Completed Genius Hour Projects

Genius Hour with the fourth graders go a bit crazy. I posted awhile ago about starting Genius Hour projects with all fourth grade student in a modified version.  Genius hour is based on Google's 20% in which you give students the freedom to learn about any topic they are interested in.

Since I only see students once a week for 45 minutes I needed to give some guidelines and continue to teach some lesson or months would go by.  We started with a "What are you interested in?" sheet and students picked a topic and developed an inquiry question.  This was hard! Their classroom teachers and I did not let them get away with "thin", "skinny", "simple" questions.

Then we rehashed evaluating websites and the students were on their own.  This proved to be too much for some students; they needed a worksheet, a set of questions to answer.  Others really took off .  Students worked their way through the Big 6 Research Model and as a class we developed a timeline to help them along. (Of course testing and unforeseen absences prevented us from sticking to that timeline.)

Students continue to research as I introduced different ways they could present their information.  Being the Technology specialist, all presentations had to incorporate technology.  Students could come up with their own way to present but I offered: PowerPoint, Glogster, BrainyBox, Tellagami, GreenScreen, Live Video, and StopMotion Animation.

Check out some of their presentations.

PowerPoints:

Student's Genius Hour Project on Numbers from ariellehg

Student's Genius Hour on Living While being Illterate from ariellehg

Student's Genius Hour Project on Surviving in the Deser from ariellehg

Glogsters:

Brainybox:

Videos: (There were a few students with green screen screen videos which were great but I cannot share sudent's faces)