Genius hour elementary

In today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing step-by-step directions and strategies for implementing Genius Hour in your elementary classroom. If you teach older grades, I also share more broa…

This week at Genius Hour, 3B students showed their understanding of Genius Hour by completing the sentences "Genius Hour is.." and "Genius Hour isn't…" These will be our guidelines for Genius...

Self-directed learning builds skills and confidence. And it's just plain fun!

5th grade students participated in a "Genius Hour" project as a culmination of all the amazing art skills that they have learned in elementary school! Click Here to See Our Genius Hour Planning Page Click Here To See Our Project Ideas and Instructions Sheet Click Here to See Our Powerpoint Presentation

Day 3: Website Evaluation Work with your LMC teacher to have students evaluate websites. Our LMC teacher is absolutely PHENOMENAL, so I can't say that I had a huge role in planning the website evaluation lesson, however it was an important component to the process. Please note that this might take more than one day, depending on how much practice with web evaluation you want your students to do. The main goals include: Helping students understand that anyone can put anything on the internet…

What are you passionate about? If you could spend one hour out of your day learning about any topic...what would you pick? These are the questions I asked my fifth graders for weeks before we started...

Genius Hour activities give students time to explore interesting ideas and create something that they choose and will be proud of. Here’s how to do it online!

Genius Hour in Elementary! Planning for the perfect #geniushour in second, third and fourth grade (it's not as easy as it sounds!)

Last week I was scouring the internet for some more inquiry ideas for my classroom when I came across Genius Hour. One word ... hooked. And inspired. And motivated. (I was never good at limiting my words). ;) Sufficed to say, I KNEW it was going to happen in my classroom. In a nutshell, Genius Hour is something that happens in your classroom for one hour a week. During this time, students research and complete an inquiry project based on their passions - really digging deep into what…

Passion Projects were a staple in my gifted enrichment classroom in the 1970s. Back in those days, we called them Type III enrichment activities (Renzulli Enrichment Model) or Independent Studies. But thankfully, things changed as general education has embraced the concepts of thinking skills, creative production, and talent development. Today we see these activities implemented in all types of classrooms through Genius Hour, Passion Projects, and Maker Spaces. Whatever title you choose to…

We hear the charge for more student-directed, inquiry-based learning, but it can seem like a load of pie-in-the-sky hooey without instructions for how to do it. Here are Top 10 Genius Hour Questions Answered #GeniusHour #TeachingTip #Teaching

Ideas for genius hour. Other kids have done this.

Denise and Gallit have developed a Creativity Rubric that they use in Step 3 of their Genius Hour cycle with students. It’s a work in progress, but you’re welcome to use, tweak and/or s…

Looking for a fun, engaging project to do with your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students? Check out this variation on genius hour - passion projects! Read how a real 5th grade teacher integrates passion projects into her classroom. This activity allows for more student choice and helps students take ownership of their own learning. Learn how to introduce passion projects, help students choose a topic, and how to set up presentations. This makes a great end of year project for upper…

Disclaimer: This was my first attempt at Genius Hour with my 1st graders. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again. I will change a few things next time and they will be indicated in this post. Technology involved: 12 ipads and 3 computers Genius Hour is 1st Grade! Yes, it can be done. It can go smoothly. It WILL be their favorite part of the year! Here is a guide to our journey in Room 222: Inspired by @mwhitedg Hour 1: Wall of Wonder How it looked: I introduced the idea…

Here's a good brainstorming tool that can help teachers introduce students to the Genius Hour concept. Download a blank version that you are free to reproduce.

An educational blog

Everything you need to know about implementing a genius hour and giving students time to pursue something they're passionate about.

Today we completed our first version of Genius Hour! Genius Hour is based upon Google’s 20% policy. This policy says that w...