How to Introduce PBL Into a Packaged Curriculum

With winter underway in Minnesota, my house has become a warm haven for all sorts of creatures, especially spiders. Both of my daughters have begun to notice that many of the corners of our rooms have become home to spiders, and I often have to remind them that just because they may appear to be unpleasant, we need to learn to coexist with them because they can actually be extremely helpful by doing things like capturing wayward ants who make their way indoors.

Likewise, prepackaged curricula are things that teachers generally consider unpleasant. They are often created by companies that promise certain outcomes for student learning that usually require close adherence not only to the lessons and resources provided, but also to a pacing guide and the use of specific assessment tools and techniques. Teachers who prefer more institutional freedom may find it challenging to accept this systemic approach to instruction. But like spiders, these curricula can be helpful.

Additionally, many teachers assume that when it comes to integrating project-based learning (PBL) into their classrooms, it has to come at the expense of adopted curriculum. But this doesn’t need to be an either-or scenario. In fact, boxed curriculum and PBL can be assets to each other. Elements that may seem restrictive, like a suggested pacing guide, can actually help teachers quickly identify the units that provide the time needed for the learner-centered processes like inquiry that make PBL what it is. If the guide says the geology unit is only seven days long, but the food webs unit is two and half weeks, you can immediately shift focus to that unit.

Here are other ways to work with a boxed curriculum in setting up PBL experiences in less time than starting from scratch.

Align the Curriculum with your PBL Model

When considering what adjustments might be required to turn your units into PBL projects, begin by considering the ways in which they align to elements of the PBL process. Look at the instructional strategies, activities, and lessons that make up the curriculum, and try to find connections. Chances are that many of the PBL elements will be present or will be easy to incorporate with minimal adjustments.

For example, if we look at OpenSciEd, we can see many elements that are common to most PBL models:

• Units begin with an anchoring phenomenon that can be used as an entry event to spark interest, curiosity, and questioning. 
• Students generate questions for the Driving Question board that encapsulate the challenge or problem that will be answered by the final product. 
• Student-led inquiry is the process used to move through each unit. As students build knowledge through collaborative activities, they generate new questions. 
• Units incorporate activities and materials that make authentic, real-world connections between content and the world outside their classrooms.
• Most units conclude with performance-based assessments presented to an audience of peers or other members of the school community. 

Educators familiar with OpenSciEd and PBL know that the two are a natural match, but since most science curriculums include inquiry, experiential activities, and meaning making through real-world examples, you’ll rarely have to begin from scratch. By identifying the elements of high-quality PBL from the outset, you can focus on making adjustments to prepackaged lessons based on the aspects of PBL that might be missing.  

Utilize Learner-Centered Activities

Much of a PBL project consists of knowledge-building activities that look very much like those in a traditional classroom. Things like mini-lessons, discussions, and hands-on activities are used to build students’ knowledge and construct their final products. Many of the same activities are also features of prepackaged curriculum and can be an asset for teachers who aren’t passionate about curriculum design or are new to the profession and don’t have years of resources to pull from. 

Teachers’ Curriculum Institute’s social studies curriculum History Alive contains a wealth of resources that share hallmarks conducive to PBL. Students participate in inquiry-centered activities, explore diverse sources of information, and have opportunities to create knowledge and demonstrate it together, all of which are design hallmarks of PBL. This means that many of the provided resources can be used in projects. As a result, teachers have less work because they don’t have to create as much and have fewer deviations from suggested pacing guides.  

Making Adjustments is Good Teaching

While teachers don’t always have a choice about the curriculum they utilize in their instruction—regardless of what they may or may not be required to incorporate in their classroom—they have to be able to adjust their curriculum in order to meet their learners’ needs. Substituting text sets doesn’t inhibit your learners’ ability to become better readers, and adjusting prompts to frame them around more authentic situations doesn’t change the writing process. These kinds of adjustments aren’t just required to meet the needs of diverse learners, but also are encouraged by almost all curriculum companies to ensure that their materials are relevant in multiple contexts.

The Math & YOU program from Big Ideas Learning is a great example of a curriculum that encourages teachers to adjust and change aspects of it so that it better matches individual teaching styles. If you happen to be a PBL teacher, you can adjust it accordingly while still staying true to the key features that are connected to its promised outcomes. 

So, while some teachers might consider the purchased curriculum to be unpleasant for valid reasons, by looking at it from a different perspective and by considering the ways in which it can save time and help you meet students’ needs, you’ll discover that it can actually be an asset, just like our spider friends.