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The research took quite a bit of time because searching for specific facts is a lot of work. They used to use the index and the table of contents to quickly jump to what was needed. While the students did their research Mrs. Kramer and I met with each student to discuss what he/she might want to do for their project. They had an introduction to what Genius Hour was at the beginning of the project so we asked them to keep it in mind during the research process. Here is the form we used to plan the Genius Hour Project:
The student and teacher together went over this form. We discussed what their talents are and what type of project might be a good fit. If a choice was too elaborate we discussed whether or not it could be done in one hour. Each student had to plan what it was going to look like when finished, what to do if finished early, and what to do if not finished when time ran out. This form also helped the teachers determine what supplies would be needed- what could be supplied by us and what needed to come from home. Once the research seemed finished we scheduled the Genius Hour. Letters went home to the parents of students who needed to bring supplies from home. Most of the supplies consisted of Lego, so no one really had to purchase extra supplies. I helped by making some home made play dough and gathered poster board, markers, glue, scissors and so forth. Supply letters went home on Friday and Genius Hour was the next Thursday. A teacher let us "borrow" her small math class of 6th graders to assist the students working on PowerPoint because 2nd graders all feel like they know how to use PowerPoint but really, they don't. The 6th graders were a great help and I don't think we could have done it all without them. Here are pictures of our Genius Hour in progress:
We were amazed by the concentration and productivity of our first Genius Hour. The students did an amazing job. One student went above and beyond our expectations. Which, if you think about it, is one of the purposes of Genius Hour. We clearly tapped into one of his talents and he clearly thought through and really planned to make a Lego animation.
On Friday the students presented their Genius Hour projects to the whole class, plus the 6th grade helpers. Here are some pictures of the 2nd Grade presenting their projects.
Finally, we had a rubric for the students that looked at their research, their effort, and their final project. The students also did a self reflection. Hopefully we can make some small improvements to have an even better experience next time.
