Birthday Research

Who shares your birthday?

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite things we do throughout the year! The students get so excited to find connections with themselves and history. It turns out to be an amazing project where they are learning without even knowing it. 
I LOVE SECRET LEARNING!!  💓

The project consists of students researching the month and date of their birth (not the year). They learn about interesting news events, entertainment events, and people who share their birthday.
CONNECTIONS!! Seriously, the excitement is real, people!

Students sharing their connections to history.

They are working so diligently - Student Engagement = 100%!!

News and Entertainment Events

Students record their information on a template. When they begin creating their posters, they have the option to either cut out the bubbles and glue them onto the poster or re-write the information. 

Students can either send me pictures to print (saved in a Google Doc and limited to one page), can print them out at home, or draw them. Pictures are required for each section of the project. 

We use a rubric to grade the projects. Students receive the rubric with the template so they are aware of where the grading comes from.

Students are graded both on their actual project and their presentations. Students start out with a 100 for their presentation grade. Anytime they are talking or acting up during another student's presentation, they lose 5 points. This ensures that students are being active listeners. However, because of the excitement this project usually brings, I hardly ever have to take off points!! Win win!!

A finished project looks something like this: