“After we were done with our PBL, they were bringing stuff to us. They were having their parents send in pictures, they were bringing in writings, they were bringing in birds’ nests. It kept going when we were done because they were so excited.”

— Rachel Crawford, 1st Grade Facilitator, Babcock Neighborhood School | Babcock Ranch, FL

Welcome to the PBL Playbook, brought to you by Magnify Learning – where we put teachers back in their sweet spot. Make sure you follow us on Twitter: @magnifylearning, @askgiebs, @MissB103, #PBLPlaybook.

Josh and Andrea continue the PBL Project Blitz series where once a month, they highlight a PBL project by veterans in the PBL classroom.

In this episode of the PBL Project Blitz, our hosts chat with Rachel Crawford (@BNS_RCraw) and Tiffany Bishop, First Grade teachers from Babcock Ranch Neighborhood School (@BabcockSchool) in Babcock Ranch, FL (@babcockranchfl). They share an incredibly authentic and powerful project they did with their first grade students around the protection of bald eagles and their habitats.

Stay tuned for more awesome projects as the PBL Project Blitz series continues every month!

Show Notes

*PBL PROJECT BLITZ Episode 13 FULL SHOW NOTES

Resources & Links Related to this Episode

School: Babcock Neighborhood School-Babcock Ranch, FL (@BabcockSchool)

PBL UNIT OVERVIEW:

PBL Unit Name: Eagle Fest

Grade & Subject: Elementary-1st

Authentic Problem: We need to raise awareness and find ways to protect the bald eagles and other native birds at Babcock Ranch.

Standards:

Language Arts: Using text features for research, point of view, using context clues to find the meaning of words, writing proposals and informational books and the use of digital tools
Science: practice of science, observations and working with a partner, Animal habitats, life cycles, and classifications
Math: money (counting change for penny wars fundraiser), Place value and numbers and operations and measurement
Social Studies: Community helpers, citizenship and digital citizenship, U.S. symbols
Art: eagle art, creating posters, informational brochures, guided drawing of a eagle using different recycled materials

Driving Question: How do we as first grade students at BNS help protect and raise awareness of the bald eagles and other native birds at Babcock Ranch?

Entry Event:

Book launch with author, Virginia Pritchett-McSpadden for her book, A Day with Harriett.
”National Save the Eagles Day” presentation with CROW representative, Jackie Fisher, talking about the rescue and rehabilitation of an eagle found locally on Thanksgiving Day
SWFL Eagle cam

Community Partners:

CROW (Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife) -Jackie Fisher speaker from CROW about the rescue and release of a local injured eagle
Babcock Ranch-Amanda Stearker , event planning for possible Annual Eagle Festival at Babcock Ranch
Author/SWFL Eagle Cam-Virginia Pritchett-McSpadden
Babcock Ranch - David Mercer, Professional Contact for Research
Library Liaison - parent volunteer to collect bald eagle and other related books for our research
Syd Kitson
Everglades Foundation- Jennifer Diaz (evergladesfoundation.org)
Dr. Hammond

End Product: Students created posters and digital presentations which they presented to the community during Eagle Fest.