Dear Canyon View Families,
As outlined in our 2016-2017
Strategic Plan, the teaching staff at Canyon View has been working diligently this
year on our Deep Learning Goal which focuses on developing within our students the knowledge
and skills that transfer to college, careers, and civic life. To help us reach
our long-term goals with transfer, our teachers
have been engaged in a series of professional development opportunities to
build their knowledge and understanding of how to design and implement Project
Based Learning within their classroom.
Current research supports Project Based Learning
(PBL) as an effective way to learn and develop deep learning competencies
required for success in college, career, and civic life. It is an instructional
approach built upon authentic learning activities that engage student interest
and motivation, and aligns with the type of problem solving, deep understanding, transfer,
and application of knowledge associated with deep learning. Project-Based Learning allows students to reflect upon their
own ideas and opinions, exercise voice and choice, and make decisions that
affect project outcomes and the learning process in general. PBL creates connections
across what students are learning in different disciplines, and between what
they learn in school and situations they may encounter in the real world. With PBL, the project itself is the learning; the focus is on
the process – the teaching is done through the project. A well-designed project provokes students to encounter (and struggle
with) the central concepts and elements of a discipline. The essential Project Design Elements of PBL
include:
- Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills - The project is focused on student learning goals,
including standards-based content and skills such as critical
thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and self-management.
- Challenging Problem or Question - The project is framed by a meaningful problem to
solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge.
- Sustained Inquiry -
Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions,
finding resources, and applying information.
- Authenticity - The
project features real-world context, tasks and tools, quality standards,
or impact – or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests, and
issues in their lives.
- Student Voice & Choice - Students make some decisions about the project,
including how they work and what they create.
- Reflection - Students
and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and
project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles and how to
overcome them.
- Critique & Revision - Students give, receive, and use feedback to improve
their process and products.
- Public Product - Students
make their project work public by explaining, displaying and/or presenting
it to people beyond the classroom.
As we continue through the second
semester, several of our grade level teams will be implementing their PBL
experiences within their classrooms.
Throughout each project, our PBL teams will be routinely collecting and
analyzing a variety of data points to assess the overall impact that these PBL
experiences have on our students in the areas of motivation, engagement,
communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation, and critical thinking and
problem solving. As a staff, we know that we’ve
only begun to scratch the surface regarding the benefits that PBL can have on
our students, and we are excited to be traveling down this teaching and
learning pathway!
School
Registration for Next Year
As a reminder, registration for next school year is now open to
neighborhood students. You may access the Online Registration link on the front page of the District and CV websites under the Register For School button: http://cves.cfsd16.org/. If you need assistance, please contact
our office staff at 209-7701. Thank you to those families who have already
registered their child(ren). Student registrations determine our teacher to
student ratio each year. We appreciate
your efforts!
Science Fair
On Thursday,
February 16 our fifth grade students will be hosting their grade level science
fair in the MPR from 5:30-6:30PM. The
top 15 finalists from the fifth grade science fair will then move on to our school-wide
science fair which begins on Tuesday, February 28. Classes will be viewing the various projects
Tuesday-Thursday of that week, and we will be hosting the Science Fair
Recognition Ceremony on Thursday, March 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the MPR. We are definitely looking forward to seeing
our young scientists’ projects!
Next,
below are just a few images that capture the variety of learning experiences
our students have been engaged in over the past two weeks. The entire staff at Canyon View Elementary is
deeply committed to the whole-child approach to educating our students, and we
are routinely researching and exploring new ways to refine and improve our
practice.
Our 5th
grade students engaged in their first Z-Factor Sleep Study lesson where they’ll
be collecting and analyzing their sleep data and using this information to make
healthy choices for the future.
Mr. Allie’s 3rd
grade students have begun to prepare for their upcoming musical performance
Mrs. Hays’ 3rd
grade students have been engaged in the creative process of rainforest mask-making
with our artist-in-residence, Kate Hodges
Our K-1 multiage
and first grade classrooms perform their winter musical Swamped!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Rob Henikman
Principal
