Project Based Learning (PBL) in the English Classroom

Last night, while scouring the web for Project Based Learning examples in the English Classroom, I hit the proverbial wall. There are a paltry amount of posts on this topic - and blog posts are what I want to find. I need examples, people! I have seen how teachers tag English on to a History or Math project by including writing parts. That's all fine and dandy, but what about literature?

Let's start by defining what Project Based Learning isn't. I came across this video on twitter last night.

What PBL isn't, from a HTH facilitator: howtovideos.hightechhigh.org/video/265/What… #newtechnetwork
— Julia Lesley (@julia_lesley) July 13, 2012

This is such a helpful video in clarifying what is at the heart of PBL. I think my projects are honestly about 50% Project Based Learning and 50% Project Oriented Learning. I'd like to shift the PBL number to a higher percentage, which means I need to rethink how I do things.

As I see it, PBL encourages students to construct their own knowledge on a topic while engaging their interests.

My students put it this way:

"Mrs. Walden... you're being vague again."

Yes! I am. But with purpose! I don't want to spoon feed my students, but teach them how to feed themselves.

But I digress, back to literature. So how do we English teachers put this theory into practice?

Here are my (untested) thoughts:

1. Start with an essential question. 
2. Give the students a reason to care - a real-world tie in. 
3. Introduce a book that applies to the question.
4. Read and discuss and discover together. Get out of the way of the conversation - go with the flow.
5. Allow rabbit trails. This is BIG for me. I believe that books (and movies) awake curiosity within us. For example: My kids came home from watching the movie Brave last weekend, pulled The Dangerous Book for Boys off the bookshelf and spent an entire afternoon constructing bows and arrows. I want this type of digression to happen in the classroom.
6. Finally, summarize, present, and share learning with each other and outsiders. 

This year is going to be interesting. It all looks rather vague at this point (see what I did there?)... but that's a good thing. I'm constructing my own knowledge of how to make PBL work in the English Classroom.