure to check out our Project Learning Reading List and our big list of other schools around the country who have started project-learning programs.

Click on any of the titles below to download a PDF of one of Maine's public schools' resources for success.

[ PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. . To download a free version of the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer, visit Microsoft's Download Center.]

Resources On This Page:

• Resources from Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú
• Examples of Project Learning/Expeditionary Learning
• Assessments and Measuring Success
• Teacher and School Planning Guides
• Professional Development
• Organizations
• Resources for Parents
• More Information

Resources from Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú

• Project-Learning Reading List

• More Model Schools with Solutions

• Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú Core Concept: Project Learning

• An Introduction to Project Learning (3-minute video)

Examples of Project Learning/Expeditionary Learning

• (from King Middle School) ( 80K)

• Elementary School Project -- Farms and Food: This yearlong expedition engaged first graders in an entire year of studying farms and foods. It wove skills of reading, writing, math, drawing, and research with content in science, nutrition, health, and social studies.

• (Grade 1) ( 2MB)

• Middle School Project -- Fading Footprints: This project is a 12-week interdisciplinary ecology unit centered on the guiding question, How does diversity strengthen an ecosystem?

• ( 1.1MB)

• Middle School Project -- "Soil Superheroes": This project from King Middle School, in Portland, Maine, pairs seventh-grade students with community partners. The students then use technology to show off their understanding of bacteria in an interdisciplinary project.

• ( 476K)

• Soil Superheroes Student Video Blog (King Middle School's Web site)

• Samples of Student Work (comic strips from "Soil Superheroes"):
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• High School Project -- "Give Me Shelter": Juniors at Casco Bay High School, in Portland, Maine, explore homelessness by working in teams to make audio slide-show portraits in a semester-long project about housing issues and public policy.

• ( 153K)

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• Samples of Student Work:
• "Give Me Shelter" Slide Shows

School Assessment and Measuring Success

• 2013 PBS NewsHour report on PBL at King Middle School

• ( 568K)

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• ( 11M)

• Impact of Expeditionary Learning on Student Achievement. This is a list of independent studies of expeditionary learning.

• (2008). This is a nationwide survey of students based on eight conditions that support student engagement -- belonging, heroes, sense of accomplishment, fun and excitement, curiosity and creativity, spirit of adventure, leadership and responsibility, and confidence to take action.

• . ( 184K)

Teacher and School Planning Guides

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• (From the Â鶹´«Ã½Èë¿Ú article, "Sample Teacher Schedule for Middle School.") ( 500K)

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• (1988-2007) ( 240K)

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• Graphic: Tips for Taking Photos

Professional Development

• Casco Bay High School's Ten Design Principles of Expeditionary Learning

• Maine International Center for Digital Learning: Contains a series of videos for teachers on one-to-one, beginning with the basics: how to find and evaluate information on the Internet, teach students digital literacy, connect with parents through computers, and change curriculum to make the most out of computers.

• Blog, resources, and training videos produced by students that cover specific aspects of using laptops such as the iPhoto application, posting videos, and ethics on the Internet.

Organizations

• --

• -- Improving Schools

Resources for Parents

• Casco Bay Parent Information About Laptops

• Expeditionary Learning Schools Engage Parents

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Video: What Is Expeditionary Learning?
• ( 116K)

More Information

• ( 324K)