A common question when thinking about how to implement Project Based Learning is how the content standards that need to be taught are addressed during a large hands on project.  In a gold standard PBL project, content is interwoven throughout the life of the project.  It is seen as an essential bit of knowledge in order to move the project forward and not just a stand alone required assignment.

In our current project, students are working with this driving question:  How can we repurpose old crayons and save them from the landfill?  This project is hitting content standards in science (changes in matter), social studies (how can we make a difference?) and language arts standards as well (proper use of conventions in writing).
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Students have been practicing letter writing through a variety of means this last semester.  Now they are using their knowledge to write and send actual letters that will help them in their project.  One way of using  formative assessment in this project was to gauge knowledge of letter writing components in the daily whiteboard question.

After a review of the required components of friendly letters, students each chose a favorite restaurant in town to write to and ask if they would save crayons that they might otherwise throw away.

For those restaurants that have agreed to help, crayon pick up will be next week and then the students will be busy turning old unwanted crayons into brand new beautiful coasters, playdough and more crayons!
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Purposefully interweaving content standards into PBL projects creates an authenticity to the content being learned and gives the student an immediate need and opportunity to practice and hone their newfound knowledge and skill. ​