©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC1

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Table of Contents

2

Section Title Page Number

About Genius Hour 3

Note-Taking Page 4-5

Project Brainstorming 6-7

Project Proposal 8-10

Project Planner 11

Feedback Form 12

Presentation 13

Rubric 14

Reflection 15

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Genius Hour: Note-taking page

3

Directions: Use this page to take quick notes on the passage about genius hour.

What is genius hour?

The History of genius

hour

How students use genius hour

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Genius Hour

4

What is Genius Hour? Genius Hour is a way of teaching that lets students chase their passions and interests. It lets students learn about something they are curious about. The teacher does not structure the time and the teacher does not teach during Genius Hour. This is a period of time where students investigate and discover things about a topic. Many teachers believe that Genius Hour helps student to take the lead on learning something incredible. The History of Genius Hour Genius Hour started with Google, the search engine. Google has thousands of employees, and the employees are given 20% of their work-time to work on a personal-project. Google believes that if you let people work on something interesting, they will do better work overall. Google’s idea worked really well because about half of Google’s projects have been created during this personal-project time. For example, Gmail and Google News were created during the personal-project time. Schools and teachers heard about Google’s personal-project time. They wanted to adopt it in their classrooms and schools. Now, many teachers embrace personal-project time. Several people have written books about it and have labeled it Genius Hour.

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Genius Hour

5

How do Students Use Genius Hour in the Classroom? Genius Hour looks different in each classroom. Teachers set aside time for students to work on personal-projects. The amount of time may be different in each classroom. It might be called Genius Hour, but that does not mean it needs to be exactly one hour long. Teachers help students brainstorm topic ideas and the student then selects a topic that interested them. During the Genius Hour time, students research their project and brainstorm ideas about how to best present their learning to their peers. Students spend weeks researching their topic and brainstorming projects. After the weeks of research are over, students create a project to show what they learned. Students might make a video, poster, write a report, draw, or paint. The ways to show what they learned are endless. Then, they get to present their learning to peers, family, other classrooms, and others.

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC 6

Directions: Write down the things you’re interested in at home and at school. Include your hobbies and interests.

At home At school

Topics I’m interested in

Question: Which topic are you most interested in working on a project for over the next several weeks?

Answer:

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC 7

Project Ideas

Directions: Brainstorm ideas for your genius hour project. After brainstorming, get feedback on your project ideas. Choose your best idea to write a proposal for.

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC 8

Directions: Write a proposal that tells how you will research your topic and what your project will look like. Get feedback on this proposal before submitting it.

Project proposal

Name: Topic: What I know about this topic: Why I chose this topic:

9

Project proposal

Materials needed: What I will create for my final product: Steps I’ll take to create this final product:

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

10

Project proposal

Picture of final product:

approved make changes:

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

project planner: Week ____

11

To-do List Materials notesDirections: Fill in a planning page each week of your project before you start working.

12

feedback Form

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Before Feedback

Work I completed this week:

Questions I want answered about my work:

After Feedback

Parts I need to revise or work more on:

Directions: Get feedback on your project from a teacher or other mentor each week. Write in this form each time. Use this information to revise your project and make it better.

13

Presentation

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

presentation checklist

Complete the checklist before your presentation. Be prepared to turn all of your materials in.

notesq  Review the rubric to make sure you have

met all of the requirements.

q  Finish your end product. Decide how you will display it.

q  Prepare a 1-2 minute oral summary of your project.

q  Get feedback on your oral presentation and practice it in front of friends and family.

q  Create notecards to help remember key details you want to tell people during your presentation.

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

project rubric

14

4 3 2 1

Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Approaching Expectations Not Yet Approaching

Expectations

Creativity & Innovation

Student chose original topic and innovative end product. Excellent effort into small details.

Student chose original topic and sufficient end product. Good effort with the details of the project.

Topic choice could be more original and challenging. Some effort was put into the details of the project.

Topic choice was copied. Minimal effort was put into creating an original project.

Use of Class Time

Student used class time wisely. He/she went above and beyond by working on project outside of the class.

Student used class time wisely most of the time.

Student used some class time wisely, but spent some time off task.

Student was unfocused and off task during class time given for the project.

End Product

End product followed their proposal and includes a good amount of innovation.

End product followed their proposal and is completely finished.

End product is mostly finished.

End product did not reflect their proposal and/or is not finished.

Presentation

Student was an expert on the topic and their presentation engaged their audience.

Student knew a great deal about the topic and had a mostly engaging presentation.

Student knew some key details about the topic, but their presentation did not answer many questions.

Student’s presentation was short. He/she did not seem to know much about their topic.

©2017PerforminginEduca5on,LLC

Reflection

15

Write a 3-5 paragraph reflection essay about your genius hour project. Answer all of these questions in your essay.

1.  Why did you choose this project? 2. What did you learn about your topic? 3. What’s special about your genius hour project? 4.  How did your genius hour project make a

difference? 5. What could you have done better?