Sinnott’s Gold Standard Project-Based Learning inspires students, garners state recognition

Student developers in Jeannie Lam’s fourth grade class are anxiously setting up their projects in a communal space at Sinnott Elementary School, where soon two sixth-grade classes will join them to test out their interactive games and learn valuable lessons from their peers.

A trio of Sinnott teachers–Jeannie Lam, Kelsey Goode and Kiscelle Calvello–are all smiles as they field last-minute questions from their students. The educators are just as enthusiastic as their pupils are to share in the Project-Based Learning experience.

“The three of us, it’s so fantastic. Our personalities, and the way we have decided to structure our teaching time, has enabled us to teach in this way and do what we do with the kids,” said Calvello, who got her first taste of PBL when attending the same workshop as Lam more than a decade ago. Shortly after the two began working at Sinnott, they met up and started collaborating with Goode on PBLs.

This particular project is meant to reinforce Sinnott’s school-wide expectations, encapsulated by the word, “ROARS” (Respect, Ownership, Acceptance, Responsibility, Safety). These expectations produce behaviors such as “Be mindful of personal space” or “Inform an adult if worried about a friend.” These activities help students remember ROARS. Afterwards, the student creators reflect, and discuss the experiences they had and the feedback they received.  They celebrate all the things that went well and talk about any challenges they faced, making sure to touch on what students did to collaboratively solve dilemmas that occurred.  Teachers frame the discussion with the aim of improving future PBL experiences. This is one of the final steps among the eight elements in Sinnott’s Gold Standard PBL format.

“It is always really fun. I enjoy doing it because it’s not just between one class. I get to know other people in different classes,” shared Sofia Low, 11, a sixth grader in Mrs. Calvello’s class whose first exposure to PBL came in Lam’s third grade class. “I’ve done PBL in the past, like three years ago, and I have been looking forward to it for a long time.”

Earlier in the year, Low and other sixth-grade students performed the same “ROARS” assignment, but they have since moved on to their next PBL task, learning about ancient civilizations in a similar project-based fashion encompassing California State Standards, as well as the multiple elements of Sinnott’s now award-winning Project-Based Learning Practices, a recipient of the prestigious CA School Boards Association Golden Bell Award.

Along with the validation of all their hard work and collaboration, Goode sees the award as a vessel to share their PBL practices with other educators who can then integrate them into their lesson planning and reach more students outside of the Sinnott campus. “I would love for other teachers to feel like they could try PBL and find something they can really find joy in and pass that along to their students who can start working together on learning.”

“Our teachers' passion and enthusiasm about project-based learning is front and center which quickly gets the buy-in from the students,” said Sinnott Principal Laurie Armino. “The projects allow each child to find and/or show their different talents that might not necessarily be tapped in a traditional setting.”

Sixth-grader Pranit Champati, 11, agrees, “I do think I learn a lot of things from it. It did help me with teamwork, and it helped with researching. Those are the two biggest ones.” Champati used to feel bored at school in the afternoon hours, but it is now one of his favorite parts of the school day, “I was just waiting for school to finish, but with PBL it makes me want to do more and think harder and it’s just nice to hang out with other people outside of my class,” he continued.

Inside the school’s multi-use room, Champati and his classmates have their Chromebooks handy as they research the ancient civilization that his PBL group chose. This is one of the first steps in the PBL process, where students, once well-versed, must take an oral test confirming their knowledge of the subject matter to move onto the next step. “My group is doing Ancient Persia, and I’ve learned a lot of things that I didn’t know about,” Low noted.

“PBL, it definitely enforces the four C’s: collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication,” said Lam. “But, what I love to see is how these lessons cross over to other areas like solving a difficult math problem. Using PBL, students can draw out their ideas and solutions. This gives them different ways to show their knowledge, and that’s awesome.”

Gold Standard PBL’s eight elements are: a challenging problem or driving question; sustained inquiry; authenticity; student voice and choice; reflection; critique and revision; and a public product with learning goals of key knowledge, understanding and success skills. Student groups showcase how they creatively integrate skills such as writing, research, public speaking, critical thinking, and collaboration to produce an immersive and interactive learning experience.

“The reason Sinnott’s program is the best is because we really look at how all the elements are equally important and we make sure that they are present. If you take one away, the magic of PBL doesn’t exist,” said Calvello, noting that the secret sauce for them is repeated peer feedback throughout the process. “Hearing that constructive criticism from their peers and letting that happen over and over as the idea develops is key.”

“This is 11 years in the making,” added Lam, who uses a Google Slide Deck format that the 3 teachers have developed for all students to follow for each of their 3-to-5 PBL projects they participate in per school year. The slides provide essential information for students such as the driving question, goals, team members, project path, requirements, feedback, matrix and the all-important “teacher consult” slide where the student groups list what they need from their teacher to complete their project such as feedback, materials, or printing jobs.

“It is always wonderful to see the collaboration, problem solving, and the conflict resolution that comes with working in a team,” Principal Armino said. “We hope that these real-life challenges and the skills needed to meet them will transfer as students move into middle and high school.”

Roles organically develop and remain flexible throughout the life of the project. It is not unusual to see students move from one job to another as needs present themselves.  Groups must pitch their ideas to their teachers and peers, then revise based on multiple rounds of peer, teacher, and subject matter expert feedback. “I like doing the PBL because it helps with your self-confidence,” Low shared.

“We want them to learn how to work with each other, work with different types of people and personalities. Sometimes you may be the group leader and sometimes you may not,” Goode explained. One particular PBL Goode fondly recalled was when she had the students create a television show based on Indigenous Peoples. She was able to bring in a good friend who works at Disney’s Lucas Films as a story/character and development producer. 

“It’s been an amazing experience watching as our sixth graders work with our fourth graders on PBL, and they really get to step into that leadership role,” Goode said. “Our classes basically become one and the community gets stronger.”

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