My Hero Project
Use this My Hero Project for your ELA or Careers class. This project is a project-based learning and inquiry project that has students exercising research skills like interviewing and analyzing findings to inform a creative final product. This project is student-centered. Use the Spinndle platform to keep track of each student’s individual workflow, start to finish.
ROADMAP
Stage 1 - Topic Brainstorming
Your project "topic" for this experience is your real-life hero; someone who has inspired you in some way, has accomplished something admirable, has helped shape your worldview, etc. Once you have chosen a hero as the focus of this experience, you will communicate with that person directly, interview them, and develop a final product that highlights and shares your hero's story. In order to work directly with your hero, you will either need to know your hero personally (family member, friend, neighbor, etc.) or be able to reach that person (community member). As you brainstorm a hero to work with, make sure you will be able to interview this person. The first step of this PBL is to choose a hero. Complete some or all of the topic brainstorming activities offered here before moving on to the next step. Choose a brainstorming medium that helps you visualize and organize your ideas such as lists, videos, mindmaps, slides, sketches, tables/charts, etc.
Pathway 1 - Define Heroism
What does it mean to be a hero in your opinion? What is your definition of a hero? Who in your life meets your definition of a hero? Brainstorm people in your life or community that fit your definition of a hero using a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, list, table, etc.)
What are some of your deepest values? Who in your life shares those same values? Could that person be your hero? Brainstorm people in your life or community that share your values using a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, list, table, etc.)
Brainstorm community issues that have personal meaning, importance, or relevance in your life (ex: animals). Then identify people in your life or explore those in your community that are associated with or have achieved something significant as it relates to those issues. Use a brainstorming method of choice (mind map, list, table, etc.)
Peruse current events in your community for inspiration. Identify community helpers or significant figures in those current events that inspire you or align with your interests and/or values. Add them here and consider one of these figures as your personal hero for this project.
Stage 2 - Driving Question
The next step is writing a driving question. The driving question is the foundation of your project-based learning experience. It summarizes the entirety of your PBL in one question. As you brainstorm driving questions consider the purpose of the experience, goals, desired outcomes, the action(s) that will be taken, those involved in the project-based learning experience, and a relevant audience. Example: How can our class build up and inspire our community by sharing stories of real-life, community heroes? This driving question example highlights the purpose/impact (building up the community), desired outcomes or final product (stories of real-world heroes), those involved (my class), and an authentic audience that benefits from the outcomes (the community).
Pathway 2 - Develop Driving Question
Brainstorm a driving question
Write your driving question. Frame it as a question, and include action, action-taker, impact, and target audience. Example: How can (question) our class (action-taker) build up and inspire (impact) our community (audience) by sharing stories of real-life, community heroes (action)?
Stage 3 - Community Expert Plan
Your main community expert for this PBL experience will be the hero that you will interview. What are some other community members that you could talk with, work with, or collaborate with that would add value to this learning experience?
Pathway 3 - Community Experts
Brainstorm community experts using a medium of your choice (ex: mind map, list, chart).
Develop a Community Expert Log Sheet: Keep track of the community expert that you'd like to work with. Include their names, contact information, and points of contact. Use a management system of your choice (ex: spreadsheet or table)
Outline a Community Expert Plan: Who will you reach out to? What communication method will you use (ex: email, phone, in-person, video call, etc.)? When will you connect with experts, and what will you say?
Contact Community Experts: Begin connecting with community experts, including the hero that you would like to interview. Tell them about yourself, what you're doing, and how you'd like to work with them. Arrange interviews and/or meetings with these experts and document significant dates here. Options include adding relevant dates to your calendar, taking a photo, and uploading it here. You could instead create a calendar in Canva and upload your Canva calendar here. You choose how you would like to document and keep track of important dates/meetings with your experts.
Stage 4 - Authentic Learning Activity Plan
An important part of project-based learning is having authentic learning experiences that are relevant and meaningful as they relate to your topic. What authentic learning experience(s) could you organize or plan that would add value to this experience?
Pathway 4 - Authentic Learning Activities
Brainstorm authentic learning activities that would add value to this PBL experience using a brainstorming medium of choice (ex: mind map, table, list). Examples: Shadow my hero for the day, interview people that know or have worked with my hero, participate in a community activity that is related to what my hero is known for.
Plan authentic learning activities: What will you do and how is it relevant or valuable to the PBL as a whole? Where will you go? How will you get there? How much time will the activity take?
Stage 5 - Innovative Final Product Plan
You will create an innovative final product to demonstrate and showcase the learning experience. Choose how you will demonstrate learning from the following options or choose a different final product medium that works well for you.
Pathway 5 - 1) Record an interview with your hero on the StoryCorps app https://storycorps.org/participate/
Ideate: Brainstorm your final product plan using a brainstorming method of your choice.
Plan: Organize and plan the details of your interview. When and how will you meet with your hero to record the interview? What materials or equipment will you need if any? Develop a product creation plan here.
Pathway 5 - 2) Produce a mini-documentary about your hero.
Ideate: Brainstorm your final product plan using a brainstorming method of choice. Brainstorm a storyline, film location, film guests, design features, etc. You will be brainstorming the details of the documentary itself during this phase.
Plan: Organize and plan the details of the documentary creation process. When and how will you meet with and document your hero? What materials or equipment will you need to produce the video? What editing program would you like to use? Develop a product creation plan here.
Pathway 5 - 3) Write and illustrate a children's book about your hero.
Ideate: Brainstorm your final product plan using a brainstorming method of your choice. Brainstorm a storyline by creating a storyboard, for example. Determine main characters, setting, and illustrations.
Plan: Organize and plan the details of the book creation. Will the books be digital or in print? If digital, what program will you use? If printable, where or how will you have them printed? Is it free? If not, what could you do or who could you collaborate with to make it free or reduce the cost? Develop a product creation plan here.
Pathway 5 - 4) Choose your own final product to create
Ideate: Brainstorm your final product plan using a brainstorming method of your choice.
Plan: Organize and plan the details of creating your final product of choice.
Stage 6 - Authentic Presentation Plan
You will share your final product and new knowledge with an authentic audience, one that is relevant to your topic or purpose. For example, if you chose a community helper as your hero for this experience and created a podcast episode interviewing this hero, who would be your target audience? Who would you share this podcast with? Who is relevant or who would find meaning in the listening experience? You will brainstorm your target audience and brainstorm ways to reach that audience. Your audience and method of reaching that audience is your authentic presentation plan.
Pathway 6 - Authentic Presentation
Determine how to best reach your audience
Stage 7 - Task List
Now that you have designed a project-based learning experience around your hero you can create a task list to help you stay organized.
Pathway 7 - Organize Project Details
Plan a timeline of to do's
Stage 8 - Interview
An important part of your project is interviewing your hero. In order to publish a story on StoryCorps, create a documentary, or write a children's book about your hero, you'll need to get to know your hero, and you'll learn about your hero by asking them questions.
Pathway 8 - Interview Plan
Observe: Brainstorm everything you already know about your hero using a brainstorming method of your choice.
Research: Conduct research on your hero, especially if they are community members that you do not know personally. What are they known for? What is their background? In what ways have they impacted the community as a whole? Etc. As you research, write down questions that come up that you are unable to find the answers to.
Write Interview Questions: What do wonder about your hero? Write a minimum of 10 interview questions for your hero. Think about what you already know and what you've researched when crafting interview questions.
Interview Plan: Summarize your interview plan here. Who will you be meeting? How will you communicate with this person? When will you meet? Do you need specific materials or equipment for the interview? Etc.
Stage 9 - Progress Feedback
Evaluate progress as you go. Gather feedback from your peers, instructor, and even community experts. You will also self-evaluate at least once during the project process. You can ask for feedback anytime, especially at times when you're feeling stuck. For example, if you are looking for more interview questions to ask your hero, you might meet with peers to ask for feedback about the questions you already have and suggestions for new questions. Evaluation periods have been outlined in this project stage. Feel free to use the rubric attached here as an evaluation tool.
Pathway 9 - Feedback Checkpoints
Schedule Feedback Opportunities: Add the following feedback checkpoints to a calendar or planner. Take a photo of your calendar/planner and add it here. If you are keeping a Canva calendar, you can upload it here. Share your calendar however you'd like.
Project Plan Peer Review: Share a rough draft of your project plan with your class or a small group of peers. Ask for feedback and make adjustments to your plan if necessary. Summarize the peer review session and outcomes here.
Feedback on Interview Questions: Share interview questions that you have already written with your peers. Ask for feedback and suggestions, especially if you're stuck. Summarize the feedback session here.
Final Product First Draft: Share the first draft of your final product with your peers for feedback. Make adjustments based on their suggestions. Summarize feedback and suggestions here.
Self-Evaluate Second Draft of Final Product: Self-evaluate the project experience as a whole. Summarize your self-evaluation here.
Third Draft Final Product: When you are at the stage of finalizing your final product, share the current draft with your instructor for feedback. Summarize feedback and suggestions here.
Stage 10 - Evidence of Learning
Add evidence of learning as you complete each element of your project-based learning plan.
Pathway 10 - Showcase Learning Experiences
Showcase Interview Experience: Add a video, photo, short reflection, or any other evidence of the interview with your hero.
Community Expert Communication: Add videos, photos, short reflections, or any other pieces of evidence to share communication/collaboration with community experts that you worked with other than your hero.
Authentic Learning Experiences: Add videos, photos, a written reflection, or any other medium to showcase authentic learning activity experiences.
Final Product: Add evidence of your final product using a medium of your choice. Write a short reflection on the final product creation experience. Evidence examples include an audio clip or screenshot of your StoryCorps interview, a short clip of your documentary, photos of your children's book, and a link to any of these final products if they were created digitally.
Authentic Presentation: Add evidence of your authentic presentation. Write a short reflection about your authentic presentation experience.
Stage 11 - PBL Reflection
Reflect on this project-based learning experience as a whole. You can write a written reflection in essay format, create a video or audio reflection, or even reflect verbally with a peer, your instructor, and/or community experts.
Pathway 11 - Reflect on the PBL Experience
Reflect on the experience using a medium of your choice (ex: essay, video, audio, etc). What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome those obstacles? What are you the proudest of? What strengths did you bring to the experience? What are the implications of this experience and the outcomes of the experience? How has this experience impacted the community as a whole? How will this experience continue to impact the community? How can you apply this experience to your life or your future?
Stage 12 - Extension Options
What more could be done to continue your work? How could you build upon the experience, learn more, gain more skills? Browse the extension options/suggestions provided here.
Pathway 12 - Artistic Demonstration
Ideate: Create a piece of art that represents multiple heroes in your community. Brainstorm heroes to include in your art piece and an art piece to create using a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, sketch, brain dump).
Final Product: Add evidence of your final product (ex: photos, slides, video)
Reflection: Summarize and reflect on the experience. What went well? What challenges did you face? What was the most important takeaway from the experience? How did this experience impact your community?
Pathway 12 - Host an Event to Thank Local Heroes
Ideate: Plan, organize, and execute an event at your school that highlights the accomplishments of “unlikely” heroes in your community. Brainstorm unlikely heroes from the community to highlight in the event using a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, sketch, brain dump).
Final Product: Add evidence of your final product (ex: photos of the event, a slideshow, video footage, etc).
Reflection: Summarize and reflect on the experience. What went well? What challenges did you face? What was the most important takeaway from the experience? How did this experience impact your community?
Pathway 12 - Action Project
Ideate: Brainstorm solutions to an issue that your hero is associated with. Then brainstorm solutions to the problem that you can act upon. Then take action. Brainstorm an action plan using a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, sketch, brain dump).
Final Product: Add evidence of your final product, which in this case is your community action project in action and/or outcomes (ex: photos of the experience, a slideshow, video footage, etc).
Reflection: Summarize and reflect on the experience. What went well? What challenges did you face? What was the most important takeaway from the experience? How did this experience impact your community?
Pathway 12 - Choose Your Own
Ideate: Brainstorm ways to deepen learning by extending this PBL experience. Use a brainstorming method of your choice (mind map, sketch, brain dump).
Final Product: Add evidence of your final product (ex: photos, a slideshow, video footage, etc).
Reflection: Summarize and reflect on the experience. What went well? What challenges did you face? What was the most important takeaway from the experience? How did this experience impact your community?
Stage 13 - Final Evaluation
Share your project experience as a whole with your class, instructor, and/or community experts. Collect evaluations from each. Use the rubric included here as your evaluation form or create your own evaluation. Communicate with your instructor about the evaluation tool that you will use.
Pathway 13 - Final Assessment
Self-evaluation: Self-evaluate and summarize your evaluation here.
Peer evaluation: Collect peer evaluations and add some of their feedback and suggestions here.
Instructor evaluation: Summarize your instructor's evaluation here.
Community expert evaluation: Have your community expert(s) complete evaluations and summarize them here.
This is a student-led, PBL twist on the usual My Hero project. To customize this project, please sign-up for the Spinndle platform!
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