Last year, our team grabbed the PBL Workbook and turned it into a full-on book club adventure. We read together, section by section, stopping along the way to wonder, laugh, debate, and dream up how these ideas could live in real classrooms.
This book is bursting with practical tools for teachers who want to create real-world projects that matter to kids. Best of all, the strategies flex beautifully across the grades (and yes, they’ve got versions for middle and high school, too!).
Here’s the thing: we’ve always been in love with this kind of teaching. When we sit down to design learning with teachers, we aim for authentic audiences and meaningful applications. With the PBL framework lighting our path, we couldn’t help but start sketching out some lessons of our own.
If we opened a school tomorrow, these are the lessons we’d want to roll out on day one.
Kindergarten: Classroom Garden 🥬
Big Idea Basic needs of plants and animals.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as gardeners, take care of living things together?”
Kindergarten students will become gardeners, planting seeds and caring for them as they grow. They’ll learn what plants need to survive, observe changes, and record their discoveries through drawings, photos, and simple journals. Together, they’ll create a Garden Book that tells the story of their shared project.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a Garden Celebration where families tour the classroom garden and view the Garden Book. Share photos and reflections on Seesaw to include families in the journey.
Grade 1–2: Our School Museum 🖼️
Big Idea Healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals and care for the local environment.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as museum curators, collect and share the stories of our school?”
Students will take on the role of museum curators. They’ll research the history of their school, interview community members, and design exhibits that showcase its stories. Their exhibits may include posters, models, and artifacts paired with writing and artwork.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a Museum Tour for families or another class. Share the museum guidebook pages and student reflections on Seesaw.
Grade 3: Mapping Our Journeys 🗺️
Big Idea Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity. People from diverse cultures and societies share some common experiences and aspects of life.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as mapmakers, tell the stories of our lives and communities?”
Grade 3 students will design personal journey maps to school and a collective community map. They will include landmarks, natural features, and cultural spaces, integrating legends, symbols, and short written or oral stories. First Peoples perspectives on land and place are integrated by sharing the significance of chosen places, connecting them to family, community, and environment.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a Community Map Gallery Walk for families and other classes. Add QR codes linking to student audio stories.
Grade 4: Gold Rush Boomtown Simulation 💰
Big Idea The pursuit of valuable natural resources has played a key role in changing the land, people, and communities of Canada.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as historians, bring the story of a gold rush town to life?”
Grade 4 students will role-play as members of a gold rush boomtown. Taking on roles such as prospectors, merchants, teachers, or community members, they’ll research life in the 1800s and simulate building a thriving town. They’ll document their roles with journals, posters, and exhibits before opening the town to visitors.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a Gold Rush Town Day where families and peers visit the boomtown, interact with characters, and view exhibits.
Grade 5: Healthy Community 💪
Big Idea Personal choices and social and environmental factors influence our health and well-being.
🤔 Driving Question "How can we, as health ambassadors, help our class and families understand how our daily choices affect our overall well-being?"
Students will become health ambassadors and work together to help their class and families understand how small choices every day—like what we eat, how much we sleep, how much screen time we get, and the relationships we build—can affect our well-being.
They will research a health topic that matters to them, and work in groups to create a product to share their message. Options include videos, posters, skits, inventions, or guidebooks. This work will help others make healthier choices.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a classroom event where students present their products to other classes. Or invite families in to participate in the mini health conference. As an option, record the event and share highlights on Seesaw or your school platform.
Grade 6: Power of Persuasion 📺
Big Idea Media sources can both positively and negatively affect our understanding of important events and issues.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as media creators, use messages to influence and inspire others?”
Students will explore how media sources shape the way we think and make decisions. They’ll analyze real-world ads and campaigns, then create their own public service announcements or media projects on issues like kindness, sustainability, or digital citizenship.
🎤 Authentic Audience Run a Media Showcase where families and peers view posters, videos, and campaigns. Post projects to a blog and invite families to browse the content and leave reactions.
Grade 7: Time-Travel Tales ⏱️
Big Idea: Geographic conditions shaped the emergence of civilizations. Increasingly complex societies required new systems of laws and government.
🤔 Driving Question “How can we, as storytellers, explore what ancient civilizations teach us about our world today?”
Students will design their own time-traveling characters and craft narrative podcasts or scripts that bring ancient civilizations to life. They’ll connect their research on history to present-day challenges and ideas, showing how the past shapes the way we live now. This project integrates Social Studies, Language Arts, and ADST.
🎤 Authentic Audience Host a Time-Travel Podcast Festival or live listening party for families and peers. Publish episodes digitally for a broader audience.
PBL for All!
Not sure PBL will click with your students? You’re not alone. This friendly, myth-busting podcast from Cult of Pedagogy shares real talk (and real tips) about making project-based learning doable and meaningful for all kinds of learners.
Check out the PBL Handbook for Elementary or Middle/ High School.