Category Dictionary
In this project for beginners or young learners, students keep a notebook of many of the vocab words they’ve learned, designated by category, and paged alphabetically.
Student Projects
Duration: year-long
Merit Badges
Students create earnable badges for their classmates as the year goes on to reward one another for their accomplishments in the classroom.
This Day in History
Throughout the year (or semester), students take turns writing headlines for something that happened on that day, but for any year in the past. These headlines are displayed on the classroom wall.
Crime & Justice
Re-enact a criminal case: craft the situation around a fictional robbery, conduct an investigation, and put on a mock trial. This project works best with multiple classes.
Put On a Play
Students can learn a lot by putting on a play – not just reciting lines, but making a big production of it, involved in plenty of different aspects of the show.
Character Journey
Students can create characters that they’ll use throughout the year. Each month, the character progresses a little closer to their goal, but in the meantime, they can be used to answer questions and for other activities. The possibilities are wide open.
Class Newspaper
Writing for a school newspaper on a monthly basis can encourage students to write about things they’re interested in, can foster collaboration, and can help students practice writing in different styles.
Student Blogging
A great way to engage students is to create projects within contexts and formats that they are already using in their personal lives. One of my favorite ways of doing this is through blogs.