Student Interest Project

 This school year I incorporated Genius Hour into my classroom. After reading how it worked for other teachers, and talking to other teachers at my school, I came up with my own take on Genius Hour.

What I loved about the Genius Hour concept was the focus on self-directed learning. I wanted to give my students the chance to have complete freedom over what they wanted to learn about and how they wanted to learn it. Also, to be honest, I didn't want this new endeavor to become another burden on my never ending to-do list, so I knew I had to give my kids just the right amount of direction in order for them to take over the responsibility and ownership over their projects. 

The Student Interest Project books give my second graders just the right amount of direction that they need to plan, record, and share their research.

Each of my students were given a manila folder to store their interest list, resources used recording sheet, and their current Student Interest Project book. 

Student Interest Project book font cover

inside

back cover

I take my kids to the Media Center every other Friday to research. After they have completed their book, they present it to the class and I take a Speaking and Listening grade on their presentation. Then, they begin another book on another self-selected topic.

If you're interested in using this in your own classroom during your Genius Hour time, you can find it here. 

The pictures used in this post are of my own example that I made for my students.