Project Based Learning Made Simple: 100 Classroom-Ready Activities that Inspire Curiosity, Problem Solving and Self-Guided Discovery for Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Students (Books for Teachers) Paperback – May 8, 2018

Everyone learns in different ways. This book is a great book for teachers of third to fifth graders looking for a different approach than you are using now. Step by step instructions are given for the project-based learning basics. Once the basics are implemented in the classroom, your mind with come up with even more ideas than are in this book. Areas covered are Science and Stem, Math and Financial Literacy, and English Language Arts. Each have 25 projects. I especially like the Project Wrap-Up guidelines and hints given. This makes it so simple. Every teacher needs this book!

This has made such a big difference in my classroom. I’m so tired of being required to test my kids’ learning styles, finding it that half of them are kinesthetic learners, then having NO way to implement that knowledge. Now I can look through the book (which is helpfully sorted by subject, rather than by age, like many other similar books) and choose an activity that will take about a week to complete and be much more fun and memorable than a textbook or lecture. They’re kids! We’ve got to start designing lessons that respect their developmental status, rather than asking all children to fit into the same kind of learning box.I also can’t speak highly enough of what the constant teamwork has done for the classroom social relations. The work is designed in the book to lend itself to every child having a job. So kids who were more withdrawn, more bossy, more inconsistent in work ethic are now accountable to each other. It’s also helped people be more friendly to one another— even if occasionally there are some disagreements :)

Ok, at first I didn't really understand what PBL was. I found this online: "Teaching with PBL is the difference between the atmosphere at Disneyland and the atmosphere at a Six Flags resort. No offense to Six Flags, I love a great roller coaster, but their décor needs some serious work. At Disneyland, you are submerged in the story of each ride from the time you enter the line. The walls, the ceiling, the ground on which you tread as you advance to the actual ride, all support the end result" Well that sounds cool, right? But how in the world do you do it? I got this book because ultimately a cool definition will only take you so far, amiright? Because it is hard to implement with just an idea of what it's supposed to be like. This breaks it down in a way that you can understand- and includes helpful hints if you have no devices, some devices, or every kid has devices. But ultimately? For me it's about how to help kids learn while not boring myself to pieces in the process. Great tools in here.

I loved this book!!! April’s ideas are dead on and make you think why didn’t I think of that or man, that would look amazing in my classroom. It’s such an easy read and all ideas are easy enough to implement. I cannot wait to bring a lot of these ideas into the classroom. I’m a new 5th grade teacher and have loved PBL but this is going to be the Wong of PBL!!! Thank you for all of your hard work and sharing such amazingly creative projects to engage/challenge our young minds.

So far, I like this book alot. I work with gifted students and this book provides opportunity for differentiation. The section in the front describes how you can make the tasks more or less challenging. I will be doing the "Create a Math Game," project and altered the math facts to be reflective of what we are currently learning.

I personally felt this book was a let down. Many of the ideas are quite obvious and so are the directions to implement them. Some project ideas include: 50 state flags, class pet, make a school map, and postcard exchange. I’ve found better detailed (more creative) ideas on a certain teacher printing website.

This book is FULL of amazing ideas, that really fit nicely into what I teach in 5th grade. Although I am at the end of the school year this year, with really just testing and a few days left, I look forward to using this a lot next year! I love how each PBL is set up in an order to follow, and that there are chapters before and after to kind of help you know what you should do to get started, as well as if you find yourself stuck with a few issues. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into this!

I absolutely LOVE this book! This is my first year doing project based learning and it has SO many ideas to work with!! It is so easy to use and incorporate! Even if something doesn’t align up exactly to what you are planning to do, she makes it so simple to get the “big picture” so you can tweak it to be your own! Honestly one of the best educational book purchases I have made!!

Llegó en la fecha prevista. Todo bien.

These projects require a modern classroom with access to internet. They are mostly longer time projects, and require good organisation. I teach overseas and was hoping to find some simple, cross cultural activities that would be practical and useful to simple situations, but found that the topics don't have much relevance to my needs. I get so frustrated when the preview of a book show only the introduction and none of the REAL content. I have wasted SO much money trying to find such activities. This book has good activities for teachers with plenty of time and good access to technology. Just not useful for me.